Agent Interview: Jennifer Unter and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Jennifer Unter here. She is the founder of and a literary agent at The Unter Agency.

Hi­ Jennifer! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Jennifer:

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.

Jennifer Lee Photography

After working in editorial at a publishing house, I thought that being the author’s advocate outside of a house was more appealing to me. I love the negotiation part of being an agent (I’m also a lawyer) and finding talent. I’ve been an agent for over 2 decades! As for what I’ve been doing, I mostly represent children’s titles, but I also work in the adult space.

About the Agency:

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.

We are a small boutique, full-service agency that handles all aspects of the publishing business from domestic to film to foreign rights. We want to handle an author’s writing career, not just a one-off project.

What She’s Looking For:

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres?

I represent all ages of children’s books: picture books, MG and YA. I don’t have any particular genres – I look for books that move me and ones for which I see a space in the market.

4.  Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?

I would love to see a middle grade boy’s adventure series.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?

I’m pretty full-up on picture books these days, but could be convinced by the right project.

Agent Philosophy:

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent?

I want to work with authors who do the work that it takes to be a success – both editorially and promotion-wise.

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

I go through manuscripts as many times as needed to get it “right” before going out with it, so yes, I am an editorial agent.

Query Methods and Submission Guidelines: (Always verify before submitting)

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter? 

Email is fine and a knowledge of what kinds of books I do is helpful to see with the query.

9.  Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?

Letters that say “dear sir” or are sent to multiple agents!

Response Time:

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?

I try to get back to authors within a month if I have asked for pages.

Self-Published and Small Press Authors:

11.  Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them?

I am if the books have been a success, sales-wise.

12. With all the changes in publishing—self-publishing, hybrid authors, more small publishers—do you see the role of agents changing at all? Why?

Agents have to adapt to the changes in publishing business just as publishers and authors do. However, even if the venue by which authors are getting published is changing, authors still need an advocate to steer them in the right direction, so I don’t see agents roles changing that much. 

Clients:

 13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

 See my website: www.theunteragency.com

 Interviews and Guest Posts:

 14. Please share the links to any interviews, guest posts, and podcasts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

 Also on my website!

7/11/2022: See her Agent/Author interview with Melissa Dassoril on agent/author teamwork 

 Links and Contact Info:

 15. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.

 See website!

 Additional Advice:

 16. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?

 Join writing groups and go to conferences – having that community will help in so many ways as you move forward in your writing career.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Jennifer.

­Jennifer is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment through May 21st. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that's okay. Just let me know in the comments.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.