Literary Agent Interview: Bethany Weaver Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Bethany Weaver here. She’s the founder and an agent at Weaver Literary Agency.

Guest Post Alert

Before I get to Bethany's interview, I want to let you know that I’ll be sharing a guest post on Anne R. Allen’s blog . . . with Ruth Harris  on Sunday, 7/7/2024, that could help you in your search for an agent. My topic is Tips on Finding the Right Agent and My Secret Way to Discover Agents You Don't Know About. I’ll post a link to the guest post when it goes live on 7/7. I hope you'll stop by and read my post and leave a comment.

Hi­ Bethany! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Bethany:

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

I started off as an intern for the lovely Creative Media. From there, I jumped around interning and working for different parts of publishing and media. I eventually landed at Storm Literary helping with their subsidiary rights & opened my own agency where I could focus on subsidiary rights for my favorite independent authors as well as traditional authors. Overall, I’ve been in publishing ten years.

About the Agency:

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

Founded in 2021 and based in the Midwest, Weaver Literary Agency is working to create space for voices of diverse backgrounds and perspectives in adult and children’s literature.

We are a smaller agency with an even smaller list of authors! This helps to create a very personal partnership. My taste is broad and borders on weird, so I always have fun stories and authors who are just as unique.  

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 select middle grade, young adult, and adult. My taste gravitates toward speculative fiction with subtle romance and lush prose. Horror, mystery, and romance elements are my soft spot.

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

Across the board, I'm looking for character-driven fantasy, romantasy, and romantic fantasy. Beautiful world-building, diverse characters, and stories steeped in folklore and culture are welcome. Stories with strong voices, gorgeous prose, and edgy hooks. Fantasy built around religion, especially Jewish fantasy, is fine, but please no religious texts.

Some of my favorite titles include THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT, DIVINE RIVALS, SERPENT AND DOVE, HOUSE OF HUNGER, VESPERTINE, ONE DARK WINDOW, FOR THE WOLF, and SORCERY OF THORNS.

I'm also interested in cozy fantasy that can be compared to LEGENDS AND LATTES, THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES, or ASSISTANT TO THE VILLIAN

For YA and Adult specifically, I’d love romance across categories. I’m particular interested in speculative romance, romantic comedy, celebrity romance, and titles that can be compared to IF I STOPPED HAUNTING YOU, DO YOUR WORST, LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS, HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD, and MORBIDLY YOURS

FOR MG and YA, I’d love to see more mysteries that can be compared to SCOOBY DOO, NANCY DREW, and HARDY BOYS. I’d love to see children with swords and dragons, solving mysteries, found families, and magical schools.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I don’t work with non-fiction, poetry, screenplays, picture books, chapter books, covid stories, high sci-fi, and/or religious texts.

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 am a very informal person and I love working with authors who can be just as goofy. You want to love what you do and who you work with.

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 am! We usually do one to two rounds of developmental edits before moving onto line edits. They usually get a “edit letter” which begins as a stream of conscious thoughts while I’m reading (because everyone appreciates funny commentary) and then actionable suggestions to strength plot.

Sometimes this can involve several brainstorming and zoom sessions.

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?

I’m only available for queries via Query Manager. I don’t particularly care about the personalization because I can usually tell why someone is submitting me right off the bat, but I do love a clear and strong voice. I always enjoy when I can see the authors personality coming through.

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

I dislike when someone starts off asking the reader (me in this case) a question! It’s my biggest pet peeve. Another common dislike is when I open the query letter and it tells me nothing about the actual book. It tends to be pages of the author telling me about themselves.

Response Time:

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

According to Query Manager, my reject time is 18 days and my accept rate is 16 days. However, when it comes to reading fulls, this does take a little more time on my end for multiple reasons. Mostly, because I take on mostly fantasy which takes longer to reader. It also varies on how much client work I have at the moment. If there are multiple authors I like, I tend to take on one author at a time, get them their edits, and then come back for another. This can take time.

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 work with a ton of self-published authors! I’ve noticed that there are a lot more agents looking for self-published authors which is fantastic. If you’re self-published, my best advice is to know what you’re looking for first. Do you want to remain independently published but have someone do sub rights only? Are you looking to go traditional? This will determine what agents you would look at. There are agencies that handle sub-rights specific. Someone of my favorites include Brower Literary, Bookcase Literary, and Dropcap.

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Harley Laroux, Jean-Mare Gagliardi, Elvir Belardi, Alex Moran, Amber Clement, Taelor Loftis, Kimberly Imbert, Megan Sajbel, H.D. Carlton, and Kath Roberts. They are feral, fun, and some of my favorite humans in the world.

I also represent individual authors, agencies, and publishers for subsidiary rights specific.

Interviews and Guest Posts:

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

N/A

Links and Contact Info:

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

https://querymanager.com/query/weaverliteraryagency

Additional Advice:

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

It’s those stories that agents and editors are saying “don’t fit” that are going to change someone’s life so don’t give up on them.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Bethany.

Giveaway Details

Bethany 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 July 6th. If your email 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 follow me on Twitter or 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 email 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.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 3rd I have an interview with debut author Amber Chen and a giveaway of her YA mystery fantasy Of Jade and Dragons and my IWSG post

Monday, July 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Rebecca Williamson and a query critique giveaway

Tuesday, July 16th I’m participating in the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop

Monday, July 22nd I have an interview with author Sally Pla and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Invisible Isabel

Monday, July 29th I have any agent spotlight interview with Sheila Fernley and a full picture book or three-chapter MG or YA critique and a one-hour Zoom call giveaway

I hope to see you on Monday!

 

 

 

 

A Bulldog With Football Skin: My Path From Indie to Traditional Publishing by Author M.R. Fournet and Darkness & Demon Song Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have author M.R. Fournet here to share about book 2 in her MG fantasy/horror series, Darkness & Demon Song. It sounds like a creepy fantasy with forbidden spells and an exciting adventure in our world, which I know I’m going to enjoy.

FYI, for the giveaway, one lucky winner can choose which book they want: Book 1, Brick Dust and Bones or Book 2, Darkness & Demon Song.

Here’s a blurb of Darkness & Demon Song from Goodreads:

 

A cemetery-boy-turned-monster-hunter must race against time to save his recently-resurrected mother in Darkness and Demon Song, M.R. Fournet’s eerie middle grade follow up to Brick Dust and Bones.Marius Grey’s mom is back from the dead. After hunting monsters and performing forbidden spells, Marius is just happy she's there, helping him to take care of their Louisiana cemetery again.But it soon becomes clear that something has gone wrong. Marius's mother is growing more distant and strange things start happening around her. Worse yet, sometimes it feels like she’s a completely different person–one who definitely isn’t his mom.If Marius wants to save her, he’s going to need help. Serious help. Good thing he has a flesh-eating mermaid for a best friend and a classmate with extra strong magic. Add in mysterious clues for new hunts, graveyard hopping from Louisiana to Texas, and a tough ex-hunter he doesn’t know if he can trust, and it’s clear that Marius has his work cut out for him.

Now here’s M.R.! 

A Bulldog with Football Skin: My Path from Indie to Traditional Publishing

After writing novels for roughly eighteen years, I’ve learned three definite things I wish I knew before I started:

1.     You don’t need to add two spaces after a period. Forgive us poor folks who learned on typewriters.

2.     The literary world is big enough for everyone.

3.     People love to tell you that it’s not.

In the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing. When I finally went to my first author conference, I learned about the Sisyphean feat of getting an agent and going on submission. It was a difficult path but a straight line, more or less. Meanwhile, those rogue indie authors roamed in the shadows. All of the pros said not to look one in the eye lest you end up like them.

Okay, that’s dramatic. But it was also the vibe back then.

 In reality, the path to publishing more closely resembles a topographical map of Appalachian Trail than a straight line. Unexpectedly triumphant peaks and self loathing valleys. Probably a few dead bodies along the way if you’re a mystery writer. Like a good book, it won’t end the way you’re expecting.

My rejection count is easily in the triple digits if you count agents and editors. I’ve heard varying degrees of “nope” for years. Some unreasonably cruel but most professional. It’s a hazard of the job.

How did I keep going? Well, I’m a bulldog with football skin. Every time I get knocked down, I stand back up and go again.

 The thick skin came from art school. We’d work on a piece for weeks or months. Then, we’d tack them up on the wall for judgement. Taking something you made and putting it on display for everyone to see is terrifying. What you’re really doing is holding it up for everyone to tear down. It’s the same thing with any creative endeavor, including writing.

 The tenacity I learned in school got me an agent. We went on submission, and absolutely nothing happened.

 I stayed sane by writing another book. One I felt passionate about, and when I showed it to my agent, she dropped me. “We can’t sell a book about a little girl who loved Vincent Van Gogh.” I was crushed, but I padded my skin and stood back up.

 That’s when I learned an important lesson. If they turn it down, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. It doesn’t mean there’s not a place for it. When you’re in traditional publishing, it’s all about what they can sell. That is decided by multiple people and for a myriad of reasons. To find the freedom you desire to write your crazy stories, do what I did. Go to an independent press.

 Smaller presses can turn on a dime. With all of today’s tools at their disposal, they can market cheaply and effectively. Print on demand changed the whole game. They can afford to take risks.

 This isn’t to say that I didn’t get rejections there too. I absolutely did. But suddenly, I was getting “yes” as well. That story about the little girl and Vincent Van Gogh won awards, as did my book about Calamity Jane, the real Alice in Wonderland, and Maud Wagner, the first female tattooist in America. My novella that was written backwards garnered me my first starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, and the Indie Author Project awarded me the Best Young Adult Author award in Texas for my book, Manufactured Witches. 

Had I believed that first agent (and all the others), I might have given up on this whole endeavor. But the bulldog with the football skin just kept getting up. I kept writing books. Kept tacking that work on the wall.

 I wanted to move into writing for a younger audience, and I wanted to write horror. Oh, the beauty of experimenting in the indie world! You can add a pen name and try something new. When I wrote Brick Dust and Bones, I had a plan. Shop it around to some agents, and if that didn’t pan out, send it to one of my indie publishers.

That’s when I met my agent, Ben. He loved my work, and we got along immediately. He wasn’t the first agent to say “yes”, but he was the first to say, “If this one doesn’t hit, you can indie publish it and write something else for submission.”

 This floored me. Oh, how much the industry changed in a matter of years.

We went on submission, and low and behold, we found Holly, an editor who loved it too. I got a contract for two books. Suddenly, the bulldog didn’t need the football skin as much. I wasn’t alone in the harsh world anymore. There were people in my corner.

Does that mean traditional publishing is all rainbows and donut sprinkles? No. It’s much more restrictive than the free-flowing indie world. Again, it’s about what they can sell, and I respect that. More people see my work now, and I feel accomplished every day with a team behind me.

I do get depressed every time I think about authors who gave up because of the rejection. Those who didn’t have football skin. To all you out there, maybe your journey will take you to self publishing or indie press publishing. Maybe you’ll find your perfect agent. Maybe you won’t. But don’t give up, little bulldogs. There’s a place here for your books.

About M.R. Fournet

M.R. Fournet's ties to New Orleans are part of her own origin story. As a kid, she would go fishing in South Louisiana and eat crawfish with her family in Houma. She has always been fascinated by the myths and legends of New Orleans. When not writing, she is a professional artist, belly dancer, and autism mom. She now lives in Texas with her husband, son, and ungrateful cats. Brick Dust and Bones was her 2023 middle grade debut and the first book in the Marius Grey series. It is followed by the 2024 release of book two, Darkness and Demon Song. Connect with her on Instagram or her website.

About Brick Dust and Bones, Marius Grey Volume 1

A twelve-year-old cemetery boy and monster hunter–along with his flesh-eating mermaid friend–has to race against the clock to save the ghost of his dead mother in Brick Dust and Bones, M.R. Fournet's magical middle grade debut.

About Darkness and Demon Song, Marius Grey Volume 2

A cemetery-boy-turned-monster-hunter must race against time to save his recently-resurrected mother in Darkness and Demon Song, M.R. Fournet’s eerie middle grade follow up to Brick Dust and Bones.

Giveaway Details

M.R.’s publisher and publicist is generously offering a hardback of Brick Dust and Bones or Darkness and Demon Song, winner’s choice, for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment telling me which book you want by July 6th. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter or follow M.R. on her social media sites, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Wednesday, June 24th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Bethany Weaver

Monday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 3rd I have an interview with debut author Amber Chen and a giveaway of her YA mystery fantasy Of Jade and Dragons and my IWSG post

Monday, July 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Rebecca Williamson and a query critique giveaway

Tuesday, July 16th I’m participating in the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop

Monday, July 22nd I have an interview with author Sally Pla and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Invisible Isabel

Monday, July 29th I have any agent spotlight interview with Sheila Fernley and a full picture book or three-chapter MG or YA critique and a one-hour Zoom call giveaway

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

 

On Juggling Your Writing With a Day Job: Interview With Debut Author Leah Stecher and The Things We Miss Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Leah Stecher here to share about her MG contemporary The Things We Miss. I love that her story includes a magical element, which makes me want to read it even more.

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

J.P. Green has always felt out of step. She doesn't wear the right clothes, she doesn't say the right things, and her body…well, she'd rather not talk about it. And seventh grade is shaping up to be the worst year notorious bully Miranda O'Donnell won't stop offering unsolicited diet advice and her mom keeps trying to turn J.P. into someone she's not.

When J.P. discovers a mysterious door in her neighbor's treehouse, she doesn't hesitate before walking through. The door sends her three days forward in time. Suddenly, J.P. can skip all the worst parts of seventh Fitness tests in P.E., oral book reports, awkward conversations with her mom…she can avoid them all and no one even knows she was gone.

But can you live a life without any of the bad parts? Are there experiences out there that you can't miss?

This moving middle grade novel about mental health, body acceptance, and self-confidence asks what it truly means to show up for the people you love-and for yourself.

Hi Leah! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Hi Natalie! Thank you for having me. Professionally, I was an editor before I became I writer. I’ve always loved books and I love the puzzle-solving element of editing a narrative. I was an editor at the nonfiction publishing imprint Basic Books for about eight years, and I never really thought I would cross to the other side of the desk. But after spending time with so many other talented writers’ voices, I got curious about what my own writing would sound like and slowly revived that childhood dream of writing a book. Cut to about a decade later, and my debut novel THE THINGS WE MISS just came out on May 7!

2. That’s so cool that you started as an editor. Where did you get the idea for The Things We Miss and the door that J.P. goes through?

I originally wanted to write a scifi/fantasy novel—some big galaxy-spanning time travel adventure like the ones I used to love reading when I was in middle school. But even as a reader, I never really resonated with the plucky, brave heroines of those stories. The truth is, I never would have said yes to going on a galaxy-spanning time travel adventure when I was twelve. I would have been way too scared. And when I tried to write that big adventure story, I couldn’t get inside the head of a main character who would be excited to hop on board a spaceship—every time I put pen to paper it felt hollow.

So, in many ways this book started with J.P., who the opposite of that plucky, brave heroine. She is full of self-doubt and feels like everything about her is wrong (from the TV show she loves to the body she exists in). And if that’s your main character, what kind of magical invitation would she say yes to?

Something small. Something easy. Something seemingly without consequences. That’s where the three-day time jump came from. I wanted to keep that original element of time travel but shrank it way, way down. To a kid like J.P., a three day jump doesn’t seem scary—it seems like a wish come true. Of course—spoiler alert—you have to be careful what you wish for.

Your Writing Process and Juggling Writing and a Day Job

3. Were you a panster or a plotter when you wrote The Things We Miss? Has your process changed since you wrote this story?

I’m a plotter, but absolutely the worst and least efficient one you’ve ever met! I think that the point of plotting is to try and work out the kinks of the story before you start writing? Annoyingly, my brain has to see the whole story on the page before I can start to identify what’s wrong with it. Which means that my “process” (which is a generous term for it) is to outline and then write an entire draft, read it through, grimace, and start over from zero. And then do that about three or four times before I get a workable/editable draft. Unfortunately, my process has not changed since writing THE THINGS WE MISS, which I suspect has been a bit of a roller coaster for my poor editor. She keeps offering edits on drafts of my next book and then is surprised when I show up to the next round with essentially a whole new book.

0/10, cannot recommend this process to anyone else.

4. That’s dedication to getting it right to keep starting over like you do. In your bio, you mention that you edit policy papers for an environmental nonprofit as your day job and write middle grade stories at night. What’s your writing schedule like and how do you stay productive in your writing with your day job?

I’m extremely lucky to have a day job that I love that is emotionally fulfilling, provides a steady paycheck, and is also pretty regularly 9-5ish, so I can count on having other hours in my day available to me. To be completely transparent however, I’m pretty sure the secret is to not have kids—I have no idea how my fellow authors with children do it! I’ve built my life in such a way where, for the moment, my time is really my own and I can schedule it exactly as I like. I’m lucky I was able to do that, but it also was a conscious choice. One of the reasons I no longer work in publishing is because it was never a 9-5 job, and I wanted to reclaim those “nonwork” hours for myself.

In the day to day, my writing schedule is weirdly seasonal: in the winter I write after work and in the summer, I write before work. Additionally, I tend to write for a few hours in the morning on the weekends. But I don’t write every day unless I’m actively drafting and am worried about “falling out” of a story.

5. Share how it’s been working with your editor and having stricter deadlines after you signed your publishing contract. What are your tips for revising your book with your editor? How do you think it made The Things We Miss stronger?

My editor, Camille Kellogg at Bloomsbury, is the best! She is an absolute hero, and it was great to have someone come in with fresh eyes. By the time Camille was reading THE THINGS WE MISS, I’d been working on it for years, going through beta readers and critique partners, and then my agent gave me some fantastic edits as well. My brain was absolutely fried when it came to this book. But Camille was reading it for the first time, and she saw so many small things I never would have noticed! I also love edits (probably because I’m an editor myself). And I love that Camille tends to phrase her edits as “here’s something that’s not working and here’s one suggestion of how to fix it—but feel free to come up with a different approach.” Even if I don’t always agree with Camille’s suggestions of how to fix a problem, I have so far always agreed that the problem exists. And I’d much rather Camille point it out now than have a reader stumble over it later.

I think that’s my biggest tip for working with your editor: Remember that you’re on the same side, working toward the same goal of making the book the best it possibly can be. But also remember that it’s your name that goes on the cover. You don’t have to take your editor’s suggestions on how to resolve an issue in your book, as long as you do resolve it.

6. Thanks for the great tip. Writing on a deadline after becoming a published author is scary for many of us aspiring writers, especially when we have a day job like you. Now that you’re a published author, you must be writing a second book on a contract or at least trying to finish a second book quicker that you can try to sell to keep the momentum of your author career going. How are you writing your second book and making it polished enough to submit to your agent and publisher in a year or less when you only have evenings and weekends to write?

It’s hard! I was lucky enough to get a two-book deal with Bloomsbury and we’re hoping to publish the second book in May 2025-ish (a year after THE THINGS WE MISS comes out). I’d heard other authors talk about how hard it is to write under deadline after having all the time in the world to spend drafting your debut, but I didn’t really understand it until I was trying to cram my (awful, horrible, unwieldy) writing process into just a few months. I’ve had to be much more disciplined about creating timelines and sticking to them. After I finish a draft, I need to step away from the manuscript for a few days (preferably a few weeks) before I can go back in and start revising, so I’ve had to be smart about accounting for that down time when I think about what deadlines are realistic. Especially in the runup to the launch of THE THINGS WE MISS where my time and attention was going toward events and publicity, it was tough to focus on the next project. I had to ask for an extension on the last round of revisions and was grateful that my editor was willing to give it.

Your Road to Publication

7. Sam Farkas is your agent. Share how she became your agent and what your road to getting a publishing contract was like?

I got so lucky with Sam! THE THINGS WE MISS was the second project I queried. Sam had requested a full of my first novel and ultimately sent me a very kind rejection asking that I be sure to query her with any new projects in the future. I went back to her when I started querying THE THINGS WE MISS, and she was very quick to request a full and then offered representation. I believe we did one or two rounds of revisions to the manuscript before we went on submission.

8. How long did you go on submission before you sold The Things We Miss? Was there anything in the process that surprised you?

I was on submission for over a year before I sold THE THINGS WE MISS, and honestly was giving up hope! But my agent, Sam Farkas, never did. She believed the right editor was out there—and we kept getting very thoughtful and kind rejections that didn’t give us any reason to believe there was something wrong with the manuscript itself. It’s funny, Camille wasn’t even at Bloomsbury when we first went on submission. Sam sent it to her after she started her new job at Bloomsbury Children’s, and the rest is history.

Promoting Your Book

9. It’s great that your agent didn’t give up hope on trying to sell your manuscript. How are you celebrating the release of your book and marketing your book in general? What advice do you have for other authors about marketing their debut book, especially if they have another career like you do?

I had an event on for publication date at my local bookstore in Portland, Maine, and then another one at a bookstore in NYC the following weekend. I also bought myself a cake—just for me!

When it comes to marketing, I’m aware that I’m not hustling to market/promote my book the way that I see so many really smart and creative authors doing these days, and it’s hard not to compare and wonder if I should be doing more. But the honest answer is that when it comes to marketing THE THINGS WE MISS, I’m mostly relying on my publisher. I’ve been posting on social media as I’m able, but the truth is that doing proper self-marketing would require time and effort (and creativity! and skill!) that I just don’t have. I’m lucky that that is so far an acceptable answer, both to Bloomsbury and also for my genre/age group. With Middle Grade/KidLit, we’re not really marketing directly to our readers—we’re trying to reach the gatekeepers (teachers, librarians, parents, etc). And that’s something that I trust Bloomsbury to have more of an entry point into than I would.

10. You’re a member of the 2024 Debuts. How did you connect with this group and how has it helped you navigate being a debut author?

I got connected to the 2024 Debuts through a Facebook group for querying authors. My understanding is that these debut year groups really gained traction during the pandemic, and now exist for most upcoming debut years. The 2024 Debuts is for traditionally published authors debuting (or debuting in a new genre) in 2024, across publishers and across genres. What I’ve loved about being in contact with this fantastic group of writers is that I’ve gotten to see how the debut process is playing out for folks in other genres or at other houses, and it’s given me a much more expansive picture of what the debut experience can be. I’m encountering folks who are lead titles with six-figure deals and midlist authors with modest advances, and we’re all stressing about similar things. Being in a group like that makes the whole process feel less solitary, and you have a whole hivemind of fellow authors to check your fears and questions against. People have—with a few notable exceptions—been extremely supportive and kind, and celebratory of everyone’s wins.

11. What are you working on now?

I’m working on another middle grade novel, similarly contemporary but with a speculative twist. Keep an eye out for it in Spring 2025!

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Leah. You can find Leah on Instagram at @l.stech and at leahstecherbooks.com.

Giveaway Details

Leah is generously offering a hardback of The Things We Miss for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by June 29th. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter or follow Leah on her social media sites, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, June 22nd I have a guest post by author M.R. Fournet and a giveaway of her MG fantasy Darkness & Demon Song

Wednesday, June 24th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Bethany Weaver

Monday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 3rd I have an interview with debut author Amber Chen and a giveaway of her YA mystery fantasy Of Jade and Dragons and my IWSG post

Monday, July 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Rebecca Williamson and a query critique giveaway

I hope to see you on Monday!

 

Dad-o-mite Giveaway Hop

 

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I'm excited to participate in the Dad-O-Mite Giveaway Hop hosted by MamatheFox. I hope you're enjoying your summer and are leaving more time to read. I sure am, and I have so many books I always want to read.

 Book of Your Choice or Amazon Gift Card

I am offering a book of your choice that is $20 or less on Amazon or The Book Depository. I’m looking forward to seeing what books everyone is looking forward to reading. If you don’t have a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

 Giveaway Details

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by June 30th telling me whether you want a book, and if so, which one, or the Amazon gift card and your email address. Be sure to include your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. only and the Amazon gift card giveaway is International.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, June 17th I have an interview with debut author Leah Stecher and a giveaway of her MG magical realism The Things We Miss

Monday, June 22nd I have a guest post by author M.R. Fournet and a giveaway of her MG fantasy Darkness & Demon Song

Wednesday, June 24th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Bethany Weaver

Monday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 3rd I have an interview with debut author Amber Chen and a giveaway of her YA mystery fantasy Of Jade and Dragons and my IWSG post

Monday, July 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Rebecca Williamson and a query critique giveaway

I hope to see you on Monday!

MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Literary Agent Interview: Jenna Satterthwaite Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

 

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Jenna Satterthwaite here. She’s an associate literary agent at Storm Literary Agency.

Hi­ Jenna! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Jenna:

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

Hi Natalie, and thanks for having me! I joined Storm in January 2024, and I opened to queries in February. Since then, I’ve been going through a windfall of incredible queries and trying to find those manuscripts that make my heart go pitter-pat. I have signed my first clients and feeling very lucky that I’m in the middle of negotiating my first contract for a client (not announced yet but hopefully soon)!

My journey to becoming an agent came from the authoring side. I’ve been writing for close to ten years, and I signed with an agent (Lauren Bieker from FinePrint) after about 4 years in the query trenches. After working with Lauren over many manuscripts and many years, we finally signed my debut thriller, Made for You, in a 2-book deal with Mira/HarperCollins (yay!), and shortly after, sold another thriller, Beach Bodies, to Transworld/PRH UK (double yay!). It was through working with Lauren, writing book after book, researching editors, watching the market, fine-tuning our pitches, etc. that I realized—I actually think I might love the agenting side of things as well as the authoring side! Not to mention, I’ve been in sales through my various day jobs for 20 years, so I am all about crafting the perfect pitch, targeting the right people, and doing all the nitty gritty work of contracts. It was when I was contemplating my 40^th birthday and evaluating my life (as one does) that I realized, “I should go for this.” I found an internship, then another internship, and was very lucky to land a position as Associate Literary Agent with Storm this year. For anyone interested, the longer version of the story is on my Substack newsletter, which you can subscribe to for free (http://jennasatterthwaite.substack.com)!

About the Agency:

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

Storm is one of those incredible agencies that offers more than what I’ve seen is standard out there. We have a lovely marketing person, Heidi Vance, who we offer as a (free) additional resource to our authors. We have an amazing foreign rights team and are bringing on someone who specializes in merchandising rights as well. We work as a team, so authors are getting not only the expertise of one agent, but multiple agents with decades of collective experience. We also have a contracts lawyer who is an extra set of eyes on our contracts as we go through all the negotiation steps. We like to be thorough!

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?

All age groups, and most genres! It’s honestly easier to say what I’m not looking for—erotica, hardcore gory horror, and military SFF. I’m looking for nearly all commercial genres. I’m an omnivorous reader, and I would love to represent authors across a broad swath of ages and genres. For picture books, my experience is much more limited though, so at this time I’m only accepting queries from author/illustrators in a narrow range of focuses. My complete submission wish list is on the Storm website:

That said, I’m looking for projects that make me feel. If you make me cry, or give me goosebumps, whether it’s through an epic fantasy battle scene, a lover’s reunion in a romance, or a dark twist in a thriller, we are onto something. I’m also looking to sign authors who are willing to revise and are simultaneously passionate about what they’ve created and not precious about their words; authors who know that perseverance and tenacity through rejection is the name of the game. It’s just the reality of publishing.

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

Within the adult nonfiction space, I’d love to find a book by a death doula or hospice nurse. After losing my sister to cancer, my eyes really opened in terms of what’s possible in the dying process, and alternative ways families can either celebrate or grieve. I’d love to represent that project.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

Erotica, hardcore horror and gore, and military SFF. Alternately, if your book has already been self-published, it would be very hard to pitch to editors unless it’s been a runaway success. However, I’d love to represent self-published authors on their new work!

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 see the author-agent relationship as a partnership. There has to be mutual respect, and willingness to listen to each other. I would never force an author, for example, to make a change in their manuscript that they don’t want to make. However, I would be honest with them about elements that might make it harder to sell. I’m excited to collaborate with authors during revisions, and be their advocate during the submission process and beyond!

I want to represent authors over the course of their careers, not just for a single book. I want to put books on the shelves that introduce new viewpoints, highlight marginalized perspectives; books that instruct, and books that entertain, and everything in between.

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?

Yes! I would say I follow the progression an editor would: first, a big-picture developmental edit. Rinse and repeat until any pacing or plot of other issues are resolved and everything flows. The final step would be a line edit. Revisions are my jam, both as an author and as an agent; I love helping shape the ‘raw material’ of a first draft into its best possible shape.

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?

In your query letter, tell me up front the age group, genre, and word count of your project, and ideally (not required, though) give me at least 2 comps that were published in the last 5 or so years (though I do also love getting a book comp and a movie or show comp!).

The pitch for your manuscript should read like a book jacket; in fact, you can study book jackets to help you write a better query! I love it when a pitch starts with a log line—that’s always an attention grabber (though also not required!), and then proceeds into the protagonist/setting/antagonist/stakes.

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

I’d just say, keep your query letter professional and confident! First pages should be super polished, and if you’re the only one who has ever set eyes on them, I highly encourage you to find a beta reader or critique partner. There are always things we simply can’t see ourselves.

Response Time:

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

I try to respond to queries within 3 months. Ditto for full manuscripts—if you haven’t heard after 12 weeks (from the full requests), please nudge! I strive to be as fast as possible but there is SO much talent out there, and I receive SO many queries, that it’s just not realistic to answer everything as speedily as I’d like!

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?

Absolutely! Just share what you’ve previously done in your bio, and make sure you’re querying a “fresh” (previously unpublished) manuscript!

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Kalla Harris, Ashley Tropea, Anna Carew, Colleen Alles, Kate Stapleton, and Taylor Leamey! My list is growing though, so stay tuned…

Interviews and Guest Posts:

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

You can subscribe to my Substack (http://jennasatterthwaite.substack.com), and check out my full wishlist here:

https://www.stormliteraryagency.com/submission-guidelines

https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/jenna-satterthwaite/

I’m also pretty active on Twitter and Instagram, so come find me!

Links and Contact Info:

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

Query me on QueryManager: https://querymanager.com/query/Jenna_S

Twitter: @jennaschmenna

Insta: @jenna.satterthwaite.author

Facebook: jenna.satterthwaite.author

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-satterthwaite-61136710a/

TikTok: @jennaschmenna

Additional Advice:

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

Honestly, try to enjoy writing for your own sake. Publishing is a brutal industry. It’s okay to feel beaten up by it, but if you can find joy and satisfaction in the work and the process (while still having those publishing ambitions!) that will help you in the long term. Promise! (From someone who’s been through it!)

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Jenna.

Giveaway Details

­Jenna 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 June 22nd. If your email 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 follow me on Twitter or 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 email 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.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Sunday, June 16th I’m participating in the Dad-o-mite Giveaway Hop

Monday, June 17th I have an interview with debut author Leah Stecher and a giveaway of her MG magical realism The Things We Miss

Monday, June 22nd I have a guest post by author M.R. Fournet and a giveaway of her MG fantasy Darkness & Demon Song

Wednesday, June 24th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Bethany Weaver

Monday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 3rd I have an interview with debut author Amber Chen and a giveaway of her YA mystery fantasy Of Jade and Dragons and my IWSG post

Monday, July 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Rebecca Williamson and a query critique giveaway

I hope to see you on Sunday!