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!