Literary Agent Interview: Erica McGrath Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Erica McGrath here. She’s a junior agent at Writers House.

Hi­ Erica! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Erica:

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

I’ve always been deeply curious about how things get made (part of why I went to art school!), the people and creators behind the art/object itself, and interested in the creative process from A to Z. You walk into a bookstore and take a book off the shelf…well, how did it get there? As an agent, I get to work with authors at the very start of the publishing process (but certainly not the start of an author’s creative process!), so that interest in the early stages and the eventual transformation led me to apply to the Writers House internship…and I’ve been lucky enough to be at Writers House ever since!

About the Agency:

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

Writers House is a full-service literary agency (including our contracts, film/tv, and global licensing departments) with a long and impressive history of agents helping authors push their books out into the world. It’s a very special place dedicated to building and fostering long-term relationships with our clients. That kind of bond, one where we support a client for the lifetime of their career, makes this work especially rewarding. But more than that, I’ve been at Writers House for a little over six years now, and I still find myself deeply in awe of my colleagues, supervisors, and our clients. It’s a strange and wonderful feeling that I get to show up to work every day and be surrounded by passionate, book-loving, individuals dedicated to their craft, and every day I’m still endlessly inspired and surprised by their work. And it’s completely contagious! In that kind of ambitious, collaborative, and successful environment you just want to push yourself to be the very best agent that you can to help your authors flourish.

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’m looking to acquire books across the spectrum, both in genre and age group! I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside two senior agents—Stephen Barr and Susan Cohen—who both have equally diverse and broad tastes (especially in the children’s market) which has been encouraging and informative to my own work. So please send me your picture books, middle grade, young adult, graphic novels, and adult (literary and non-fiction!) Voice and character driven works are key for me, and I’m always looking for something fresh, weird, and transformative.

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

I want to be surprised, usually the thing I end up loving the most is precisely because it catches me off guard…something I didn’t even know I was looking for in the first place. That process of discovery is what makes this work so exciting. But I know that’s vague and unhelpful in technical terms for querying authors, so I’d encourage authors and illustrators to review my MSWL or Publisher’s Marketplace.

https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/erica-mcgrath/

https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/emcgrath/

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I’m game to consider just about everything that makes me see the world a little sharper, clearer, and weirder.

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?

To see and be seen! Sharing your art, writing, and thoughts with another person is an extremely vulnerable experience, so I don’t take my position as an agent, (the person often on the frontlines as the first receiver of such dreams), for granted. I want to make sure that the creators I assist know that I’m there for them at every turn of the book making process. Ultimately, my hope is that the books I help put out into the world will be received with the same amount of love and care that I know went into making them.

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 indeed! The editorial process is my favorite part of the job. When I give feedback, I always aim to speak to the author’s vision and intent, not to change or overrule it with my own ideas. We’ll go back and forth until we both feel the project is ready to be submitted to editors. That kind of collaboration is intensely personal so there’s a great deal of trust involved at every turn.

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?

By email! As with the manuscript itself, I’m looking to be charmed and disarmed. A great query should be short, consistent, and most importantly, reflective of the author’s voice. I’m honored and excited by anyone that considers me for representation (truly!), so every query that arrives in my inbox feels like a gift, but that doesn’t mean the query needs to be filled with frillings and confetti. I’m delighted purely by the consistency and honesty of an author’s voice. Narrative works should include the first ten pages, and picture book or graphic projects should include the entire text, dummy, and/or link to the creator’s portfolio emailed to emcgrath@writershouse.com.

You can read more about my guidelines at https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/emcgrath/

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

A query letter that includes a long and detailed synopsis. While I’m still evaluating the writing with my agent-editor hat on, I arrive at each query first and foremost as a reader. I want to experience the story as it’s meant to be consumed for the first time. (Cheat sheets aside!)

Response Time:

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

It varies, I do my best to respond within 8 weeks. Sometimes it might be 2 seconds. I review and reply to every query but please understand that this takes 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?

Heck yes. If self-published or small press authors query me, then I’d just want to know more about their history leading up to their search for an agent, and what they’re hoping to gain from an agent-author relationship. Choosing to self-publish is just another option in the vast publishing landscape, though it does usually mean that an author ends up spinning 100 plates on their own. (Negotiating contracts, reading royalty statements, self-editing their own work, etc.) Agents are here to help take about 50% of those plates off their hands, so they can focus (and fully enjoy!) spinning the 50% that matter most, writing and making the book :-)

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I recently started working with the kindest human alive, Hannah Bess Ross, illustrator and picture book author extraordinaire. I’d recommend following Hannah’s work if you’ve ever desired to get lost on a whimsical and slightly-hair raising walk in the woods.

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.

Here’s an interview I did earlier this year with Kathy Temean. (Kathy is a wonderful advocate to authors!)

But I’ll just use this space to shout out to two of my favorite newsletters! (Solely from a fan-girl perspective!)

Lian Cho’s AM I DOING THIS RIGHT?

It feels like Christmas day when Lian’s newsletter floats into my inbox. I’m especially grateful to any creator that allows us the privilege to peek around the curtain into their creative process, and Lian is extra generous with sharing her sketches, ruminations, and process in making children’s books! And she’s just seriously, seriously, funny.

SCARY COOL SAD GOODBYE

America’s #1 (immaculate) vibes-based newsletter. It’s all in the name but, woof, Meaghan Garvey’s writing is on another level. This cycle of Meaghan’s newsletter is currently dedicated to documenting her summer road-trip through the Midwest; her appreciation for Americana, and the nooks and crannies of life on the road is absolutely magnetic. Reading her work feels much in the same as pulling up a chair next to a stranger at a bar and immediately falling deep into conversation about nothing and everything all at once.

Links and Contact Info:

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

Please note that I’ve temporarily closed my queries for the month of August (2024!) to catch up on all the wonderful submissions that have already reached my inbox! I’ll be opening back up to queries again in September, so please check back on my Publisher’s Marketplace page for the most up-to-date news and information: https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/emcgrath/

Queries can be sent to emcgrath@writershouse.com

You can also read more about my submission guidelines and my book dreams over at 

https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/erica-mcgrath/

Additional Advice:

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

I’m going to quote Victoria Johnson’s writing advice from this wonderful interview she did with LitHub after her book, American Eden, was nominated for the National Book Award https://lithub.com/meet-national-book-award-finalist-victoria-johnson/

“When you are writing a biography about someone, figure out the most important relationships in that person’s life—and write the story of those relationships. People are fascinated by watching humans interacting. Will they love each other? Hate each other? Snipe behind one another’s backs? Reconcile after falling out? I am so grateful I got this advice from one of the country’s greatest biographers before I started writing American Eden.”

Of course, I don’t find this advice to be exclusive to just biographies or non-fiction. It sounds basic and obvious to say but writing that examines human relationships tends to be the most compelling. (At least to me!) Speaking of relationships (if you’ll allow me to pivot from the technical to the social), it’s important for authors to find communities and safe spaces to share their writing. Whether joining a writing group or having someone you trust review your work, hearing from other perspectives other than your own will only strengthen your work and practice.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Erica.

Giveaway Details

­Erica 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 August 24th. 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

Friday, August 16th I’m participating in the Old School Giveaway Hop

Monday, August 19th I have an interview with author Julie Abe and a giveaway of her MG Tessa Miyata Is So Unlucky

Monday, August 26th I have a guest post by debut author A.Y. Chan and a giveaway of her MG The Legendary Mo Seto

Wednesday, September 4th I have an interview with author Natalie Lloyd and a giveaway of her MG The Witching Wind and my IWSG post

Saturday, September 7th I’m participating in the Holiday Kick Off Giveaway Hop

Monday, September 9th I have an agent spotlight interview with Alex Brown and a query critique giveaway

Monday, September 16th I have an interview with debut author Callie Miller and a giveaway of her MG The Search for the Shadowsoul

I hope to see you on Friday!