Literary Agent Interview: Jim Averbeck Interview

 Today I’m thrilled to have agent Jim Averbeck here. He’s an agent at East West Literary Agency.

Hi Jim! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Jim:

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

I announced my agency on Sept 17, 2024. So I have not been at it very long at all. Up to this point I have been reading through queries looking for stories that interest or intrigue me. About 25% of the queries I have read have resulted in a request for full manuscripts. I imagine I am being more open than many agents at this point because I am building a stable of clients.

About the Agency:

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

East West Literary Agency is a long established agency. It is a boutique agency with a very select group of clients. Agency founder Deborah Warren has represented some heavy hitters in the industry, including Newbery winner Kwami Alexander and best-selling franchises Pete the Cat by James Dean and Llama, Llama by Anna Dewdney. Authors should know that agencies pre-negotiate boiler plate contracts with publishers that is the starting point for any agency client. So agencies with heavy hitters have more clout to get better terms on those boiler plates.

What He’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 do picture books, MG and YA. At this time I am only accepting author/illustrators for picture books. It’s an economic reason for that and I hope, once I am more established, to be able to represent authors of picture books. (Especially since I am one myself.)

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

Books that:
•    Help kids develop critical thinking skills (in a non-didactic way, of course)
•    Speak on how to resist authoritarianism (eg Little Brother by Cory Doctorow)
•    Take big ideas and make them digestible for the targeted age group (eg Sophie’s World  by Jostein Gaarder)
•    Feature whip-smart protagonists (eg Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card)
•    Emphasize kindness and empathy (eg The Other Side by Jaqueline Woodson)

What He Isn’t Looking For:

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

Most types of romance or romantasy. I mean it’s absolutely fine if the characters have love interests in the story, but if the main plot is about a girl choosing between two boys to find fulfillment, you’ll want to find another agent.

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?

This question is partially answered in the “what I am looking for” question. But I’d add that, insofar as authors are concerned, and being one myself, I think the best of us are constantly looking for ways to make our story better – even after it is published and well-received! If you are an author who thinks your book is perfect as-is, we might not be a good fit. But if you want a dialogue on making your story the best it can be, we might be a match.

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 am a very editorial agent. The process varies depending on the author and the story, but basically I work from big, foundational issues toward a final, detailed polish.

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?

To query me, go to jimaverbeck.com and click the “agenting” menu item. Read through that page to see what I am interested in, then if your work seems to fit, click the query form button and fill out the form it takes you to.

As for query letters, there must be one prominent teacher out there whose thoughts on query letters have influenced a lot of writers. I say this because so many query letters I get seem to follow the same exact format and wording. They get hard to differentiate. The format is fine as far as it goes, but I’d love to hear something about who you, the author, are. What makes you or your story unique?

9.  Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?
Not really. I mentioned the standard format people use above, but I don’t dislike it. Just add something to make me see you as an individual. One query recently contained a self-effacing joke about the author’s work which made me laugh out loud and want to really see what this guy had to say in his books.

Response Time:

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

6-8 weeks to ask for full manuscripts, then an additional 8 weeks to respond to full manuscripts.  That’s an average. Sometimes a work gets on the “maybe” pile, or has some unique circumstances that I need to think about and those could take longer. So don’t despair if it takes beyond my average. It means I am giving your work more consideration.

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?

Yes.  The advice for them is the same as for any author – find someone who likes the kind of things you write. And remember this can be a lifetime commitment so you better like them. (Obviously you can fire your agent – but if you have sold a book together you will always have some connection.)

If their self-published book has had extraordinary sales, they may want to mention that, of course.

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I’ve just started out so my client list is small but mighty. My first client is Ellen Hopkins, best-selling novelist of Crank, Identical, Smoke – close to 2 dozen books. I have another client who just accepted, but I think I will need to await the official agency announcement before passing that on.

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.

I don’t really have any at the moment. I don’t tend to pass my time on the internet.

Links and Contact Info:

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

To query me, go to jimaverbeck.com and click the “agenting” menu item. Read through that page to see what I am interested in, then if your work seems to fit, click the query submission button and fill out the form it takes you to.

Additional Advice:

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

Understand that this business is very hard to break into. The odds are about the same as making it into the NBA.

And be yourself -- just be yourself.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Jim.

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, February 24th I have an agent spotlight interview with Reiko Davis and a query critique giveaway

Saturday, March 1st I’m participating in the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, March 5th I have a guest post by debut author Angie Dickinson and a giveaway of her YA Truth Cursed

Monday, March 10th I have an interview with author Angie Millington and a giveaway of her MG Once for Yes

Sunday, March 16th I’m participating in the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop

Monday, March 17th I have an interview with debut author Carol Baldwin and a giveaway of her upper MG/YA Half Truths

I hope to see you on Monday!