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5 agents I decided to query:
Agency: Herman Agency
Agent's blog: Jill Corcoran Books
Twitter account: @JillCorcoran
What caught my attention: Looking for "MG ADVENTURE that is not episodic and where the main character is as imperative to the story as the action. A character who readers will want to follow into the clutches of death and back again."
Submit: Query + 10 pages. Per her tweet, "For every query sent to queryjillcorcoran@gmail.com u will receive an auto-response that I received it and a pass or please send full email." Love that! I truly respect agents that still take the time to respond even when not interested.
Interviews & Information:
Casey McCormick
Hunger Mountain
SCBWI
Some of the authors she represents:
(see a list of her recent deals here)
Angela Ackerman (The Emotion Thesaurus) - MG
Jessica Love
Brent Watson
Beck McDowell
Lori Ann Stephens
Angela Townsend - MG
Bart King - MG
Robin Mellom - MG
Sherry Shahan - MG
Ralph Fletcher - MG
Anastasia Suen - MG
Erin Fry - MG
Kelly Milner Halls - MG
Agency: Curtis Brown
Agent's page: Anna Webman
Twitter account: @awebman
What caught my attention: Anna represents a range of young adult, middle-grade, and picture-book authors and illustrators, published and new, working to help them build successful publishing careers.
Submit: a synopsis and the first ten pages
Interviews & Information:
Casey McCormick
QueryTracker
A View from the Top
Some of the authors she represents:
Jenny Goebel
Karen Johnston - MG
Natalie Whipple
Erin Eitter Kono
Mary Jane Auch - MG (I love her books!)
Rebecca Barnhouse - MG
Liz Conrad
Liz Goulet Dubois
Dandi Daley Mackall - MG
Leslie Muirs
Kim Thacker - MG
Agency: Andrea Brown Lit
Agent's website: Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch (her picture book)
Twitter account: @jenrofe
What caught my attention: Middle grade is Jennifer's soft spot and she's open to all genres in this category, especially the tender or hilarious. She is always looking for fresh and distinct voices; stories that simultaneously tug at her heartstrings and make her laugh out loud; and "adorkable" heroes.
Submit: query letter and first ten pages
Interviews & Information:
Casey McCormick
The Brown Bookshelf
Middle Grade Ninja
Shannon Messenger
Some of the authors she represents:
Kathryn Fitzmaurice - MG Writer
Barry Wolverton - MG Writer
Nick James
Samantha Vamos
Meg Medina
Crystal Allen - MG Writer
Lauren Strasnick
Mike Boldt
(previously Natalie Fischer)
Agency: Bradford Literary
Agent's blog: Adventures in Agent Land
Twitter account: @Natalie_Lakosil
What caught my attention: I remember Natalie from WriteOnCon 2010. She was very friendly and helpful. So is her blog! Gold mine of information. I'm adding it to the resource list on my blog.
Submit: query letter, first chapter, and synopsis. Approximate response time: 2 to 4 weeks.
Interviews & Information:
Casey McCormick
Middle Grade Ninja
Mother. Write. (Repeat.)
Let the Words Flow
Some of the authors she represents:
(See complete list on her blog)
Amy Alexander
Julie Eshbaugh
Jessica Souders
Rachel Mercaldo
Sarah Olutola
Natalie Zaman
Charlotte Bennardo
Sarah Page
Laura Preble
Stephanie Faris - MG
Justin Matott - MG
Roseanne Greenfield Thong
Kitty Griffin
Tamara Hughes
Liz Kreger
Cathy Pegau
Monique Domovitch
Heather Wigton
Agency: The Strothman Agency
Agent's blog: Strothman Agency Blog
Twitter account: @BostonBookGirl
What caught my attention: She is currently especially drawn to YA and MG projects with humorous situations, funny characters, a lovely romance or a great voice.
Drawback: All emails received will be responded to with an auto-reply. If we have not replied to your query within six weeks, we do not feel that it is right for us. [I hate that! I would take a form rejection any time over a no-reply.]
Submit: query letter, synopsis, 2-10 pages
Interviews & Information:
Casey McCormick
GalleyCat
Mother. Write. (Repeat.)
Some of the authors she represents:
Bria Quinlan
Jodi Meadows
Valerie Cole
Robert Lettrick
Monica B.W.
Sashi Kaufman
Hélène Boudreau - MG
Helaine Becker - MG
Kathryn Miles
Christopher White
Lizzie Friend
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2 agents I can't query:
Agency: Curtis Brown
Twitter account: @Ginger_Clark
Drawback: Swears on twitter. Ugh! Not a good match for me. I could overlook that, but there are two other agents I'm considering from the same agency, so it makes it easier to decide.
Agency: Curtis Brown
Agent's page: Laura Blake Peterson
Twitter account: (not on twitter)
What caught my attention: She lives in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. A Jersey girl, like me!
Drawback: Not on twitter, no website, and no blog. How can I learn more about her?
Submit: query letter, synopsis, sample chapter, and brief resume
Interviews & Information:
Writer's Digest
Hooked on Romance
Some of the authors she represents:
8 comments:
You sure do your research well, and I think that's half the battle. Wishing you the very best luck in querying! :-)
This is great! Thanks for sharing :)
I'm enjoying how your research dovetails mine, Annie. This must be a recent tweet by Jill C, though. I queried her a few months back and she was a non-responder then. I didn't hear back.
Researching agents is almost as much work as writing a book. I can't believe how much goes into it. And it is really hard to know if you/your book is a fit for a certain agent when they don't have a website and it's hard to find any information about it.
Great list though. There's a few I'm thinking of querying as well, though on the YA side of things.
What a helpful post. It looks like you are very thorough. Best of luck finding an agent. :)
~Jess
Thanks, everyone, for your comments! :)
Marcia, yes, it was a recent tweet. It surprised me because I remember there was a big debate on her blog not long ago about her "no response means no" policy. I guess she found a way to respond to all queries, which is awesome. I like it a lot better when they let us know it's been rejected so we can move on.
Janeal, I agree, it's a lot of work. But I enjoy doing the research. I connected with a lot of awesome writers on twitter by doing this, and I'm learning a lot about what agents are looking for. Good luck with your querying!
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