Erica Verrillo's Blog, page 96

When to Stop Sending Queries to Agents

After you've sent out a few dozen queries to literary agents, and either not received a response from any of them, or gotten polite form rejections designed to soothe your pain while simultaneously increasing it, it's time to either hunker down or make a new plan.

(Frankly, it's better to get an email that says your work is "unreadable, unmarketable, and unpublishable," rather than a bland "Your story does not fit into our list, right now." At least you get to work up some righteous indignation.)

The other day I ran across an article on Writer's Digest by Kristi Belcamino - "Don’t Give Up Until You’ve Queried 80 Agents Or More." The article inspired me to get into my files and look up how many rejections I had received: 140. I clearly have a lot more work to do if I'm going to fulfill my New Year's resolution.

Kristi has given writers four pointers:

1. Perseverance. Be stubborn and refuse to ever give up.

2. Work. Cultivate a constant desire to improve as a writer. This means putting words, lots and lots of words, on paper. This also involves studying the craft of writing and reading as much as you can as often as possible. 

3. Teflon Mentality. Develop a force field to deflect ego-smashing rejections. It is crucial to have the ability to effectively handle rejection, letting them bounce off you, and not allowing them to stop you from plugging away. (See #2 Work.) 

4. Patience. Here’s a little secret — the world of publishing runs on a completely alternate universe concept of time. Tired of waiting to hear back from an agent or publisher or editor? Grab a beer and put your feet up.

If you keep all of the above in mind, and, in Ray Bradbury's words, "Write like hell!" I'm sure you can beat my record. (Although, you may not beat C. S. Lewis'. Click here for his truly astonishing number of rejections.)

That being said, you should keep in mind that the lines are increasingly becoming blurred between traditional publishing and self-publishing. Because of the dramatic success of Fifty Shades of Grey and Wool, publishers are beginning to accept works that have been previously epublished. Some agents are seeing the writing on the wall as well.

What this means for you, as a writer who does not want to go fifty shades of gray waiting for an agent to call, is that you can do both. If you've given it all you've got, don't grab a beer - design a cover, and publish.

Hugh Howey: Why the Decision to Not Self-Publish is "Fatal"

Should you self-publish? The answer, according to Hugh Howey, is a resounding YES!! In fact, you'd have to be crazy not to.

A few days ago, Howey published an author earnings report that was eye-popping. After crunching the data on 7,000 bestselling e-books on Amazon, he not only discovered that Amazon was doing better than the Big Five, the authors were earning more as well.

This article contains great information about the financial side of self-publishing (with nice graphs and charts!). But not everyone agrees with the conclusions Howey draws. Digital Book World's survey appears to contradict the claim that self-published authors are earning more than those following the traditional route.

(Read survey results HERE.)

You should keep in mind that the data drawn from this sample was for Amazon books only. Amazon is quite successful at marketing its own books, which means ebooks from other publishers will not receive the same amount of publicity. This is also data taken from the authors themselves. Self-reporting is not the best means of collecting data, and neither are data drawn over a short period of time. (For an excellent critique of the Author Earnings Report by Sunita, click HERE.)

While it would be wonderful to have a clear-cut answer to the question "Should I self-publish?" it still comes down to weighing pros and cons. If you are impatient and want complete control over your book, then self-publish. If you are willing to wait, and want the pedigree and editorial guidance of a publisher's imprint, take the traditional route. 

If you want a lot of money, go to law school.
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Author Earnings Report

Written by: Hugh Howey

It’s no great secret that the world of publishing is changing. What is a secret is how much. Is it changing a lot? Has most of the change already happened? What does the future look like?

The problem with these questions is that we don’t have the data that might give us reliable answers. Distributors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble don’t share their e-book sales figures. At most, they comment on the extreme outliers, which is about as useful as sharing yesterday’s lottery numbers [link]. A few individual authors have made their sales data public, but not enough to paint an accurate picture. We’re left with a game of connect-the-dots where only the prime numbers are revealed. What data we do have often comes in the form of surveys, many of which rely on extremely limited sampling methodologies and also questionable analyses [link].

This lack of data has been frustrating. If writing your first novel is the hardest part of becoming an author, figuring out what to do next runs a close second. Manuscripts in hand, some writers today are deciding to forgo six-figure advances in order to self-publish [link]. Are they crazy? Or is signing away lifetime rights to a work in the digital age crazy? It’s hard to know.

Anecdotal evidence and an ever more open community of self-published authors have caused some to suggest that owning one’s rights is more lucrative in the long run than doing a deal with a major publisher. What used to be an easy decision (please, anyone, take my book!) is now one that keeps many aspiring authors awake at night. As someone who has walked away from incredible offers (after agonizing mightily about doing so), I have longed for greater transparency so that up-and-coming authors can make better-informed decisions. I imagine established writers who are considering their next projects share some of these same concerns.

Other entertainment industries tout the earnings of their practitioners. Sports stars, musicians, actors—their salaries are often discussed as a matter of course. This is less true for authors, and it creates unrealistic expectations for those who pursue writing as a career. Now with every writer needing to choose between self-publishing and submitting to traditional publishers, the decision gets even more difficult. We don’t want to screw up before we even get started.

When I faced these decisions, I had to rely on my own sales data and nothing more. Luckily, I had charted my daily sales reports as my works marched from outside the top one million right up to #1 on Amazon. Using these snapshots, I could plot the correlation between rankings and sales. It wasn’t long before dozens of self-published authors were sharing their sales rates at various positions along the lists in order to make author earnings more transparent to others [link] [link]. Gradually, it became possible to closely estimate how much an author was earning simply by looking at where their works ranked on public lists [link].

This data provided one piece of a complex puzzle. The rest of the puzzle hit my inbox with a mighty thud last week. I received an email from an author with advanced coding skills who had created a software program that can crawl online bestseller lists and grab mountains of data. All of this data is public—it’s online for anyone to see—but until now it’s been extremely difficult to gather, aggregate, and organize. This program, however, is able to do in a day what would take hundreds of volunteers with web browsers and pencils a week to accomplish. The first run grabbed data on nearly 7,000 e-books from several bestselling genre categories on Amazon. Subsequent runs have looked at data for 50,000 titles across all genres. You can ask this data some pretty amazing questions, questions I’ve been asking for well over a year [link]. And now we finally have some answers.

When Amazon reports that self-published books make up 25% of the top 100 list, the reaction from many is that these are merely the outliers. We hear that authors stand no chance if they self-publish and that most won’t sell more than a dozen copies in their lifetime if they do. (The same people rarely point out that all bestsellers are outliers and that the vast majority of those who go the traditional route are never published at all.) Well, now we have a large enough sample of data to help glimpse the truth. What emerges is, to my knowledge, the clearest public picture to date of what’s happening in this publishing revolution. It’s a lot to absorb, but I believe there’s much here to learn.

Read the rest of this report HERE.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest - Now Open!

Today, Amazon is opening its doors to novelists with its annual Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. For those unfamiliar with this contest, it is a very good deal, better than most big publishing houses offer. Best of all, it's free! So, if you have a novel gathering cyber dust on your computer, why not take a chance?

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From Publisher's Weekly

On February 16, Amazon Publishing will begin accepting submissions for its seventh annual Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, open to unpublished and self-published English-language novels. Authors can submit their general fiction, mystery/thriller, romance, science fiction/fantasy/horror, and young adult novels. The grand prize winner will receive an Amazon Publishing contract, with a $50,000 advance.

The 2014 ABNA contest is open to unpublished and self-published English-language novels submitted through March 2, or until 10,000 eligible entries are received, whichever is earlier. After two rounds of judging, Publishers Weekly reviewers will select the top five semi-finalists in each category. Amazon Publishing editors will lead a panel who will choose a finalist in each of the five categories, with Amazon customers selecting the grand prize winner. The four remaining finalists will receive an Amazon Publishing contract and a $15,000 advance.
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From the Amazon Website

The Seventh Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest is right around the corner. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to win a publishing contract with Amazon Publishing.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a publishing contract with a $50,000 advance, and four First Prize winners will each receive a publishing contract with an advance of $15,000. Visit the Prizes page for the full list of prizes and details.

The categories include five popular genres: General Fiction, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror and Young Adult Fiction. For complete eligibility details, view the Official Contest Rules, or read details on how to enter. Visit CreateSpace to learn more.

Preparing Your Entry

1) Prepare a strong Pitch. More than a summary, your Pitch should highlight your concept, protagonist, setting, and writing style—all the elements that make your story unique. View sample Pitches from past entrants.

2) Select the genre that best fits your book: General Fiction, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror, or Young Adult.

3) Stay within the word count limits—Pitch, up to 300 words; Excerpt, 3,000 to 5,000 words; Manuscript, 50,000 to 125,000 words.

4) Remove all identifying information from your Pitch, Excerpt, and Manuscript, including: your name and/or pen name, author bio/resume, and any awards received for your book.

5) Submit all materials in English.

6) For complete entry requirements, view the Official Contest Rules.

7) Create an account with CreateSpace (if you haven’t already).

Read more HERE.

3 Literary Agents Looking for Clients

These three literary agents have opened their doors to new clients. As always, visit the website of their agencies, check their list of clients, check the publishers they work with, and read all submission requirements carefully before contacting. (Click on the name of the agent, or their agency, for more information.) To check an agent's history (for possible complaints) go to Preditors and Editors. Christopher Rhodes of James Fitzgerald Agency

About Christopher: Christopher Rhodes’s career in publishing began in 1996 as a bookseller at Borders Books at the World Trade Center. He has held positions in both the sales and marketing departments at Simon and Schuster and was Executive Assistant to Carol Mann of the Carol Mann Agency where, among other duties, he managed contracts and assisted in the sale of foreign rights. Currently, Christopher is the Facility & Events Coordinator for the library at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where, working closely with the university’s Department of Creative Writing, he plans and hosts readings, writer’s conferences, and fiction writing contests. he is now an agent at the James Fitzgerald Agency.

What he is seeking: Christopher accepts queries in the following areas: fiction; connected stories/essays; memoir; young adult; creative/narrative nonfiction; economics; social activism; inspirational; self-help; history (last 200 years); entrepreneurship; art & design; health & beauty.

How to contact: Send e-mail submissions via submissions [at] jfitzagency.com and put “Query for Christopher” in the title. Read their submission guidelines HERE.
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Allison Devereux of Wolf Literary Services

About Allison: Allison Devereux is Associate Agent and Foreign & Subsidiary Rights Manager at Wolf Literary Services. She also assists Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency. She has been with WLS since 2012, working closely with Senior Agent and VP Adriann Ranta, with whom she jointly represents clients. A Texas native, Allison earned her B.A. at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated from the Plan II Honors Program. Before coming to WLS, Allison worked at Macmillan in Tor Books’ managing editorial department; prior to that, she was an Editorial and Design Assistant at the Institute of Classical Archaeology in Austin, as well as an intern at the Harry Ransom Center.

What she is seeking: Allison is looking for literary and upmarket commercial fiction with fresh, unique voices and tight prose. She enjoys stories set in familiar, relatable settings, with everyman characters who find themselves in unlikely, surprising, and unexpected situations. She is also passionate about magical realism (more real than magic), and idiosyncratic, picaresque characters.

For nonfiction, Allison is interested in narrative nonfiction, compelling memoir, and books on popular and contemporary culture with a strong, original premise. She is looking for illustrated/graphic books for adults (both fiction and non), as well as blog-to-book projects. She also loves a good humor book.

Allison tends to shy away from science fiction, fantasy, and other genre fiction. She is not interested in self-help, erotica, spiritualism, hard SF, epic fantasy, or stories about fairies.

How to contact her: To submit a project, please send a query letter addressed to Allison along with a 50-page writing sample (for fiction) or a detailed proposal (for nonfiction) to queries [at] wolflit.com. Samples may be submitted as an attachment or embedded in the body of the email. Read their submission guidelines HERE.
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Allison Hunter of InkWell Management

About Allison: Allison Hunter, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, began her publishing career in 2005 working for the Los Angeles-based literary publicity firm, Kim-from-L.A. She joined the InkWell team in New York City in 2010. She has a B.A. in American Studies and Creative Writing from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

What she is looking for: Allison is actively acquiring literary and commercial fiction (including romance), memoir, narrative nonfiction, cultural studies, pop culture and prescriptive titles, including cookbooks. She is always looking for funny female authors, great love stories and family epics, and for non-fiction projects that speak to the current cultural climate.

How to contact her: Contact Allison through the agency at submissions @ inkwellmanagement.com (remove spaces). In the body of your email, please include a query letter and a short writing sample (1-2 chapters). Response time may take up to two months. Read submission guidelines HERE.

Most Authors Still Prefer Traditional Book Deal

I've been keeping tabs on the most recent Digital Book World/Writer's Digest survey, not just because I want to know what other writers are up to, but because I want the reassurance that we are all up to the same thing. 

There is safety in numbers.

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DBW 2014: Survey Finds Most Authors Want to Earn More
Publishers Weekly, Jan 15, 2014

The Digital Book World/Writer's Digest 2014 survey, discussed at the organization's New York event this week, found that, in spite of the growing popularity of self-publishing, many authors would, given the chance, still opt for a traditional book deal.

Just over 9,200 authors responded to the survey, and they fall into four categories: aspiring (not yet published in any manner); self-published (have never worked with a traditional publisher); traditionally published (have only been published by a traditional house); and hybrid (have had experience self-publishing and have also been published by a traditional house). The survey, which is available for purchase at the DBW store, focuses on commercial fiction writers who are not treating their writing as a full-time job, and would like to be making more money from their writing.

Among some of the big picture takeaways from the survey are that, despite some negative impressions of traditional publishing, it remains the route many authors would like to pursue. Although the sampled authors felt traditional publishing offers less creative freedom, what it provides in other areas--namely marketing, distribution and editorial support--is a positive that outweighs the negative.

DBW found that the traditionally-published authors surveyed felt traditional publishing offered "lackluster" experience relative to what they hoped for, and expected.

Among hybrid authors surveyed, DBW said they were showing a "pattern of movement" from traditional houses to self-publishing. The DBW survey highlighted a familiar tale of the traditionally-published author who, unhappy with his or her treatment/sales/revenue, opts for self-publishing, which offers a much higher royalty rate. Among these hybrid authors, there was more satisfaction with self-publishing, and only 16.1% of this group, DBW found, said they intended to go back to traditional publishing.

Most of the authors in the DBW sample who had been traditionally published did not receive an advance, and almost all of the authors interviewed identified advances as a benefit of traditional publishing. Also, interestingly, DBW found that there was not a significant discrepancy in sales among authors in the survey who self-published and those who were traditionally published.

Overall, DBW found, these authors were not happy with their sales period. As the survey notes: "Neither mode of publishing, it seems, provided authors with what they hoped in terms of sales, earnings, distribution, or marketing."

Read the full article HERE.

University of Central Lancashire launches world's first degree in self-publishing

This announcement raised my eyebrows. A master's degree in self-publishing? I can see a course, perhaps two, but not a degree. This is what they offer:

"This course will equip you with all of the necessary skills you will need to be a self-published author including how to edit your book, how to lay it out, how to monitor sales, how to manage yourself and your finances, marketing yourself and your book and how to create an eBook. The final part of the course will give you the opportunity to complete a finished copy of your book."

I'd be willing to bet money that online universities, and community colleges, will be offering courses soon - though perhaps not postgraduate degrees.
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First self-publishing MA offers DIY education

Alison Flood, theguardian.com, Wednesday 5 February 2014

The University of Central Lancashire has announced the launch of what it describes as the world's first degree in self-publishing.

The MA will begin in September, and course leader Debbie Williams believes it will help "legitimise" self-publishing. "Things have definitely changed. In the last two years, self-publishing has stopped being a dirty word, and is a legitimate option for authors," she said. "Even the biggest authors are looking at it now."

Despite the negative light in which self-publishing is viewed by some – Jeffrey Archer recently said "it doesn't work, don't do it. The only person who reads it is the person who gets it published", while Sue Grafton has characterised DIY-ers as "too lazy to do the hard work" – the university pointed to research from the books data company Bowker, which found that around 390,000 titles were self-published in the US in 2012, up 59% on 2011 and a massive 422% on 2007. Digital self-publishing also continues to boom, accounting for 40% of self-published titles in the US in 2012, up from just 11% in 2007, according to Bowker.

Read the rest of this article HERE.

Some Interesting US Writing and Publishing Stats

Benjamin Disraeli is reputed to have said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics." (Although the phrase smacks heavily of Mark Twain.)

Statistics can indeed by made to lie (it was one of the first things I was taught in my stats class), but nevertheless, as a people, Americans love numbers.

Here are some numbers that may help shed some light on the business of publishing in the U.S.

2012 fiction books published with an ISBN: adult fiction 67,254; YA and juvenile fiction 20,3392012 Net book sales: $27.1 billion2011 books published: traditionally published 347,178; self-published 235,00076 percent of all books released in 2008 were self-publishedRoughly 50 percent of all fiction published (traditional or self-published) is a romance, mystery, sci-fi, or fantasy story1900 independent bookstore locations in 20121 percent chance across all genres of a published book being stocked in a brick-and-mortar store20 percent of all books sold in 2012 were e-booksApproximately 185 U.S. institutions granting MFAs in fictionBest markets for fiction sales: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C.600-700 books received weekly by LA Times for review consideration197,768 self-reporting writers in 200939 percent increase between 1990 and 2005 in the number of writers and authors
Sources: Publishers Weekly, “Artists and Arts Workers in the United States Findings from the American Community Survey” (2005-2009) and the “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages” (2010), American Booksellers Association, Bowker Books in Print, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Huffington Post, LA Times, The New York Times.

From:  How Many Novelists are at Work in America? By Dominic Smith

What do these numbers tell us? 

The first number that should jump out at you is 1. One percent of all books sold in the US are stocked in an actual bookstore. But far more than 1 percent of writers in the US publish hard copy, either through publishers, or on their own dime.

Yet (the second important number) 347, 148 books were sold by traditional publishers. What this means is that your chances of seeing your book on a bookstore shelf are slim, even if you get published by one of the big houses.

More than anything else, these numbers reveal the true reason writers are turning to self-publishing (76% in 2008), and epublishing. Authors want their books to be read. And if there is next to no chance of getting exposure, even with a publisher to back you, you are going to jump ship and self publish.

Despite the pedigree of being "legitimately" published, these numbers don't lie.

What Not to Do When Contacting an Agent

Chuck Sambuchino is one of the editors of Writer's Digest, an incredibly useful resource for writers. (If you don't have the cash to buy one, most libraries have a well-thumbed copy.)

He also writes a blog, the Guide to Literary Agents, in which he spells out exactly what agents are looking for. This is one of those posts that every aspiring writer should read before contacting an agent. Some of these "pet peeves" will make you laugh, others will make you cringe.
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Query Letter Pet Peeves – Agents Speak

By Chuck Sambuchino

Ready to send your book out and contact agents? The last thing you want to do is to rush that submission out the door and hurt your book’s chances.

When submitting your all-important query to agents or editors, it’s not just a question of what to write in the letter—it’s also a question of what not to write.

I asked 11 literary agents about their personal query letter pet peeves and compiled them below. Check out the list to learn all about what details to avoid in a query that could sink your submission—such as vague wording, too much personal information, grammatical mistakes, and much more.

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“I think the biggest querying no-no I’ve ever seen was when an author tracked down some sensitive personal information and included it in their cover letter. Eeep! As agents we absolutely love when authors do their research and get to know our interests, but you want to always make sure what you include in your query letter is professional and that you don’t slip too far into the realm of the personal.

The biggest no-no I’ve seen recently probably would be authors whose query letters focus too much on their author bios and don’t tell me what their book is about! Make sure you put those essential story details up front.”

~ Shira Hoffman of McIntosh & Otis, Inc.

For more advice from Shira, click the link above.
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“I’ve received queries for ‘Dear Editor,’ ‘Dear Agent,’ ‘Dear Publisher,’ as well as e-mail queries that are addressed to 10 different agents together.”

~ Jacquie Flynn of Joelle Delbourgo Associates

For more advice from Jacquie, click the link above.
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“Spelling errors or grammatical mistakes. They just make me want to stop reading.”

~ Lisa Leshne of LJK Literary Management

For more advice from Lisa, click the link above.
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“Unfocused queries and the term ‘fiction novel.’ ”

~ Melissa Flashman of Trident Media Group, LLC

For more advice from Melissa, click the link above.

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“I’m sick of vagueness. I get so many queries every day that don’t tell me enough about the novel. If there’s no reason for me to say yes, then it’s going to be no.”

~ Bridget Smith of Dunham Literary, Inc.

For more advice from Bridget, click the link above.

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“[Just recently], somebody queried me with a YA fantasy—and in the place where they should have put their professional bio or a few sentences about themselves, they had taken on the persona of their main character and said something about the character instead … Queries are business letters. Agenting is a business. Publishing is a business. I try to be nice and friendly and funny and all, but the bottom line is that I expect those with whom I work to be professional and take what they’re doing seriously.”

~ Linda Epstein of Jennifer De Chiara Literary

For more advice from Linda, click the link above.

Click HERE to read the rest of this article.

Detroit is for ... Writers

All of this could be yours, someday. Organization Wants to Lure Writers to Detroit

Publishers Weekly,  Dec 19, 2013

By Claire Kirch

Write-A-House, a Detroit-based literary organization founded in 2012 by novelist Toby Barlow, hopes to energize the literary community in the Motor City by giving writers not just a room of their own, but an entire home. WAH launched an Indiegogo campaign on Tuesday to raise funds to begin renovating the first of the three homes already purchased by WAH that will be deeded to emerging writers after they have lived in them for two years. “It’s like a writer’s-in-residence program, but the writers get to keep the homes, forever,” states the Indiegogo page titled “Write A House: Renovation of the Peach House.” Members of Young Detroit Builders, an organization that trains young people how to rehabilitate and renovate houses, will do the actual work on the houses alongside a licensed contractor. The three houses that have been purchased to date are all within walking distance of one another in what WAH describes as neighborhoods that are “a rich quilt of culture and change.” WAH bought the three houses for a total of $2,000. Renovations to each is estimated to cost $50,000-$60,000.

WAH's housing program is open to writers anywhere in the world who are willing to relocate to Detroit. “Detroit visual arts & Detroit musical arts have gotten a ton of attention over the years, but we believe this is a city that could really use some more writers,” WAH’s Indiegogo page states, “Any and all writers who are looking for a new home and new inspiration are encouraged to apply.” WAH will begin accepting applications in spring 2014.

WAH hopes to raise $25,000 through Indiegogo in the next 60 days, which will cover approximately 50% of the cost of renovating the first house. The organization hopes to raise the rest of the funds needed through grants by local and national arts foundations. WAH intends to buy more existing housing stock in the city as needed to renovate and then award them to eligible writers. The median sales price for houses in the city itself in the fourth quarter is $41,000.

"Detroit has no shortage of affordable housing stock," Barlow noted, "Writers can take advantage of all the great stories and possibilities this city has to offer, and the affordable lifestyle. Living in these abandoned cities is one of the greatest opportunities. And with the Internet, you can stay in touch with what's going on in New York and LA, and not have to pay those astronomical prices for housing. It's tough being a writer right now." Barlow, who lived in Brooklyn for nine years and in San Franciso for another nine years, has lived in downtown Detroit for seven years.

Literary Agents Seeking New Clients

These three agents are looking for clients. All three are new to the scene, but their agencies are not. Be sure to read the agency's website. Look at the list of clients, see where they have been published, read their FAQs, and above all, pay careful attention to their submission guidelines.


_________________________________________________ Nadeen Gayle of Serendipity Literary Agency

About Nadeen: After representing clients in law for over 7 years, Nadeen Gayle brings her zeal for representation and championing voices to book publishing. Prior to graduating from Hofstra law school, Nadeen majored in English with a Mass Communications minor at Clark Atlanta University and was a very active participant in the English department’s annual Writers Conference. After receiving her BA in English, Nadeen taught briefly in the Atlanta public school system. Her short stint with students and parents in Atlanta shaped her focus with connecting to both children and adults after which she worked as counsel for Administration for Children Services. As a parent herself, Nadeen’s work with children and parents shapes her dual interest in both YA and Adult titles.

Nadeen’s law career was not without its share of great stories. Her love for entertainment and media took her to Court TV where she worked as a production assistant during its heyday. She is a big fan of narratives that are seamlessly written yet with ideas that might be stripped from the headlines. In addition, her experience in the Congressional Black Caucus Boot-Camp training furthered her interest in politics and the deal behind the deal.

What she is seeking: Romance, Memoir, Pop culture, Inspirational/Religious, Women’s Fiction, Parenting, Young Adult, Mystery and Political Thrillers, and all forms of Nonfiction.

How to submit: This agency takes submissions through its online form. They try to respond to queries as quickly as possible, but if you haven’t heard from them within 4-6 weeks, please feel free to resubmit. Click here for the submission form.
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Foladé Bell of Serendipity Literary Agency

About Foladé: Foladé Bell began her career in publishing shortly after graduating from Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. She brings a multifaceted background to Serendipity. Having worked within several fields, she brings a diverse background in various aspects of media, new media and publishing. A creative activist, Foladé cultivated her sales, negotiation and client management skills within positions at Reed Elsevier, Business Wire and Radio & Records. Since joining Serendipity Literary Agency, she is focused on unearthing the raw potential of new authors ready to enter the collaborative process as well as assisting existing authors advance their careers.

What she's looking for: Foladé is actively seeking to represent a broad range of projects. She is particularly drawn to: literary and commercial women’s fiction with a strong sense of story, voice and character; funny and relatable fiction; Daring YA books that showcase a fresh, unique perspective; literary mysteries/thrillers that aren’t formulaic or market saturated, contemporary historical fiction, African-American issues, gay/lesbian, Christian fiction, humor and books that deeply explore other cultures. No subject is out-of-bounds. She loves non-fiction that reads like fiction. Feel free to approach her with ideas adapted from blogs or websites with new views on pop culture.

How to submit: This agency takes submissions through its online form. They try to respond to queries as quickly as possible, but if you haven’t heard from them within 4-6 weeks, please feel free to resubmit. Click here for the submission form.
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LAURA ZATS of Red Sofa Literary

About Laura: Laura Zats graduated from Grinnell College with degrees in English and anthropology. While completing her studies, she took advantage of her love of Young Adult (YA) literature and wrote a thesis on identity formation in YA. She’s been working as an editor for several years and has held positions at companies in both the US and the UK. In 2013, Laura joined Red Sofa Literary as an Associate Agent in 2013. In her free time, Laura likes to craft, swing dance, bake, and binge on Netflix marathons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who.

What she is seeking: Young adult and middle grade (especially contemporary for both), romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and erotica.

How to submit: Query laura [at] redsofaliterary.com Put “Query” in the e-mail subject line.