Literary Rambles

Literary Agent Interview: Carter Hasegawa Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today, I’m thrilled to have agent Carter Hasegawa here. He’s an agent at Tugeau 2 Art & Literary Agency.

Hi Carter! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Carter:

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

Thanks so much for having me. While I’ve only been a literary agent for *checks calendar* seven months, I’ve been working in publishing for nearly two decades. Even I can’t believe it’s been that long. Am I really that old?!

Before I was an agent, I was an editor at Candlewick Press for 14 years and change. I was also a bookseller at various independent bookstores in Seattle and Boston. Most notably I was at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA for 10 years. But agenting—I feel like I’ve been preparing for this job my entire career.

Beyond learning just exactly what a literary agent does these past seven months, I’ve also been building an incredible list of authors and illustrators for the children’s market. It’s been mostly a mix of getting artist portfolios ready for publishers’ eyes, strategizing with my authors which of their books to submit first, reading query submission, and editing lots and lots of manuscripts.

About the Agency:

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

We’re a tight team at Tugeau 2 Art and Literary Agency (T2). Nicole Tugeau founded the agency over 20 years ago mainly as an illustrator’s agency, but she’s since built T2 to be this incredible fount of talented authors and illustrators. About three years ago, husband-and-wife team Ethan and Heather Long joined the agency, and they work in tandem with their team of authors and illustrators. I knew Ethan in my previous role as editor. He’s actually the one who recruited me to T2.

Because we’re a small-ish agency, we’re able to keep up with each team’s client list. We have regular meetings where we provide feedback on creator projects, and we share insights and offer advice on industry-related matters. It’s a continual back-and-forth of support, mentorship, and inspiration.

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?

Because I worked on a bit of everything when I was an editor, it only makes sense for me to continue that pattern as an agent. I represent PB, MG, and YA, fiction and nonfiction, in nearly any genre. Generally, I’m looking for that something special that only you can bring to a project. I want authors and illustrators who have something to say with their medium. And I want it to matter.

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

I suppose I’m not really interested in seeing your take on “X.” If there are 20 books in the market right now with a similar plot/theme, I’m not going to get too excited if yours is just another version of what’s already out there. In all cases, I want something original. Again, something only YOU can create.

What He Isn’t Looking For:

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

More of the same.

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?

Before I sign a client, I like to get to know the person that I’m potentially going to work with— and I want them to get to know me. First and foremost, beyond being talented (because, of course), I want to like the person that I’m representing. Also, it’s not a requirement by any means, but it’s icing on the cake when my authors are able to pivot their writing between audiences and genres. Many of my clients have been at this for years, so for the most part we’re working with a whole portfolio of projects that we’re looking to submit. It changes the workload and the relationship when it’s not just developing the early career of a creator – although, it is often this – we’re looking at career management in a way that I imagine is something that usually comes with time in an agent’s career.

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?

It’d be pretty funny if after a decade and a half of editing I suddenly came to agenting and was like, “yeah, I’m done with that.” No, I am totally an editorial agent. I’ve seen how it works on the publisher’s side of things, so I think my role as an agent is to get my client’s project to a point where it can get through the acquisitions process. It’s not my role to get your book publish-ready—save that for the editor and the publisher’s creative team. That being said, “getting through the acquisitions process” is a fairly vague definition. Basically, my goal is to anticipate the “NO’s” and edit the book so that the only answer that makes sense is a yes.

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?

Please use QueryTracker. For a query letter, I obviously want to know a little about the project and about you. But what I think a lot of people forget is that this is a human endeavor. It is a one-on-one conversation. This means that I want the letter to feel like it was written just for me. Not “I see you like humor, so I’m sending you my funny picture book.” I want your perspective / personality to come through your letter. Why you’re the one to tell this story and why it needs to be told.

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

When the queries feel like they could’ve been written by and/or sent to anyone.

Response Time:

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

Now that I actually have a client list, it takes me longer than I want to reply to a query. However, I’ve started working with readers to help me get through the queue. Yes, I have queries that are literally months in my inbox, but I’m doing what I can to respond as quickly as possible. And I will respond. My goal is to have a one-month turnaround, but I fully admit that I’m a long ways away from this being a reality.

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’m happy to work with self-published and/or independently published authors. Some of my clients have had a lot of success in this area. However, I’m likely not interested in trying to find a traditional publisher for an already-published book.

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

About two-thirds of my authors will be debuts in the American children’s market. Of the folks who’ve been published in the US, they include: Marcie Flinchum Atkins, Skila Brown, Henry Herz, Alethea Kontis, Cynthia Platt, Madelyn Rosenberg, AJ Smith, and Kip Wilson. About half of my clients are folks that I knew before I became an agent. A couple of them were authors whose books I’ve edited.

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’m usually in the background, so this is only my 2^nd interview since becoming an agent. (Pleased to meet you!) You can read my first interview here:

https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/meet-carter-hasegawa-literary-and-illustration-agent/

Links and Contact Info:

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

QueryTracker: https://querytracker.net/agent/19614

Tugeau 2: https://tugeau2.com/about#:~:text=Carter%20is-,open,-to%20Author%2C%20Illustrator

Additional Advice:

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

Before I made the decision to switch to agenting, I chatted with an agent who has been in the industry for over 40 years. And they said that they’ve never seen the market this bad before. It’s tough out there. But if we look at history, the market always rebounds. People will always want books to add to their shelves. What we do – what we provide – matters.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Carter.

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.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or email me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Giveaway Details

Carter 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 November 29th. If you do not want to enter the contest, that’s okay. Just let me know in the comments. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

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.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, November 24th, I have a guest post by R.M. Romero and a giveaway of her MG The Tear Collector

Monday, December 1st, I’m participating in the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, December 3rd, I have a guest post by Leigh Madrid and a giveaway of her YA My Lips, Her Voice, and my IWSG post

Monday, December 7th, I have an interview with Sarvenaz Tash and a giveaway of The Treasure of Ocean Parkway

Wednesday, December 10th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Andie Smith and a query critique giveaway

Monday, December 15th, I’m participating in the Dashing December Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, December 17th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Marissa Cleveland and a query critique giveaway

I hope to see you on Monday!

Cracking Into School Library Collections by Author Mike Steele and Not Lucille Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Mike Steele here to share about his MG historical Not Lucille. I’m really interested in the time period it’s set in and am looking forward to reading it.

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

It’s 1931, and children should be seen and not heard.

Ten-year-old Lucy Contento can’t help but be seen and heard. And she’s always in trouble for it. She talks too much. She’s impulsive. She writes with the wrong hand. Her parents would be mad enough knowing she routinely earns afterschool detentions. They’d be furious if they found out she’s been sneaking onto the campus of the nearby Trenton Academy for the Deaf. But there, Lucy has met Florence, a lonely and profoundly deaf girl her own age. Florence doesn’t mind Lucy’s flaws. Though Florence can’t speak, she has a unique way of communicating. If Lucy can figure out how to learn Florence’s special language, the two could be friends.

Lucy devises a plan, but it’s going to cost a whopping $7.98—more money than she’s got. She can’t tell her parents why she wants the funds without revealing she’s been visiting Florence. Besides, her parents don’t have a penny to spare. Her father has been out of work for months. And nobody else in the Contento family has an income. Or do they …? Lucy soon discovers she’s not the only member of her family hiding something. Can she get the money she needs while keeping everyone’s secrets? Or will her scheming land her in the biggest trouble of her life?

In this story of friendship and belonging, a young girl navigates prejudice, punishment, and identity while establishing her voice in a world that often tries to keep her silent.

Follower News

Before I get to Mike's guest post, I have Follower News to share. Jennifer Lane has a new release, Low Water. Here's a blurb: Two lives marked by trauma. One chance to rediscover hope. In the sun-drenched Lowcountry of South Carolina, a swim coach haunted by tragedy and a psychologist devoted to healing cross paths just as their lives unravel. Striving, tender, and surprisingly funny, this is a story about resilience and learning that the best way out of the deep end is together. Here are a few links: Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/b675ox Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Low-Water-Jennifer-Lane-ebook/dp/B0FYV32BV4

Now here's Mike!

Cracking Into School Library Collections

by Mike Steele, author and school librarian

As a kidlit author, you know your target audience spends most days in a very specific setting—school. What better way to reach kids with your writing than through the school library? If you could just get your book onto school library shelves, hundreds of readers at each school would have access to it. But unless you’re a bestselling author (and if you are, you might as well stop reading because you don’t need my advice), cracking into school libraries can be a challenge. Let’s look at the three main obstacles you’re up against.

1. Lack of Visibility

Most school librarians don’t know you exist. Your publisher isn’t pumping thousands of dollars into marketing your book. You’re not getting filtered into, “Customers also bought…” carousels on Amazon. Barnes & Noble doesn’t display your book facing its entrance. And you’re not Dav Pilkey.

2. Small Budgets

It’s no secret school libraries tend to be underfunded—that’s if they’re funded at all. Some school librarians work without budgets. Some are limited to earnings from book fairs (and that can mean they only order through the fair publishers). Those that have set budgets often receive the equivalent of $5-10 per student, not even enough money to buy one new library-bound edition for each reader that visits the library in a school year.

3. Collection Development Plans

These are the plans that guide school librarians in evaluating and selecting books to add to their collections. Collection Development Plans vary from school to school or district to district. Some states and districts have very strict regulations that leave selection largely out of school librarians’ hands. Others give school librarians more freedom. Most collection development plans require a book meet at least one of two criteria to be eligible for selection:

1) A positive critique by a major review journal that features children’s books. These publications include Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly.

2) Alignment to school curriculum. If a book supports what students are learning in class, it’s useful to the community.

So how can you overcome the obstacles? To be honest, in some instances, you can’t. When a state or district has complete control over which titles can exist within school library collections, it’s going to be near-impossible to get yourself onto approved lists. Luckily, these situations aren’t the norm. Most school librarians have at least some professional discretion when it comes to selecting books. Below are a few tips to help you get your book onto school library shelves and into the hands of readers.

Mobilize Your Network

The people who support you and your work want to advocate for you. Help guide them. Most know school workers (some probably work in schools themselves). Don’t just hope they’ll recommend your book to school librarians; ask them to do it. When your cousin tells you she bought a copy of your book, respond, “If you like it, please recommend it to your daughter’s school librarian.” When your neighbor says she’s going to tell her son about the book because he teaches third grade, offer to send a copy to his school librarian, so all teachers at the school can access the book. When you sell a book at a signing, include two promotional bookmarks—one for the reader to enjoy and one that you ask the reader to deliver to his or her school librarian.

Offer Free Copies

You work has value. You don’t want to constantly give it away. But the reality is you probably do gift copies of your book to specific people in order to market it. Always consider how much visibility each of your donations has the potential bring. Providing a free copy to a school library has the potential to expose your work to more readers than if you were to give it to an individual classroom. When you ship copies to bloggers, you can include a note with each copy, suggesting bloggers donate to school libraries once they’ve finished reviewing. If you have success getting your freebies into school libraries, you might even designate a portion of your own marketing budget strictly to this endeavor.

Reach Out with a Purpose

Cold-calling school librarians with your sales pitch is a quick way to annoy the people you want to entice. Emails that offer nothing beyond the idea that your book exists are also a nuisance. School librarians have very little non-teaching time to sort through their professional communications (on top of dozens of other administrative duties). They’re bombarded with ads for books and other media on a daily basis. Give them a reason to pay attention to you. Email school librarians that are within your community or with which you have personal connections. Maybe offer to send free samples of your work via Book Funnel. Tell them how the topic of your book aligns with state standards or school curriculum (yes, this will require you to do some research). Ask if they’re considering virtual or on-site author visits, and let them know the topics on which you can present to students. Be sure they know what you can bring to their specific community.

Think Digitally

As schools continue to adopt one-to-one technology, consider focusing some efforts on offering digital content to school librarians. You plan to mobilize your network, right? The people in that network can recommend and request eBooks in addition to physical books. And when you reach out to school librarians with the purpose of showcasing how your book aligns with curriculum, let the librarians know they can visit your website to download lesson plans that connect your book directly to state standards. Don’t forget to mention which eBook distributors license your book.

Marketing to school libraries can be a lot of work. Take it slowly. Tailor your approach. For every successful effort to get your book into a school library, you have the potential to reach hundreds of readers.

Author Bio

Mike Steele is an elementary school librarian and children’s playwright with eight plays published and licensed for production. Not Lucille is his debut middle-grade novel. In his spare time, he likes to attend musicals, create mixed-media artwork, and win prizes from claw machines. He lives at the Jersey Shore with his tabby cats, Karen and Sox. If you spot him in the wild, he usually has a bubble tea in one of his hands. www.mikesteeleonline.com @msteelewrites

Giveaway Details

Mike is generously offering a paperback of Not Lucille for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by November 29th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Mike on his social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Wednesday, November 19th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Carter Hasegawa and a query critique giveaway

Monday, November 24th, I have a guest post by R.M. Romero and a giveaway of her MG The Tear Collector

Monday, December 1st, I’m participating in the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, December 3rd, I have a guest post by Leigh Madrid and a giveaway of her YA My Lips, Her Voice, and my IWSG post

Monday, December 7th, I have an interview with Sarvenaz Tash and a giveaway of The Treasure of Ocean Parkway

Wednesday, December 10th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Andie Smith and a query critique giveaway

Monday, December 15th, I’m participating in the Dashing December Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, December 17th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Marissa Cleveland and a query critique giveaway

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I'm excited to participate in the In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop hosted by MamatheFox and MomDoesReviews. I want to express my gratitude to Pam Maynard at MomDoesReviews, who organizes these giveaway hops for us. I'm also very grateful to all of you followers, who regularly visit Literary Rambles and enter my giveaway contests. Thank you so very much.

Book of Your Choice or Amazon Gift Card

I am offering a book of your choice that is $20 or less on Amazon. I’m looking forward to seeing what books everyone is looking forward to reading.

If you don’t have a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Giveaway Details

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by November 30th telling me whether you want a book, and if so, which one, or the Amazon gift card and your email address. Be sure to include your email address. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. only and the Amazon gift card giveaway is International.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, November 17th, I have a guest post by Mike Steel and a giveaway of his MG Not Lucille