Today, I’m thrilled to have agent Mark O’Brien
here. He’s an associate agent at Azantian Literary Agency.
Hi
Mark! Thanks so much for joining us.
About
Mark:
1.
Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been
doing as an agent.
I began my career in the book publishing
industry with an editorial internship at Entangled Publishing in August 2015,
six weeks after I graduated high school. From there, I haven’t stopped! I
interned and assisted at five literary agencies, including Writers House,
Stonesong, and Triada US, before working at NetGalley as Sales Coordinator for
three years. In September 2024, I joined Azantian Literary Agency as an
associate agent. I’m building my client list slowly and with intention.
About
the Agency:
2.
Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.
Founded in 2014, Azantian Literary is
committed to guiding the careers of both new and established voices in fiction
and nonfiction, particularly those who have been historically underrepresented.
We’re a growing agency with a boutique, collaborative style and over a dozen
agents. We partner with Mushens Entertainment for foreign rights for books for
all ages and genres, excluding graphic novels. Foreign rights for graphic
novels are handled by Full Bleed Rights. We’re always looking to serve our
clients as best as we possibly can. (We’re also nice.)
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?
In young adult, my first
love is contemporary realistic fiction, as well as realistic with a twist. I am
also building my list in YA genre fiction, including science fiction and
fantasy.
4. Is there anything you would be especially
excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?
As a queer, neurodivergent agent, I’m always
excited to see queries from queer, neurodivergent, BIPOC, and disabled
creators.
What
He Isn’t Looking For:
5.
What types of submissions are you not interested in?
I am not the best fit for horror, thrillers,
picture books, novellas, poetry collections, and stories centering intense
violence and/or gore.
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?
I want to work with voices that refuse to be
denied. I find these voices most often come from authors who are marginalized
in some way, or (more often) multiple ways. Because of this, I’m a careful
agent. I also see myself as a cheerleader for my clients.
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, yes, and yes! We’ll usually do as many
rounds of developmental and/or line edits as it takes to make sure every word
counts, and shines, before sending a manuscript out to editors.
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?
Query me through
QueryManager following the submission guidelines on Azantian Literary’s
website. Include your first ten pages and a bio.
9. Do you have any specific dislikes in query
letters or the first pages submitted to you?
I prefer to be addressed as Mark, though I’d
absolutely never hold a different salutation against a writer. As long as
you’re professional and following my submission guidelines, you’re on the right
track!
Response
Time:
10.
What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?
Five minutes to
three months.
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, I’m absolutely
open to established self- and indie- published authors. I recommend these
authors ensure they want to pursue traditional publication before sending out
query letters to literary agents. Whichever publication path you choose, be
intentional about it.
Clients:
12.
Who are some of the authors you represent?
I’m still quite new!
I represent Faefyx Collington, author of queer nonfiction I couldn’t be more
excited about. I’m looking forward to expanding my list!
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.
This is my first—thank
you, Natalie!
Links
and Contact Info:
14.
Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on
the Web.
Send me a query and
ten pages through QueryManager here: http://querymanager.com/bookmarkobrien. Follow me on
Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/bookmarkobrien.bsky.social. Check out my
freelance website here: https://bookmarkobrien.com/
Additional
Advice:
15.
Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we
haven’t covered?
As someone who was a
querying writer before he became a literary agent: No agent is better than a
bad agent. Always research a literary agent, and their affiliated agency,
before querying. If you want to pursue traditional publication, ensure any
agent you consider is capable of making a well-negotiated traditional
publication deal happen. Otherwise, that agent isn’t earning their fifteen
percent!
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Mark.
Giveaway Details
Mark 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 June
21st. 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 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. 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 hime before querying an agent. The information found hime is
subject to change.
Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts,
and Blog Hops
Monday, June 16th I’m
participating in the Dad-o-Mite Giveaway Hop
Monday, June 23rd I have
an interview with author Michael Spradlin and a giveaway of his MG Threat of
the Spider
Tuesday, July 1st I’m
participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, July 2nd I
have an interview with author Nia Davenport and a giveaway of her YA Love
Spells Trouble and my IWSG post
Monday, July 7th I have
an interview with author Natalie Richards and a giveaway of her MG Survive This
Safari
I hope to see you on Monday!