AGENT SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH LINDA CAMACHO AND QUERY CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Linda Camacho here. She is a literary agent at Prospect Agency.

Update as of 5/11/2020: When I interviewed Linda on 2/22/2017, she was at Prospect Agency. She is now at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency. She reviewed and updated her interview answers on 5/13/2020.

Update on 1/17/2023: Linda is currently closed to submissions. Please check the agency website to find out when she reopens to queries.

Status: Open to submissions.

Hi¬ Linda! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Linda:

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

My path was kind of backwards. I graduated from Cornell in 2005 and was very lucky to land my first job at Penguin pretty quickly. I worked in reprints, where I learned a lot about the importance of backlist. After a year, I left so I could apply for law school. I took the LSATs and got my letters of recommendation, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually apply. I missed publishing, so I figured it would be so easy to get back into publishing. Oh, how young I was!

I had to do several unpaid internships to get back in. I wanted to get into an editorial role, but I wound up doing everything from foreign rights to production to editorial to marketing at Dorchester Publishing, Simon and Schuster, Random House, and Writers House literary agency. Luckily, Random House took pity on me and hired me on full-time in their children's marketing department. I worked there for five years and while I was there, I got my MFA in children's writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Then in 2015, I made the move to agenting. 

About the Agency:

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

Nancy Gallt and Marietta Zacker are Gallt & Zacker's agency heads, and they are an incredible force in publishing. GZLA is a boutique agency of ten individuals whose aim is to bring quality stories into the world. To that end, we work with an exceptional client roster to develop their talent and find a home for their work so we can bring that shared vision to fruition. We're strong advocates for our clients and help foster a supportive environment for them to flourish in their careers.

What She’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'm seeking middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction across all genres (particularly upmarket and women’s fiction/romance); also seeking select graphic novel writer-illustrators. Diversity of all types welcome!

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

I'm not sure honestly. I really do want to be surprised with something fresh and I never really know what that’s going to be until I see it. I’d love to see a plus-size protagonist in any genre, especially a high concept story like horror. I’d be interested in seeing more stories in unique settings, particularly places that seem more mundane, like a beauty salon or something.  

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I’m not looking for early readers, chapter books, writer-only picture books, poetry, novellas/short stories, or screenplays.

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?

The agent-author relationship is one based on trust. We’re in it together, so for the both of us to succeed in the world of publishing, we both need to work together and weather the ups and down together. If we don’t have that foundation of mutual respect, it won’t work.

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?

I’m definitely an editorial agent. My level of editorial feedback varies from client to client, as some need more guidance than others and for them, it can take longer to get to the submission stage. I might make occasionally comments on a line editing level, but that’s not my main goal. I’m more of a big picture editor, dispensing character and overall structural suggestions to make a manuscript stronger.

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?

They should follow the agency guidelines at http://www.galltzacker.com/submissions.html

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

I’m not too keen on when a writer gives me their whole life story, how they love to write, when they first started writing, and how they cam to write their novel—and then forgets to tell me about the novel! Remember: Story first.

Response Time:

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

Once a writer uploads their query and sample pages through the submissions page, the writer receives an automatic reply confirming receipt. If I’m interested in seeing more, I’ll reach out with a request for pages. Given the amount of queries I receive, that response time can take up to two 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?

Sure! Great writers have come from the self-publishing world. I’m also a fan of small presses, where they tend to take more risks in the books they acquire. For authors who come with those backgrounds, the key thing to know is what they’re looking to gain from an agent-author relationship, and to have realistic expectations once they do sign with an agent. They would have had a discussion with the agent before accepting an offer of representation about their career goals, so be sure that they’re on the same page. One last thought—If you’re a self-published author who’s looking to query an agent, be sure to query them with a new (never been self-published manuscript). Unless a self-pubbed project is a big seller, agents aren’t likely to be interested.

12. With all the changes in publishing—self-publishing, hybrid authors, more small publishers—do you see the role of agents changing at all? Why?

Publishing is ever-changing, so the role of agents is bound to evolve with it. There are more options nowadays for writers seeking publication, so agents certainly have their hands full in helping their clients utilize various avenues in career management. Like with hybrid authors, for instance, we help with finding the right balance. Agents are working more closely than ever with both their clients and publishers on the whole (from editorial to marketing to even meta data management), so I think agents are becoming more integral to the publishing process as the rules change.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I'm still building my list, but a few of my amazing clients are Yamile Saied Méndez, Lynn Joseph, Katie O'Neill, Wendy Xu, and Sophia Chang.

Interviews and Guest Posts:

14. Please share the links to any interviews and guest posts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

Update on 1/17/2023:

Publishers Marketplace

Linda's Website

Podcast with Off the Publishing Persuasion (11/2022)

Interview with Eastern Pen Points (01/2022)

Podcast with Sarah Nicholas (12/2020)

Podcast on Writing a Manuscript That Gets Everyone's Attention with The Manuscript Academy (09/2020)

Interview with SCBWI (Date unknown but after she switched agencies)

Podcast on Being Persistent at 88 Cups of Tea (Date unknown but after she switched agencies)

Agent of the Month at Writing and Illustrating Intro, Part 1, Part 2 (06/2018)

Podcast With Minorities in Publishing (07/2015)

Interview at Cynsations (04/2015)

Links and Contact Info:

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

For submissions, please be sure to follow the instructions on the Gallt & Zacker website. My Twitter handle is @LindaRandom and I'm on Manuscript Wishlist (https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/linda-camacho/). Also, Gallt & Zacker is on Twitter (@GalltZackerLit) and Instagram (@galltzacker), so give us a follow!

1/17/2023 update: Linda is currently closed to queries. Check the agency or her website to determine when she opens to queries again.

Additional Advice:

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

Find your writing community. Writing can be a solitary endeavor, so fellow writing partners-in-crime will make all the difference in the wilds of publishing, trust me.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Linda.

Linda is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follower button if you're not a follower) and leave a comment through March 11th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that's okay. Just let me know in the comments.

If you 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.

Profile Details:
Last Updated: 1/17/2023.
Agent Contacted for Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 4/17/2023

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail 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.