Today I’m thrilled to have agent Kristy Hunter here. She is an
associate literary agent at The Knight
Agency.
FYI,
I’m taking over the agent spotlights from Casey. I will be providing all the
same information we’ve shared in the past in an interview format. In addition,
one lucky commenter will win a query critique from the agent being interviewed.
Status: Open to submissions.
Hi Kristy! Thanks so much for joining us.
About Kristy:
1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been
one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.
I graduated from undergrad and knew I wanted to get involved in the publishing industry—I just wasn’t sure how. I attended the Columbia Publishing Course and fell in love with the industry and New York. Upon completing the course, I interned in Bloomsbury Children’s Books’ editorial department before working in publicity at Grove/Atlantic and Random House Children’s Books. There is something so rewarding about acting as a book’s publicist and being an advocate for an incredibly special project. Still, I was eager to get back to the creative process I experienced on the editorial side of things. I’ve now been with The Knight Agency for six years and love being a champion for my clients and their work, and I’m grateful for the additional perspective I can bring to their careers thanks to my previous publishing experience.
About the Agency:
2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its
authors.
Since 1996 The Knight Agency (TKA) has focused on
comprehensive client services and hands-on management to guide countless
writers from query letter to published book, in the process developing a
powerhouse roster of bestselling authors.
Our team has placed well over 2,000 titles across the entire spectrum of New York publishers, as well as at independent houses throughout the country. Though we have represented clients in virtually all genres, our areas of fiction expertise include women’s, romance, young adult, middle grade, literary, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, as well as multicultural and inspirational/religious fiction.
The agency focuses on a broad range of client services, addressing all aspects of our clients’ careers. TKA agents bring their extensive experience and knowledge of subsidiary rights management in the areas of foreign, motion picture and television, audio, merchandising, and electronic rights. Additionally, our marketing and publicity department offers wide-ranging support in the areas of book promotion and branding.
In the continually evolving world of publishing, TKA remains committed to providing cutting-edge services and scouting for fresh, unique voices to bring to the forefront. Yet what truly sets us apart are the lasting relationships between our authors and our team; ultimately, for us, it’s all about people.
Our team has placed well over 2,000 titles across the entire spectrum of New York publishers, as well as at independent houses throughout the country. Though we have represented clients in virtually all genres, our areas of fiction expertise include women’s, romance, young adult, middle grade, literary, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, as well as multicultural and inspirational/religious fiction.
The agency focuses on a broad range of client services, addressing all aspects of our clients’ careers. TKA agents bring their extensive experience and knowledge of subsidiary rights management in the areas of foreign, motion picture and television, audio, merchandising, and electronic rights. Additionally, our marketing and publicity department offers wide-ranging support in the areas of book promotion and branding.
In the continually evolving world of publishing, TKA remains committed to providing cutting-edge services and scouting for fresh, unique voices to bring to the forefront. Yet what truly sets us apart are the lasting relationships between our authors and our team; ultimately, for us, it’s all about people.
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?
4. Is there anything
you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?
For YA and MG, I’m open to all genres, but I’m especially looking for high concept contemporary projects, fun, witty rom-coms, atmospheric fantasy (really all fantasy), as well as horror with fantastical elements and historical projects with a modern sensibility. I’d especially love to see more ownvoices projects in my inbox, as well as stories that explore a unique perspective. For me, it really comes down to a fabulous voice and a fresh concept—give me those two things, and I’ll be eager for more!
What She Isn’t
Looking For:
5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?
This is always a difficult question because with the right voice, anything has the potential to hook me. That said, I’m not the right agent for projects that present suicide in a thoughtless or glamorized manner, especially when it comes to YA.
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?
Like many agents and editors, I see books as such an important part of everyday life. Whether they provide entertainment, shape someone’s outlook, or transport readers to worlds beyond their imagination, books really are invaluable to society. I hope to continue to represent books that do all this and more. I’m looking for authors who recognize that, in some ways, they’ve been given a great responsibility, but who also greet the task with as much enthusiasm as I do. I feel very lucky to be working in such an incredible industry and I like partnering with authors who feel the same way.
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?
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?
The Knight Agency uses Query Manager. Interested writers can query me using the submission form found here: https://querymanager.com/query/Kristy_Hunter_TKA
For queries, it’s important that I know the main character(s), the stakes, the genre and the word count. More details on how to create a strong query letter can be found our website here: https://knightagency.net/query-letter-tips/
9. Do you have any
specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?
Query letters should be compelling, short and sweet—no need to have every single character and plot point explained. Our website has some great tips for writing strong query letters (http://knightagency.net/query-letter-tips/ ).
I have no specific dislikes, but I do really appreciate writers who take the time to follow the submission guidelines. It demonstrates a clear interest in wanting to partner with me, and I personally feel it starts the potential relationship off on the right foot.
Response Time:
10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for
more pages of a manuscript?
For queries, I typically respond within one to two weeks. Response times for requested material typically fall between 2-4 months. With Covid-19, my response times have been a little bit longer, but writers are always free to follow up if they have not heard from me within these timeframes. I’m happy to provide an update or reconfirm that the material is still in my queue.
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 open to authors being self-published or published by a
smaller press. Sometimes I see queries for the second (or third) book in a self-published
series. This is a hard sell for agents because publishers are typically looking
to represent the full series. I’d encourage writers to think about how they’d
like to see the series published as a whole before making any decisions with
the first title.
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?
Agents act as partners to their clients. They offer support
and provide critical insight to help their authors navigate the tricky waters
of creating a successful writing career. As the publishing landscape changes, what
‘navigating a successful career’ looks like may change (and has changed), but
at its core, the agent’s role has by and large remained the same. Hybrid author
or not, your agent is there to help guide you and your career as you strive to reach
your goals.
Clients:
13. Who are some of the authors you represent?
Kelly Powell (Songs from the Deep, Magic Dark and Strange), Loriel Ryon (Into the Tall, Tall Grass), Liselle Sambury (Blood Like Magic).
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.
http://knightagency.net/about-us/
http://www.michelle4laughs.com/2016/09/query-questions-with-kristy-hunter.html
http://www.literaryrambles.com/2020/04/loriel-ryon-and-kristy-hunter-guest.html
https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/agent-of-the-month-kristy-hunter-interview-part-one/
https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2019/04/19/april-agent-of-the-month-kristy-hunter/
https://www.scbwi.org/scbwi-exclusive-with-kristy-hunter-associate-agent-the-knight-agency/
http://www.kidlit411.com/2020/04/Kidlit411-agent-spotlight-kristy-hunter.html
http://knightagency.net/about-us/
http://www.literaryrambles.com/2020/06/chelsea-ichaso-and-kristy-hunter-guest.html
Links and Contact
Info:
15. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a
query and your links on the Web.
@KristySHunter on Twitter and Instagram
To submit a query to me, use the Query Manager form found here: https://querymanager.com/query/Kristy_Hunter_TKA
Additional Advice:
16. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with
aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?
In the words of Stephen King, “If you don’t have the time to
read, you don’t have the time (or tools) to write. Simple as that.” There’s
no better way to put it. When I’m pitched at a conference or receive a query, I
know immediately who’s familiar with the genre they’re working in—and it’s
always an avid reader. I can’t stress how important it is to read in order to
succeed at writing.
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Kristy.
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: 5/9/2020.
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 7/6/2020
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.
Thanks for the great interview and critique!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this interview, Kristy! It has inspired me to work on a query. I have tweeted about the give-away.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interview! These are so helpful during the agent search process.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice Kristy. Lovely interview.
ReplyDeleteExcellent interview and information :) Thanks Kristy!
ReplyDeleteI love getting insight into different agents and their views. Great interview! :)
ReplyDeleteAn agent interview. How neat. And informative. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fantastic agent!
I'm so happy I stumbled upon this article! What a great opportunity. Kristy sounds like an amazing agent, and there are quite a few aspects from her wish list that my MG manuscript meets (sibling relationship, fantasy, the difficulties of middles school and friendship). Can't wait to query (though I will wait to see if I win the query critique first). Fingers crossed! :)
ReplyDelete-Brooke Urban (aka Anne L)
Oh, and my email is burbaniak03(at)gmail.com
DeleteI read a lot of agent spotlights and Kristy's personality shines through! She seems like a nice person to work with. I wish her much success in the years ahead.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great interview, Natalie. Kristy sounds like she'd be an awesome agent to work with. I'll be tweeting about this contest.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great interview and to Kristy for the critique opportunity. (I tweeted: https://twitter.com/ericgsteinberg/status/844895780154593282
ReplyDelete)
Thanks for the interview and the chance for a query critique. Sounds like a great agent.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. I shared via tweet. https://twitter.com/ChellyPike/status/844935498879684609
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interview and query critique! I've retweeted from my twitter @meangelad
ReplyDeleteWonderful interview with Kristy. I have a MG book I'll query her with!
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent interview. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! Thanks Natalie, for asking such insightful questions. I've mentioned the contest on Twitter. Monicachess26(@)gmail(.)com
ReplyDeleteExcellent interview! Thanks so much for introducing Kristy. Shared via Twitter @giffmacshane
ReplyDeleteThank you, Natalie and Kristy, for this helpful interview!
ReplyDeleteMy email is laurieditton@gmail.com
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnother great article. I'd love to get a query critique. My email is zchingz@hotmail.com. I mentioned the contest on my Twitter here: https://twitter.com/MatthewMartinz/status/845132928036220928
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the interview! Bloomsbury Children’s Books’, Grove/Atlantic, and Random House Children’s Books sound like great places to gain experience. Have a great weekend, Natalie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the info and the opportunity!
ReplyDeletethanks for the contest. Interesting interview.
ReplyDeleteI love these agent interviews and always label them, then file them. Thanks for letting us get to know agents and what they want! Thewritephrase@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteVery interesting interview. I always love to find out more about the publishing world. Great advice about reading! So important. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
Great interview! I'd love a query critique.
ReplyDeleteAngiedickinson06@gmail.com
Thanks so much for the interview! It was very helpful! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! I enjoy learning more about agents I could possibly query.
ReplyDeleteI twitted this post!
DeleteCount me in :) dancing_dragon747(at)hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway! I shared it on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/xinraina/status/846727812333527040
ReplyDeleteMy email is xinraina@gmail.com
Thank you for the chance at this critique!
ReplyDeleteThese interviews are so helpful. Thanks Kristy and Natalie! And thanks for the contest.
ReplyDeleteLove your interviews, would love to win a critique! AudrasPicks@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteKristy is a perfect agent for two of my projects. I have a YA with a strong sibling relationship, and I have a MG that sounds like it fits too.
ReplyDeleteI'll share this post on Twitter. I'd love to win a critique! tmilstein at gmail.com
I enjoy reading the agent interviews. There is always more you would learn from the agency website!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your insights.
ReplyDeleteFortuitous timing! I'm just starting to research agents interested in YA, specifically dystopian post-apocalyptic and really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for the leg up!
ReplyDeleteVery informative interview. Thanks for your generous giveaway!
ReplyDeleteExcellent interview and information! Thank you for the amazing opportunity! My email is gabrielleslivoski(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting interview. Thank you so much--and thank you for entering me in the query critique giveaway. Just in case, my email address is profrbailey@aol.com.
ReplyDeleteVery informative - thanks so much. I'd be so appreciative of a query critique.
ReplyDelete