Hi Marlo! Thanks so much for
joining us.
About Marlo:
1. Tell us how you
became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an
agent.

I was originally an
accounting manager for a Fortune 500 company, but I’ve been involved in
publishing now for over twelve years, as a writer, the chair of a major
publishing conference, a published author, a freelance editor, and finally a
children’s lead bookseller for Barnes & Noble. As a freelance editor, I’ve
always enjoyed helping other writers develop their stories. After a while, I
realized I was able to recognize which stories in my inbox had much more
potential than others. So when I saw an opportunity to intern at The Bent
Agency, I jumped at it. I learned a great deal from that first year long internship
with Molly Ker Hawn, and then even more from my second internship with Colleen
Oefelein at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. After interning at JDLA for
about nine months, Jennifer made me an Associate Agent in November 2018. The
last ten months have been a whirlwind of reading queries/manuscripts, signing
clients, attending conferences and events such as BEA, and reaching out to
editors.
About the Agency:
2. Share a bit about
your agency and what it offers to its authors.
The Jennifer De Chiara
Literary Agency is a New York City-based full-service literary agency founded
in 2001 and named one of the top 25 literary agencies in the country by
Writer’s Digest. The agency represents children’s literature for all ages—picture books and middle-grade and young adult novels—but also represents high-quality adult fiction and non-fiction in
a wide range of genres. JDLA is proud to represent illustrators, as well
as screenwriters for both television and film, including Emmy and Peabody
Award-winning writers and illustrators. What sets JDLA apart
from other agencies is our holistic approach to managing every aspect of
an author’s career to make the most of their project's potential. We offer:
·
A designated Foreign Rights
team, with co-agents in every country and an established presence at Book Expo
and book fairs throughout the world.
·
A designated Film/TV/Media
agent based in Hollywood.
·
An affiliated
Presentation Service and Media trainer to help authors communicate with
clarity, precision, and greater impact.
·
An affiliated Speakers
Services agent who coordinates booking speaking engagements.
·
Strong affiliations with top
merchandising agents to handle merchandising opportunities as they arise.
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 represent PB, MG and YA in all genres, but am
particularly interested in contemporary, fantasy, mystery, suspense,
paranormal, horror and speculative. I believe the best submissions have both
compelling characters and tight, emotionally involving plotlines. If your
writing can translate emotion to the page and give me a visceral reaction of
humor, fear, joy, sadness, intrigue, or romance, then I will keep turning
pages. Basically, I’m looking for a book I simply can’t put down.
Update 12/31/2022: "I believe the best stories have both compelling characters and tight, emotionally involving plotlines. If your writing can translate emotion to the page and give me a visceral reaction of humor, fear, joy, sadness, intrigue, or romance, then I will keep turning pages.
"Across the board, I'm always looking for stories written by underrepresented authors.
"Middle-Grade and Young Adult: I am interested in ALL genres of MG and YA fiction, with particular emphasis on adventure, fantasy, mystery, thriller, suspense, paranormal, urban fantasy, horror, speculative, sci-fi, contemporary, and romance. I enjoy ghosts, witches, magic, magical realism, unusual settings, dark elements, gothic stories, secrets or secretive characters, treasure hunts, puzzle-solving, and unreliable narrators. Basically, my tastes are varied, so even if you have something not mentioned on this list, try me! Also, if you can take a story or intellectual property (in TV or books) that is popular with the adult crowd and give me its MG or YA version, then I will give it a look because I believe these types of stories may have strong potential for the market. I am also open to coming-of-age stories set in college that walk the line between upper YA and new adult. While I do like contemporary tales, I may not be the best fit for “issue” books where the central conflict revolves primarily around rape/rape-culture, drugs, or illness. I will also consider some select non-fiction projects in MG and YA, particularly if they involve pop-culture, current events, or social awareness/commentary.
"Picture book: Seeking submissions primarily from author-illustrators, though I will consider select text-only submissions. Please submit your query with a link to your portfolio and the entire text of the PB manuscript. Also, please query only one PB at a time! I am more drawn toward character-driven stories that are cute, funny, or heartwarming. I love twists on familiar characters or story lines, and unlikely friendship stories.
"Adult: I am particularly interested in horror, mystery, thriller, and suspense, especially psychological suspense, supernatural suspense, and domestic thriller. I am also seeking women’s fiction with some heft and heart, and all genres of Romance, except inspirational and erotic. As far as historical romance, I prefer the Gilded Age and forward." (From the agency website)
4. Is there anything you would be especially
excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?
I would be especially excited to see more magic, magical
realism, unusual settings, pirates, ghosts, dark elements, gothic tone, secrets
or secretive characters, treasure hunts, and unreliable narrators. I’d also
like to see some emotional friendship stories, twisty mysteries that are
well-plotted, and YA romance with a funnier/happier/lighter tone.
What She Isn’t
Looking For:
5. What types of
submissions are you not interested in?
While I do
like contemporary tales, I may not be the best fit for ‘issue’ books where the
central conflict revolves primarily around rape/rape-culture, drugs, or
illness.
Update 12/31/2022: What I’m not looking for:
- Political, true crime, or military/espionage thrillers
- Short stories
- Poetry
- Screenplays
- Books involving rape/rape-culture, drugs, or illness
- Previously self-published books
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?
An ideal author I would want to
work with is someone who reads voraciously, writes consistently, and wants a
career (not just to sell one book). An ideal client would also show patience,
be open to critique and revisions, and always be seeking to improve their
craft. I believe in giving 100% effort to my author’s career; all I ask is that
they do the same. Once I take on an author and their book, I will work
tirelessly to give that author their best shot at getting published.
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 am very editorially hands-on with my clients. I will work hard
with my authors to get their work 100% ready for submission to editors, through
multiple revisions if that’s what it takes. I thoroughly enjoy editing at all
levels, from big-picture right down to line-editing, and would want to be sure
we are sending out an author’s very best work.
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?
To me a successful query begins with the title, genre and word count, so
I know what I’m supposed to be considering. It’s a bonus if you can add some
personalization of why you specifically queried me (i.e. you met me at a conference,
saw something I mentioned on #MSWL, read an interview about me, etc.) From
there, the query should clearly describe who the main character is, what the
dilemma is that they’ve been thrown into, and what the stakes are. This is the
‘meat’ of the query, so be sure to show me the hook, or what makes your story
unique. End the query with a short bio that tells me a bit about yourself,
particularly your writing pursuits, publications and any accolades. Then upload the most sparkling
first twenty pages you can—show me a well-thought-out
original concept, with memorable characters, a great voice, and solid, polished
writing. Draw me into your story, your world, and your character’s dilemma
immediately. Make those first twenty pages so great I simply have to ask for
more. And if I do, then send me a full manuscript that has all of the above
through to the very last page.
9. Do you have any specific dislikes in query
letters or the first pages submitted to you?
I can
sometimes forgive a muddled up query letter, one which doesn’t follow what I’ve
outlined in the previous question, but it usually puts me on alert that the
pages may not hold up either. In most cases, I will still read a few pages of
the writing to give the writer a chance. But if the writing doesn’t wow me by
page ten, I stop reading. One of the more common mistakes is writing that feels too distant
and doesn’t make me feel as if I am taking a journey along with the main POV
character. Another mistake I see quite frequently, particularly in fantasy, is what
I like to call the ‘imagination dump’—too many confusing fantasy elements that don’t seem to fit well
together or make sense, tons of characters that aren’t fleshed out enough, and
plots that wander all over the place. Info dumps in the beginning are equally off-putting. Head-hopping
within a scene will also make me reject quickly. Telling a story through
multiple POVs is fine; head-hopping is not. And if a writer doesn’t know the
difference between the two, then it makes me question how well they really know
their craft.
Response Time:
10. What’s your
response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?
I usually respond to queries within six
weeks. Requested full manuscripts may take longer than six weeks to read,
so please be patient. All queries and requested material will get a
response.
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 am open
to representing authors who have
self-published or been published by smaller presses, but only if they query me
with something new that has never been published. I don’t take on previously
self-published manuscripts because in 99.9% of cases, major publishers simply
will not acquire them. Believe me, as a highly successful self-published author
myself I wish this wasn’t the case, but it is. One day a Big-5 publisher might
acquire THE GHOST CHRONICLES series, but probably only after I become the next
Stephen King or Lauren Oliver. So, my best advice would be to query agents with
a manuscript that is completely new.
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?
I only see the role of agents changing slightly, in that
they may need to support their authors’ efforts if they decide to go hybrid.
Other than that, I believe our role will continue to be to find great authors
and submit them to houses which might otherwise be inaccessible.
Clients:
13. Who are some of
the authors you represent?
I’m happy to represent authors, Mimi Cross, Timothy Power,
Kristin Smith, Rina Heisel, Courtney King Walker, and Brittany Kelley.
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 12/31/2022:
Podcast with The Writer Experience (12/2019)
Links and Contact
Info:
15. Please share how
writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.
Additional Advice:
16. Is there any
other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?
My best advice would be to join writing organizations, learn
your craft, revise, revise, revise, revise some more, and then put your book
through the paces with multiple beta readers and critique partners before you
send it out to agents. I see way too many manuscripts that could be promising,
but the writing falls apart at some point. It all begins with a great book!
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Marlo.
Marlo 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 October 5th.
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.
Last Updated: 12/31/2022.
Agent Contacted for Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 2/4/2023.
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.