Today I’m thrilled to have agent Erica Bauman here. She’s an agent at Aevitas Creative Management.
Status: Erica is currently closed to submissions but plans to reopen to queries the first week of June.
Hi Erica! Thanks so much for joining us.
About Erica:
1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.
I’ve been working in the publishing industry since 2012, and what drew me to agenting was the long-term professional relationship between agents and their authors. I love the idea of not just finding incredible books but talented authors, and helping them grow in their careers and find readers.
I started building my own client list in 2016, first in the MG and YA space, and then more recently branching out into adult fiction.
About the Agency:
2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.
When I joined what is now Aevitas, we were still two smaller agencies that hadn’t yet merged. In the last ten years we’ve really grown in size, and offer our clients benefits like a dedicated foreign rights team and film team, but still approach our work as a very hands-on boutique agency. All of my colleagues work editorially with our authors to make sure that the version of the book we send out to publishers is the strongest we can make it, and reflects well on our authors as professionals.
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 projects from ages MG and up. In the MG and YA space I’m open to all genres, as well as graphic novels and some select nonfiction. I have a soft spot for speculative fiction, but also love horror, mystery, and fun contemporary and romcoms. And across the board I’m looking to work with BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodivergent authors and stories.
My list can be described as projects with a strong commercial hook, depth and emotional resonance, and enthralling writing.
4. Is there anything you would be especially excited to see in the genres you are interested in?
I love when an author brings an element of the unexpected to their project, like an out-there genre mashup or world building element, or a new perspective on a familiar trope or retelling. Something fun and surprising, but also integral to the story you’re telling.
What She Isn’t Looking For:
5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?
While I do have some picture books on my list, it’s not an area that I’m actively looking for. Anything younger than middle grade—so picture books, chapter books, and early reader—are not really in my wheelhouse. And, while I do represent graphic novel memoir, I’m not a great fit for prose memoir. I also don’t represent story collections or poetry collections.
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?
This may be a bit of a cliché answer, but I want to work with authors who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work. The publishing industry is tough—there are a lot of writers and only so many books acquired per year, and more often than not you and your book only get one chance to make a good impression. So when it comes to queries, I’m not only looking for manuscripts that are fun and engaging, but show a level of craft and polish that are evidence of that author’s hard 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?
Yes—I majored in creative writing, so I love rolling up my sleeves and digging into a manuscript. The submission process in anxiety inducing, and there are so many factors outside of an author’s control, but what we can control is the manuscript and writing itself. So I work closely with my authors and we usually do a couple rounds of revision to make sure that the version of the manuscript we send out is the strongest and most polished example of that author’s writing.
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?
I only accept queries through Query Tracker—any unexpected email queries are swept up by my spam filter. As for the query letter itself, I know that one of the biggest challenges is finding the right balance between conveying enough of the specific details of your story so that your concept/plot feels distinct, but not too much in that limited space that it becomes overly complicated and convoluted. It’s tough to thread that needle, and usually takes a couple drafts to get right, but it is so important—I’m looking for a clear sense of what the book is not just to determine whether it’s a fit for my list and something I can sell, but to also get a sense of whether the author knows how to talk about their book. It’s not a skill that comes naturally to most people, so getting outside reads and feedback on your query letter, or studying the jacket copy of the books you already own, or even practicing talking about your book like it was just something you picked up and want to recommend to a friend can all help you distill your pitch.
9. Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?
Query letters are an opportunity for you to argue your case for why someone should read your book, so don’t waste it. A too short query letter is a wasted opportunity—you have the full page, take advantage of it. It’s also a professional introduction to agents of what you will be like as a business partner, so writing from the POV of your characters doesn’t give us a clear picture of how who you are as a colleague and collaborator. And any query letters that disparage other authors or other published books communicates to me someone who needs to tear others down to make themselves feel valued, and that’s not a personality I’m interested in working with.
As for first pages, I see a lot of openings where the character wakes up suddenly from a dream. And—this may just be a me thing—but opening pages that start with an intriguing line or moment, and then immediately flash back to either earlier in the day or to an extended memory to show how they got there. Start the story where it starts.
Response Time:
10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?
Right now my response time for queries is hovering at around 3 months. I tend to put queries I’m intrigued by in my maybe pile for a second look, before requesting more pages, so those take a bit longer. I also read queries by genre, rather than chronologically, so responses can go out of order.
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 representing previously published or self-published authors, however when it comes to queries I’m looking for books that have not been previously published. So, if an established author has a brand new project they’re querying, that’s great, but signing an author for a book that has already been released is a little outside of my wheelhouse.
Clients:
12. Who are some of the authors you represent?
I’m lucky that I get to work with New York Times bestselling author Kayla Cottingham, Eisner and Harvey Award nominated author Tony Weaver Jr., acclaimed YA author Maria Ingrande Mora, and Lambda Literary Fellow Naseem Jamnia, to name a few.
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.
“Genres, Tropes, Trends, and Finding Your Agent Fit with Agent Erica Bauman”—The Manuscript Academy Podcast, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/genres-tropes-trends-and-finding-your-agent-fit-with/id1171799743?i=1000663492092
My MSWL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TTAlk2Accs and https://manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/erica-bauman/
Links and Contact Info:
14. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.
I can be queried at https://QueryTracker.net/query/EricaBauman, and any updates on my query inbox and MSWL can usually be found on my Instagram: @EricaBaumanBooks
Additional Advice
15. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?
It’s good to have goals as an author, but be flexible in how you get there. There’s no set path in publishing, so many factors that affect every step on the path, and every author’s journey is different. So set goals you want to aim for (and communicate those with your agent), but be flexible in that the journey is not always a straight line.
Same goes with your writing—know the non-negotiables for your manuscript, those elements that if changed or removed would fundamentally affect your relationship with the project, and be open and receptive to feedback everywhere else. You want to find someone whose vision aligns with yours, who values the same things about the manuscript, but can provide editorial insight that you might have overlooked to help you better execute your authorial vision.
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Erica!
Giveaway Details
Erica
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 May 9th. 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 Bluesky 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.
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 here before querying an agent. The information found here is
subject to change.
Friday, May 1st, I’m participating in the Come What May Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, May 6th, I have an interview with Dana Mele and a giveaway of her YA The Beast You Let In and my IWSG post
Monday, May 11th, I have an interview with Sarah Marie Jette and a giveaway of her MG One Fair Share
Wednesday, May 13th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Andrea Colvin and a query critique giveaway
Saturday, May 16th, I’m participating in the Moms Rock Giveaway Hop
Monday, May 25th, I’m off for Memorial Day
I hope to see you on Friday, May 1st!
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