Literary Agent Interview: GiannaMarie Dobson

Today I’m thrilled to have agent GiannaMarie Dobson here. She’s an associate literary agent at Neighborhood Literary. 

Hi­ GiannaMarie! Thanks so much for joining us. 

About GiannaMarie: 

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

I always wanted to work in publishing! I spent 5 years interning, working freelance in publishing, and networking before I made the jump up to agent in June 2025 when I joined Neighborhood. By the time this interview is posted, it’ll be about a year! I’ve spent that year learning as much as I possibly can from my bosses, my colleagues, and my peers; meeting as many editors as possible; and building my client list very slowly and deliberately. 

About the Agency: 

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

Neighborhood is a boutique literary agency led by Eric Smith and Rebecca Podos, who are some of the kindest people in publishing! Eric’s vision is very community-focused, and he runs events both virtually and IRL in Philadelphia to offer resources and help demystify publishing. Additionally, all the agents on our team are very focused on finding and uplifting diverse voices. 

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? 

In kidlit, I’m looking for MG and YA novels of all genres. In adult, I’m looking for SFFH and romance. Across all my genres and age categories, my priority is to find books about disability, featuring disabled characters, or written by disabled authors. 

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

Inside the umbrella of disability, I’m very focused on finding intersectional disability stories too, especially queer and BIPOC. If you’re a disabled author of color and write in my categories, please query me! More specifically: 

In MG, my heart lies with serious stories about the unique circumstances of being disabled when you’re a child, like Aniana Del Mar Jumps In, Iveliz Explains It All, and Hear Me by Kerry O’Malley Cerra. The first time I read Aniana, I was listening to the audiobook, and I had to keep pausing because it was so intense I wanted to throw my phone across the room! Please make me upset! Up until recently, the only intense disability stories were objectifying and written for the abled gaze, so I’m so excited that these other books are starting to pop up, ones that are written from an authentic disability perspective and reflect the very real hard parts of disability that have so far been invisible to the mainstream––Aniana wrestles with cultural moralizing of chronic illness and generational trauma; Iveliz centers a grieving child who experiences hallucinations and struggles to care for her grandmother with memory loss; Hear Me is about parental rights and the violence of inflicting unwanted healthcare on a child who legally has no medical autonomy. On the more fun side, I would also love to see a Percy Jackson-esque story where disabled kids get to be heroes and go on adventures but have disabilities that realistically limit them––Vanya and the Wild Hunt is a great example of what I mean by this, reinventing the familiar (magic school) through a disability lens!   

In YA and adult, I’m especially eager for some disability SFFH. I am dying for disability horror that interrogates ableism/sanism as the source of the horror (rather than disability itself), and I’m always, always, always dying for disabled dragons, dragon riders, and anything like that. Please send me Eragon-but-he-stays-disabled or How to Train Your Dragon where the disabilities are relevant and respectfully portrayed––please no more magicures or supercrips! We need to carve out a space for ourselves in sweeping, epic fantasy! 

I’m also perpetually looking for disability romance––badly enough that I’ve opened up to adult romance specifically for this purpose. If you’re an author with a romance like Sick Kids in Love, Kissing Kosher, or It’s All in Your Head in your back pocket, I need to see it! I love disability-focused romance in particular because a close examination of disability requires a story—and potential couple—to break down what intimacy means for them, and build a relationship around unique characters’ needs, desires, and vulnerabilities, rather than defaulting to more familiar allo, hetero relationship beats and structures. 

Lastly, I would just love to see a broader variety of disabled authors in my inbox! When I say I’m looking for neurodivergence and disability, I mean it in the broadest possible sense––I am actively looking for projects that deal with other neurodivergences, especially more stigmatized mental illnesses and brain injury. So far, my inbox has trended very heavily towards autism and ADHD––and please know, I’m autistic and I’ve signed two incredible autistic authors already!––and I would love to mix it up and get some more physical disabilities, mobility impairments, chronic illness, and chronic pain! 

 If any of that sounds like you, I have a thorough MSWL here: https://manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/giannamarie-dobson/. 

What She Isn’t Looking For: 

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

Right now, I’m not looking for picture books, graphic novels, novels in verse, or nonfiction. I’ll give almost anything a shot if it’s through a disability lens, but I’m not interested in considering “inspirational” disability stories, stories centering able-bodied caregivers or siblings, or stories leaning on disability tropes (like amnesia, a last-minute psychosis reveal, or the supercrip) without deconstructing the harm they cause.   

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? 

My goal as an agent is to get more disability stories on shelves—art has a profound capacity to educate, humanize, destigmatize, and change the culture. As someone active in both the publishing industry and disability community, I’ve noticed that these two worlds don’t overlap much—the knowledge, culture, and history of the disability community rarely makes it into mainstream art, even art that centers disability. Thankfully, this has begun to change in the last 10-ish years, but there’s a lot farther to go! Disability is vast and complicated, but the authors and books I’m especially eager for are ones that understand it as a political category. 

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! I love editing. With the authors I’ve signed so far, I’ve given my most important editorial thoughts on the offer call, and then followed up with a detailed edit letter. Character and voice are the most important things to me, and I rarely want to edit those––but if those are solid and draw me in, anything else can be fixed! My edits usually focus on bringing out the wonderful parts of the manuscript and tweaking plot and worldbuilding to enhance the themes. 

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? 

QueryManager! What I ask for is a standard query and then the first 10 pages of your manuscript. 

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

I have an accessibility note on my form, but other than that, I really recommend r/PubTips as a query resource. The community there is very active and will help you get your query into shape! 

Response Time: 

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

I set aside one day a week to clear my query inbox. Currently, that’s Monday, so it should be under a week for a query response. I usually read partials and manuscripts within a week as well, too. If it’s taking longer than that, there’s a 99% chance I thought your project would be a better fit for one of my colleagues at Neighborhood and handed it off to them, so it’s in their 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? 

Most of the time, it’s all about framing. If you’ve got a poor sales history for your selfpub or small press book, drawing attention to that may lead industry professionals to believe that your books weren’t very good or that you weren’t a very savvy businessperson. On the other hand, if you’re very successful in either space, a lot of agents will be eager to partner with you! Regardless, write the strongest book and the strongest query you can––you can figure out the best strategy for the next step of your career once an agent falls in love with your work. 

Clients: 

12. Who are some of the authors you represent? 

My client list is very small at the moment, and all yet to debut! 

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. 

I was interviewed in the November/December 2025 issue of Writer’s Digest, but I’m not sure that that’s available anywhere online! 

Links and Contact Info:

 

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

I only accept queries through QueryManager. My form is linked here: https://querytracker.net/query/3926 

Find me on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/giannamarie.bsky.social! That’s where I announce that I’m opening/closing to queries and where I participate in pitch events. 

Additional Advice: 

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

Make use of free resources and communities online—there’s so much excellent information out there and generous people who will help you! 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, GiannaMarie! 

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.

 Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Monday, June 29th, I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop 

Monday, July 1st, I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop 

Wednesday, July 3rd, I have an interview with Amanda Connolly and a giveaway of her YA romantasy The Lure of Wolves and Whispers and my IWSG post 

Monday, July 9th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Justina Ireland Handspun and query critique giveaway 

Monday, July 13th, I have an interview with Amy Tern and a giveaway of her MG Sneeks 

Thursday, July 16th, I’m participating in the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop 

I hope to see you on Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Literary Agent Interview: Madelyn Knecht and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Madelyn Knecht here. She’s an associate literary agent at Storm Literary Agency. 

Status Update: Madelyn is open to queries the first week of each month. 

Hi­ Madelyn! Thanks so much for joining us. 

About Madelyn: 

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

 

After a few years of beta reading, I started freelance editing around 2021 and became a RevPit editor the same year. Working with query letters in our own form of the “slush pile” lured me towards agenting, so I applied to a few agencies as an intern. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get any responses. Thankfully I did, and was able to work with Storm Literary Agency under Heather Cashman as an intern. I fell in love with the process and finding books that I wanted to champion, and soon moved up to assistant. I knew I wanted to be an agent, though, and it wasn’t long until I moved up with the help of Heather and Vicki. I’ve now been an agent for four months and it’s already been a whirlwind. 

About the Agency: 

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

Storm Literary Agency is a boutique literary agency that offers incredible support for authors throughout their writing careers. We have a robust foreign rights department and always thrive to give our clients the best opportunities they deserve. 

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? 

Primarily Young Adult and Adult, although I’ll take a look at the occasional Middle Grade. In everything, I prefer some sort of speculative twist. I really want a strong voice, a fast pace, and beautiful writing. 

I do not represent picture books. 

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

I would really, really love something like Windbreaker (the anime) but in MG or YA. I would also love something along the lines of The Last Hour Between Worlds—a mystery with a speculative twist. 

But I’d really love to be surprised. 

What She Isn’t Looking For: 

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

I’m not interested in hard or military SciFi, Westerns, straight contemporary romance (without any layers or speculative aspect) or anything with talking animals. 

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 represent books with heart, and authors who are both excited about writing and serious about their careers. I want books that make a lasting impact, and find their readers—especially young readers—right when they need it. 

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? 

With my editor background, I’m very editorial and hands-on. I’m looking for authors who are open to being collaborative and eager to make their book the best version of itself. My goal is to take what the author’s already done and make sure it makes as big an impact as possible. The authors have the talent. I’m here to help polish it. 

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 consider query letters through QueryManager. I’m looking for a clear hook and characters who stand to lose things. I want more than the end of the world. I want personal stakes. I want to know why I should care about what’s happening to this character. 

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

I’m not a fan of rhetorical questions or query letters written from the perspective of the character (i.e., in first person). Also, please don’t be self-deprecating in your letter. Implying that I’ll reject the query without reading it won’t do you any favors. If you’re not confident in your own work, why would I be? 

Response Time: 

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

I try to get back to authors quickly, because as a writer who’s been in the trenches myself, I know waiting is the worst. At the moment, you can expect about 30 days or less as a response time. If it’s longer than that, you’ve likely landed in my maybe pile. 

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! I recommend having sales data ready for if it’s requested (which may only be at the stage where an agent is considering an offer) and to make sure authors know which rights they’ve retained. This is especially true if they’ve published with a smaller press. 

Clients: 

12. Who are some of the authors you represent? 

I currently represent James S. Gilbert (https://www.stormliteraryagency.com/james-s-gilbert.html) 

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. 

N/A 

Links and Contact Info: 

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

Query: https://querytracker.net/query/Madelyn_Knecht

Full Wish List: https://www.stormliteraryagency.com/madelyn-knecht.html

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/madelynknecht.bsky.social 

Additional Advice: 

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

If you’ve queried only one book and received nothing but rejections, it could be a case of the market not being ready. But if you’ve queried multiple books and you’re still getting rejections, I recommend finding beta readers or editors to see whether it’s the market or something in your writing. Voice is hard to nail down, and can be the difference between getting an agent and not. And developing your voice as a writer (every writer has one!) is a matter of practice. 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Madelyn! 

Giveaway Details 

­Madelyn 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 27th. 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.

 Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Tuesday, June 16th, I’m participating in the Dad-o-Mite Giveaway Hop  

Monday, June 22nd, I'm hosting a giveaway of Laekan Zea Kemp's MG The Chimosas Only Book Club 

Monday, July 1st, I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop 

Wednesday, July 3rd, I have an interview with Amanda Connolly and a giveaway of her YA romantasy The Lure of Wolves and Whispers and my IWSG post 

Monday, July 9th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Justina Ireland Handspun and query critique giveaway 

Monday, July 13th, I have an interview with Amy Tern and a giveaway of her MG Sneeks 

Thursday, July 16th, I’m participating in the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop 

I hope to see you on Tuesday!

Literary Agent Interview: Andrea Colvin and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Andrea Colvin here. She’s the president of and an agent at Andrea Colvin Creative Agency. 

Status Update: Andrea will be reopening to queries in June 2026. 

Hi­ Andrea! Thanks so much for joining us. 

About Andrea: 

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 an agent for just over four months! I started my agency at the end of 2025 after being laid off from my job as editorial director at Little, Brown Ink. But for a long time I’ve been what I call “agenting curious.” I was always a bit jealous of the ongoing relationships agents got to have with authors, whereas editors aren’t always able to acquire their next books, for a variety of reasons. My favorite part of being an editor was always working with authors, and now I get to essentially do that full time! 

About the Agency: 

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

My agency represents authors and illustrators in the children’s space, from board books through YA, from heavily illustrated projects to prose-only projects. Because of my background in graphic novel publishing, my client list has graphic novelists strongly represented, but I also love working with picture book creators and middle-grade and YA authors. My overall goal for the agency is the same as most agencies—to make my clients money and get their work in front of the largest audience possible. But I do think a lot about the experience my clients will have working with me. I want everyone represented by ACCA to feel fully confident that I am working as hard as I can to advance their careers. I want them to know that I will respond to their emails right away. I want them to feel supported! 

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? 

As noted above my agency represents authors and illustrators in the children’s space, from board books through YA, from heavily illustrated projects to prose-only projects. I’m looking for both literary and commercial projects. And I am looking for illustrators who want to illustrate other people’s projects, whether they are graphic novels or picture books, covers or interior illustrations. 

It’s harder than ever to break through the submissions noise these days, so I am looking for projects that connect with readers right out of the gate, where the first page plunges us into the story, tells us what to expect, and instills that urge to keep reading. 

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

I’d love to see a very voice-y middle-grade prose novel or nonfiction manuscript. And a very innovative picture book or early reader with lots of layers. 

What She Isn’t Looking For: 

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

I do horror or creepy stuff sparingly (though I have some clients who are terrific at it, I get scared reading it!). And I am taking on picture book authors (who do not also illustrate) only very sparingly. 

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 represent diversity in every sense of that word. So I’m looking for authors of different backgrounds (to my own and to each other) and illustrators with different styles. I’m looking for books that are about diverse topics and are different from other books I represent. 

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? 

Very much so (I always say, editors are gonna edit, and I am still an editor on the inside). And it’s getting so difficult to make it through the submissions process that I want all of my clients to be putting their best feet forward. What this usually means is that we have editing rounds before we go on submission. It’s not enough anymore that an editor can see the promise in a project; they must also see the execution. 

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 am closed to queries for the time being while I work through my backlog, but I plan to open back up this summer. My submission guidelines are available on my website here. 

• Please send all queries via the Submission Form or to andrea@andreacolvincreative.com with “Query” in the subject line.
• Novels (middle-grade and YA): Please send a query letter, bio, and the first 10 to 20 pages of your manuscript.
• Picture books: Please send a query letter, bio, and your manuscript and/or dummy as an attachment. If you are an illustrator, please also include a link to your portfolio.
• Graphic Novels: Please send a query letter, bio, and your pitch packet which should include sample pages. Please also include a link to your portfolio.
• Illustrators: For illustrators seeking illustration representation, please send a bio and portfolio, and a brief description of your career goals.

*Though we do our best to respond to every submission, please note that our response time is currently 8-12 weeks.

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

Ask me again in a year! 

Response Time: 

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

I’m running closer to 3 months right now, but I’m hoping to get this back down to 8 to 12 weeks. 

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? 

Absolutely. They should query the exact same way as unpublished authors. 

Clients: 

12. Who are some of the authors you represent? 

https://www.andreacolvincreative.com/illustrators

https://www.andreacolvincreative.com/authors 

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. 

https://youtu.be/cwYwsrVT51g?si=Z44zSXl9KEo5Um2G 

Links and Contact Info: 

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

See above in the query submissions and guidelines section 

Additional Advice: 

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

Try to remember that agents and editors are all human beings with busy jobs. They want you to be successful and they don’t want to ignore you! They are all making decisions about how to spend their time every day and they are often prioritizing existing clients and projects. And trust me, they are all well aware that you could have written the next Twilight or Smile or Harry Potter and they just haven’t found time to read it yet, and yes, they feel terrible about this! 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Andrea! 

Giveaway Details 

­Andrea 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 23rd. 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.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Saturday, May 16th, I’m participating in the Moms Rock Giveaway Hop 

Monday, May 25th, I’m off for Memorial Day 

Monday, June 1st, I’m participating in the Very Berry Giveaway Hop 

Wednesday, June 3rd, I have an interview with Dana Swift and a giveaway of her YA When Dealing With Dragons and my IWSG Post 

Monday, June 8th, I have a guest post by Rebecca Caprera and a giveaway of her MG Eva to the Max 

Tuesday, June 16th, I’m participating in the Dad-o-Mite Giveaway Hop 

Wednesday, June 17th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Madelyn Knecht and a query critique giveaway 

I hope to see you on Saturday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Literary Agent Interview: Erica Bauman and Query Critique Giveaway

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.

 Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

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!