Literary Agent Interview: Alex Brown Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Alex Brown here. She’s an associate agent at Mad Woman Literary Agency. 

Hi­ Alex! Thanks so much for joining us. 

Thank you so much for having me! Literary Rambles was such a huge resource for me when I first started querying—it’s an honor to be here! 

About Alex: 

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

I started my publishing journey as a writer! I sent my first query in 2012 and didn’t sign with an agent until 2019, so I understand how harrowing the query trenches can be. Once I was agented, I was able to serve as a mentor in Author Mentor Match and Pitch Wars, which is where I sharpened my editorial skills and developed a passion for revision! After a few years of mentoring were under my belt I knew I wanted to become an agent. It took me a few more years to become an associate agent, but I’m so happy and grateful to be at Mad Woman Literary! 

Since I became an agent, I’ve been signing my fabulous clients, meeting with editors, and getting manuscripts ready for submission! 

About the Agency: 

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

Mad Woman Literary Agency is a queer-woman-owned, full-service literary agency founded in 2021. The agency has a particular focus on DEAI and prides itself on its highly curated list of talented authors. 

MWLA values transparency, a spirit of partnership, and author empowerment. We work to foster a sense of community among our clients through annual retreats and virtual educational presentations. 

We are by each client's side throughout the publishing process from the development of ideas all the way through publication and beyond to support sustainable, long-term writing 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 represent MG, YA, and Adult across all genres! 

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

I LOVE horror! Please send me all the horror in all the age categories! I’m especially keen to find horror written by and for marginalized populations! 

I would also love more rom coms and sci-fi/fantasy with a killer contemporary voice! 

What She Isn’t Looking For: 

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

I’m not currently representing non-fiction. Contemporary is usually a little hard for me to get into but if it’s got a great hook (like my client, AS Crowder, who I signed for their AMAZING Phantom of the Opera retelling set in the world of professional wrestling), I’m in! 

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’d love to represent fresh voices and perspectives in all genres. As a queer biracial (Filipino/white) agent and writer, I’d love to bring more diverse stories into the world and work with cool people who have tales to tell that are thrilling, terrifying, romantic, and everything in-between! 

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 indeed editorial! When I was mentoring, I worked with authors who did ground-up rewrites/revisions and authors who needed less extensive revisions. I always want to work with authors to find the best possible version of their book and am very collaborative when it comes to revision. 

Before I send anything to editors, I’ll usually send an edit letter to my client. Then we’ll jump on a call and chat about it, and once my client feels good about the revision, I’ll let them do their thing. I’m always available to read over pages or brainstorm with my clients if they need 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? 

Authors should use my Query Manager link: https://QueryManager.com/AlexBrown 

I ask for the first ten pages and a query. Synopses are optional! 

Any queries sent to my email will be deleted unread. This is to keep things fair and make sure my inbox stays manageable! 

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

Query letters are most helpful when they tell us about the book. It’s hard to know if I’d like something if the letter talks more about how someone got the idea for the book, or if they spend more time talking about their experiences than the book itself. 

Response Time: 

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

For queries, I try my best to reply within two months. I’m a little behind at the moment, though, so it’s looking more like 3 months. 

If I’m intrigued by the query and pages, I’ll request the full! That can take even longer, depending on what my clients need. At this point, I’d say it might take around 6 months or so to hear back on a full. I’m hoping to get a bit quicker in the future! 

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 think it’s always great to query something totally new when you’re reaching out to agents. As for an author’s previously published work, we’d approach what we’d do with each book on a case-by-case basis. 

Clients: 

12. Who are some of the authors you represent? 

I have 7 clients currently: 

Val Robles

AS Crowder

Kennedy Cole

Stephanie Binx

G.T. Korbin

SW Holden

Carly Vick 

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. 

Query Manager: https://QueryManager.com/AlexBrown 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gravity_fail09 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madethisforlu 

Links and Contact Info: 

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

See Answer #13 on how to query Alex. 

Additional Advice: 

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

Everyone’s path is different! It took me 7 years to find an agent, but some of my writer friends had an offer after a few days of querying! It’s totally okay to take a break and step away when you need it. Make friends in the writing community and lean on them in the hard times. 

It’s important to keep writing the stories that only you can write. Your passion will shine through and, sometimes, it’s one of the few things that can get you through the rough periods. 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Alex. 

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. 

Giveaway Details 

­Alex 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 September 21st. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that’s okay. Just let me know in the comments. 

If you follow me on Twitter 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. 

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Monday, September 16th I have an interview with debut author Callie Miller and a giveaway of her MG The Search for the Shadowsoul 

Monday, September 16th I’m also participating in the Falling Into Leaves Giveaway Hop 

Wednesday, September 18th I have a guest post by Carol Lynch Williams from Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers 

Monday, September 23rd I have an interview with debut author Dionna Mann and a giveaway of her MG Mama's Chicken and Dumplings  

I hope to see you on Monday!

 

Literary Agent Interview: Chelsea Hensley and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Chelsea Hensley here. She is an associate literary agent at kt literary.

Status as of 9/28/2024: Chelsea is an agent at Mad Woman Literary. She is currently open to queries. Check the agency website to find out her submission guidelines. 

Hi­ Chelsea! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Chelsea:

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

I’m coming up on two years of agenting. I started back in the summer of 2020. Originally I was interested in pursuing editorial but found agenting checked a lot more boxes about the work I was excited about in publishing (in addition to enjoying more independence and autonomy in my work). I landed at KT where I’ve been ever since. I’ve been building my list—an exciting but slow-going process for me, I’ve found I’m a lot pickier than I anticipated being this early on, but I have a great, tight list right now and am working on sharing their work with their world.

About the Agency:

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

KT Literary is a boutique agency with a very collaborative, and positive, atmosphere. As well as handling domestic deals for our clients, we partner with our co-agents on foreign and film/TV rights. As a newer agent, I get lots of support and mentorship from senior agents Sara Megibow and Kate Testerman in ensuring mine and my clients’ success. A supportive and optimistic atmosphere is a big part of KT,  and forming connections among fellow agents and clients has been a priority of ours. Pre-covid there was a retreat for clients and agents (that will one day return), and we hold weekly office hours for all clients to come together and ask questions or just chat with us and each other.

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 children’s right now I rep MG and YA only. In MG, I’m a very hard sell on contemporary, I’m more into genre fare. In YA, however, I’m into all of it: voicey and emotional contemporary, twisty thrillers, magical fantasies, dark horror, all of it.

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

In YA, I’m particularly looking for dark and twisty thrillers (think Courtney Summers) with complex protagonists who aren’t very worried about being liked. I’m also hungry for horror with a more psychological, creepy, very intense vibe.  In MG, I’d love to see some rollicking fantasy adventures with plucky protagonists. Whimsy is a big must for me in this category.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

Right now I’m not looking for any nonfiction, graphic novels, picture books, or chapter books. I’m also not a great fit for sports-centric themes or works that would fall under “issue” 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?

In building my list, I’m really looking for authors who I think I can have a longterm partnership with beyond their first or second books. Something Margot Robbie said she looks for in projects she’s pursuing for her own production company has really been resonating with me lately: she focuses on three factors: quality, variety, and longevity. That’s made a lot of sense to me over the past year or so, and I’ve adopted it myself, so I’m really looking to work with authors who are not only talented but have an ambition and curiosity that comes across in their 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 am an editorial agent. When working with clients, I approach edits much like an editor at a publishing house would. We start with a big picture pass where I write a complete edit letter then a second pass where we work in the manuscript though at this point I don’t go as in-depth as a full line-edit. With me, clients are working to get things as ready as possible for submission, but I don’t like to spend an indefinite amount of time on this so we don’t risk overworking my author or getting in the way of an editor and their vision.

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?

You can query me via Query Manager. With a query letter, I’m really wanting to get a good look at what the book is about. I’m looking for an enticing pitch that introduces character and conflict. In my experience, an imperfect query that gives me a good and solid introduction to the book is a lot more valuable than a gorgeously written one that doesn’t tell me anything.

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

With queries my one pet peeve is queries that don’t tell me the plot of the book. I get many, many queries that tell me about the author’s thinking or their reasons for writing the book, but by the end I don’t know enough about the book’s plot or characters or anything that’s “tangible” about the book.

Response Time:

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

Generally I strive for 2-4 weeks for queries. I’m not as quick with requests as I’d like to be, but I try to get back to people within 8-12 weeks. If it’s been longer, I encourage you to nudge me about it! Regardless of the answer, everyone who queries or submits to me will get a response so if you haven’t gotten one, something’s gone wrong somewhere.

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. I recommend, if you’re looking for an agent to, like other authors, have a completed, new (which means also not a sequel to something self-published) and unpublished project for consideration.  

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?

 As any industry changes, people’s roles will shift. Publishing’s not any different, but the general –and most important—role of an agent is going to remain the same: to guide and advise authors to as successful and fulfilling a career as possible.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I represent several amazingly talented authors. M. Darusha Wehm is a Nebula-award nominated author who published KEYFORGE: THE QUBIT ZIRCONIUM last year. I also represent Ness Brown, author of the forthcoming THE SCOURGE BETWEEN STARS (April 4, 2023, Tor Nightfire). I also have a lot of authors on my list who haven’t published yet writing everything from funny and smart MG mystery to sharp and witty YA contemporary.

Interviews and Guest Posts:

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

If you think you might want to query me, you can find my MSWL on my website. You can also listen to my episode of the KT Literary podcast.

Update on 2/16/2023
Podcast at AndItsWriting (01/2023)

Links and Contact Info:

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

You can query me using Query Manager. If that presents an accessibility issue for you, feel free to send your query and first three pages to our agency’s generic query inbox: queries@ktliterary.com. Specify the agent you’re wanting to query, and it’ll be passed on and reviewed as time permits.

Updated on 2/16/2023
Manuscript Wish List

Twitter

Query Tracker

Publishers Marketplace

Additional Advice:

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

I think just as much as time as you spend working on your project and getting it ready for querying, you should also take time to prepare yourself, too. The querying process alone can be grueling and disheartening, and that doesn’t necessarily change once you’re agented. So I encourage you to find touch points that are going to revitalize and encourage you, whatever that may be.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Chelsea.

­Chelsea 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 18th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the 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: 2/16/2023
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 6/6/2022 

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.

 

 

 

 

AGENT SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH DANIELLE BURBY AND QUERY CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Danielle Burby here. She is a literary agent at Nelson Literary 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 person will win a query critique from the agent being interviewed.

Status: Open to submissions. Update on 8/12/2021: Danielle left Nelson Literary Agency to found Mad Woman Literary Agency. Check the agency website for her submission guidelines. Update on 11/9/2023 Danielle is temporarily closed to queries until 2024. Check the agency website to find out when she reopens to queries.

Hi­ Danielle! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Danielle:

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

I interned at a handful of agencies and publishing houses throughout college and the summer after I graduated. One of those internships very organically led to my first agency job through a referral. I started out as the assistant to an agent at a NYC firm and, within one year, was taking on clients of my own and beginning to develop my list. I’m ambitious and I work very hard so I was able to move up fairly quickly in the industry. I’ve now been in publishing for five years and have fifteen clients. I’ve sold many truly wonderful projects, some of which are award-winning.

Update on 1/16/2023: "Danielle's focus as an agent is on a strong sense of partnership and collaboration with her clients. She represents a diverse list of critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling authors with stellar voices, incredible storytelling skills, and fresh narratives to share. She primarily works on YA and middle grade with a smattering of select adult fiction as well. Ultimately, she looks to connect deeply with the writing and themes of the books she works on.

Over her decade in publishing, Danielle has worked at several top tier literary agencies and has built a list of clients she is very proud to represent. In founding Mad Woman Literary Agency, Danielle has further deepened her commitment to being the change she wishes to see in publishing. She brings her own unique mix of business-minded and emotionally rooted support to her clients while also actively working to educate herself and to do her small part in the attempt to dismantle the white supremacist heteropatriarchy.

Danielle is a member of the American Association of Literary Agents where she has participated in the royalties committee and currently serves on the membership committee in addition to volunteering with the Mentors of Change program.

She has a degree in gender studies and creative writing, has a thriving herb garden, obsessively listens to podcasts and audiobooks, and can never get enough of the ocean. She lives a little outside of Manhattan with her soon-to-be wife and their often prickly, but always lovable cat. For her recent sales see Publishers Marketplace." (From the agency website).

About the Agency:

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

I began working at NLA in January 2017 and it was a very natural next step in my career. I love the level of support the agency provides to both the agents and to clients. It is a great company to work for! NLA really believes in an incredibly thorough approach as we handle our clients’ careers so we have a rigorous contract negotiation process, we have staff members dedicated to auditing royalty statements and analyzing them very closely (the agency has recovered thousands of dollars for our clients by doing this), we very thoroughly edit projects before submitting them, and we have in-depth systems in place for everything. The agents are also very collaborative with one another. We read each other’s projects and are constantly in touch with each other as we submit manuscripts and negotiate deals. I’ve never seen an agency approach the business in quite this way and I think it is one of the reasons NLA is such a standout agency.

Update on 1/16/2023:  "Mad Woman Literary Agency is a queer-woman-owned, full service literary agency that values transparency, a spirit of partnership, and the empowerment of authors to take ownership of their careers.

We are by each client's side, step-by-step through the publishing process, helping to navigate industry norms and relationships with publishers and to grow careers. MWLA works with clients on strategy and editorial project development, handles submissions to publishers, negotiates deals on your behalf, and, in partnership with our co-agents, helps to handle all subrights from audiobook and translation to film and television and everything in between. We also discuss and analyze royalty statements with our clients, helping them understand the breakdown of the sales numbers associated with their books and identifying growth areas. We work toward sustainable, long-term writing careers.

The agency has a particular focus on diversity, equity, access, and inclusion with the goal of moving the publishing industry in a progressive direction. MWLA prides itself in its highly curated and selective list of talented authors, the majority of whom have marginalized identities." (From the agency website)

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 every genre in MG and YA and I also take on the occasional adult project in women’s fiction, mystery, and speculative. I love female-driven stories, complex family dynamics, friendship books, a slow burning romance, girls with swords, a really unique voice, a high concept, anything feminist, books that deal with social issues, books that make the reader think or push the reader in some way, and books that keep me up all night.

Update 1/16/2023: "Danielle is particularly drawn to: complex female characters, seaside novels, girls with swords, fantasy, LGBTQ+ love, sister stories, toxic friendships, feminist fairytales, social justice themes, folklore, creepy forests, complicated family dynamics, quirky adventures, protagonists who change systems and break rules, heartwarming love stories, whimsy." (From the agency website)

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

I really want a toxic female friendship book, a YA interpretation of the historical pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonney written as a queer love story, a modern version of Judy Blume’s Forever, a sister book, and a really wacky and inventive MG adventure.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I don’t represent nonfiction, short stories, poetry, religious books, or romance.

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 look to represent authors I would be a fan of even if they weren’t my client. I read the books I represent over and over again so I need to love spending time with the writing and the plot and the characters. I need to be so excited about the project and author that I can genuinely tell editors I think they will be missing out if they pass on the project. Once I take on a client, my approach is to be with them every step of the way through the publication process and, more broadly, their career. I don’t just check out once the contract is signed—I am the author’s support, biggest fan, and teammate all rolled in one.

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 an incredibly editorial agent. The longer I’m in the business the more of a perfectionist I become about prepping a submission. You may be able to sell a project without editing it, but the deal will almost always be better if you do the work. Editors see a ton of projects every week—it is my job to make sure my projects stand out above the rest. I see editing as a team effort between me and my clients. As I tell them, I diagnose the problems I see and I may even have suggestions for how to fix those problems, but, as the author, they probably have even better solutions than the ones I propose. The key is to fix those problems in a way that makes the novel stronger. All of my authors embrace the editorial process. It is a must in this business. I typically go through two to three rounds of intensive revisions with my clients before submitting a manuscript. It is all in service of making the novel the strongest iteration of itself possible. Quality counts.

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?

Query letter and first ten pages of the manuscript in the body of the email to querydanielle@nelsonagency.com

Update on 1/16/2023: "Danielle will be open to queries through Query Manager from February 15th-April 15th. http://QueryManager.com/DanielleBurby (From the agency website)

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

My biggest pet peeve is the phrase, “I have recently completed X novel” because it implies that I’m about to read a first draft.

Response Time:

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

We typically respond to queries within three weeks (sometimes four).

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, of course, open to representing authors who have previously self-published or who have been published by small presses. The key is that they have a new manuscript that has never been published that I believe I can sell in the traditional market.

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 don’t really see any of those factors changing my job. I don’t interact with those corners of the market all that frequently because they don’t really overlap with what I do. And that’s okay! I work very squarely in the traditional market (which evolves and changes in its own ways) and the services I provide to my clients are tailored specifically to the traditional market. That said, I do stay informed about what is going on in other areas of the market because I like to be up-to-date.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Ausma Zehanat Khan, Florence Gonsalves, Lisa Duffy, and Jeff Seymour to name a few.

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.

N/A

Update on 1/16/2023: 

Publisher's Marketplace

Query Tracker

Twitter

MS Wishlist

Agent of the Month at Writing and Illustrating Intro, Part 1, Part 2 (08/2019)

Interview at Writer's Digest (09/2018)

Interview at SCBWI (Date unknown)

Links and Contact Info:

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

http://nelsonagency.com/submission-guidelines/

Update 1/16/2023: See answer #8

Additional Advice:

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

The path to landing an agent and being traditionally published is often a journey with a lot of ups and downs. No matter what happens, keep writing and honing your craft. Perseverance pays off as long as you are willing to continue to grow. I have seen it first-hand. Don’t give up!

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Danielle.

­Danielle 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 7th.  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: 1/16/2023.
Agent Contacted for Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? N/A.

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.