Today I’m thrilled to have agent Isabel Lineberry here. She’s a junior agent at Perez Literary & Entertainment.
Hi Isabel! Thanks so much for joining us.
About Isabel:
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 getting my MLitt in Fantasy Literature at the University of Glasgow when I attended a panel with an agent, and something just clicked. I liked how much business and strategy were involved while the crux of the job still being creative. I sent out cold emails and found Kristina Pérez in my research and came on board for her new agency right from the start. I’ve been a Junior Agent & Rights Assistant for over a year now and I was an Agency Assistant for a year before that. A lot of my day-to-day is managing our foreign and audio deals but I have also had the opportunity to work closely with clients on their upcoming manuscripts and their submission strategies.
About the Agency:
2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.
Pérez Literary & Entertainment, or PLE, is a full-service agency in London. We are collaborative and work as a team, making sure all of our authors are well cared for. We value backlist titles, are very editorial and truly believe in the projects we represent so we put everything we have into their submission strategies. We have a solid foundation in Fantasy and Horror but represent everything from children’s up through Adult and even serious nonfiction. We love to represent an author’s full career across all genres!
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?
We have the full spectrum – some picture books, we’ve done quite a few MG and YA, and then we also do adult, genre and serious nonfiction. Currently, I am most looking for contemporary and fantasy stories in the YA and New Adult spaces, all with a romantic throughline.
4. Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?
I want more diverse voices and perspectives – whether that is nonwestern fantasy, queer love stories or something else entirely. I love romance with a twist – tropey stories that still surprise you with how they use those tropes. I am picky with fantasy because of my background in it but always on the lookout. I need good worldbuilding and interesting character dynamics.
What She Isn’t Looking For:
5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?
I think the biggest thing is there are trends that I am tired of –– I think recently we have exhausted the magic/military school trope and I’ve seen a lot of dragons and faeries just for the sake of dragons and faeries. I am not looking for picture books at the moment and it would take a really special MG project for me to consider seriously, just because of the current state of the market for that genre.
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 love the books I represent and truly believe in their potential. It honestly makes my job easier because I believe everything I say when pitching. I want to be on trend but thinking towards the future and how those trends will continue to develop. And I want to always keep in mind the author’s longevity and broader career – expanding them into different genres, making sure to continue pitching their previous books to foreign publishers and build the brand overall. I love the strategy of it all. Add in a romance plot that has me kicking my feet or a fantasy world that has me daydreaming? Ooh this job is so much fun.
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?
As an agency we are very editorial. There is so much content right now in the market and on submission that a project has to be as close to perfect as possible. We work with our authors on plot, structure, pacing and characterization. Each project is different so there isn’t a straight process so we always tailor it to the individual manuscript and author.
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 use Query Manager and they should copy in their query letter and then attach first ten pages of their novel so I can get a sense of the project. In the query letter I want to see a good pitch line, at least two comp titles right at the top, a brief but detailed synopsis, and some biography of the author (background, where you live, what you do for work, if you have been published before).
9. Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?
Please don’t jump right into the synopsis! Give me the title, the word count, the pitch line and two comps first. I like to have a sense of what I am looking at before diving into the synopsis. It helps me to see the potential strategy, where it fits into the market and also how it would fit on our agency list. When queries go straight into the synopsis I sort of mentally flail around trying to figure out what I am looking at!
Response Time:
10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?
I am quick with my first round, I have to say. I keep on top of my Query inbox because otherwise it gets out of hand very quickly. My first pass –– looking based on what we already have on our client list, basic themes, etc. –– happens in the first few days after the submission and am known for a quick response rate for that. But if a hook interests me or I like what I read in the sample chapters, then it can take a month or more for me to really dig into it.
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?
Definitely! Like I said, we love a backlist. My advice is to know what you are getting into. I think a lot of self-pub or indie authors really value how much control they have over their publishing and I respect that wholeheartedly, but if you seek out an agent we will want to be your partner in this. I also would want to make sure you understand how the trade publishing world is different from the self-pub space. But I would love to work with a self-pub author to bring their backlist into more territories and move some of their future projects into the trad space!
Clients:
12. Who are some of the authors you represent?
Right now, my list is the agency list and I work across the wide range. We are lucky enough to have authors such as Josh Winning, Vincent Tirado, Johanna van Veen and Cristin Williams, all working in the fantasy and horror spaces. We also have some projects that I’ve taken a lead on coming soon but I can’t tell you about those yet!
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.
Links and Contact Info:
14. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.
I use QueryTracker/QueryManager for all of my queries so please use that to contact me. More information can be found on our website: https://www.perezliterary.com/submit/submit-to-isabel/
Additional Advice:
15. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?
I can’t stress this enough – rejections in this industry are not personal. Many rejections are done on the basis that it is too similar to something else we have, or it isn’t a genre/trend we are looking for, it is a personal taste decision, etc. The first book you query with might not be what gets you an agent, and the manuscript that gets you an agent might not sell on submission! It is all so subjective and unpredictable.
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Isabel.
Giveaway Details
Isabel 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 31st. 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.
Sunday, June 1st I’m participating in the Berry Good Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, June 4th I have an interview with author Aaron
Starmer and a giveaway of his YA Night Swimming and my IWSG post
Monday, June 9th I have an interview with author Nancy McCabe and a giveaway of her MG Fires Burning Underground
Wednesday, June 11th I have an agent spotlight interview with
Mark O’Brien and a query critique giveaway
Monday, June 16th I’m participating in the Dad-o-Mite
Giveaway Hop
Monday, June 23rd I have an interview with author Michael
Spradlin and a giveaway of his MG Threat of the Spider
I hope to see you on Sunday, June 1st!
