Literary Agent Interview: Eve Adler Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Eve Adler here. She is a literary agent at Red Fox Literary.

NOTE: Eve is closed to queries but has created a special submission form on Query Tracker for Literary Rambles followers that will be open until March 2023. You can find the link in this interview. 

Update on 9/13/2024: Eve is closed to queries except for industry referrals or through conferences she's at.

Hi­ Eve! Thanks so much for joining us.

 

About Eve:

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 about six months! Before that, I was an editor for over sixteen years. It was wonderful—I had the privilege of working with incredible authors and illustrators, and I learned a lot in my time at various publishing houses. Agenting had always been in the back of my mind, because I loved the idea of working more directly with authors and illustrators, developing ideas with them, finding the right publisher for each project, and helping clients build their careers. After many years of considering going over to the other side, I finally made the jump this year, and it’s been so fun! The creative opportunities feel limitless, and I’ve been so inspired by my clients and the submissions I’ve been getting. So far, I’ve signed on just a few clients (I’m being very selective!). I’ve also been doing a lot of workshops and critiques with various organizations, which I’m enjoying tremendously.

 

About the Agency:

 

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

Red Fox Literary is a boutique agency that specializes in children’s books, representing both authors and illustrators. We currently have eight agents spread out all over the U.S., and we work with Rights People for foreign rights. The agency was founded by Karen Grencik and Abigail Samoun in 2011, and since then has steadily built a stellar reputation as a welcoming, collaborative agency with friendly and knowledgeable agents. I was an admirer of the agency for years as an editor, and was delighted to join their ranks as an agent!

 

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’m looking for books for ages 0-12: board books, picture books, early readers, chapter books, early graphic novels, and young middle grade, fiction or nonfiction. For board books, I enjoy concept books or story-based books that feel fresh and exciting. For picture books, I’m interested in biographies, humor, cultural themes, social-emotional topics, Jewish-themed books, and nonfiction that’s approached in a relatable, kid-friendly way. For early readers and chapter books, I’m looking for simple, short stories aimed at ages 5-8, and longer, and more involved stories aimed at ages 7-10. I’d love to see graphic novels for this age range, too! Some genres/themes I'm interested in are funny/silly; adventure; mystery: friendship; and series based on one character. For middle grade, I love historical fiction, and powerful family/friendship stories. I also enjoy working with illustrators, and am always looking for artists looking to break through into children’s books!

For more details, my full wish list is here: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/eve-adler/

 

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

In any genre and for any age group, I’m always looking for a strong voice. I have a workshop on voice that I love doing, because voice is such a mysterious—yet essential—part of writing. It’s fun to analyze it with authors! I’m also looking for originality—I want projects that are going to stand out in the marketplace, and that bring a new perspective or take on the subject matter. Ultimately, I’m looking for projects that make me feel something deeply. When I finish a manuscript or dummy and get chills or teary-eyed, I know it’s worth pursuing. 

 

What She Isn’t Looking For:

 

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

YA, adult books, horror, fantasy

 

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’m most interested in authors and illustrators who are eager to develop their craft, are continuously learning and exploring, and are receptive to feedback. Most importantly, they should understand that having an agent is being in a partnership based on trust and transparency. As for the books I’d like to represent, I’d love to find projects that open kids’ minds to new worlds and experiences, make them feel seen, heard, and understood, and also make them laugh (not all in the same book, necessarily!).

  

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?

Having been an editor for so long, I would definitely describe myself as an editorial agent. Depending on what a project needs, I’m always happy to provide editorial notes. After chatting with an author or illustrator and making sure we’re a good fit, we might go through a few revisions—usually big picture edits, followed by more specific line edits—before I feel something is ready to submit. Our goal is to get it in the best possible shape for an editor to see its potential; the editorial journey will continue with the editor, of course! I always do a lot of comp research, too, as that’s important in knowing how to pitch a project to editors.

 

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 usually only consider submissions through industry referrals or conferences at which I present. That said, if you feel you have a manuscript, illustrator dummy, and/or portfolio that fits my wish list exactly, you can query me via QueryManager  (no emails please!). In a query letter, I expect a short summary of the project, some comps (so that I can see if authors have done their research and have a basic understanding of the marketplace), and a short bio, especially as it pertains to the project. I prefer to see a manuscript (full manuscript for picture books and 10 pages for a novel) or a dummy attached to the query.

 

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

Typos, of course, though they won’t necessarily make me stop reading—they just make it feel like authors and illustrators didn’t take quite enough time to look over their work. And not saying anything about yourself—I don’t need your resume, but a few lines about who you are and why your project is important to you is helpful to include.

 

Response Time:

 

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

I say three months, but I try to respond to queries sooner.

  

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?

Yes, I’m certainly open to that, as long as it’s a new, unpublished project. I evaluate each project based on how I feel about it and what I know of the marketplace; an author’s previously published titles don’t come into play for me until after I’ve evaluated the project.

 

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 think agents’ jobs are always evolving to adapt to the changing landscape (like any job, really!). It’s important for agents to keep up with the latest news and be aware of any new potential opportunities for their clients, but overall, the role of being an advocate for their clients, helping them develop the best projects, securing the best deals, and being a guide/resource throughout the publishing process remains the same.

 

Clients:

 

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Melissa Trempe and Kathryn Hagen, who both have really exciting projects that I’ll be submitting to editors soon!

 

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.

Links and Contact Info:

Red Fox Literary’s website

My Manuscript Wish List

My Instagram

An interview I did when I was an editor

Update 1/18/2023:

Interview With SCBWI (11/2022)

 

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

I use QueryManager for queries.

Eva is currently closed to queries, but you can query her until March 2023 by using this link:

QueryManager.com/2518/Literary_Rambles_interview

 

Additional Advice:

 

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

Follow your passions, do your research, find a writing group, and have fun! It can be easy to get overwhelmed by the ever-changing trends and latest ‘it’ topics in publishing. As artists, I think it’s important to realize that publishing is a subjective industry, so write what you’re passionate about, believe in the value of your work, surround yourself with other writers and mentors who can help you hone your craft, and above all, enjoy the process!

  

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Eve.

Thank you so much for having me!

 

­Eve 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 October 29th. 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.

 

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.

 

 

Literary Agent Interview: Sarah Stephens Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Sarah Stephens here. She is a literary agent at Red Fox Literary.

NOTE: Sarah is closed to queries but has created a special submission form on Query Tracker for Literary Rambles followers that will be open until March 2023. You can find the link in this interview. 

Hi­ Sarah! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Sarah:

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

I joined Red Fox in May of 2021, I was looking for way to work more collaboratively in the children’s book world that I adore, and a good friend told me I should talk to Abigail Samoun about agenting. The timing was perfect because Abi and Karen Grencik, the other principal at Red Fox, were in need of assistance and generously offered me the chance to help out and do some shadowing—to try on the fox ears, if you will. Turns out they were a great fit!

I have signed nine clients, four single-title projects, and negotiated twelve contracts in a year and a half—though a few of those contracts were in the works before I stepped onto the scene. I have amazing clients and the work of making connections is truly satisfying!

 

 About the Agency:

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

Red Fox is a boutique children’s literary agency with eight amazing agents. Though we all have strengths—industry knowledge, editorial prowess, negotiating know-how, straight-up magic—to varying degrees, we support one another to get the best for our clients. I think relationships are paramount for all of us and we work hard to provide every client what they need. For that reason the services tend to be as personal and unique as the individuals. I knew I was in the right place when Karen told me that the most important things to her are honesty and kindness. (Which together equal integrity, right?) That’s when I knew I was in the right den!

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 all age groups, board books to YA. I would say my sweet spot is picture books, but I’d love to work with a feisty beginning reader or chapter book creator or see a character driven series for this age group. I like innovative and entertaining nonfiction picture books. In all ages I am looking for untold stories, strong voice, and diverse creators.

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

N/A

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I do not like books with overt lessons, or jokes that wink over the heads of children. I don’t generally go for sentimental or issue books and I’m not a good agent for sci-fi or fantasy unless it’s a really fun fuzzy mash-up like Catstronauts.

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 order for me to be the best champion for a person or a project I need to feel a connection and I think that should go both ways. Trust and honesty are essential (again, both ways). I think we are all looking for the right match. It may be cliché, but when I am looking at queries I need the goosebumps, the excitement, the can’t-stop-thinking-about-it feeling. This all sounds like bad relationship metaphors! But agenting is a commitment so it’s best to be in love with the stories.

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 do consider myself an editorial agent—largely because of my experience writing co-writing and editing, and the fact that I love the creative process and being collaborative! I give feedback from general to detailed line edits depending on what a project needs. This feedback can come in the form of letters, emails, or phone calls depending. I make suggestions and I am always cognizant of the facts that my client is the creator and has control of their work and I am not the ultimate editor. My goal is to help my client get their work to a point that an editor can see its potential.

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?

In a query letter; tell me briefly about why you are passionate about the story you’re submitting, what makes you uniquely suited to tell it, and also (of course) a brief idea of what the story is.

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

I like queries to be brief because I want to get to the story!

Response Time:

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

I do my best not to keep anyone waiting longer than three months. Most of the time it’s 3-4 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?

Yes, I am open to that. I encourage writers to pursue traditional publishing because there are SO many aspects to bookmaking beyond writing. Publishing with a small press is a great avenue. I submit to small presses for my clients because they are often able to give creators more attention.

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 haven’t been wearing my agent hat for very long so it’s hard for me to speak to how that role has and is changing. But I have been working in the industry for 26 years and can tell you the only constant is change. We are all adapting constantly. The good news is that great books continue to get published.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Monica Clark-Robinson, Vicki Conroy, Moni Ritchie-Hadley, Rebecca Hirsch, author/illustrator Emmeline Forrestal, and illustrator Melodie Stacey, to name a few.

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.

Links and Contact Info:

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

QueryManager.com/Sarah_Stephens/Spotlight

I am not currently open, but I created an event submission form on Query Tracker that will be open until March.

http://www.redfoxliterary.com/index.html

Find me on Instagram at quick.redfox

Additional Advice:

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

You may have heard this advice before, because it is some of the best, but read, read, read! Knowing your craft, working hard, and persevering are the key ingredients.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Sarah.

­Sarah 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 October 22nd. 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.

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: Karen Grencik

This week's Agent Spotlight features Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary.
Status: Closed to submissions. As of 5/6/20 Ms. Grencik and the other agents at this agency are closed to submissions.
About: “Karen Grencik became a literary agent because of a man she admired. She wanted the world to know his story, so she set out to make that happen. Within a year she’d accomplished her goal. Double Luck, Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan, written by Lu Chi Fa with Becky White, was published by Holiday House in 2001.
"Over the next few years, Karen signed new clients and sold award-winning titles. Among the awards garnered by her authors are the Parents' Choice Gold Award for Best Non-Fiction, the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Best Picture Book Text, and the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Fiction.
"In June 2011 Karen joined forces with Abigail Samoun to open Red Fox Literary. She has been ranked by Publishers Marketplace as one of the Top 10 agents for children's book sales in both 2012 and 2013.
"Karen’s philosophy is simple: “When you choose to write children’s books, it’s just that—it’s a choice. You do it because you love it. You do it because it fills you with passion. You do it because it brings you joy. You are among the lucky ones who live life with purpose. But you also must do everything you can possibly think of to achieve your goals.
“And you must be nice.” (From the agency website)
About the Agency:
“The story of Red Fox Literary began way back in 2002 when a young, novice editor named Abigail Samoun acquired her very first picture book from a talented agent named Karen Grencik. That book, author Sarah Wilson’s George Hogglesberry, Grade School Alien, went on to win the coveted SCBWI Golden Kite Award. Not bad for a first collaboration.
"In 2006, Karen left agenting to pursue adventures in the tropical forests of Costa Rica. Abigail and Karen’s paths didn’t cross again until the Los Angeles 2010 SCBWI National Conference, where Abigail was delighted to discover that Karen had returned to the States and was plunging back into the world of children’s books. Karen and Abigail decided in March 2011 to form Red Fox Literary, a boutique agency specializing in picture books, middle-grade, and young-adult titles.” (From the agency website)
Web Presence:
Red Fox Lit website.
Facebook.
QueryTracker.

Twitter   
What She's Looking For:
Genres/Specialties:
The agency represents children’s book illustrators and authors whose work is aimed at picture book, middle-grade, and young-adult readers.
What She Isn't Looking For:
Adult Projects
Editorial Agent?
Unknown
Clients:
There are lists of authors and illustrators on the Red Fox website.
Ms. Grencik’s clients include: Lana Bloch and Tanya Bloch, Sandra Brug, Amy Dixon, Lu Chi Fa, Julie Musil, Michele Shaw, Mary McKenna Siddals, Sarah Wilson, Natasha Yim, among others.
Query Methods: Ms. Grencik is closed to submissions but these were the submission guidelines.
E-mail: Yes (only).
Snail-Mail: No.
Online-Form: No.
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
For complete, up-to-date submission guidelines see the Red Fox Literary submissions page.
Response Times:
Unknown
Worth Your Time:
Interviews:

Interview at Middle-Grade Mojo (03/2015)
Interview with Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary Agency at Becky Levine’s blog (06/2011).
Contact:
Please see the Red Fox Literary website for contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 2/10/2023.
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes..
Last Reviewed By Agent? 10/27/11.
***
Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7(at)gmail(dot)com

Note: These agent profiles presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. They are not interviews. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found herein is subject to change.