HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Agent Spotlight: Pat White
This week's Agent Spotlight features Pat White of Rogers, Coleridge, and White Literary Agency.
Status: 6/9/2020: Ms. White does not appear to be a literary agent anymore.
About: “Pat White was born in the USA and has lived in England since 1968 when she joined Deborah Rogers Ltd., having worked as an editor and rights director of Simon & Schuster US for the previous ten years. She now specializes in illustrated and childrens books, working with Beryl Cook, Mary Hoffman, Michelle Magorian, Richard Platt and a host of new young talent, as well as adult authors eclectically ranging from Bruce Fogle to Emma Blair and Antonio Carluccio. Pat is herself a published author of four cookery books and co-author of an international bestseller on dog training.” (Link)
What She's Looking For:
From her Bio:
“She now specializes in illustrated and childrens books, working with Beryl Cook, Mary Hoffman, Michelle Magorian, Richard Platt and a host of new young talent, as well as adult authors eclectically ranging from Bruce Fogle to Emma Blair and Antonio Carluccio.” (Link)
From an online listing:
“Children's fiction and non-fiction. Handles novelty books, picture books, fiction for 5-8 and 9-12 year-olds, teenage fiction, series fiction, non-fiction and reference.” (Link)
What She Isn't Looking For:
Scripts for theatre, film or television. (Link)
About the Agency:
“Deborah Rogers set up Deborah Rogers Ltd. in 1967, and shortly afterwards was joined by Pat White. Rogers, Coleridge and White was founded twenty years later, when Gill Coleridge left Anthony Sheil Associates to join them in 1987. In 2002 the agency was joined by Peter Straus, previously editor-in-chief at Macmillan and Publisher of Picador.” (Link)
Pet-Peeves:
Unknown.
Editorial Agent?
Unknown.
Web Presence:
Rogers, Coleridge, and White website.
LinkedIn.
Her books.
Clients:
There are lists of agency authors and titles on the website as well as a list of Ms. White’s clients.
Sales:
As of this posting, Ms. White does not appear to be a member of Publisher’s Marketplace. However, she has made a great many sales in her 40+ years as an agent.
Query Methods:
E-mail: Yes (children’s only).
Snail-Mail: Yes.
Online-Form: No.
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
Note: “We regret that this department cannot undertake to read submissions from the US due to the large volume received.”
YA and Children's fiction should be submitted via e-mail to Ms. White’s assistant, Claire Wilson. All other submissions should be sent via snail mail.
Fiction: Send a cover letter with a bio and the background of the book. Include the first three chapters or approximately the first fifty pages (to a natural break) and a brief synopsis.
Non-fiction: Send a proposal of up to twenty pages in length about the work and your qualifications.
Materials should be in 12 point font, double spaced, on one side of A4 paper. Snail-mail submissions must have a SASE for response.
Please see the Rogers, Coleridge, and White website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines.
Response Times:
“We will try to respond within six to eight weeks of receipt of your material, but please appreciate that this isn't always possible as we must give priority to the authors we already represent.” (Link)
What's the Buzz?
Ms. White is the first agent I’ve profiled in the UK, and she seems to be highly respected and accomplished. She’s been an agent in England for over 40 years after ten years as an editor and rights director at Simon and Shuster in NY. Many of her clients have been with her for years and years and seem to adore her.
RCW Literary Agency is a member of the AAA and recommended by P&E.
Worth Your Time:
Interviews:
None that I could find online.
Other:
Keep an eye on the agency News page for frequent updates.
Rogers, Coleridge, and White Literary Agency on P&E (AAA, recommended).
You can see a picture of Ms. White on client Mary Lassiter Hoffman’s blog.
Client Inbali Iserles’s agent / publishing story at The Myslexia Blog.
Masterclasses; Dog Training, an article on Ms. White regarding her dog training and related book.
Contact:
Please see the Rogers, Coleridge, and White Literary Agency website for contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 6/9/2020.
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes – 11/02/2010.
Reviewed By Agent? No response.
Comments: 6/9/2020 update was to verify she is no longer an agent and remove all links in her agent spotlight.
***
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.
Status: 6/9/2020: Ms. White does not appear to be a literary agent anymore.
About: “Pat White was born in the USA and has lived in England since 1968 when she joined Deborah Rogers Ltd., having worked as an editor and rights director of Simon & Schuster US for the previous ten years. She now specializes in illustrated and childrens books, working with Beryl Cook, Mary Hoffman, Michelle Magorian, Richard Platt and a host of new young talent, as well as adult authors eclectically ranging from Bruce Fogle to Emma Blair and Antonio Carluccio. Pat is herself a published author of four cookery books and co-author of an international bestseller on dog training.” (Link)
What She's Looking For:
From her Bio:
“She now specializes in illustrated and childrens books, working with Beryl Cook, Mary Hoffman, Michelle Magorian, Richard Platt and a host of new young talent, as well as adult authors eclectically ranging from Bruce Fogle to Emma Blair and Antonio Carluccio.” (Link)
From an online listing:
“Children's fiction and non-fiction. Handles novelty books, picture books, fiction for 5-8 and 9-12 year-olds, teenage fiction, series fiction, non-fiction and reference.” (Link)
What She Isn't Looking For:
Scripts for theatre, film or television. (Link)
About the Agency:
“Deborah Rogers set up Deborah Rogers Ltd. in 1967, and shortly afterwards was joined by Pat White. Rogers, Coleridge and White was founded twenty years later, when Gill Coleridge left Anthony Sheil Associates to join them in 1987. In 2002 the agency was joined by Peter Straus, previously editor-in-chief at Macmillan and Publisher of Picador.” (Link)
Pet-Peeves:
Unknown.
Editorial Agent?
Unknown.
Web Presence:
Rogers, Coleridge, and White website.
LinkedIn.
Her books.
Clients:
There are lists of agency authors and titles on the website as well as a list of Ms. White’s clients.
Sales:
As of this posting, Ms. White does not appear to be a member of Publisher’s Marketplace. However, she has made a great many sales in her 40+ years as an agent.
Query Methods:
E-mail: Yes (children’s only).
Snail-Mail: Yes.
Online-Form: No.
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
Note: “We regret that this department cannot undertake to read submissions from the US due to the large volume received.”
YA and Children's fiction should be submitted via e-mail to Ms. White’s assistant, Claire Wilson. All other submissions should be sent via snail mail.
Fiction: Send a cover letter with a bio and the background of the book. Include the first three chapters or approximately the first fifty pages (to a natural break) and a brief synopsis.
Non-fiction: Send a proposal of up to twenty pages in length about the work and your qualifications.
Materials should be in 12 point font, double spaced, on one side of A4 paper. Snail-mail submissions must have a SASE for response.
Please see the Rogers, Coleridge, and White website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines.
Response Times:
“We will try to respond within six to eight weeks of receipt of your material, but please appreciate that this isn't always possible as we must give priority to the authors we already represent.” (Link)
What's the Buzz?
Ms. White is the first agent I’ve profiled in the UK, and she seems to be highly respected and accomplished. She’s been an agent in England for over 40 years after ten years as an editor and rights director at Simon and Shuster in NY. Many of her clients have been with her for years and years and seem to adore her.
RCW Literary Agency is a member of the AAA and recommended by P&E.
Worth Your Time:
Interviews:
None that I could find online.
Other:
Keep an eye on the agency News page for frequent updates.
Rogers, Coleridge, and White Literary Agency on P&E (AAA, recommended).
You can see a picture of Ms. White on client Mary Lassiter Hoffman’s blog.
Client Inbali Iserles’s agent / publishing story at The Myslexia Blog.
Masterclasses; Dog Training, an article on Ms. White regarding her dog training and related book.
Contact:
Please see the Rogers, Coleridge, and White Literary Agency website for contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 6/9/2020.
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes – 11/02/2010.
Reviewed By Agent? No response.
Comments: 6/9/2020 update was to verify she is no longer an agent and remove all links in her agent spotlight.
***
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.
Tip Tuesday #60
Tip Tuesday is a recurring feature where readers send in tips for fellow writers. If you'd like to share a tip, please do so. Today's tip was sent in by Thermocline, and it's another great one. Very helpful. Enjoy!
TheFreeDictionary.com is a great dictionary/thesaurus site because they provide references in classic literature of whatever word you're looking up. I really like being able to see the words in context. There are times, however, when I've wanted to check a whole phrase to be sure I am using it correctly.
Typing quotes around the phrase and entering it into a Google Books search allows you to look for that exact phrase in millions of other books. It’s great for helping to guard against clichés. It’s also useful when you’re in doubt of the proper word order of your phrase or if you’ve got a tricky punctuation question. For example, “one- or two-word sentences” was giving me trouble last week. I wasn’t sure whether it was, “one or two word,” “one or two-word,” or, the big winner according to the editors of a slew of books, “one- or two-word.”
Thermocline
Maria Rainier on Freelancing for Children's Markets
Today I have a fabulous guest post by Maria Rainier on freelancing for children's markets. As always, please leave your thoughts, opinions, and advice regarding the topic in the comments! We would love to hear them. Here's Maria!
Freelancing for Children’s Markets
Arguably, it is within the genre of children’s literature that dreams fly highest. Doesn’t every writer at least think about writing a picture book or children’s novel, just once? Book publishing can be daunting but it can be done; short stories can be published in a collection; and, despite the Information Age, there is no serious shortage of respected children’s magazines in which to publish individual short stories or nonfiction.
Here, a word of advice: nonfiction is where the money is, if that’s what you’re in it for. Nonfiction articles can garner upwards of $1,000 apiece, and the market is bigger than for fiction, since short stories in most juvenile magazines only take up the last few pages of any given issue.
Editors, however, prefer nonfiction that reads like well-versed fiction—engaging, vivid, and entertaining. Children and juveniles are like many adults that prowl the Internet or magazine stands in that they don’t want dry literature. They want to be entertained and to learn something as a bonus. To appeal to such an audience—and one with a decreasing attention span due to computer and video games, television, and the like—a successful freelancer in this genre (as with any other) must be willing to research, show respect for the audience, and write clearly and engagingly.
Research
Your childhood—whether you were born twenty or sixty years ago—is different from the childhood of your readers today. Think of the technology advancements. Many children carry around iPhones nowadays and more than a few are playing the online multi-player mode of violent, realistic war games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. You must also consider the specific magazine you hope to write for—who is the audience? Skateboarders? Animal lovers?
Attempting to write a nonfiction (or even fiction) piece without considering the audience works no better for children and juveniles than for adult magazines. You cannot expect to send a piece on the newest gadgets and software to a magazine purely about celebrities, as you cannot expect to get published by a yoga magazine while spouting evangelical New Testament verses. Moreover, you must write what you know, or at least know what you’re writing before you submit it. Like an adult, a child or young adult will be able to tell if you’re trying to fake your way blind through a skateboarding article.
Research doesn’t have to be constrained to online reading or the library. Try hanging out with your neighbor’s kids (or your own if you’ve got any). Visit a public elementary school or the local McDonald’s play pin and eavesdrop. Find ways to connect with your audience.
Respect
Researching for your audience shows respect for your readers, lets them know that you want their respect in turn. The quickest way to lose the respect of a child or young adult is to talk down to them with clichés, overly happy or childish behavior, and baby talk. Adults don’t like to be treated like they’re stupid, and neither do children, and children—contrary to popular belief—are decidedly not stupid. They can tell when they’re being patronized.
Similarly, they can sniff self-interest or a wholesome moral from miles away. If you’ve got a message, show it, don’t tell it, and don’t overstress your point. Kids don’t like proselytism any more than you do.
Write Well
Lastly, part of showing respect for the intended audience is taking for granted that their time is valuable and better spent getting to the point than dancing around it. Especially given their shortened attention spans, a good writer for children must quickly capture and deftly keep the audience’s attention.
This can be achieved through the same principles a writer uses for a mature audience: “solid plot, interesting characters, humor, sharp detail, good research,” according to Christine Walske of Cricket Magazine group.
Nonfiction, too, must have a plot, characters, and humor. Remember, good nonfiction can read like fiction. You must simply step away from the intended subject matter—let’s say, a certain breed of dog—and rather than tell facts and figures, show the audience why it should care about the dog. Describe its shaggy fur, make the reader feel its goopy drool, its hot breath, the cool breeze made by its happily wagging tail.
In attempting to make a piece interesting to a young audience, many writers make the mistake of trying to be that young audience. Jargon and slang are better left to blogs and playgrounds, not nonfiction. This is part of respecting the audience—they’ll know you’re not their age, and they’ll know you’re being insincere.
A Word on Sincerity
“This above all: to thine own self be true.” Polonius didn’t live a very long life (and, to think of it, neither did his daughter, to whom he gave this advice), but his words have become immortal. It’s good advice to keep close to a writer’s heart. Do you want to write children’s novels? Write them. Do you prefer nonfiction? Write it. Do you care about the money, or do you write from the heart? There’s nothing insincere about a well-earned and well-paying job; just don’t chain yourself to numbers when it’s the written word you love. Your readers will know if you’re being sincere to yourself as well as to them.
Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education and performs research surrounding online schools. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.
Agent Spotlight: Louise Fury
This week's Agent Spotlight features Louise Fury of The Fury Agency.
Status on 12/15/2025: Closed to submissions
About: "A native South African, I now live in New York City and travel to Cape Town every year, where I spend time educating South African writers, meeting with international publishers and distributing books. Before agenting, I worked in marketing and advertising for both the consumer markets and publishing. Prior to joining The Bent Agency, I worked as a literary agent at the L. Perkins Agency. I represent numerous New York Times and USA Today best-selling authors. I encourage my authors to have one foot in traditional print publishing and the other in the digital-first arena and am a huge advocate of utilizing secondary rights—I have sold film/TV, audio and foreign rights for my clients. I believe in staying ahead of the pack by embracing change, not just adapting to it." (From The Bent Agency website)
About the Agency:
We work with each author to build the publishing career of their dreams and to expand their reach across platforms, formats and territories. Whether the goal is a traditional book deal, exploring subrights for a self-published title/s or mapping out a multi-platform approach for their business, our focus is on the needs of the author and monetizing multiple streams of revenue to expand the reach of each project and to build the author brand." (Link)
Also see the agency website.
Web Presence:
The Fury Agency.
Status on 12/15/2025: Closed to submissions
About: "A native South African, I now live in New York City and travel to Cape Town every year, where I spend time educating South African writers, meeting with international publishers and distributing books. Before agenting, I worked in marketing and advertising for both the consumer markets and publishing. Prior to joining The Bent Agency, I worked as a literary agent at the L. Perkins Agency. I represent numerous New York Times and USA Today best-selling authors. I encourage my authors to have one foot in traditional print publishing and the other in the digital-first arena and am a huge advocate of utilizing secondary rights—I have sold film/TV, audio and foreign rights for my clients. I believe in staying ahead of the pack by embracing change, not just adapting to it." (From The Bent Agency website) About the Agency:
"The Fury Agency represents multiple authors whose books have hit the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly and Der Spiegel bestseller lists.
We work with each author to build the publishing career of their dreams and to expand their reach across platforms, formats and territories. Whether the goal is a traditional book deal, exploring subrights for a self-published title/s or mapping out a multi-platform approach for their business, our focus is on the needs of the author and monetizing multiple streams of revenue to expand the reach of each project and to build the author brand." (Link)
Also see the agency website.
Web Presence:
The Fury Agency.
Publishers Marketplace.
Twitter.
AgentQuery
QueryTracker.
What She's Looking For:
"I’m looking for writers with a unique voice and an unforgettable and interesting story. I love experimental/unique structure, language, verse and formats.
"For YA and middle-grade, I’d love modern retellings, STEM stories, heartfelt and/or funny contemporary novels and all types of middle-grade fantasy. Always looking for books with well-developed secondary characters.
"For nonfiction I’m particularly interested in pop science, self-help, cookbooks, true crime, humor, pop culture, and sports. In romance, I love female heroines with unusual jobs or jobs usually reserved for the hero. I’d love it to be a layered, light, and fun contemporary novel or a fresh and modern historical that reads like a romantic comedy. I love the fish-out-of-water trope, stories about nannies, body positivity, strong writing, and diverse voices." (From the agency website)
***
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 and/or teen 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.
Twitter.
AgentQuery
QueryTracker.
What She's Looking For:
"I’m looking for writers with a unique voice and an unforgettable and interesting story. I love experimental/unique structure, language, verse and formats.
"For YA and middle-grade, I’d love modern retellings, STEM stories, heartfelt and/or funny contemporary novels and all types of middle-grade fantasy. Always looking for books with well-developed secondary characters.
"For nonfiction I’m particularly interested in pop science, self-help, cookbooks, true crime, humor, pop culture, and sports. In romance, I love female heroines with unusual jobs or jobs usually reserved for the hero. I’d love it to be a layered, light, and fun contemporary novel or a fresh and modern historical that reads like a romantic comedy. I love the fish-out-of-water trope, stories about nannies, body positivity, strong writing, and diverse voices." (From the agency website)
For the most current info on what Ms. Fury is looking for always check the agency website.
What She Isn't Looking For:
Unknown
Quotables:
"Don’t give up. Read, write, edit and submit. If given the opportunity, revise and resubmit. Be open to learning how to develop and refine your craft, but most importantly don’t forget that even the bestselling authors were once unpublished writers looking for their big break. I am in awe of anyone who completes a manuscript. It is a difficult job to do and if you have managed to string up to 100,000 words on a page and they make some semblance of sense, I am already impressed." (Link)
Editorial Agent?
“I used to be very hands on with editing, but now it really is on a case by case basis. I try to be very aware that I am not a writer and don’t want to impose my voice into a manuscript, so line editing isn’t something I do very often. I trust the author to find the way to fix or rework something because an author's voice is where the magic is. So I still edit, but not as much as I did in the beginning of my career. I focus mostly on big-picture edits, common editorial mistakes and plot and character development.” (Email from Louise)
Clients:
There is a list of agency clients on the agency website.
Query Methods: Unknown
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
NOTE: Ms. Fury is currently CLOSED to submissions.
Please see the agency website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines.
Response Times:
The agency has a stated response time (or goal, rather) of responding to queries within a month. If you do not receive a response within the time posted send your query and indicate you are resending.
What's the Buzz?
Her clients seem happy with her representation.
Worth Your Time:
Interviews:
Agent Louise Fury – L. Perkins Agency at Writing and Illustrating (04/2013).
Welcome Wednesday: Agent Louise Fury of the L. Perkins Agency at Honestly YA (04/2012).
On Agents – A Discussion with Louise Fury at Nerine Dorman’s site (11/2011).
Contact:
Please see the agency website for additional contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 1/30/2023
What She Isn't Looking For:
Unknown
Quotables:
"Don’t give up. Read, write, edit and submit. If given the opportunity, revise and resubmit. Be open to learning how to develop and refine your craft, but most importantly don’t forget that even the bestselling authors were once unpublished writers looking for their big break. I am in awe of anyone who completes a manuscript. It is a difficult job to do and if you have managed to string up to 100,000 words on a page and they make some semblance of sense, I am already impressed." (Link)
Editorial Agent?
“I used to be very hands on with editing, but now it really is on a case by case basis. I try to be very aware that I am not a writer and don’t want to impose my voice into a manuscript, so line editing isn’t something I do very often. I trust the author to find the way to fix or rework something because an author's voice is where the magic is. So I still edit, but not as much as I did in the beginning of my career. I focus mostly on big-picture edits, common editorial mistakes and plot and character development.” (Email from Louise)
Clients:
There is a list of agency clients on the agency website.
Query Methods: Unknown
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
NOTE: Ms. Fury is currently CLOSED to submissions.
Please see the agency website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines.
Response Times:
The agency has a stated response time (or goal, rather) of responding to queries within a month. If you do not receive a response within the time posted send your query and indicate you are resending.
What's the Buzz?
Her clients seem happy with her representation.
Worth Your Time:
Interviews:
Agent Louise Fury – L. Perkins Agency at Writing and Illustrating (04/2013).
Welcome Wednesday: Agent Louise Fury of the L. Perkins Agency at Honestly YA (04/2012).
On Agents – A Discussion with Louise Fury at Nerine Dorman’s site (11/2011).
Contact:
Please see the agency website for additional contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 1/30/2023
Agent Contacted for Review? Yes
Last Reviewed By Agent? 2/8/2023.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 2/8/2023.
***
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 and/or teen 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.
Public Critique: POSSESSED Query II
Hello everyone! Sara has rewritten her query based on your fabulous comments. Please give the rewrite a look and offer any further advice or constructive criticism you may have. If you're interested in having a query, synopsis, or excerpt posted on Lit Rambles for critique, check out my contribute page.
POSSESSED
(query)
Supernatural Thriller
By Sara Kjeldsen
Dear Agent,
Nineteen year-old Gabriel awakens in a bright room. Only moments ago he was trapped in a haunted forest. Or so he thinks. Two people in long, white coats unstrap him from a reclined chair. They tell him that he volunteered at the White Horizon Research Facility for a classified psychological study two weeks ago. The reality that he had known before was only a product of radiation, electrodes, and drugs.
He is not supposed to remember who he is or what he has done. The experiment is a failure. His memory of the real world returns along with the angry voices that have plagued him for five years. He knows what they want with him. He is a murderer.
One of the other volunteers - Gabriel`s cousin, Adeline - suddenly goes crazy and escapes the facility in a violent rage. Gabriel and two of the other particpants overhear the doctors debating on whether or not to euthanize the rest of them. Gabriel, Julia, and Caleb barely escape. To make matters worse, Adeline will not rest until she kills all three of them. Wherever they go, she finds them.
Gabriel will have to find a way to keep himself - and his new friends - alive without reverting back to murderous ways.
Possessed is a young adult supernatural thriller with a final word count of 56,000 words.
Thank you for taking the time to review my work.
Sincerely,
Sara Flower Kjeldsen
Tip Tuesday #59
Today's tip was sent in by Sybilla A. Cook, and it's a very practical, helpful tip, too. Sybilla has a website and a blog for you to peruse and follow. Please do! Here's the tip:
Love this tip, Sybilla! Thank you. I would never have thought of this on my own.
When you design business cards, remember many will be placed in a rolodex. The rolodex punches go through the center bottom of the card, meaning part of the contact information is often lost. Make sure your important information is above the base of the card where it can be seen easily.
Love this tip, Sybilla! Thank you. I would never have thought of this on my own.
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