Literary Agent Interview: Samantha Wekstein Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Samantha Wekstein here. She’s a senior agent at Thompson Literary Agency.

Hi­ Samantha! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Samantha:

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

As the daughter of two lawyers, I thought I’d grow up to be an attorney, but all I secretly wanted to do was read books! So, in college I pursued internships at Rowman and Littlefield and Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency (under the brilliant Jessica Sinsheimer, founder of Manuscript Wishlist and Manuscript Academy). Post college, I landed an internship at Writers House with its founder, Al Zuckerman.  A few days after starting at Writers House, Al’s assistant contracted tuberculosis and I was asked to step into the role as his assistant quarantined (long before the days of Covid quarantine).  It was that opportunity that allowed me to prove myself and nurtured my love for agenting! I briefly left Writers House to work at The Agency Group (later acquired by UTA), which specialized in nonfiction pop culture projects, particularly music.  Then an opportunity opened back up at Writers House to assist the CEO Amy Berkower and I was thrilled to return. I supported Amy, and then moved desks to assist Al Zuckerman again, where I spent the next few years being mentored by him. 

While working for Al, I was able to take on my own projects as a junior agent and sold my first book in 2017!  In 2019, I moved agencies to tackle agenting full time with Thompson Literary where I’ve continued to build my list of commercial projects. Having worked for agents who specialized in nonfiction, children’s and adult commercial fiction—basically everything under the sun, I’ve developed broad tastes and feel comfortable crossing genres and age categories. I’m a highly editorial agent and love collaborating with my clients at every stage of their projects. I’ve been lucky to work with bestselling and award-winning authors throughout my career!

About the Agency:

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

Thompson Literary LLC was formed in 2014 by Meg Thompson. In this exciting venture, TLA agents are attentive to their clients’ needs for the life of their books, from developing ideas and editing manuscripts, to placing books with the best publishers, to working with the publisher on all aspects of a project, including editorial, design, marketing, publicity, and sales. Thompson Literary Agency wants to ensure that their clients’ books reach the widest audience possible, and to that end they are proactive about opportunities in subsidiary rights, including film/TV, audio, serial, and translation rights.

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 almost all age groups from picture books, middle grade and YA through adult!

I’m looking for whimsical, meaningful and funny picture books by author/illustrators, with an emphasis on funny! My middle grade tastes are broad, but I love friendship stories, adventure, hijinks, and books that make me cry! In YA, I’m looking for everything under the sun, but I’m particularly drawn to multi-dimensional female characters and anything LGBTQ+--please send me your feminist projects. In particular, I love YA fantasy and am looking for the creative, the epic, tropes that can be flipped on their heads, explorations of underrepresented cultures/mythologies, romantasy, and well-thought out magic systems. 

On the adult side, I’m looking for commercial romance in the vein of Christina Lauren, Emily Henry, Sally Thorne, and Jasmine Guillory. I’d like to find historical fiction from a queer or feminist perspective that explores underrepresented settings and viewpoints. Like in YA, I’d love some adult fantasy with romantic second world settings, high fantasy, intricate court politics, plotting and intrigue, historical fantasy or fantasy rooted in world mythologies (specifically from underrepresented perspectives and cultures), fantasy as an exploration of social justice, feminism, or family dynamics. For sci-fi, I’m looking for stories grounded in the human experience, world-building that’s logical and not too technical, female, nonbinary, BIPOC, and Queer led stories. I love and prefer romantic subplots! I’m also open to commercial women’s fiction.

Lastly, I do represent some very select nonfiction. I prefer narrative projects and am happy to look at anything feminist, historical, humor, or social justice focused. 

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

Across age categories I’m looking for Jewish fantasy, magic school books (dark academia included), and cozy fantasy.

I’d love to see anything that can comp to Never Have I Ever, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Ted Lasso, Heartstopper, Our Flag Means Death, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Princess Bride, The Challenge, Throne of Glass, Fourth Wing, Red White and Royal Blue, The Books of Bayern, The Winner’s Curse, In Other Lands, Bloomability, Ella Enchanted, The Chronicles of Lumatere, Avatar the Last Airbender, The Sandlot, Pitch, and The West Wing.

I’d love more funny picture books like I WANT MY HAT BACK or DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS. 

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

Please don’t send me adult literary fiction, stories featuring angels/devils from biblical mythology, adult thrillers (or anything that can be described as "hardboiled"), crime, mystery, suspense (even the romantic kind), picture books about Christmas/Santa, short stories, novellas, essay collections, poetry, screenplays, and works with themes of suicide or drug addiction as the main focus.  Please only send picture books if you include illustrations.

I’m not the best fit for stories with alien main characters, plots where the main focus is aliens, technology that edits dreams or memories, drugs or technology that cause hallucinations or questioning of reality, anything militaristic, anything with a cop or detective main character, anything SFF that focuses too much on evil corporations, or anything with virtual reality or video games. I find it really hard to care about robot main characters. I’m not currently looking for sci-fi space stories with pirate/bandit/thief main characters.

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 like to follow my authors where their passions lead. Sometimes I’ll sign someone for a picture book and end up selling adult nonfiction for them.  Obviously, it’s good to be strategic about your career, but I want to be a partner who helps you explore all the possibilities and who is nimble enough to switch tracks as needed.  I want to work with authors who are excited to collaborate editorially, who come from a variety of diverse backgrounds and bring new viewpoints to the table.  And I’m always just looking for a really good story that will become someone’s favorite book!

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 definitely an editorial agent! Ideally, I like to start this work right from the outline stage where we can discuss big picture story arcs, but at any stage I like to focus on big picture plot, and smaller details like bringing emotional resonance to the characters, building out a fully realized world, and making sure the writing style is clear and beautiful. 

I typically work in both track-changes with line edits and comments, as well as detailed editorial reports with suggestions for what I think can be changed with plenty of examples for directions the author can take. I’m also always happy to hop on a call to brainstorm. While I’m looking for a partnership and a shared vision, at the end of the day authors need to take notes that resonate with them, and leave the rest aside. It’s your work and you decide what it’s going to look like. 

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 can query me through my QueryManager form: https://querymanager.com/query/SamanthaWekstein

Please include a query letter and your first 10 pages as an attachment. I’ve put together a free query letter template, which I hope someone finds useful! If you’re pitching a picture book, please include sample illustrations.

In your plot summary, please answer these questions: Who is your character? What kind of world do they live in? What do they want? What are their obstacles to getting what they want? How will they try to overcome those obstacles? What happens if they fail—or what tough choice will they have to make?

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

I don’t like queries that focus more on themes than plot. Lead with your plot and focus on goals, obstacles and stakes.  Make sure you are specific about what happens and take us up to the climax. For example, I don’t like when letters allude to “secrets,” but don’t tell us what those are. Letters where the character will “lose everything” don’t communicate what’s actually at stake. 

In terms of first pages, I recommend starting with a scene instead of the character speaking to the audience.  Let’s get information organically through observation instead of told to us through monologue/summary.  I also really look for emotional description in the first 10 pages. Including emotional description through physical sensations (pounding heart, stomach turning, etc.) is the quickest way to help us understand a character and really puts us in the scene alongside them.

Response Time:

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

My response times are long, as I get a high volume of submissions, but I do respond to everyone. If I like your query, I take longer to decide--think 3-6 months, and occasionally longer.

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 don’t want to represent anything that’s already been published. Once a book has a track record, it’s hard to try to re-sell it to a new publisher. But if you self-published or worked with a small press in the past, I’m happy to consider any new, unpublished work!

If you are trying to get an agent after self-pubbing, or working with a small press, I recommend doing everything you can to prove there’s an audience interested in what you have to say, whether that’s through sales records, trade reviews, social media follows, or clips of your work published in major news outlets or magazines. My author, Susan Shapiro, teaches a class on how to get published that I highly recommend!

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Sara Hirsh Bordo, Ashley Sirah Chea, Erin M. Fry, Korrie Leer, Renee Beauregard Lute, Orlando Mendiola, Marisa Ramel, Jo Renfro, Susan Shapiro, and Jessie L. Star. 

Interviews and Guest Posts:

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4dTUr239rc

https://manuscriptacademy.com/podcast-samantha-wekstein

https://www.roundtablementor.com/learn/the-query-letter-that-turned-into-an-offer

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mswl-live-agent-panel-caitlin-mcdonald-samantha-wekstein/id1171799743?i=1000612689566

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-84-literary-agent-samantha-wekstein/id1698756774?i=1000621927071

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmSXNU38ol0&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cortneyradocaj.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY

 Links and Contact Info:

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

Here are all my links: https://linktr.ee/swekstein

Authors can query me using my Query Manager form: https://querymanager.com/query/SamanthaWekstein

I’m always interactive on Twitter @swekstein, and my Instagram is SamanthaWekstein.

Additional Advice:

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

Be a good literary citizen. Shout about books you love, help out other authors where you can. Build a community.  You never know how you may be able to help each other achieve success down the road, through blurbs, cross promotion, beta reads, or something else. And someone else’s big sale may be what pays for your book advance! Be a cheerleader even when it’s hard.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Samantha.

Giveaway Details

­Samantha 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 26th. 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.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or email me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Today, October 16th I’m also participating in the Silly Pumpkin Giveaway Hop

Monday, October 28th I have a guest post by author Abbi Lee and a giveaway of her MG Ghost Town Treasure Hunt

Friday, November 1st I’m participating in the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, November 6th I have an interview with author Jan Gangsei and a giveaway of her YA Dead Below Deck and my IWSG post

Saturday, November 9th I’m participating in the Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop

Monday, November 11th I have an agent spotlight interview with CoCo Freeman and a query critique giveaway

Saturday, November 16th I’m participating in the In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

 

 

On Marketing Your Debut Book: Debut Author Adrian So Interview and The Groundworld Heroes Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m super excited to have debut author Adrian So here to share about his MG chapter book The Groundworld Heroes. I’m really thrilled to have Adrian here. He’s 15 years old and is already a published author! I know he’s going to have lots of great advice to share. And his chapter book sounds like an action-packed story that’s relevant to our world today. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Here's a blurb from Goodreads:

When Groundworld is on the brink of extinction, it takes one mole with courage to save the day.

When Benjamin, a junior mole digger, witnesses a human invasion of his homeland, he must find his long-lost courage and unite two culturally distinct realms to fight the intruders and save his kind from extinction. What perils lie before him as he ventures into the unknown? Can Benjamin go up against a rough bunch of illegal animal trappers before it's too late? 

Meet the Groundworld heroes as they defend their country's sovereignty and save their fellow citizens from capture and extinction. 

Perfect for fans of Kate Dicamillo and Roald Dahl. 

 

Follower News

Before I get to Adrian’s interview, I have Follower News to share. Melissa Maygrove has a new release of her western historical romance, Battered Pride. Here’s a blurb: When a Mojave clansman insists on helping a struggling widow whose husband was scalped and murdered, survival isn’t the only battle on the frontier. Here are a few links: Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJ1MRFDZ Website: http://www.melissamaygrove.com/

Interview With Adrian So

Hi Adrian! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

My name is Adrian So and I am a high school student from Markham, Canada. I began writing when I was in grade 5, during the pandemic when there was nothing much to do. I soon discovered that I quite enjoyed making up stories so I kept at it, until I wrote The Groundworld Heroes.

2. Where did you get the idea for The Groundworld Heroes?

The idea for The Groundworld Heroes came when I was working in my backyard, where I saw some holes in the lawn and wondered how some animals could manage to live underground. So I started typing away at my laptop and it didn’t take long until I finished the first few chapters of my manuscript.

Your Writing Process

3. It’s cool how we writers get ideas from random things in our life that we ask questions about. Did you plot out or were you a panster for The Groundworld Heroes? Will you change your plotting process for future manuscripts?

I have always been a pantser when I’m writing this book because I usually couldn’t stick to a strict plot outline and thought the most effective way would be to write first, then edit later. This gives me more room for creativity and ensures that I don’t limit myself when I draft.

4. You have to follow certain guidelines on vocabulary, chapter length, and the overall length of the book when writing a chapter book. What rules did you use to be sure your story was a chapter book vs. a longer middle grade story? What tips do you have for other writers wanting to write a chapter book?

At first I thought I was writing a middle grade story when I finished the first draft of my novel. But when I submitted it to my current publisher Dr. Jennifer Lowry, she told me that it would be more suitable for younger chapter book readers. So after we signed our publishing contract, the editing team at the publishing company helped me with changing the vocabulary and tailoring it to fit a younger readership. We made the sentences shorter and easier to comprehend and added more action scenes throughout the book to grab the kids’ attention easier.

My biggest piece of advice for other writers who want to write chapter books is to try to add humour if you can. When I was younger, I enjoyed reading books that are comedic more than books that are not. Also try not to talk down to your readers because kids actually know more than you may think.

5. That’s great that your publisher helped you with changing your story to be a chapter book. And thanks for the great tip. You’re in high school. How have you juggled your writing deadlines, writing a new manuscript, and marketing your debut book with the demands of high school?

I was lucky that The Groundworld Heroes is released during summer break, this allows for me to focus more on my book without worrying about studying as much. But normally when I’m in school, I tend to prioritize school work over my writing hobby, and all hobbies. When I do need to market my book, I usually do it during weekends or in my spare time, where I could do interviews like this or talk to potential book buyers.

Your Road to Publication

5. It sounds like you have your priorities straigt. What was your road to publication like and how did you get your publishing contract?

The road to publication for me is quite difficult, but when compared with other authors, I actually think I had it easy. It took me a little more than a year shopping my manuscript around until I found the right home for it. The Groundworld Heroes first garnered no interest at all because I was too quick with querying it. I remembered submitting it to literary agents and publishers before I even completed the draft. I was, and maybe still am, an amateur writer, I used to always make the most fatal mistakes when it comes to writing, such as telling instead of showing and using too many adverbs. But I did finally get my publishing contract after I learned how to query the hard way, and one day, after a few back and forth rounds of revising and resubmitting, Monarch Press said they are interested in acquiring my book. 

6. How has it been working with your publisher, Monarch Educational Services? What advice do you have for other writers considering working with a publisher on their own?

My publisher Monarch Press was really great and professional. They assigned me two highly skilled editors, Ashley White and Haley Hwang, who helped me all the way from major structural edits to copy edits to final proofreads. We also had a supportive community of authors who help each other out with all things publishing-related. I also had a publicist, Carol Baldwin, who created press releases and sent them out to different media outlets on my behalf. The Groundworld Heroes has been selling quite well since its release on August 6, and it’s all because of these people.

My advice for other writers considering working with a publisher is to get your manuscript in the best form possible before sending it out. Submitting your work too early would actually do more harm than good to you.

Promoting Your Book

7. That’s great you had so much help. And Carol is awesome. I’d like to talk about how you marketed your book because Carol Baldwin, a blogger friend mentioned in a guest post for The Insecure Writer’s Support Group that you’re the king of marketing and spreadsheets. Can you start out by sharing your basic marketing plan and what you felt worked and didn’t work?

I made a spreadsheet with Ms. Carol Baldwin, where we listed key contacts to reach out to, categorized into different groups, such as library contacts, reviewer contacts, influencer contacts, podcaster contacts, media contacts, and a lot other categories. The categories that worked out the least are the media and the library, with only a handful of responses and even less interest in covering/acquiring the book. The reviewer and influencer contacts worked out the best, with about a 50% acceptance rate to be featured.

8. Tell us about the marketing spreadsheet you created. What information do you think authors should include in theirs?

List the contacts that you think may be useful or relevant to your book(s) and maybe you can use the categories I talked about as reference.

9. How did you discover bloggers and book influencers on TikTok and Bookstagram who might be interested in your book? Do you have recommendations of ones we should connect with or follow?

What I did was I searched up books that are similar to mine, then saw which influencers or reviewers promoted them. Then I can get a rough idea on who to contact about my book and I thought that trick worked pretty well.

10. That sounds like a good approach we could all try. How did you decide on which libraries to contact and how have you reached out to them?

I mostly start local. I think about the libraries in my city, my province, and my country. To a lesser degree, I also reached out to libraries that are in English-speaking countries to see if they would be interested in adding my book to their collections. I usually find the person who is in charge of collections or acquisitions and contact them instead of the average library clerk. 

11. What are you working on now?

I am currently working on another children’s chapter book called Mr. Troublemaker. It’s another fantasy book for an even younger age group than The Groundworld Heroes is for.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Adrian. You can find Adrian at https://x.com/Adrian62852188

https://adriansotheauthor.my.canva.site

The Groundworld Heroes could be found at:

https://www.amazon.com/Groundworld-Heroes-Adrian-So/dp/195765662X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.k5-dEVttFzQAjCjqNDzpVg.QRsPP6n0mCHmOlC2tbtDXVQHCBMXVeDQF6YYuchJTTU&qid=1713741971&sr=8-1#detailBullets_feature_div

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-groundworld-heroes-adrian-so/1145464831?ean=9781957656625

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211903613-the-groundworld-heroes

Giveaway Details

Adrian is generously offering a paperback of The Groundworld Heroes for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by October 26th. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter or follow Adrian on his social media sites, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Wednesday, October 16th I have an agent spotlight interview with Samantha Wekstein and a query critique giveaway

Wednesday, October 16th I’m participating in the Silly Pumpkin Giveaway Hop

Monday, October 28th I have a guest post by author Abbi Lee and a giveaway of her MG Ghost Town Treasure Hunt

Friday, November 1st I’m participating in the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, November 6th I have an interview with author Jan Gangsei and a giveaway of her YA Dead Below Deck and my IWSG post

Saturday, November 9th I’m participating in the Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop

Monday, November 11th I have an agent spotlight interview with CoCo Freeman and a query critique giveaway

Saturday, November 16th I’m participating in the In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

 

 

Literary Agent Interview: Leslie Zampetti Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Leslie Zampetti here. She is the founder of Open Book Literary. 

Status: Leslie is currently closed to queries but will reopen in late December 2024.

Hi Leslie! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Leslie:

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

I became an agent after having been a librarian for 20+ years. I’d been writing middle grade as well, and agenting sounded like a great career path. I was a reader for Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency and then assistant to Jennie Dunham at Dunham Literary prior to starting to represent my own clients in 2018. After time with Dunham Literary and Odom Media Management, I launched Open Book Literary in the fall of 2023.

I’ve been slowly building my client list, working with many debut authors. My focus is on amplifying underrepresented voices and championing our intersections of identity, with a special emphasis on disability, poverty, Judaism and other non-Christian religions, neurodivergence, and women.

In my membership and volunteer work with the Association of American Literary Agents, I have been working towards equity in publishing, making the business of representation more transparent to people seeking to become agents and writers seeking agents, and helping foster community among agents.

About the Agency:

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

Open Book Literary is a solo practice. I partner with a contracts consultant, Jennifer Uram, and a subrights agency, the Rights People, so my clients benefit similarly to being represented by a large agency with staff. I provide editorial advice to my clients, career management and strategies, and a collegial atmosphere in which I support my clients and they support each other, as well. We celebrate everyone’s successes together!

I also encourage my clients to explore writing in other genres and/or categories, to play in the service of their art, and to balance writing with other aspects of their lives. As a “career agent,” I’m focused on building long-term success over quick sales. Not that I don’t love a short submission with an efficient negotiation leading to a good contract!

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 picture books through YA, primarily contemporary fiction, mysteries, and historical fiction. Manuscripts that sit in the sweet spot of the Venn diagram between immediate kid appeal and appeal to parents, educators, and librarians. I love verse novels and picture book texts that use lyricism, verse, and wordplay.

At the moment, I’m seeking more young YA and stories that are rich in character and setting, but

that make good use of white space and appeal to less confident readers while still interesting to bookish kids like I was.

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

The longer I’m an agent, the more I love surprises. Because execution is so subjective, I find it’s better to be less prescriptive. Nothing is more disappointing to me - and the writer - than to get a query for a story that checks the boxes for my MSWL but that ends up not being a fit.

On the other hand, it was delightful to get a submission that was a YA mystery with a vampire twist I’d never have asked for - but loved.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I am not a fit for political thrillers, Holocaust fiction, high fantasy, inspirational or Christian fiction, stories that use violence against women as the primary or opening narrative hook, or hard sci-fi. I’m also not a fan of historical settings for nostalgia’s sake, particularly for children’s books. I like historical fiction where the history is directly tied to the story - such as ONE CRAZY SUMMER, PLANET EARTH IS BLUE, or TORCH.

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?

See questions #1 & 2. ;-)

As an agent, I seek out books that entertain while holding room for deeper meaning and engagement. Everyone deserves joy and to see their joy represented on the page, to have fun while reading, and to explore the wonderful variety of life.

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

Yes, I am. While I do give edit letters and inline comments, I love discussing clients’ work with them on calls or online chats. Often, ideas or solutions appear in the discussion that might not have occurred to either of us individually.

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 QueryManager, and my link is https://QueryManager.com/Lzampetti. I ask for a short author bio and the first five pages of the manuscript (or complete picture book text or dummy) along with the query letter.

My practice is to open to queries the first full week of the month and then close for the rest of the month. It’s been helping me respond more efficiently.

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

I’m not a fan of query letters in the voice of a character, though it’s not an automatic pass. People who are deliberately rude are definitely an automatic pass.

Response Time:

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

I respond to all queries within four weeks, ideally sooner. For requests, it’s usually 4-6 months - I request a lot, I don’t use a reader, and there’s only so many hours in the day.

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 open to them, but not in terms of taking an already self-published book to trade publishers. I’m really looking for authors who either wish to hybrid publish - keeping some work for self-publishing and some for the trade - or to move from self-publishing to trade publishing.

Self publishing is its own market and requires strong business skills as well as creative ones. I don’t advise using it as a “trial balloon” to see how a book will do, because finding the sweet spot between enough sales to attract a larger house and not having sold out the audience is tough.

Traditional publishing is very collaborative; for authors who want complete control over their work, self publishing enables that control.

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

All of my clients are listed on my website, https://www.openbooklit.com/home.

My currently published clients for kidlit are Kate Allen Fox, Lisa Schmid, Wendy Cross, and Andrea Shapiro. (With more coming soon!)

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.

A few recent ones are:

https://www.scbwi.org/scbwi-exclusive-with-leslie-zampetti-agent-open-book-literary

https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/meet-literary-agent-leslie-zampetti/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkPRweF2X0

Links and Contact Info:

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

Please see above. My website links to my MSWL, my AALA agent profile, and social media accounts.

Additional Advice:

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

N/A

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Leslie.

Giveaway Details

Leslie 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 19th. 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.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or email me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, October 14th I have an interview with debut author Adrian So and a giveaway of his MG chapter book The Groundworld Heroes. He’s only 14 years old and a debut author so please stop by and leave him a comment to support him in accomplishing such a big goal at such a young age.

Wednesday, October 16th I have an agent spotlight interview with Samantha Wekstein and a query critique giveaway

Friday, October 18th I’m participating in the Silly Pumpkin Giveaway Hop

Monday, October 28th I have a guest post by author Abbi Lee and a giveaway of her MG Ghost Town Treasure Hunt

Friday, November 1st I’m participating in the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, November 6th I have an interview with author Jan Gangsei and a giveaway of her YA Dead Below Deck and my IWSG post

Saturday, November 9th I’m participating in the Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop

I hope to see you on Monday!