Agent Spotlight: Sara Megibow

This week's Agent Spotlight features Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency.
Status: Update on 9/28/2024: Sara has opened her own agency, Megibow Literary Agency. She is open to submissions. 

Status update on 12/30/2025: Sara is open to queries.

About: "Sara  is the President and  Senior Literary Agent of Megibow Literary Agency.  She has worked in publishing since 2006 and represents New York Times bestselling authors including  Margaret Rogerson, Roni Loren, Rebecca Roanhorse, Jason M. Hough and Jaleigh Johnson. Sara specializes in launching debut authors and working on long-term career  development and profit strategy with them. She is a graduate of Northwestern  University with degrees in Women’s Studies, Gender Studies and American History. Always LGBTQIA+ Friendly! " (From the Agency Website)
About the Agency:
"Megibow Literary Agency is comprised of an eclectic team of people from publishing, music, photography, education, social work and corporate backgrounds. Because we’ve all worked in the arts, we aim to be craft-focused so clients feel supported writing the books they love. We’re also nerds for data which influences the profit strategies implemented in helping clients make money on those books. 

"We want to offer our clients the most robust buffet of publishing opportunities available - in print, illustration, Hollywood, audiobook, translation, IP work and beyond. And we want our partners throughout the publishing industry to love working with us. Our mantra for 2024 is, “Kindness. Integrity. Patience. Profit. Enthusiasm.”  

"The publishing industry can feel opaque so our agency provides value-add services like Office Hours and quick email turn around in an effort to better explain processes and set expectations for our clients.

"Ultimately, we love working in publishing! Readers are voracious and bookstores are thriving so please share your work with us. Your voice matters!

"Always LGBTQIA+ Friendly!

"Black Lives Matter!" (From the agency website)

Web Presence:
Megibow Literary Agency
Publisher's Marketplace page.

Manuscript Wish List   
QueryTracker.
What She's Looking For:
Genres/Specialties:
Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. (From her Publisher's Marketplace and Manuscript Wish List)
From her Agent Query Page
"I represent authors who write middle grade novels (all sub-genres), young adult novels (all sub-genres), romance novels (all sub-genres) and science fiction/fantasy for the adult market. To submit to me, your manuscript must be 100% complete and never previously published.

"I am particularly looking for submissions from BIPOC, queer and/or disabled authors and authors from historically marginalized backgrounds. No, you do not have to self-identify in your email!"

What She Isn't Looking For:
“Sara does not represent screenplays, memoir, self-help, picture books or any book that has been previously published.” (Link)
Agent Philosophy:
"My passion as an agent is strategizing profitable long-term careers with my authors. I want clients to love the books they write and make money writing them. Crafting that kind of balance between artistic and commercial success takes communication, teamwork and a focus on "Art. Patience. Strategy." (Link)

Query Methods:
E-mail: Yes (only).
Snail-Mail: No.
Online-Form: No.

Submission Guidelines (always verify):
Send a one-page query letter and the first 10 pages of the manuscript.  Put QUERY and the title of your project in the subject line. No attachments. 
See the Megibow Literary Agency website and Ms. Megibow’s PM page for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines
Response Times:
Ms. Megibow's response time is three to six weeks.
Around the Web:
For conferences Ms. Megibow will be attending, see her Publisher’s Marketplace page.
Contact:
Please see the Megibow Literary Agency website and Ms. Megibow’s Publisher’s Marketplace page for further contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 1/4/2025.
Agent Contacted for Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed by Agent: 1/6/2025.
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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.

Research Tip Tuesday

Want to know what people are saying about a particular agent or subject? Google Blog Search specifically searches blogs (all blogs, not just Blogger) for your search term or phrase. Advanced options also allow you to filter and search by date. I use it all the time for my spotlights!

Next week, I have a fabulous tip from Samantha Clark. Look forward to it! Want to see your own tip featured? E-mail me at agentspotlight(at)gmail(dot)com.

So Tell Me: What Personal Greatness Do You Aspire To?

What an interesting discussion we had yesterday! Some of you agree with King and some of you don't. From reading through all the comments, I'd say King's view of the bad, competent, good, and great writer looks something like this.

Great = Innately talented, has something that can't be learned or taught.
Good = The majority of successful published writers (and those aspirees with this level of drive and talent).
Competent = Potential to become published, potential to become "good," but maybe never quite good enough if the drive isn't there (the line walker).
Bad = Actually incapable or unwilling to reach competency.

Which would put most of us in the "competent" and "good" categories, including beginners not stuck in the (unfortunate) bad category. Would you agree with assessment?

I've got a different but related question for you today though. What PERSONAL greatness do you aspire to? Is it becoming a published author, prolific, renowned, a bestseller, an award winner? Or is it more related to craft... is there a level you're trying to reach, and how are you gauging it?

Do tell!

On the Potential of the Bad, Competent, Good or Great Writer

I recently devoured ON WRITING by Stephen King. It really is a great read (fascinating, inspiring), and I'm happy to have finally read it. Since finishing, I have found myself returning to a couple things Mr. King said and I'd like to discuss one. And that is the following:

"...while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one." (p. 136)

I don't know how I feel about this. The horde of hopefuls in my head want to beleive that, wherever I'm at talent-wise, I have a chance at becoming good or great. But then, I also don't see myself developing the talent of, say, Markus Zusak or Suzanne Collins—ever.

So I see what he's saying, and I think it comes down to how one defines or views such words as "good" and "great." A writer can improve greatly, for example, as I think many of us have, but will never be a [insert author that fills you with awe]. And yet, I still find myself balking at the idea that we have a built-in cap to our potential, and wondering if it really is impossible to cross these thresholds. Even if a good writer will never become one of the greats, does a bad writer really have no chance at becoming competent or good? I'm not sure. I find myself agreeing and then disagreeing in the span of two thoughts.

What's your take?

Agent Spotlight: Michael Stearns

Profile removed. Mr. Stearns is no longer directly representing authors (see comments below).

Thanks!

Casey

Review: FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL by Elana Johnson

A few weeks ago, I won a copy of Elana Johnson’s e-book, FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL, just as it was released. I was pretty darn excited. Why?  Well, despite the many, many examples of queries I’ve read online, how-to posts I’ve studied, and attempts I've made, I’ve never been able to write a good query. I love Elanja’s blog (so smart and funny!), and I especially love her voice, so I was eager to see if this e-book would be the eye-opener I needed.

The short answer:  It was.  The long answer:  I’d like to skip today’s WIP post one more week and review it for you.

***

Elana Johnson's e-book, FROM THE QUERY TO CALL, is exactly what the title lends you to believe it is; an informative guide that takes you from the basic start-questions of what a query is and isn't and why you need one, to two detailed sections called "Writing a Killer Query" and "Entering the Query Trenches."  By the time you finish its concise, organized, well-written 63 pages, you'll not only understand the anatomy of a successful query but how to research agents, query professionally, endure the dreaded WAIT, and everything after—dealing with rejection and fielding THE CALL. 

Three things I really love about Elanja's book.  1.)  It has everything for the writer just starting to learn about "the process" of seeking representation, but plenty also for the writer who has a good handle on it.  2.)  It is, essentially, said "process" in one well-organized bundle with a handy column ever-present on the side that enables you to jump to the section you want to read or re-read.  No more hours of searching Google and hopping from site to site as you try to piece it all together. 3.)  There are seven well-written query examples used to teach throughout the book and then available in their entirety at the end.  All of which have gained their respective writers representation or resulted in a high percentage of requests.  In other words, all successful.  I learn well by example, so these queries were like the icing on the cake.

There's no telling which section(s) will be the most helpful to you until you buy it and read it for yourself, but for me, it was the meat of the book, "Writing a Killer Query."  The way Elana broke the example queries down and showed me the four elements of a successful query was exactly what I needed.  Many others have done this online for free, sure, but not quite so in depth and certainly not Elana-style.  The big eye opener for me?  Learning I've been missing a very important element in my query—the consequence—and how important that small element really is.

Believe it or not, there's a cherry on top all that cake and icing. If you buy FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL, Elana will critique your query either by e-mail or on her Query Ninja blog.  Not only are you bound to learn a lot from this book, but you'll get a personalized, hands-on lesson too, if you wish.  Pretty darn good deal, and a great opportunity. 

Congratulations on a fabulous e-book, Elana, and thank you so much for the insight and knowledge you've put into a neat, accessible package and provided so many.

***

Have you read FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL?  If so, please leave your thoughts in the comments.  Haven't read it?  Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Research Tip Tuesday

Hey everyone, if you'd like to see this feature continue, please send some tips in! I haven't been receiving enough to keep it going. I've got one more from Tara for you today, and I'll put up one of my own next week.

"Romance fiction writers or people who write Historical Fiction might benefit from tracing modern works back to their origins. The Online Etymology Dictionary allows writers to type in a word, and then it returns the history for that word. If writers don't see a word they like in the history, they can enter one of the words from the search results, allowing a new set of results to display."

Bio: Tara is a freelance writer and editor. She maintains her own blog Eye Feathers.

Thanks Tara! I use the Etymology Dictionary all the time when I'm trying to create words for my fantasy stories, so it can be really useful to all the fantasy writers out there as well.