Literary Agent Interview: Savannah Brooks Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Savannah Brooks here. She is a literary agent at kt literary.

Status: As of 9/13/2024, Savannah is closed to queries. Please check the agency website to find out when she reopens to submissions. As of 8/13/2025, Savannah is no longer listed as an agent at kt literary or any other agency.

Hi Savannah! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Savannah:

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

I started thinking about working in publishing while I was in grad school, earning my MFA in creative writing, but I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do. I took roles in various capacities—from an editor at a small local publishing house to the editor-in-chief of a literary magazine to a teaching assistant for creative writing classes—and eventually landed an internship with the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in 2018. In 2019, I was brought on board as an associate agent, and this past summer I joined the amazing team at KT Literary as an agent. It’s funny, when I started out, I was very focused on children’s literature but only YA and MG. It took a year and a half for me to pick up a picture book, but once I did, I quickly realized how much I adore them. So that’s really been an area of specialty for me.

 About the Agency:

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

KT was founded by Kate Testerman in 2008, and it started out very specifically focused in MG and YA. It’s grown quite a bit since then but has kept its expertise in children’s lit while broadening out to adult work, too. In my mind, how KT differentiates itself is that the whole agency dedicates themselves to each client. Clients get to know multiple agents, we host office hours where all the agency clients can get together and ask questions—it’s such an intentional, welcoming community.

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 the whole gamut of kid lit: picture books, chapter books, MG, and YA, in both fiction and nonfiction. Across the board, I’m primarily dedicated to representing marginalized authors and bringing informational, empowering, joyful stories into the world. I love to learn, so projects that share fun cultural staples—be they holidays, traditions, practices, etc.—always jump out at me, as do bilingual stories. For picture books, I like more serious topics, and I’m not afraid to get political—I encourage it, actually. For MG, I really only represent highly commercial genres like portal mythologies and mysteries. For YA, I’m pretty limited to contemporary, urban fantasy, and thrillers.

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

Oh gosh, I could go on about this for ages, but I think it’s easier to mention a couple client projects that really show what I’m looking for:

●      A picture book about how genetics plays in disability

●      A picture book about all the roles a Black barbershop plays in a community

●      A MG bilingual summer camp mystery with a Choctaw main character

●      A MG portal mythology about Indonesia sea queen folklore

●      A YA historical (from the 90s! yikes!) based around the murder of Matthew Shepard

●      A YA urban fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a Japanese goddess to try and work through a traumatic friendship breakup

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

For picture book folks, I’m not a good fit for animal protagonists, rhyme, or purely whimsical stories. For MG, I’m not looking for quieter stories or for coming of age tales. For YA, SFF and hetero romance are tough sells for me. In general, stories that have a classic feel probably aren’t for me. I’m primarily looking for stories told from new perspectives and lenses.

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 believe that books make people better people, so above all, I’m looking for stories that create empathy. I want to bring books into the world that teach kids and teens to be curious and kind, that can guide them through tough times, and that celebrate different cultures and communities.

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 a very editorial agent, yes. I have an MFA in creative writing, I’m a lit professor, and I came up through publishing on the editorial side first, so all that plays into how I interact with my clients’ work. I take a telescoping approach: we start with an editorial letter than gets at big content edits, then we work down to lines edits and finally copyediting. I’m also a very collaborative agent. I rarely give prescriptive edits, preferring to give guidelines and see where my authors go from there. I also love brainstorming with them.

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 only take queries through QueryManager, so if people email me, I’ll respond asking them to resubmit there. In a query letter, I really want to see what the project is about—as opposed to why the project is important or why the author wrote it—and get a good sense of the voice/tone. So long as a query does that, is in a genre I represent, and is within a solid work count, I’ll read through the first couple of pages, at least.

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

My main dislikes aren’t so much about projects as they are about how writers present themselves. I’m not down with writers who 1) come across as arrogant (“this is going to be the next great American novel”), 2) come across as disparaging of their own work or the querying process (“this probably isn’t even that good,” “you probably won’t even read this”), and 3) put other books/authors/agents down. Agents are signing writers for what’ll hopefully be a long working relationship, so we need to feel like we’d enjoy working with you.

Response Time:

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

This really depends. Sometimes I’m very on top of my query inbox and get back to folks in a couple weeks, but other times I fall behind. If I have seven client manuscripts in my queue to be edited, chances are I’m not looking at queries. I also have some pretty serious health issues, so my personal life can throw work off track.

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’m open so long as the project they’re querying hasn’t already been published. Those I won’t take on because the project really needs to be an Indie bestseller in order for editors to consider it. Otherwise it doesn’t really matter to me unless those projects are problematic/poorly written. My general advice is don’t try to use self-publishing as a way to launch yourself into traditional publishing. It backfires more often than it works.

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?

Not really. There have always been presses that accept unsolicited submissions, and large publishers are such a powerhouse—for better and for worse—that they’re always going to be appealing to authors. I also see my job as much more client-focused than business-focused. I spend most of my time working with them on bettering their writing, which in turn makes them better writers. Selling their work is the ultimate goal, but it’s not what I value the most.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I represent a good amount of folks, almost all of them debuts. You can find the whole list at sblitagent.com/clients.

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.

At the bottom of the homepage of my website, sblitagent.com, you can find a handful of interviews I’ve done over the years. The most recent are going to be the most helpful. In general, I highly recommend the podcast Print Run. It’s done by two literary agents, Laura Zats and Erik Hane—fellow Minneapolis people!—and is written for writers to better understand the publishing industry. It’s incredibly informational and has won some pretty sweet awards.

Links and Contact Info:

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

You can find pretty much all relevant info on my website, sblitagent.com, including links to my Manuscript Wishlist page and QueryManager site. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, too—@sblitagent—where you can find a lot of pictures of a tiny monster who masquerades as my cat.

Additional Advice:

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

The whole publishing process is long and hard, and it can be really rough on writers. Try to find a writing group or some other support network; they can be lifesavers. Also remember that the “I found an agent in two weeks!” success stories you hear on Twitter are so, so rare. Most people query for months if not years. It can be lonely, but I promise you’re not alone in your experience.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Savannah.

Savannah 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 December 31st. Due to the holidays, the winner will not be notified until after January 1, 2023. 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 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.

Literary Agent Interview: Adria Goetz Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Adria Goetz here. She is a senior literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency.

Update on 6/9/2023: Adria is now a senior agent at kt literary and is open to submissions. Please check their website for her submission guidelines. Update on 12/12/2025: Adria is open to submissions on the first day of each month via her Query Manager.  

Hi­ Adria! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Adria:

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

In college I thought I wanted to be an editor, because it seemed like the dreamiest possible job you could have. But the more I learned about the industry, through research and through internships, the more I saw my strengths aligning with the job duties of a literary agent. I had an internship with Martin Literary for a couple years in college, and became a part-time assistant there once I graduated. I still felt so green at that point and felt like I needed to have a better understanding of the innerworkings of the industry, so I applied to the Columbia Publishing Course where I learned so much. When I returned, I was hired as an agent at Martin Literary the fall of 2016 which is where I agented for over five years. And then I recently joined the wonderful team at P.S. Literary which I’m really excited about! So far in my career I have been mostly focused on books for kids, and have got to work on some really incredible projects, like THE WHATIFS by Emily Kilgore, THE OCEAN CALLS by Tina Cho, BATTER ROYALE by Leisl Adams—just to name a few! I’m now looking to expand my list to include more adult fiction.

 About the Agency:

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

 P.S. Literary has offices based in New York as well as Ontario, Canada. We have agents who represent everything from picture books through adult fiction and nonfiction. We work with co-agents for film and television adaptations, work with Taryn Fagerness for foreign rights projects, and shop audio rights ourselves when we retain them. It’s an incredibly collaborative team, so I think it’s special that you sign with one agent, but really you have an entire team supporting your work.  

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, with a special focus on author/illustrators, middle grade fiction, graphic novels, adult fiction, and some select gift book titles. In picture books I love humor and heart and magic. In the middle grade space I love magical realism, grounded fantasy, mysteries, and historical fiction. In the YA space, the only type of project I’m interested in right now is graphic novels. In the adult space I love thrillers, rom coms, commercial fiction and upmarket/book club type fiction. I’m always excited to see graphic novels of any sort, from MG to YA to Adult. When it comes to stories within speculative genres, I tend to prefer grounded stories that have light touches of magic and lower stakes. 

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

In the picture book space I’d love to see more humor, adventure stories, stories about food, cultural traditions, mermaids, and spooky stories.

In the adult space I am always really excited to see something with a dual timeline. That always makes a submission jump to the top of my inbox. I love enemies to lovers rom coms, and I’d also love to see rom coms with light magical/speculative touches like THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES. I also love sweeping cradle to grave stories about fictional characters, like VIOLETA by Isabel Allende as an example. I also love mixed media novels that are told through texts, emails, receipts, things like that.

I have an overwhelmingly detailed manuscript wishlist on my website adriagoetz.com if anyone is interested in seeing more specific requests! There’s also a link there to a Pinterest board MSWL for those like me who are more visually minded.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

As a general rule of thumb, I am not the right for: memoirs, sports stories, space operas, Amish fiction, angel/demon narratives, ancient era historical fiction, high/epic SFF and thrillers of the military/FBI/espionage thriller variety.

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’ve noticed that both the books I love to read and the people I love to work with both tend to be very warm and have a lot of heart. And since I work heavily in the kid lit space, I always have in the forefront of my mind that the readers I’m facilitating content for are at a very formative age of their lives. The books I read as a kid have stuck with me, and I’m always thinking about how stories plant seeds in a young mind, which is a weighty thing to think about and something I try to take very seriously.

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. For novels, I typically do two rounds of edits. The first round is big picture, where I’ll put write up an editorial letter with any developmental edits I have for the client. This character arc needs developed, this section needs to be trimmed up to help with pacing, things like that. And then the second round is when I do more of a line edit of the manuscript. For picture books, it’s sort of a ping pong match where we volley the manuscript back and forth as many times as it takes to feel really confident in it. Sometimes it takes a pass or two, and sometimes it takes more than a dozen passes. Usually it’s somewhere in the middle. For author/illustrators, the process varies from person to person because everyone has their own unique process, but for these projects I give notes on both the text manuscript and the illustrations/sketches.

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 direct their query to query@psliterary.com with my name mentioned in the subject line. I’d like to see the query letter, the first 10 pages (or full manuscript if you’re a picture book writer), and if you’re an illustrator then I’d love to see a link to your portfolio and dummy/sample art.

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

The main thing that comes to mind that I don’t like seeing is a bad attitude! Oftentimes I see authors bash other books on the market or say something like “You probably won’t even read this email” or something like that.   

Response Time:

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

At P.S. Literary our submission guidelines say that if you don’t hear from us within six weeks, to consider it a pass. I know that radio silence is the worst part of the querying trenches for many writers though, so if someone ever wants to check in on their submission to confirm that it’s a pass, I’m always happy to respond to those emails.

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?

If they’re pitching me something that hasn’t been published yet, then sure!

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I work with so many incredible authors. I think that some of the authors I’m most known for representing are Tina Cho, Emily Kilgore, Christy Mandin, Valeria Wicker, Leisl Adams, Ellie Peterson, Bonnie Clark, and G.Z. Schmidt.

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.

·       Podcast interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/literary-agent-adria-goetz-thinks-you-re-not-persistent/id1526755563?i=1000541249688

·       Books I’ve worked on: https://www.pinterest.com/adriaPSLA/books-ive-worked-on/

·       MSWL: www.adriagoetz.com

·       Video interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfnDFYgD2A8

·       Interview: https://journeytokidlit.com/episode-8-write-a-good-query-letter/

Update on 3/10/2023

Interview at the Mixed-Up Files (3/2023)

Agent of the Month at Writing and Illustrating Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (3/2023)

Links and Contact Info:

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

https://www.psliterary.com/submissions/

Additional Advice:

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

My advice to aspiring authors is always to take a moment before they click send on a query to imagine that the literary agent on the other end of the email is sitting at home in their sweatpants with a cat curled up on their lap. Because more often than not, that’s what I look like when I am reviewing queries! We’re not scary people in New York skyscrapers, we’re just normal people!

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Adria.

­Adria 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 November 26th. 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: Chelsea Hensley and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Chelsea Hensley here. She is an associate literary agent at kt literary.

Status as of 9/28/2024: Chelsea is an agent at Mad Woman Literary. She is currently open to queries. Check the agency website to find out her submission guidelines. 

Status Update on 12/16/2025: Chelsea is currently closed to queries, but her Query Manager states she will reopen soon. Please check the agency website to find out when she reopens to submissions.

Hi­ Chelsea! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Chelsea:

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

I’m coming up on two years of agenting. I started back in the summer of 2020. Originally I was interested in pursuing editorial but found agenting checked a lot more boxes about the work I was excited about in publishing (in addition to enjoying more independence and autonomy in my work). I landed at KT where I’ve been ever since. I’ve been building my list—an exciting but slow-going process for me, I’ve found I’m a lot pickier than I anticipated being this early on, but I have a great, tight list right now and am working on sharing their work with their world.

About the Agency:

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

KT Literary is a boutique agency with a very collaborative, and positive, atmosphere. As well as handling domestic deals for our clients, we partner with our co-agents on foreign and film/TV rights. As a newer agent, I get lots of support and mentorship from senior agents Sara Megibow and Kate Testerman in ensuring mine and my clients’ success. A supportive and optimistic atmosphere is a big part of KT,  and forming connections among fellow agents and clients has been a priority of ours. Pre-covid there was a retreat for clients and agents (that will one day return), and we hold weekly office hours for all clients to come together and ask questions or just chat with us and each other.

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?

In children’s right now I rep MG and YA only. In MG, I’m a very hard sell on contemporary, I’m more into genre fare. In YA, however, I’m into all of it: voicey and emotional contemporary, twisty thrillers, magical fantasies, dark horror, all of it.

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

In YA, I’m particularly looking for dark and twisty thrillers (think Courtney Summers) with complex protagonists who aren’t very worried about being liked. I’m also hungry for horror with a more psychological, creepy, very intense vibe.  In MG, I’d love to see some rollicking fantasy adventures with plucky protagonists. Whimsy is a big must for me in this category.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

Right now I’m not looking for any nonfiction, graphic novels, picture books, or chapter books. I’m also not a great fit for sports-centric themes or works that would fall under “issue” books.

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 building my list, I’m really looking for authors who I think I can have a longterm partnership with beyond their first or second books. Something Margot Robbie said she looks for in projects she’s pursuing for her own production company has really been resonating with me lately: she focuses on three factors: quality, variety, and longevity. That’s made a lot of sense to me over the past year or so, and I’ve adopted it myself, so I’m really looking to work with authors who are not only talented but have an ambition and curiosity that comes across in their work.

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 am an editorial agent. When working with clients, I approach edits much like an editor at a publishing house would. We start with a big picture pass where I write a complete edit letter then a second pass where we work in the manuscript though at this point I don’t go as in-depth as a full line-edit. With me, clients are working to get things as ready as possible for submission, but I don’t like to spend an indefinite amount of time on this so we don’t risk overworking my author or getting in the way of an editor and their vision.

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?

You can query me via Query Manager. With a query letter, I’m really wanting to get a good look at what the book is about. I’m looking for an enticing pitch that introduces character and conflict. In my experience, an imperfect query that gives me a good and solid introduction to the book is a lot more valuable than a gorgeously written one that doesn’t tell me anything.

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

With queries my one pet peeve is queries that don’t tell me the plot of the book. I get many, many queries that tell me about the author’s thinking or their reasons for writing the book, but by the end I don’t know enough about the book’s plot or characters or anything that’s “tangible” about the book.

Response Time:

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

Generally I strive for 2-4 weeks for queries. I’m not as quick with requests as I’d like to be, but I try to get back to people within 8-12 weeks. If it’s been longer, I encourage you to nudge me about it! Regardless of the answer, everyone who queries or submits to me will get a response so if you haven’t gotten one, something’s gone wrong somewhere.

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?

Absolutely. I recommend, if you’re looking for an agent to, like other authors, have a completed, new (which means also not a sequel to something self-published) and unpublished project for consideration.  

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?

 As any industry changes, people’s roles will shift. Publishing’s not any different, but the general –and most important—role of an agent is going to remain the same: to guide and advise authors to as successful and fulfilling a career as possible.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I represent several amazingly talented authors. M. Darusha Wehm is a Nebula-award nominated author who published KEYFORGE: THE QUBIT ZIRCONIUM last year. I also represent Ness Brown, author of the forthcoming THE SCOURGE BETWEEN STARS (April 4, 2023, Tor Nightfire). I also have a lot of authors on my list who haven’t published yet writing everything from funny and smart MG mystery to sharp and witty YA contemporary.

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.

If you think you might want to query me, you can find my MSWL on my website. You can also listen to my episode of the KT Literary podcast.

Update on 2/16/2023
Podcast at AndItsWriting (01/2023)

Links and Contact Info:

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

You can query me using Query Manager. If that presents an accessibility issue for you, feel free to send your query and first three pages to our agency’s generic query inbox: queries@ktliterary.com. Specify the agent you’re wanting to query, and it’ll be passed on and reviewed as time permits.

Updated on 2/16/2023
Manuscript Wish List

Twitter

Query Tracker

Publishers Marketplace

Additional Advice:

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

I think just as much as time as you spend working on your project and getting it ready for querying, you should also take time to prepare yourself, too. The querying process alone can be grueling and disheartening, and that doesn’t necessarily change once you’re agented. So I encourage you to find touch points that are going to revitalize and encourage you, whatever that may be.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Chelsea.

­Chelsea 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 June 18th. 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.

Profile Details:
Last updated: 2/16/2023
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 6/6/2022 

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 Interview: Kari Sutherland and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Kari Sutherland here. She is a literary agent at kt literary.

Hi­ Kari! Thanks so much for joining us.

Thanks so much for having me!

About Kari:

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

I began in publishing on the editorial side—first at Disney Press and then at HarperCollins Children’s before moving cross-country to CA and freelancing. But I missed the longer-term connection to authors, so I became an agent. This is my sixth year on the agenting side and I love the variety and flexibility I have as an agent to sign clients whose work I’m passionate about, to explore new genres and formats, and to work the hours I choose (which are sometimes very late at night).

About the Agency:

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

KT Literary is a terrific group of agents who are very collaborative and approach the industry with a positive attitude. For us, it’s about finding talented authors and championing their voices. We work directly with co-agents to place foreign, and film/TV rights and we’re always on the lookout for opportunities for our clients and ways to boost their backlist as well as upcoming titles. We have our own podcast: kt literary podcast on Apple Podcasts and Instagram: KT Literary Agency (@ktliterary) • Instagram photos and videos and offer office hours to our clients for questions.

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?

The focus of my list is middle grade and YA across all genres, but I also represent picture books, select chapter books, and graphic novels. In picture books right now my primary goal is to sign author/illustrators with unique perspectives and styles. In middle grade, I’m drawn to fantasy, light horror, and contemporary realistic with a lot of heart. For YA, I’m very open across genres—from contemporary realistic to fantasy to speculative to thrillers and everything in between.

What I look for in a submission first and foremost is voice—a character who sweeps me away or fully engages my attention. Beyond that, I love stories with layers—where themes are explored in new ways or woven together organically and that sift through human emotions and relationship dynamics with depth and heart. I am also a fan of stories that are compulsively entertaining with unexpected twists or loads of humor.

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

In the YA space, I’d love a thriller or horror novel that grapples with a real-world issue teens face today, explored either metaphorically or literally.

I would love to find a funny middle grade fantasy story with a female or nonbinary main character going on adventures with supportive, but snarky friends.

In nonfiction, I enjoy quirky topics and would love a Mary Roach-style project for middle grade readers or teens! I’d also love a nonfiction teen or upper MG project that digs into standards of beauty and celebrates all styles and looks, but also examines the economic, social, and psychological costs of the beauty industry.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

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

I don’t like to say I’m closed to anything as sometimes I’m surprised by something I thought I wouldn’t enjoy. In general, though, I’m not the best match for sports-centered stories (unless there’s an additional layer to it, like a women’s team at a high school protesting the uniforms they’re forced to wear) or books that are sci-fi and plot-driven as opposed to character-driven.

I love reading novels-in-verse for pleasure, but I’m not the best match for them as an agent. I likewise am not usually the best fit for rhyming picture book texts.

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?

My aim is to work with authors whose stories inspire emotion—whether that’s feelings of coziness, rebelliousness, dread, hilarity, romance or something else—and whose voices are compelling. I’m eager to champion books that break the rules, explore universal truths through a specific lens, encourage readers to think in new ways and embrace who they are, and are books you can’t stop thinking about and just have to recommend to everyone you know so you can talk about it with someone!  

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! Very much so, given my background. I will usually go through two rounds, sometimes more, with an author before doing a light line edit. I start with bigger notes that get at the crux of the story, pull out its heart and make sure we’re mapping out the character arc and plot beats, then a round or two of minor in-scene changes/tweaks. I aim to submit polished work, something that I consider “acquisition-ready,” but I don’t want to over-work projects as editors will have their own visions and will definitely be doing rounds of editing as well!

All my feedback are suggestions only and I always work with my clients to ensure that their story is the one being told.

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?

The best way to query me is through Query Manager (Query Submission (querymanager.com). I like to see a query letter, a short synopsis (spoilers are okay! Sometimes I need to know how it ends), and the first chapter.

If Query Manager provides an accessibility issue, KT Literary’s general query inbox is queries@ktliterary.com and you can address the email to my attention. But I tend to review my Query Manager submissions more frequently.

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

Please start at the beginning of your book, don’t choose a chapter from the middle and make sure to specify your genre and age range in the query letter.

Response Time:

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

Longer than I’d like. I aim to respond to queries within 4-6 weeks. Partials and fulls take another month or two beyond when I receive them.

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’m happy to look at work that hasn’t been published before, so if someone has self-published or released through a smaller press, my advice is to query with your next project (that is not a sequel to the published one). You may want to indicate whether you’re willing to use a different name with your new project to separate from any existing sales track. I’ve had authors go from smaller presses to large publishers in the past, especially in a new format.

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?

An agent’s role is still to advise and guide an author’s career so while there are new avenues opening up, agents can discuss which pathways are best for an author’s particular publishing goals and then advocate for them whether it’s with a small, independent publisher, an app designer, an IP project, etc.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I’m very lucky to represent a slew of talented people! Some of my authors whose titles have released include: Saadia Faruqi (the Yasmin series, A Thousand Questions, Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero, and co-author of A Place at the Table); Laura Pohl (author of the New York Times bestseller The Grimrose Girls and the Last 8 duology); Kelly Coon (the Gravemaidens duology); PJ Gardner (the Horace and Bunwinkle series); and Dr. Amitha Jagannath Knight (Usha and the Big Digger). I’ve got two authors debuting this year: Isabel Cañas (The Hacienda – on sale May 3) and Rimma Onoseta (How You Grow Wings – on sale August 9^th).

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.

My manuscript wishlist is posted here and I try to update it every few months. You can find my KT Literary podcast interview here.

8/22/2022: Agent/Author Guest Post With Debut Author Rimma Onoseta Getting Revise and Submit Requests at Literary Rambles on 8/3/2022

Links and Contact Info:

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

You can find my Query Manager page here: (Query Submission (querymanager.com)

From time to time, I will close to catch up or close to certain genres/formats if I’m focusing on a different direction. You can also find more information about me on the KT Literary website: www.ktliterary.com.

Additional Advice:

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

You’ve heard it before—read widely! Both in the genre/format you write in and also in other arenas to help you hone your craft. Remember when composing your pitch (that oh-so-dreaded, but valuable x meets y line) that you can refer to characters from TV shows/movies or use podcasts or songs to help convey the vibes/content/themes of your project. Build an online presence based on positive energy. Evaluate what your particular writing/publishing goals are and don’t compare your journey to others’. Everyone’s path is different! Find willing and helpful beta readers and return the favor. Learning to critique others’ writing can help you analyze your own. Remember that at the end of the day, your writing should bring you joy as that will shine through in your manuscript.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Kari.

­Kari 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 April 23rd. 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.