Sara has been with the Nelson Literary Agency since early 2006. Her first responsibilities included reading the query letters, sample pages and full manuscripts that were submitted for representation. In early 2009, she was promoted to Associate Literary Agent and is now actively accepting submissions of her own. From sexy romance to epic fantasy, Sara has loved reading since picking up her first copy of The Hobbit. Sara has a B.A. in Women’s Studies and a B.A. in American History from Northwestern University. She lives in sunny Boulder with her beat-boxing husband, adorable son and two fuzzy cats.
Follow Sara on twitter @SaraMegibow
Interview
1. What is the best part of being a literary agent?
The best part about being a literary agent? For me, it’s seeing art come to life. I love the art of literature and I believe each and every one of my clients is brilliant and talented. Helping to get those books on the shelves is a dream come true for everyone involved and the small role I play in that adventure is exciting and rewarding!
2. How would you summarize your personal agenting philosophy? What do you expect from an agent-author relationship?
Fundamentally, I believe that a client’s book is THEIR art. So, in terms of philosophy – I encourage my clients to write the books of their heart. Likewise, I choose clients to work with whose books I absolutely love, love, love.
From there, my “agent philosophy” is all about communication. Once a book is finished (and yes I do editorial work with my clients before we call it “finished”), I put together a submission list based on editors I think will love the work – my clients know to whom I submit, when and what the response is. My clients usually hear from me every week – with updates on submissions, offers, releases, sales numbers and ideas for marketing, publicity or promotions. Aside from talking about submissions, the two top things I encourage my clients to do is to get a professional author website together and to keep writing.
These are things that I expect of myself: answering client questions within a reasonable time, updating clients on submissions/ offers and release information, giving editorial feedback and the best possible advice on contracts, marketing and rights sales. What do I expect from my clients? To be on top of any and all personal marketing opportunities (again, having a professional author website and doing some other social networking – twitter, facebook, blogging, etc). I expect them to meet deadlines – so if we’re under contract for multiple books, then those books are submitted to the publishing house on time and in a professional manner. Also, I expect that they treat their editor (and all publishing house contacts) with 100% professionalism at all times.
3. What’s something coming out now/soon that you’ve represented and are excited about?
I’m excited about everything that I represent! That being said, I’m a fairly new agent. When a book is sold, there is usually an 18-24 month turnaround before those books hit the shelves. Here are some upcoming YA novels by my fabulous clients:
SCORE by Miranda Kenneally will be on shelves in late 2011 from Sourcebooks. SCORE is a contemporary, fun YA in which the heroine is quarterback of her high school football team and is caught in a love triangle with a rival quarterback and her favorite wide receiver.
SHOOTING NED HARTNETT by Allison Rushby will be out with Walker/ Bloomsbury in early 2012. NED is about a young woman in LA who works as a paparazzo – taking pictures of famous people for money. She hates the job and wants out, so she accepts a high paying gig only to realize that she will have to betray the only star she’s ever liked.
TIGERSEYE by Jennifer Shaw Wolf will be available in late 2012 also from Walker/ Bloomsbury. This book (yet another debut author) is about a young woman healing from a car accident that killed her boyfriend, but what she’s really hiding is the truth about their relationship.
4. What are the primary mistakes you see writers make in query process?
The number one mistake by far is querying an agent for a work in a genre that we don’t represent. We reviewed 37,000 query letters in 2009 which sounds daunting. But, please realize that one third to one half of those were for books we would never consider because of genre (self help, mysteries, screenplays, etc). If a writer sends a query for a book outside of what we represent, that writer will receive the auto “no thank you” letter from us.
Other than genre mistakes, the main mistake I see in queries is datadump or some other form of being too wordy. If the query letter is too wordy, the manuscript is typically too wordy. If the writer uses datadump to “explain” their world, their story, or their characters, then typically they’ve made the same mistake in the manuscript.
5. With fiction partials, what makes you stop reading and start skimming-or stop reading altogether?
The number one mistake in sample pages/ partials is (like in queries) datadump. “Datadump” sounds like this: “Sam sat with a cup of coffee and thought about the past year in which he had to overcome XYZ” or “Sam looked out over the plain where a spaceship was landing and that spaceship was 15 feet wide and bright green with two external ports.” These are both classic examples of “telling” instead of “showing” and to me it simply means the manuscript isn’t ready yet. The writer may need another round of revisions, or some work on the craft of telling a story, or to move on to the next book. In any event, datadump or “telling” is almost always a deal breaker for me.
A super generic concept can make my eyes glass over too – a young hero or heroine who has just discovered they have a magic power and must save the world. I see that one a lot. It can work, but the writer really needs to identify quickly what makes their story unique. Another one I see a lot of in women’s fiction – a 45 year old woman catches her husband cheating with the secretary, she leaves him and moves to Vermont to open a B&B. Again, the concept CAN work, but the writer will need to draw the reader in with some tremendous writing and with a unique hook. I hesitate to mention “generic concept” because it’s much more subjective than datadump. Still, it’s true and it’s a red flag.
6. You said that you would like to work on more fantasy and science fiction, can you elaborate more on fantasy/sci-fi subgenres that you are drawn to?
I love all fantasy and science fiction – adult, YA, MG, epic fantasy, urban fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, hard science fiction, space opera – you name it, I love it. I shy away from the true horror, but other than that I love everything. I have one urban fantasy client and I think he is a genius: ( www.stevewvera.com ). And I have one MG science fiction client who I also think is a genius: (anitalaydonmiller.blogspot.com).
I am particularly interested in books in which world building is effortlessly integrated with the story. Great characters are important too – I’ve seen sample pages with a really complex world but by page 30 I still don’t know the main character’s name (that’s a mistake on the writer’s part). John Scalzi’s OLD MAN’S WAR is one of my favorite books of all time, as is Transformation by Carol Berg. On the young adult side, I am a huge fan of ASH by Malinda Lo and GIRL PARTS by John M Cusick.
I recently attended the science fiction convention in Denver (MileHi Con) to learn more about sf/f writers and where they are and what they write. I loved it!
7. When accepting MG and YA, what subgenres do you lean toward?
I’ll take anything well written and with a unique concept. That being said, I *tend* to lean toward contemporary, multicultural and/or historical. In terms of paranormal and fantasy, I also love it all (although the story really has to stand out in this very competitive market). I like sexy YA or sweet YA, I like light or literary and I like any subgenre imaginable. Basically.bring it on! If it’s well written I will love it!
My full client list as well as my personal tastes are flushed out on my publishers marketplace site: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/SaraMegibow/
8. Will you be at any upcoming writers conferences where people can meet/pitch you?
Excellent question! My schedule is usually up to date on the “News” page at http://nelsonagency.com/news.html
9. What’s the best way to contact you?
I’m on twitter: @SaraMegibow although I don’t tend to get in conversations there. For pitching me your manuscript, the best way is the traditional way – email a query letter to query@nelsonagency.com . There are sample query letters, FAQs and resources on our website to help and to answer more questions. (www.nelsonagency.com)
10. Best piece(s) of advice we haven’t discussed?
These are great questions! You haven’t left many stones unturned. Let’s see – in terms of the publishing industry, the more research a writer does, the better. And, if you don’t know where to start, our website (again, www.nelsonagency.com ) has a terrific resources page. There are lots of other great websites out there, but anything we list there I can vouch for.
Also, if you write and are interested in publishing, then you should read too. Read books in your genre – the award winners, the ones getting buzz or great reviews, and anything else that interests you or catches your eye. I keep a spreadsheet of everything I read, who the editor is and what the imprint and publishing house is. Holy cow – my list is over 300 books since I started at Nelson Agency in 2006!
Another piece of advice – network, network, network. I am super proud of my clients because they seem to really reach out to each other – to support, encourage, beta read, help promote, etc. Writing is a beautiful art, but the business of publishing is a harsh one. Having friends tell you “you’re doing great” and “good luck” and “congratulations” can be unbelievably helpful!
The post Interview with Literary Agent Sara Megibow appeared first on .