Sara Sciuto is a recent graduate of University of California San Diego, Sara also completed literature coursework at NYU. Before joining Full Circle, she gained valuable experience working on film and foreign rights with the Taryn Fagerness Agency. Sara is actively building her list with a focus on middle grade and young adult, in particular, dystopian, science fiction, fantasy, and unique paranormal. She also enjoys contemporary stories with a strong, authentic voice (but no chick-lit, please). She has a particular soft spot for anything in the Deep South (sweet contemporary to dark paranormal), gritty contemporary, utilitarian dystopias or dystopian thrillers, anything with international locales or period settings (think flappers or “Mad Men”), and anything with artistic themes. Sara is also looking for standout picture books, especially those with a quirky or humorous narrative. She’s also considering select nonfiction in the areas of craft, design, how-to, lifestyle, and pop culture.
Currently, she is NOT considering any adult fiction (all genres).
Her great passions in life are travel and good food – and good books, of course, but that goes without saying! While she’s always cultivating new obsessions, her latest are photography and sailing.
Interview
1. What is the best part of being a literary agent?
Getting a first peak at what amazing new ideas writers are coming up with! Everyday I’m in awe of the creativity and ingenuity of new authors, and it’s so exciting to go through submissions and see what fresh and exciting projects I’ll find that are just begging for an audience. It never gets old!
2. How would you summarize your personal agenting philosophy? What do you expect from an agent-author relationship?
Most importantly, I only take on projects that I absolutely love. At FCL, we’re a very hands on agency and work collaboratively to get manuscripts in their best possible shape before submitting to editors. It’s not uncommon for me to go through a couple rounds of revisions with a new or potential client, so I expect authors to understand that any project is a work in progress and be receptive to constructive feedback. That said, it’s not good for an author to be too amenable; I don’t want an author to just plug in my suggestions—they might be symptomatic of a more general problem, they might necessitate additional changes in the book, etc—rather, they should treat revision notes more as inspiration for big picture reconceptualizing, with the goal of coming back with an overall stronger work.
3. What are the primary mistakes you see writers make in query process?
Not following our submission guidelines (e.g. not including first 10 pages in email body, sending genres we don’t represent, etc.)! Before submitting to any agency authors should always visit their website to view current submission guidelines, which vary agency to agency. My latest query pet peeve is a lengthy letter that describes the themes of the book, why they’re writing it, and/or explains the marketplace/readership/strategy without actually telling me what it’s about! The query letter’s primary function should be to give me a brief description of the project so I can decide if this is generally something I would or wouldn’t be interested in, and if it is, move straight on to the meat of the query—sample pages.
4. With fiction partials, what makes you stop reading and start skimming—or stop reading altogether?
If you’ve already won me over with your description in the query letter, than here I’m looking for execution. Sometimes it’s subjective—Is it executed in a way that I feel best suites the concept? Is the author voice just not jiving with my personal tastes? Or I may love the author’s sensibility but there may be too many technical errors (e.g. bad dialogue mechanics, lots of telling versus showing) which tells me this author may need more time developing her craft.
5. Your agency profile says that you’re interested in young adult, what specific subgenres do you lean toward?
For YA, I’m especially looking for contemporary, science fiction, and fantasy. I’m not big on teen chick-lit and tend to go more for gritty or quirky narratives. I’d be thrilled to see an edgy contemporary, stories set in exotic locales, period fiction (circa “Mad Men” or “Boardwalk Empire” would be fantastic!), a really well done novel in verse, or anything with artistic themes. (See #6 for my fantasy preferences).
6. Your agency profile also says you’re interested in dystopian, urban, and paranormal fantasy, is there any other subgenre of fantasy that you would consider?
Yes, ALL! Though, it’s usually tough to win me over with high fantasy. I’m also being really selective with paranormal—if it doesn’t have a truly unique concept, I likely won’t be interested. I’ll really go nuts for a good dystopian thriller, anything with steampunk elements, a utilitarian dystopia, or a dark paranormal (especially if it’s set in the Deep South). Please note that I’m currently not considering any adult fiction, fantasy or otherwise.
7. Will you be at any upcoming writers conferences where people can meet/pitch you?
Yes! I will be on faculty at the following: SCBWI OC Editor’s Day, Cal State Fullerton, Oct. 1 Avondale Writer’s Conference, Avondale, AZ, Oct. 29
8. What’s your opinion on social media for writers looking for representation?
Social media can be an excellent marketing tool for new authors. Establishing a direct dialogue with your readers is a great way to familiarize them with your brand and build enthusiasm for future books. That said, don’t just do it because you think you have to—if you’re not able/willing to provide regular and interesting content than hold off on creating a social media presence. If you ARE able and willing, absolutely, go for it!
9. Where is the best place for someone to contact you?
Via our regular submissions route, by email at submissions(at)fullcircleliterary(dot)com. Please see our website (http://www.fullcircleliterary.com/index.htm) before querying to view full submissions guidelines. For the most up-to-date information on the kinds of projects I’m looking for, my conference schedule, etc, visit my website/blog at http://sarasciuto.tumblr.com/ You can also follow my tweets at @sarasciuto
10. Best piece(s) of advice we haven’t discussed?
Write what you love! You’ll produce your best work that way—if you write for yourself and not for the marketplace. You’ve heard it before, “don’t write to the trends”, but really, don’t do it. It makes it difficult for your project to stand out and places yet another hurdle before you to overcome (on the already tough enough road to publication!). And don’t give up!
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