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Interview with an agent - do you have any questions you'd like to ask?
Hi all
An agent for a very high-profile agency as agreed to be interviewed. She specialises in children's and YA writing. If you have any questions you'd like me to consider for her interview, can you reply asap. I can give you a couple of days at the most to get your questions in to me.
Tracy
Comments
Oh and I forgot to say in first post -it's for my blog.
Question 1: How far into teen speak would she like teen characters to go? I'm not talking about gross language, bearing in mind that teenagers are capable of swearing like troopers; more the language of Waterloo Road. Not many published books contain much, and maybe it's the old local dialect thing: a little goes a long way.
Question 2: Can she suggest what genres might appeal equally to boys and girls with a view to doubling the target readership?
Question 3: Does she accept synopses of more than one page of A4 single spaced?
Question 4: Does she see herself as representing a book for an author, or representing an author? Does she like her authors to stay with her? What rate of book production would she count as acceptable in that case?
Question 5: How old was the oldest author she has taken on? Would she represent a very good YA first novel from an octogenarian? Is her stand representative of agents in general?
Dwight, I can answer question 3 for you now - she only wants a one page synopsis at initial submission stage.
Tracy :)
Q - What sort of books is she looking at the moment?
Q - What really makes a submission stand out?
Q - Is it ever worth mentioning you have children in your target readership age (shows you are in touch with that age group) or is that a no-no on the lines of 'I read it to my family and they loved it'? I've phrased that very clumsily but hopefully you know what I mean!
Q - Does she read submissions personally or are they given to readers? If so, at what stage would they go to her?
Q - What can an author be doing (apart from writing) to improve their prospects and chances of success? (I'm thinking writing courses, writers' circles, conferences, competitions, forums, blogs - which of these would she consider useful?)
Thanks - look forward to interview as always.
1)If an author writes for several different age groups is it ok to send a whole load of manuscripts (or the synopsis and sample chapters of a whole load). Or would that be too overwhelming?
2) Does she accept email submissions?
Thanks ;)
If you are writing a trilogy and are half way through the second book, do you mention it in your proposal or is it better to offer your first as a stand alone with no mention of trilogy business?
Thanks :) .
Tracy :)