Which genre is Elizabeth Evans, recently relocated to the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, actively seeking?
I asked Publishers Marketplace and the agency website and of course, some literary agents are and are not interested in women's fiction.
"Novels that hit that sweet spot between commercial and literary fiction."
From the website, I read that line and to me it says she's looking for well written commercial fiction. She's new to the agency, looking to make a splash, so she's an agent worth querying.
Check her page at Publishers Marketplace and it's pretty clear that she's not looking for mainstream fiction after all.
She does not represent mainstream fiction, children's books, essay anthologies, poetry, short fiction or screenplays.
If anything, she's after non-fiction or YA, the two big sellers in the publishing industry.
So which is it? Is the website not up to date, or is the PM page stale?
I could take a chance and query her anyway, in the hope that I won't end up in some black book of authors to be shunned for failing to follow guidelines. I could not query her and try a different agent at the same agency, and accept that the more established ones aren't looking for new clients so the odds are worse.
Which way to publication? Of course, said the Scarecrow, some people do go both ways. Maybe Ms. Evans might have a slight interest in women's fiction, say, a novel that could be appealing to the high school set and shared with their mothers?
3 comments:
Query away! I wouldn't let some precious self-description of what she likes hold you back. Sweet spot? What is this, the big O?
On the other hand given my great story of success (sarcasm here, of course) with agents and the monumental waste of postage, my advice is worth as much as those fuzzy-gushing-cutsy letters from agents that tell you what a great read it was (24 hours after they received your query) but that it is 'not for me'. :)
Now, for the wacky idea of the month (but don't laugh at it, this is how I got my screenplay to Sam Mendes, on his request)--have you tried to find an actor (European perhaps) who could play the title role of your novel and get them interested in it and then use their name ad-nauseam to promote yourself? It takes chutzpah and balls, but it could work. It almost worked for me, were it not for Sam Mendes suddenly deciding to return to stage productions instead of movies.
I don't think I'd ever have the nerve to approach an actor and hand him or her my manuscript.
Great idea though.
Maybe if I could get Colin Farrell drunk enough....
Oh, no, no... Never approach one of them directly. A bit a research should reveal who their manager or agent/agency is. It has to be through their manager/agent and not as a fan. NEVER as a fan. It's not easy, true. And more often than not a road to nowhere.
As I said, it takes cajones, as they say in these parts. Also I had an agent that went along with my crazy schemes.
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