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AuthorMBA Q&A with agent
Kate Schafer
© 2008 AuthorMBA -
All rights reserved.
originally posted
2/18/08
This week, the AuthorMBA blog team is delighted to welcome
agent Kate Schafer from kt literary for our exclusive AuthorMBA Q&A.
After nearly ten years with industry powerhouse agency Janklow &
Nesbit Associates, Kate Schafer formed
kt literary in early 2008, where she concentrates on middle
grade and YA fiction as well as some adult fiction and narrative
nonfiction. Bringing to bear the experience of working with a large
agency, she's delighted to be involved with all aspects of working
with authors, offering hands-on experience, personal service, and a
surfeit of optimism.
Kate will be joining us today to answer your questions as well,
so get ready for a great Q&A! If you're feeling shy, please feel
free to send your question to AuthorMBA via our
online contact form and we'll post it on your behalf.
Welcome, Kate!
AuthorMBA Q&A, Part 1
- The Basics
1. Tell us about kt literary. How would you describe the
agency and how would you like to see the agency grow in 2008 and
beyond?
Kt literary is currently a small, one-person business, which allows
me to be completely involved with all aspects of my writers’
careers. We have a strong client list of established YA names as
well as newcomers, and I’m very excited to keep on growing – slowly
at first, but gradually! In an ideal world, I’d like to try to
double my client list within the next 12 to 18 months, and key to
that, of course, is placing my authors with strong, established
publishing houses.
2. Tell us about your agenting specialty. What excites
you about the Young Adult and Middle Grade markets?
Working with YA and middle grade fiction reminds me why I love
books. It harkens back to being a kid myself, and getting so wrapped
up in a book that I missed the lunch bell at school, or stayed up
way past my bedtime. The plots and issues being dealt with in
children’s fiction today are so widespread, so all-encompassing,
that you can find anything you want to find in the children’s
section of the bookstore.
3. Do you handle other genres as well?
I'm also looking at women’s fiction (chick lit, which I refuse to
consider a derogatory term -- please see my author Maureen Johnson’s
latest
contribution to the debate), and pop culture narrative
nonfiction.
4. What kinds of stories are you drawn to in general?
I read just about anything – fantasy, romance, mysteries,
contemporary fiction. I love strong protagonists, funny supporting
characters, adventures that aren’t just about an orphan child who
discovers he/she is the key to saving a secret world, and big ideas.
5. Can you share some of your recent sales?
Although I haven’t concluded any deals at kt literary yet, I’m still
working with nearly all of the authors I represented at my former
agency, and representing all of their unsold rights. My most recent
deals include NA rights to a new paranormal series by
Alyson Noel, to St. Martin’s Press. The first book is MY
IMMORTAL, and will be published Winter 2009.
I have several projects out on submission right now, and hopefully
will be able to report their sales shortly!
6. May our blog readers query you? If so, what do you
prefer to see in the initial query/submission and how should they
contact you?
Yes, of course. I’m open to email queries, at
queries@ktliterary.com. Please send your letter with the first
two or three pages (at most) of your book within the email. For
queries, I’m not looking at any attachments.
Please also remember that your query should convince me to read
more, that it’s the first piece of writing of yours I’m going to
see, and as such, you should be sure that it is in the best
condition possible. Don’t just relate what happens in your novel –
hook me with a strong pitch, and I’ll want to read more.
And my number one turn off in a query? Basic spelling mistakes,
especially either my name, or your book’s title. I’m not making this
up – I have seen queries with the title of the book being pitched
misspelled.
7. What is your estimated turnaround time on queries,
partials, and fulls?
I’m trying to get through queries within two weeks, partials (I
usually ask for the first five chapters) in a month, and fulls in a
month after that. I may be overly optimistic, but that’s my goal.
(And actually, yes, I AM overly optimistic, so there.)
AuthorMBA Q&A, Part 2
- The Business
1. How do you approach career planning with your
clients?
I believe that the best step I can help an author take in growing
their career is placing their book with a major publisher. That’s
always my goal. That being said, I LOVE proactive authors. Every
author should have a website and ideally, a blog – especially in YA
publishing, where readers love to have the feeling of an intimate
connection with their favorite writers. Be willing to work with your
publisher’s publicity, sales, and marketing departments. Help them
come up with ideas, and come up with your own. Be willing to go out
on a limb, as long as you remember not to cut off the branch beneath
you. Remember – you’re working in partnership with your publisher –
you both want big sales numbers.
2. How much editorial feedback do you like to offer
before marketing a client’s work?
The editorial feedback I like to offer my clients isn’t specifically
market-driven, so much as it is story-driven. It’s my hope and
belief that a strong story will drive a book to market, and to that
end, I’m happy to suggest revisions to make a better book.
As for brainstorming ideas, I’m totally open to it, although most of
my authors come to me with story ideas already. If someone suggests
several ideas, I’m happy to help them decide what might make the
next best move for their career – building a stronger fan base in YA
before moving to middle grade, for instance, or sticking in chick
lit style fiction long enough to drag your devoted readers into a
paranormal.
3. How do you feel about author-driven marketing
efforts?
I don’t expect every author will come to me with a plan to get on
Oprah, but I do hope they’ll be committed to maintaining memberships
in major organizations like RWA and the SCBWI, keeping their blog or
website “updated, unique, and useful,” as per Seth Godin, and be
willing to promote their work in the right places. I do depend on
the publishers to contribute to marketing efforts, and will ask my
authors to be available to help fulfill any obligations their
publisher sets up.
4. How do you feel about web sites, blogs, and other web
venues like MySpace as marketing tools for writers today?
I’m a huge fan of blogs, and if I’m reading a query or partial by an
author I really like, published or un, I will do what I can to track
down their website or blog. But authors, be aware that this can
backfire. Be careful what submissions information you put out on the
internet, since anyone can find it. You never know when an agent
you’re querying is reading what you’re writing, and I’m sure you
don’t want them to know which agents you prefer to represent you,
and who’s rejected you, and for what reasons. Don’t give us an
excuse to say no.
5. Do you have any final tips for our blog readers?
-- Write what you love.
-- Do your research.
-- Don’t forget to spellcheck!
-- Follow instructions.
-- And plan for the best.
Good luck!
Kate
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