Caren Johnson Literary Agency

I’m not sure I mentioned this, but this week is a crazy one for me. I have three conferences I’m attending in and around NYC: BEA (Book Expo America), the Backspace conference and the CTRWA (Connecticut Romance Writers of America) Conference. Leading up to this week I’ve gotten many e-queries of writers attending one of the conferences asking me to consider their work as well as writers who won’t be at the conferences, but still wanted to introduce themselves. I’m expecting a lot more after the conference rush is over. A word of caution: I expect to get many queries after this so please be patient if my response time is a little slow. I’m aiming to get everything read and responded to 3-4 weeks after receiving your query, but that may stretch a bit if I get more than expected.

I’m looking forward to hearing pitches from authors this week and wanted to share some tips to make pitching go easier.

Don’t be scared. I promise I will never tell you that you’re a bad writer or that you should never write again. I would never say something like that! I will say if the book sounds like it would be something I’d like to take a look at or not.

Please don’t recite a memorized pitch to me. I don’t want to be talked at; I want to be talked to. So tell me what your book is about without making it sound like you’re quoting an advertisement.

Please don’t be offended if I interrupt with questions. Questions are good. They mean I’m excited/curious about the project. Since we only have a limited amount of time, I’m going to jump in to find out what I want to know. Also, I want to interact with you. It makes it more memorable for me (and easier to put a face to the query when I see it in my inbox).

Not every story is going to excite me. If I say no to seeing more of a current story that you’re working on, I’m not closing the door to you sending a query for another manuscript if you’ve not found an agent already. Now that doesn’t mean send me a query that pitches six or seven novels that you have ready. I think every novel improves a person’s writing ability (or it should), so I’ll probably want to see your next work. There are exceptions to that rule so if you’d like to offer me an older novel that you think I’d like, feel free to do so. Again, just use common sense and please don’t inundate me with a laundry list of novels you’ve written.

Please email me all material, unless you’ve been specifically instructed to send me your work in hard copy. I have a limited amount of space in my office to keep material sent and I prefer reading material on my computer so please send via email attachment.

Please keep in mind that these are personal likes and dislikes; every agent has them so always do your homework (and read up on the agent you are submitting to).

My ideal pitch would be like this: writer sits down and says, “hi, my name is X.” We exchange pleasantries for 30 seconds. Then, “I have a [romantic comedy, historical novel, narrative nonfiction proposal, etc.] that I’d love to send you. It’s about [tell me what the book is about/will be about in a minute or two]. Pause and let me jump in with questions. They will usually be along the lines of, “who are your contemporaries/who are similar authors? How long is the book? What made you want to write this book?” Then you’ll explain the genius behind your idea and your book. Ideally I’ll say, “wow, that sounds interesting. I’d love to take a look at the first three chapters and a synopsis. Please send it to me via email attachment. Thanks!” Then you happily go onto the next editor/agent you’re pitching to and I happily dream about the book you’re going to send me. We both win.

Now a quick reminder of what I’m looking for: romance (particularly romantic comedy and contemporary romance), mystery, women’s fiction, YA, commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. Please don’t send any addiction recovery memoirs my way (I just can’t read them anymore, though I used to devour them gleefully). Please don’t send any paranormal romance or romantic suspense my way unless it is high concept and doesn’t contain vampires, werewolves or serial killers.

I’m looking forward to all of the wonderful books I’m going to receive!