WHAT AGENTS ARE LOOKING FOR NOW

[Jessica Milar]

I've got this on my own blog, but I thought I'd share it:

I just love when an agent gets specific about their wants, or what they aren’t currently looking for. Here’s two agents who go into detail about what they’re looking for, which helps when you’re trying to figure out who to send your query to. I’ll update my page with additional agent wants whenever I see them.

Jill Corcoran of The Herman Literary Agency

What Jill Corcoran’s looking for, as of Dec 2009:

http://www.jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/

1.Young Adult realistic romance with authentic dialog that makes me yearn to be the main character.

2. Paranormal MG or YA that keeps me at the edge of my seat and has a fantastic payoff at the end.

3. MG that captures the reality of Middle School with an intriguing plot plus authentic emotion. 7th and 8th grade =hormonal roller coaster where kids strive to be independent yet are still such babes in the woods.

4. Laugh-out-loud, fast paced Chapter Books, MG and YA.

5. Books that organically combine illustration with prose--MG and YA

6. Characters that reflect the popular kids, not just the loners, geeks, etc....I was asked on FB, 'If main characters are popular, healthy, athletic, gets straight A's, gets all the girls, has a perfect family, etc., where's the story?

The story is: who the world perceives we are, how we think about ourselves, and who we really are is usually not the same. I just read The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart. I loved the part where the mc realizes that the boys she thought were confident and had it all were actually self-conscious and insecure about 'issues' the mc never considered.

Some new favorites not on my original list: Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree/Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis, The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart, Forever by Judy Blume, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, What is Goodbye? by Nickki Grimes.

For now: no high fantasy.


Elana Roth of the Caren Johnson Literary Agency:
http://www.johnsonliterary.com/blog?currentPage=2

What Elana Roth’s looking for as of Nov 2009:
1. Middle-grade novels. I have been reading a ton of awesome MG novels lately. When You Reach Me is perfect. I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President (which I guess some people are calling YA, but the kid is in 7th grade, so dammit, I'm calling it MG) is cracking me up. So send me something with a strong hook and a great voice, and make it good. Think big.
2. Non-paranormal YA. I've had so many "I see ghosts" books cross my desk, that even if you are reinventing the hook, I can't see it anymore. I don't mind fantasy, or sci-fi elements, but bear in mind, I like my YA reality-based with a splash of those things. Go read CANDOR if you really want to get a sense of my taste. So give me a twisty YA, give me a voice I haven't heard before, a vision of the future I haven't seen yet, a POV that hasn't been touched on (I'm still waiting for the YA version of the movie SAVED! to cross my desk).
3. Conference invitations. I am sorely lacking in 2010. What happened? Invite me to your regions! I'm funny, I swear. Even if I'll yell at you for pitching me in the bathroom. You deserve that.
To submit to her, email elana [at] johnsonliterary [dot] com
Please note, on the blog site she says No Vampires

[Nicole Green]

Yes, I love specifics, too--saves me from querying agents who are interested in YA, but not the kind of YA I write.

[Georgia McBride]

Thanks for posting!

[amy saia]

You gotta write what you gotta write.

[Tawny Taylor]

Thanks for sharing!