michelle brower agent interview

Michelle picked my novel out of the slush pile one snowy afternoon, and changed the course of my life. In this Part III of the series from my interview with literary agents Jeff Kleinman and Michelle Brower of Folio Literary Management; they continue to shed light on the industry by discussing what compels them to sign an author and how willing they are to edit. Michelle Brower Literary Agent is primarily interested in projects that focuses on storytelling and emotional connection, rather than formal experimentation, and believes the best reading experience engages both the heart and the head. Heather Webb Successful Queries: Agent Michelle Brower and "The Handbook for However, some want to use the fact that they found their audience as a way to break into traditional publishing. DO NOT QUERY THIS AGENT AT THIS TIME: Michelle is not currently accepting unsolicited submissions. She's the founder of the Salem Longform Writers' Group, and serves on the Salem Literary Festival committee. Danya works as a literary agent for one reason: she loves books. Bring the literary world to your doorat half the newsstand price. Apply today to join the growing community of writers who stay in touch and informed using the Poets & Writers Directory. News and updates to get a top literary agent, publisher, and book deal. That's when it works. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Michelle Brower: Photo Courtesy of Folio Literary Management. Thank you! Home Literary Agents List Most Searched Book Agents Michelle Brower Literary Agent Book Agents List. Michelle: I have two very different examples of authors who came to me, and they are both really great in their own ways. We just don't know how to find that specific audience. Natalie Edwards, Literary Agent | Duotrope What began as an interview with literary agents Jeff Kleinman, Founding Partner, and Michelle Brower, Senior Vice President, of Folio Literary Management turned into enough material for a three part Q&A series on what agents really want from authors. Part of HuffPost News. Jeff: I have been known to sit down with an author, develop the concept with characters and an outline, and then they send me three chapters at a time. David Heska Wanbli Weiden And she represents authors who write them all. Fiction. Childrens/YA L. Moe. We can't sell books at $.99 and make money. The House Girl by Tara Conklin (William Morrow), Perfect Birds by Michele Young-Stone (Simon & Schuster), The Crows of Kusaka Town by JP Romney (Farrar, Straus Childrens), Helen of Sparta by Amalia Carosella (Amazon Publishing), Trails of the Earth by Mary Mann Hamilton (Little, Brown), The Homing Pigeons by Alex Brunkhorst (Mira), The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth Church (Algonquin), The Home Place by Carrie LaSeur (William Morrow), Things Half In Shadow by Alan Finn (Gallery), The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor (William Morrow), Bourbon Empire: Whiskey and the Story of America by Reid Mitenbuler (Viking). Something about it drew me to it," Brower said. Jack Reacher is a great example. One author I signed earlier this year came through my slush pile. Allison Malecha Director of Foreign Rights Literary Agent. Wake up to the day's most important news. Trellis Literary Management | Duotrope In this Part III of the series from my interview with literary agents Jeff Kleinman and Michelle Brower of Folio Literary Management; they continue to shed light on the industry by discussing what compels them to sign an author and how willing they are to edit. Erika Swyler Michelle Witte - Mansion Street Literary Management | QueryTracker Available in print and digital editions, Poets & Writers Magazine is a must-have for writers who are serious about their craft. I really love when that happens because I do think there are a lot of very talented writers out there who aren't living in New York or attending the same parties or know colleagues who referred them to me or who don't have that kind of connectedness to the industry; and yet, they are good writers who have an excellent book. Childrens, Middle Grade, and Young Adult. Childrens/Pic Book M. Leshem-Pelly Tara Conklin, Kirstin Chen, Hazel Gaynor, Jason Mott, Erika L. Sanchez, Commercial Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction. I think both of those scenarios can work. If you are running into one dead end after another, not sure which way to turn, Poets & Writers can demystify the process and help you reach your destinationpublication. The third one has a really, really great character that everybody wanted to read about. Genres: Humor/Satire. Watch videos, listen to audio clips, and view slideshows related to articles and features published in Poets & Writers Magazine. Whether youre pursuing the publication of your first book or your fifth, use the Small Presses database to research potential publishers, including submission guidelines, tips from the editors, contact information, and more. Write like Elena Ferrante, with all the romance beats and a happy ending.#MSWL, Since the political atmosphere is most likely going to get me retreating to a cozy book cave any minute now, I have a request #MSWL, Wanted: literary sci fi novel. Before contacting an agent, authors should verify and assess the agent's requirements and suitability by visiting the agent's website(s), and Fiction/Mainstream K. Cox Brittany Bronson In the Literary Magazines database youll find editorial policies, submission guidelines, contact informationeverything you need to know before submitting your work to the publications that share your vision for your work. I think that that's something in publishing that's not really considered the brand. As for free, if an author had 30,000 free downloads, we can't really use that as a number to determine whether or not it would translate well into the traditional market. I'm generally looking for a book with upwards of 100 reviews, and that they're good reviews because certainly if a book has 200 reviews with several 2 star reviews, that won't interest me. I will do some #mswl tweets in the next few weeks as I figure out what I'm really in the mood for, but honestly anything of stellar quality in any genre will catch my attention. View the complete profile for Michelle Brower Literary Agentand every other book agent in our, Author Success Story: Nonfiction/Narrative Nonfiction, Literary Agents List Most Searched Book Agents, [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]. It's interesting. 50,000 sales at $6.99 is entirely another. It depends on how strong a character is. Join thousands of other subscribers. Little Twitch will be published in Spring 2019. 20 Apr 2020. Thanks joycesherry, 1/9/23: Form query, 95K historical mystery. Simone Gorrindo Michelle Brower, Aevitas Creative Management New York, USA . We are gatekeepers, but it's not because we don't like an author, and it's not because we don't think their work is good or that we don't think it has an audience. In non-fiction, she is looking for a personal story that illuminates a greater subject. Jeff: The reality is, it's a brave new world of publishing, and agents are only one part of it. Publishing Intensive | Hugo House Working with her has Michelle received her Masters degree in British and American Literature from New York University. Founder and Creative Director of PathBinder Publishing and Land and Seascape Photographer. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. A good place to start is Writers Beware, a watch group that helps inform and protect authors [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews], Fiction/General J. Jago Kaya Oakes Michelle Brower, Literary Agent | Duotrope I'm hungry for a book where I gnaw on the sentences and wander around the house sniffling with emotions for a few hours afterward. Memoir/Mainstream E. Armstrong Often she'll reach out to a writer and they're not ready with a manuscript. How do agents choose which authors to represent? What can I do to prevent this in the future? She co-founded Trellis Literary Management in 2021 in order to better serve and support her authors and create an agency with a lasting positive impact in the world of publishing. I actually think they are really important if you want to grab the attention of an agent because that's mostly how someone would see a book when it pops up higher in rankings. Spine Authors Editor Susanna Baird grew up inhaling paperbacks in Central Massachusetts, and now lives and works in Salem. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Though we do our best, QueryTracker can not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided. I love these anyway and since life is a locked room at the moment, I'd like the opportunity to think about murder. It's actually the author who is the brand. If an author has a series, that can definitely help, but I also think it's just the book. She approaches every novelher own and her clients with a determination to elevate the technical aspects of the story, to edit thoughtfully and carefully until each book shines. Read three decades of essays, articles, interviews, profiles, and other select content from Poets & Writers Magazine. Establish new connections and enjoy the company of your peers using our searchable databases of MFA programs and writers retreats, apply to be included in our directory of writers, and more. It didn't do very well and her agent has since left the industry. Dear Michelle Brower: "I spent two days in a cage at the SPCA until my parents finally came to pick me up. Michelle is honored to work with books that have received a variety of accolades, including NY Times Bestsellers, National Book Award finalists, and Read with Jenna, Target, and Barnes and Noble book club selections. Find details about every creative writing competitionincluding poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and morethat weve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. My list has been trending literary over the years and I'd like to bring in a little balance. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. She wrote a new novel and hired a freelance editor for it, and that editor contacted me and suggested I read it. An Interview with Heather Young (fourteenwords on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Michelle Brower of Trellis Literary Management.03/06/2015. View the covers and contents of every issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, from the current edition all the way back to the first black-and-white issue in 1987. My list has been trending literary over the years and . For example, I was reading a revised version of a novel, and while reading it I got lightheaded, my fingers went numb, and I was hyperventilating! Tyrell Johnson These cookies do not store any personal information. As a reader, Im naturally attracted to literary fiction with particularly propulsive storylines. Memoir/Women L. Lehr The novel is author Erika Swyler's second, following her much-lauded 2015 debut, The Book of Speculation. Success Story Interview - Heather Young . Working out of Aevitas Creative Management's New York office, Brower handles every aspect of the business track of a book's journey, from contract negotiations with domestic publishers to foreign and film sales. Rebecca Romney This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. In this Part II of my interview with literary agents Jeff Kleinman and Michelle Brower of Folio Literary Management, they open up about industry numbers that tend to grab their attention by sharing the importance of Amazon rankings, reviews, price points, and book sales. Ultimately, the ranking for us is really not what we are looking at though. What I'm ultimately looking for is sales north of 60,000. I want something where the natural setting is almost a character in the book. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to this website. Find information about more than two hundred full- and low-residency programs in creative writing in our MFA Programs database, which includes details about deadlines, funding, class size, core faculty, and more. Michelle: Amazon rankings are important for different reasons. That kind of incredible micro-level attention, however, is only the case for clients I already represent. Poets & Writers lists readings, workshops, and other literary events held in cities across the country. The agency was founded in order to better serve and support her authors and create an agency with a lasting positive impact in the world of publishing. She co-founded Trellis Literary Management in 2021 in order to better serve and support her authors and create an agency with a lasting positive impact in the world of publishing. Jacquira Diaz By Heather Hummel, Contributor May 2, 2008. . Read select articles from the award-winning magazine and consult the most comprehensive listing of literary grants and awards, deadlines, and prizewinners available in print. Agent Interview with Michelle Brower: On Pitch Sessions, Her Dream The sixth installment in this series is with agent Michelle Brower ( Folio Literary Management, formerly of Wendy Sherman Associates) and her author Scott Browne, for his novel, Breathers. Yay. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Michelle Brower Photo Credit: Folio Literary Management. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. For our first "season," we're honing in on Light from Other Stars, about a young astronaut hopeful and an invention that alters time. Get in touch. Christopher Buehlman This new series is called "Successful Queries" and I'm posting actual query letters that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. 50,000 sales at $3.99 is another. Also on my #mswl, I want some really good commercial fiction. DO NOT QUERY THIS AGENT AT THIS TIME: Michelle is not currently accepting unsolicited submissions. Michelle Brower has spent over fifteen years as an agent, first at Wendy Sherman Associates and most recently as a partner at Aevitas Creative Management. Her novel is literary women's fiction, and we are in the process of selling it now. Natalie Lima Karissa Chen Part of HuffPost News. I offered representation and found out that there were seven other agents who also offered her representation! Ill be in touch with information about my new book, event appearances, and more. Beginning to End is a new series from Spine following a book idea from acquisition to bookshelf. "I only want to look at material a writer feels strongly about, feels proud of," she said. Search for jobs in education, publishing, the arts, and more within our free, frequently updated job listings for writers and poets. Kirstin Chen Danya works as a literary agent for one reason: she loves books. She reads commercial fiction in its many iterations, from mysteries to histories to horror. Marcela Fuentes Find a home for your poems, stories, essays, and reviews by researching the publications vetted by our editorial staff. Literary Agent Interview: Michelle Brower of Folio Literary Management Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Also included is information about more than fifty MA and PhD programs. Interviews with this agent from across the web. Julia Wertz So rock me with your crime fiction and suspense, your genre bending reads, and your love stories. Ultimately, when presenting to a publisher, I provide a cross-section. For self-published authors, I would generally recommend starting with a little bit higher price point, but getting sales so that the rankings improve. Heather Young. Editors Note: The title of this novel has been renamed Light from Other Stars since the original publication of this article. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. Here are a few of the books I wish I could represent: My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill, Into the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg, The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich. What inspired you to write it? For our first "season," we're honing in on Light from Other Stars, about a young astronaut hopeful and an invention that alters time.The novel is author Erika Swyler's second, following her much-lauded 2015 debut, The Book of Speculation. Memoir/Inspirational L. Subramani "I became the juggler of the various professional aspects of the book.". She did: The Book of Speculation. More author comments available to members. That is something any author should be thinking about as they write because in order to have a loyal fan base, you need to make a character who is strong, quirky, and interesting enough to support multiple books. Which historical novelist(s) do you represent? Join Facebook to connect with Michelle Brower and others you may know. We had a long discussion about it, and he is now sitting down and reworking the outline. Get answers to this, and many more agent questions at QueryTracker. Believe me, we notice. Learn more about this program, our special events, projects, and supporters, and how to contact us. This literary agent profile is part of a series from ourLiterary Agents Listof the most searched literary agents online. One is an author whose name they start to trust and the other is because of a character they start to trust. QueryTracker will not function correctly without javascript. QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? She is particularly drawn to accessible voices with a literary sensibility, in the vein of Ann Patchett and Zadie Smith, especially when they let her in on a subculture or historical truth she's never encountered before. Scroll below to view this information FREE in our Directory of Book Agents. Here's my #mswl for the year: obv, your transcendent literary works. Soon, Swyler signed on with Brower, and the book sold. Michelle Brower. Most of the successful self-published authors will get a new reader on their second book who will go back and read the first one. Alternatively, if a book has 200 reviews and only 10,000 sales, it's going to be so much more challenging to present them and say, "You should invest money in this author.". Dominica Phetteplace Her authors have received recognition from the Whiting Awards, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, MacDowell, the Steinbeck Fellow Program, the Sewanee Writers Conference as well as from many other organizations. All rights reserved. To help her keep on top of who might be her next big thing, she relies on help from interns. This is an alert from our security service. Having Mark on your side is incredibly valuable." Lincoln Michel Indie Authors Seeking an Agent: Take Note! Q&A With Literary Agents The 34th installment in this series is with agent Michelle Brower (Folio Literary) and her author, Michele Young-Stone, for the . Keziah Weir When not wrangling words, she spends time with her family, mostly trying to pry the cat's head out of the dog's mouth, and helps lead The Clothing Connection, a small Salem-based nonprofit dedicated to getting clothes to kids who need them. Meet the agents and team members who make our work possible. Wake up to the day's most important news. Submissions - Brower Literary Then I read their book, and I can see where I can actually be of help to that author. It's important for self-publishers to work at increasing reviews and hopefully having them snowball into more reviews and sales. A reader can know Jack Reacher, but they might not know Lee Child is the author. For example, Darcie Chan had a Kirkus Review that ended up really launching her. Jon Hickey She's tackling things such as foreign sales and film sales. Ultimately, an author needs to submit the best manuscript they can possibly deliver. Why? Did she have a book in the works? But, a book's price point is also important. I have definitely picked up authors who have been self-published because I've seen that they've managed to find an audience without anyone's help. Michelle Brower defies genre, as a reader and a literary agent. Andrew Roe -- Michelle Brower. "I just gave her my feedback about things I thought were interesting, working or not working. We are here to let in the books we think can work with. If a reader likes an author, they are more likely to go back and purchase something else or wait for the next release. We offered two kinds of services to potential clients: LITERARY REPRESENTATION. Narrative Nonfiction D. Cohen A good place to start is Writers Beware, a watch group that helps inform and protect authors from shady practices. Price point matters because 50,000 sales is not just 50,000 sales. Hazel Gaynor Reviews are intensely important for visibility. 50,000 sales at $.99 is one thing. Because of these factors, we find the e-book market to be very price sensitive. Erin Crosby-Eckstine Michelle is honored to work with books that have received a . Thank you to Jeff and Michelle for sharing their industry expertise, views, and stories!Read Part I of the seriesRead Part II of the series. Childrens/Chapter Book J. Agee Nonfiction/Environment J. Biemer #mswl Some really, really grounded science fiction would be nice, with a literary bent. If an author is doing well, readers will come back whether they are sci-fi, fantasy, or romance. She is now a founding partner of Trellis Literary Management, which was established in 2021. All of those pieces came together and made me pull it out of the slush pile, read it and decide to offer on it. Nonfiction/Business D. Hamme Oops! I signed with Don Fehr at Trident Media and a short time later I had a publishing contract! Raymond Fleischmann Please enable Cookies and reload the page. Beginning to End - Light From Other Stars: Agent, Michelle Brower - SPINE Sasha Vasilyuk Q: How important is it for an author to have more than one book? 2007-2023 QueryTracker. Childrens/YA D. Bester Michelle Brower is on our list of Book Agents Seattle (publishing agents in Seattle), Book Agents Washington (publishing agents in Washington),Book Agents USA (publishing agents in the United States),Fiction Book Agents (publishing agents who represent fiction authors), Young Adult Book Agents (publishing agents who represent YA books for teens),and Nonfiction Book Agents (publishing agents who represent nonfiction, not just novels). When we asked what Poets & Writers could do to support their writing practice, time and again writers expressed a desire for a more tangible connection to other writers. Jeff Kleinman: Photo Courtesy of Folio Literary Management. #agentdreams #pubtip. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Or "I hoped you wouldn't notice." It worked in terms of pacing and plot, and it had a really interesting concept. Our Top Topics for Writers addresses the most popular and pressing issues, including literary agents, copyright, MFA programs, and self-publishing. Author: Elia Anie. Discover historical sites, independent bookstores, literary archives, writing centers, and writers spaces in cities across the country using the Literary Places databasethe best starting point for any literary journey, whether its for research or inspiration. What Compels an Agent to Sign an Author? Q&A With Literary Agents Jeff Peruse paid listings of writing contests, conferences, workshops, editing services, calls for submissions, and more. The one thing that made me sign her was that the quality of her novel really drew me in. For all non-submissions and press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. Nonfiction/Diversity S. Peer Beginning to End is a new series from Spine following a book idea from acquisition to bookshelf. Unlikely friendships, unexpected kindnesses, tragedy that turns into hope. Co-founder of Trellis Literary Management. Allison Devereux But, if you look back at the numbers I gave you about my slush pile (see Part II) we just can't. Memoir/Christian S. LeRette And just like that, it's 2020! Michelle Brower has spent over fifteen years as an agent, first at Wendy Sherman Associates and most recently as a partner at Aevitas Creative Management. Catherine Nichols However, readers didn't necessarily read the other two books because the character wasn't in it. Q:If you had one message for Indie authors, what would it be? What are the qualities of a new voice? Health and Psychology. Every week a new author shares books, art, music, writing prompts, filmsanything and everythingthat has inspired and shaped the creative process. Book signed, Brower is stepping back so editor Beresford and Swyler can finesse the manuscript. 1. ", As Little Twitch neared its final form, Brower set to work seeking publishers. Allison Hunter Founding Partner Literary Agent. Memoir. The more readers hear about and buy a book, the more the book gets reviews, and it sort of all snowballs. The Author Success Story Behind ABC's Resurrection - HuffPost