I was excited to sit down with Hannah Strouth and get a sneak-peek into her session about debut authors because her words will be valuable to so many prospective attendees. Plus, I was intrigued by her wishlist. I hope you find this interview as informative as I did!
MWW: I love that your wishlist seems to focus more on overall themes than it does on genres. This leaves some wiggle room and makes me wonder, What advice can you give to querying authors to help them match their manuscript to the right agent wishlist?
HS: My advice would be: do your research and be intentional. Agents can tell when you’re intentionally submitting to us and when you’re just mass emailing. In terms of matching your manuscript to the right agent wishlist, it depends. Some agents give a more detailed wishlist while others leave it intentionally vague and broad (i.e. listing just genres they work on). Some common rules of thumb are to look at their Twitter (although don’t reference a random event in their life that they’ve posted about unless it’s publishing related), look at previous books they’ve worked on, interviews they’ve done, etc. You can get a good sense of who an agent is and what they’re looking for just in their online presence.
MWW: What do debut authors and best-selling and/or seasoned authors have in common, and how are they different?
HS: I love this question! I think both debut and seasoned authors, at the end of the day, simply love feeling as if the stories they’ve written have touched someone somewhere down the line. I think they differ when it comes to rejection/bad reviews. When you’re a debut author, rejections or bad reviews can be a knock to your confidence. But a lot of seasoned authors are more familiar with what to expect in this regard (although it never feels great to get a nasty review). The thing to always keep in mind is A) your entire team–your agent, editor, publicity, marketing, etc–we’re all going to experience that praise/rejection alongside you and be able to support you through both. and B) you can’t please everyone. With the praise is going to come some dissatisfied readers and all you can do is continue creating art that feels true to yourself as a writer. If you try to write in a way that pleases everyone then you’re doing yourself a disservice.
MWW: What are common blunders for newer authors, and how can they be avoided?
HS: I’ll focus on the querying process: don’t give me the full backstory for how the story came about or how you got the idea in your query letter. That’s something I’ll ask about if we have a call and will mean more if I can hear the emotion or excitement in your voice as you’re telling me about it. In your query, you should focus on the story itself, the comp titles, and your bio paragraph. If you’ve included all of those details in an engaging and informative way, then you shouldn’t have room to give me the backstory. If you do, then revisit and re-examine whether you’ve actually included enough plot details in your query.
MWW: When you're digging into the slush pile, what catches your attention? What are you tired of seeing?
HS: I love to see a writer who has experience related to what their story is about! For example, I have a novel I’m working on about an all-female Alaskan fishing crew and the writer herself spent many, many summers on a fishing boat in Alaska. I think relevant experience just lends itself to a more lived-in, authentic, and atmospheric story, and those bio details will immediately jump out to me. I guess one thing I’m tired of seeing would be what I mentioned above regarding backstory. But also, queries that address me with the wrong name. I will never, ever fault a writer for it (we’re all human and all make mistakes–I’ve definitely done it before!), but it happens often enough that it does make me sigh a little each time.
MWW: What do you wish writers knew about working with an agent?
HS: That we’re all humans with feelings and real lives! I think sometimes agents can be put up on this pedestal. Also, speaking for myself at least, but rejections hurt just as much for us as they do for you–both giving and receiving. Sending query rejections are my least favorite part of this job. Also keep in mind, when you’re in conversation with agents, we want to impress you as much as you want to impress us!
Secure your spot today!
Click on the link below to register:
