March 13, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode, I'm joined by Brianna Summers, literary agent assistant with Holloway Literary. Brianna also works as an editor with Of Metal and Magic Publishing.
Brianna shares her wisdom after spending several years working in the literary agency field. She tells us what it's like for agents on a day-to-day basis and the main reasons she rejects submissions.
We also take a deep dive into query letters and Brianna shares her ideal structure for what a query letter should contain.
If you're thinking about querying literary agents or want to learn more about it, this episode is a must-listen!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Thank you for listening to the Fantasy Writers Tool Shed if
you'd like to join our writing community.
On Discord. And get access to fancy writing
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(00:21):
iTunes and share this episode onsocial media or with anyone who
you think may be interested. Thank you very much for
listening. Enjoy the show.
Welcome to another. Episode of the Fantasy Writers
(00:43):
Tool Shed. I'm your host Richie Billing,
and today I'm delighted to be joined by book editor and
literary assistant Brianna Summers.
Brianna, welcome to the show. Hello, thank you for having me.
Thank you very much for joining me.
I understand you've been workinghard with JM Williams or Anne of
(01:04):
Metal and Magic editing some of the upcoming titles, which is
very exciting. Yeah, it's been a fun
experience. What kind of details are you
allowed to share with us about what's coming up?
So we mainly acquired 3 novelas for this coming year.
(01:28):
And then I think 2 short storiesis what we're working on.
And Justin has been hard at workand are producing our
audiobooks, getting some of our backless titles up to audio
that's. Very cool all systems go of
Matlin magic and for anyone who listens to the fantasy writers
(01:50):
to a shed for a long time. JM Williams was one of the
original hosts and he was a Co founder.
So we started this podcast together probably about five
years ago now. And then yeah, it's it's been
great to see of metal and magic growing up and expanding.
And my first novel was publishedthrough of metal and magic as
(02:13):
well, which was amazing prize ina month.
I understand, Brianna, that you work as a literary assistant at
Holloway Literary Agency. Is that correct?
Yeah. So what's it like there?
Got lots of questions I'm sure about like editing and reviewing
books and query and stuff like that.
(02:34):
But before we get into that, I think it's tell us how you ended
up where you are today. Like what's your journey being
like through the world of writing?
So I throughout school I majoredin English with an unintentional
minor and ancient Mediterranean studies, which I think most
people call the classics, and through getting that degree I
(03:00):
work. I interned with several literary
magazines and poetry publishing house and then worked part time
as a publishing assistant formatting and printing and
getting copyrights for course packets and educational books
for classes there and then. After I graduated, I didn't know
(03:25):
a whole lot about the publishingindustry outside of what was
there on campus and through the university, so I was just knew I
wanted to be an editor and just was standing out my resume when
I stumbled upon Holloway Literary didn't know what a
literary agent was. I did like a quick Google search
(03:48):
enough to pad my resume and thenI sent it in and fortunately
Nikki took a chance on me. She's the CEO and I guess senior
literary agent there at Holloway.
And so I've been there for threeyears.
I started off as an intern and then moved up to literary agent
(04:14):
and now I'm like an agent in training, junior agent and then
hopefully with my first deal coming soon and then I can step
out of the shadows. Very cool.
So I mean all of our listers or most of our listers are writers
and a lot of people don't reallyhave much experience of what
(04:34):
it's like to be an agent on a day-to-day basis.
So could you give us a bit of anidea of what your work life is
like? Yeah.
So since I am only a junior agent, I have like three other
jobs. So it's not something I do on
the day-to-day. I do in between office hours of
(04:58):
my actual like other jobs. But right now I clean out like
I'm the submissions coordinator is my official title.
So I evaluate the queries, make sure they follow all of our
submission guidelines, and then get them to the correct agents
(05:22):
inbox cause Halloween has two official agents right now.
And then I read for Nikki. So I read all of her queries and
if they're good enough, I'll request for a partial or a full.
And if I see potential there andit's really good, I'll send it
to her to read and she'll tell me yes or no.
(05:45):
And then right now I've working with Nikki with some of her
current clients to get their books edited and out on sub
submission. And what's really cool with
Nikki, she does a lot in the film from book to film and she
(06:11):
has quite a few projects in the works or in development 'cause
she also grow South as an offshoot of literary agent
Holloway Literary Agency. And that's our film side
representing like IP content andjust that book to film deal.
(06:33):
And so Nikki works with producerthere.
So she's taking me under her wing and I've seen she's
introducing me to that side of the industry.
So it's really just a lot of reading and evaluating.
Yeah. So you're the gatekeeper
essentially so. Yeah.
(06:56):
You have to You are essentially like the queen of the query
chances for the agency. So what's it like?
I mean, writers complain an awful lot about being stuck in
the query trenches, but what's it like being on the other side?
Oh, it definitely does feel likeI'm stuck in the query trenches
(07:17):
too sometimes only just because like, we like junior agents.
Even editors weren't so bad to find that book that they want to
work with too. But it really gets reading
queries over and over again because Nikki gets about 100 a
(07:39):
day. And so when you're reading them
over and over again, it gets really exhausting and kind of
disheartening because you you goin with so much hope and so much
potential with each query and each manuscript.
But then there's just something there on the business side that
(08:01):
you're just like, no, I can't. Does that have the marketing
potential yet, or this one needsmore development or there's
quite a few of them where it's just like, this one is just not
ready. Yeah.
And as horrible or as callous asit sounds, there's some of them
where you're like, you really think this was good enough to
(08:23):
send to an agent? But.
Yeah, sure, there's fancy though.
What is it about a query that stands out to you?
Really, really well written, well formatted query letter.
Most of the time. Actually, I would say probably
(08:44):
75% of the time I don't read themanuscripts because the query
letters are either confusing or the information is just all over
the place that it's hard to find.
And that's it's always really hard.
And like there have been some that I requested for some where
(09:06):
the query letter wasn't well written or it wasn't good, but
it was good enough that it caught my attention that it
convinced me to read. What does it go be a letter
looked like to you though? So the biggest one that I reject
(09:27):
like that I send rejection letters on is the subject header
isn't correct or they don't follow all the submission
guidelines. And it's it's silly, really it's
not. It's seems silly.
But really going through 100 queries, if the subject header
(09:48):
isn't right, it mainly or you don't have, if you didn't follow
the submission guidelines, it's a off to the agent or the
literary assistant that you didn't take the time or give
them enough respect or respect their time to go in and read
(10:10):
their guidelines. And that's kind of like not a
red flag, but a yellow flag. Another one is word count.
There's quite a bit of queries that usually don't hit the word
count and more established agents are really, really are
(10:35):
sticklers for word count just because they don't have time to
establish or edit do like a really thorough edit.
And that there tends to be like a little bit there's like a
little bit of a flexible thing or word between words counts.
(10:56):
But typically, especially when Isend stuff to Nikki for the
adult space, usually 96 words isthe sweet spot, especially
sending to editors. Like if that 96, you know,
thousand word count, then that'sthat's usually like perfect for
(11:17):
me as like a junior agent that'slooking for their first client
or whatever. I would almost go with 120 just
because I have the time to work with that author.
That makes sense to get it down.And obviously if you already
(11:38):
have an agent, they're more willing to work with you within
word count. But querying is.
We kind of want you to stick to the industry rules I guess.
And do you think it's like a lotof people say, I don't know if
it's like a bit of a myth, like first time or debut authors like
(11:59):
agents typically prefer a lowerware come from them.
Is that true or is it? Does it just come down to what
the story is about or what it needs it?
Kind of comes to what it needs for Nikki.
She's really good at helping debut authors get published and
(12:20):
started. That's how most of her clients
started and they were debut authors and a lot of them have
been with her for their entire careers.
So the advice she gave me was just that for debut authors, if
they're in that that word count range and the writing is good,
(12:42):
then go for it, you know, will offer them representation.
So it really depends on that word count and the skill.
Like there have been some full manuscripts that I've sent her
from debut authors where like the writing was good, There's
(13:03):
potential to grow and there's always potential to grow.
That's what I look for in debut authors when I read the
manuscript is it's good. Like their their debut is good
and I can see more time and development within the industry
and publishing that their futurewords are going to be even
better. That's what you want, isn't it?
(13:23):
You want, you want to see someone who's going to be
invested in in the sort of journey as much as you're going
to invest yourself, aren't you? Yeah.
So like in terms of structure ofa query letter, what kind of a
flow do you think it should have?
So the first thing I'll always look for is word count.
Like I don't even read the queryletter.
(13:45):
I'll scroll through and see whatthe word count is and what the
genre is and if they match up and then I'll read it.
So usually like it's helpful if like you have like just a short
intro paragraph saying like the title of your book is a word
count and genre close to inspired by or something along
(14:11):
the lines that connects your comp titles.
That's usually what I like to see, like the first paragraph of
just short pitch of title, word count, genre and the comps.
Because if the comps, if you have like Aya comp and then a
(14:33):
new adult comp, then it's a no for me.
Because to me that signals that you don't have enough.
You're you're not wide right enough in your genre.
And then the next paragraph after that short intro is just a
solid synopsis or blurb, 33 paragraphs maybe, for that
(14:59):
answers who your character is, what they want, what they're
willing to do to get it, what's stopping them or who's stopping
them, and what happens if they don't get what they want?
Like, what are the risks? Those are really the five things
(15:20):
that agents and editors really need to know or that you need
that that writers need to answerwithin their blurbs.
Most blurbs that I see come through especially with fantasy,
they're all to do with world building.
And world building is great. Like I love the dense world
(15:43):
building and everything, but that that doesn't tell me what
the story is. It just tells me the world
you've built and it doesn't really tell me how I can pitch
it to editors. And then really the last
paragraph that you need is a writer bio.
(16:04):
And you don't need to tell me that all you've always loved
writing or like you've always loved reading.
That's kind of obvious. Like if if you didn't like
writing, then you wouldn't be inthe query box.
So really just any writing credits you have.
If you don't have any writing credits, you can say, oh, this
(16:27):
is my debut novel. I've been writing for X amount
of years, but this is my this iswhat I would like my debut novel
to be. Where you live, if you have
family or if you read the agentsMSWL and you see you have
something in common, throw that in there.
But what really is going to get the agent to read your
(16:51):
manuscript is the blurb and thatpitch first paragraph.
That makes sense. It's a that's a really good
structure and insight into into everything there.
So yeah, I'm sure like I've justbeen making notes as you've been
talking. So I'm sure a lot of other
people listening to this have been making furious notes as
(17:13):
well. So that was great.
Thank you very much. Yeah, I mean, that's just a
general structure, definitely. Like when you're sending the
agents go to their agency website or I think it's like
Duotrope or somewhere where theyhave a list of like the
guidelines and everything. So make sure you're hitting all
(17:35):
of them because that's just a general outline.
Some agents want you to add likea full outline, which is a whole
different thing of the book. Or if they want you to send the
whole manuscript with it, the first 5 pages, the 1st 15 if
they want that copy and those first 15 pages copy and pasted
(17:58):
in the e-mail or as an attachment.
I think most agencies don't openattachments we don't like.
If I see there's an attachment that I didn't ask for, it's I
just delete it because unfortunately there's just a lot
of scams and viruses out there. So definitely check that.
But what I just gave is a prettygood outline starting point to
(18:19):
follow. Yeah, do you ask first synopsis
as well? We do not.
Just a blurb. Phil yeah, what what do you
think of the synopsis as a additional piece to a query?
It's kind of ironic because whenJustin, when he, when Oman's
open to queries, we want, it's alittle more informal.
(18:43):
And Justin likes like just a normal query, a regular query
letter. But instead of sending like the
1st 15 pages or a sample or the full manuscript, he wants like a
full synopsis or a full summary.And that was a little
interesting to me because I was in the submissions inbox with
him and we were both reading and, you know, commenting back
(19:07):
and forth. I didn't enjoy it as much.
Like when he would request for the full manuscript, I wasn't as
excited to read the manuscript because everything was already
spoiled. But it definitely made
evaluating the queries and the content of the stories a little
(19:29):
easier. Like faster.
Just because there there's an art to writing a fool summary
and really knowing your story well enough to create that.
So having that full synopsis, especially with fantasy, cause
fantasy is like character and plot driven with in the same
(19:52):
sense. And once then that you have to
balance tension and and stakes and the motion of the story.
So with the full synopsis, it was easier to see that than to
go in and read the story. Myself.
Yeah, totally get that. And yeah, I tried querying a
novel before and it was very common to ask for synopsis.
(20:14):
And like there is, there's definitely an ask summarising
100,000 words in one page. Yeah, yeah.
When we when Nikki and I were getting one of her clients books
prepped to go on sub, we one of the pitch materials was to write
a summary and she just had me doit as an exercise.
(20:41):
And I was like, this is kind of hard.
Like I just spent two weeks withthis manuscript and I know back
and forth, but I was putting toomuch detail in and then I would
delete a bunch and then I was like, well, that's not enough
detail. So even as like an agent and an
editor, even though it's not ourwork, but we spend as almost as
(21:04):
much time with it as an author, it's hard for us to get all that
down. Yeah, can imagine.
So you say you find a query thatyou're liking and that Nikki
likes. So what is the next steps after
that? So once I find a query, we'll,
and if Nikki likes it too, because I'm still in the
(21:25):
mentoring phases. And this is how a some
publishing analysis works that you have like an editorial
assistant that works under an editor and a mentor.
So you try to find a manuscript that both you and your mentor
like. And at this point, I've been
with Nikki three years, so I'm pretty well versed in her taste.
(21:48):
And I got lucky enough that thatthat both of ours line up pretty
well. So I'll send it to her and
she'll be like, yes, I love it. We're going to, we're going to
offer on it and then we'll offer.
And I just kind of shadow if howthe contracts written up is that
we're both Co agents. And then if the author does
(22:10):
sign, I will be doing the editing, doing most of like the
heavy lifting and doing the pitch materials.
And Nikki will just kind of be over my shoulder approving
stuff, giving me advice or guidance.
And then when it's time to send it on, on submission, I'll find
the editors and Nikki will kind of guide me.
(22:33):
I'm like, oh, I know this editor.
She this is what she's looking for.
Or actually, I think this editor, this would be a better
editor to send to at this publishing house.
So it's just kind of a guidance and then we'll send it out.
And then if we get a contract and she'll help me, you know,
(22:56):
negotiate that just kind of likea back and forth partnership.
And then when she deems that I have, usually once I make that,
once you make the first deal or the book is published, then you
kind of start like I guess that emerge from the shadows and
(23:17):
start promoting yourself as an associate agent or an associate
editor. So that's kind of how that works
in the broad sense. So yeah, it's a, it's a tough
game, isn't it, for everyone involved.
And it's good to get the insightfrom your side.
(23:38):
And just so I know writers get frustrated, but it's, it's
really important to appreciate like what you're doing on a
day-to-day basis. And I think it helps.
That benefits everyone then, doesn't it?
Everyone is on the same wavelength.
Yeah, yeah, I think it's really important to remember like
nobody's in this industry to make money or, you know, it's
(24:02):
just like a day-to-day, everydayjob.
Everybody within publishing is in it because they love stories,
they love writing, they they love books and there's
definitely a passion to it. So I think just keep in mind
like I even kind of get nervous when I'm talking to other
(24:25):
writers and it's like, oh, I'm probably going to think like I'm
like I'm this stuffy, like industry professional or uptight
because I'm a gatekeeper or whatever.
But really I just want to talk about writing technique and just
write in general or stories or books I love.
(24:46):
Like I'm sure if we all mention,oh, what are you currently
reading? And that'll span like a three
hour conversation. So.
Well, Speaking of that, I do have a linked question.
So what quite early in 2025, butas an agent yourself, like what
kind of stories are you seeing ademand for at the moment?
(25:10):
And are you seeing any new trends or is there anything
emerging down the line that you can give us a bit of an insight
into? So right now it's still very
much romanticy. And I mean, I love romanticy.
I was a romanticy reader before romanticy was a thing, so that's
always fun to see. There seem to be a lot more
(25:33):
cross genre, so similar to the Ministry of Time, I can't
remember what it's by, but it's like a science fiction, romance,
contemporary lit, like those 3 genres are very much prevalent
(25:56):
within there. So we're seeing a lot of cross
genre stuff like that. And cozies are actually really
in the fold, yeah. Saw a new strand of romantic
called Gore Mantasy the other day.
I don't know if you've heard of that one.
(26:17):
Horror. Romantic No.
Is it like, Oh yes, I've seen some of those and I was like,
OK, I guess I'll try one to see.There's a lot of like ROM com
Mantasy. I read, I read that genre title
and I was like another one. Oh my gosh.
But it's like a romantic comedy romanticy and like as a romantic
(26:41):
girlie, I love it. And but as like a epic fantasy,
high fantasy reader, it hurts a little bit too because I'm like,
no, where's the world building? Oh, you get to see it.
People's bedrooms. Yeah.
It's always interesting to see how things change and romanticy
is just. It seems to be like pairing and
(27:04):
fixed, you know, and I think it's it's good to see different
sub genres and different genres blend them together to create
like a whole new waves of like interesting stories for people
to enjoy. Yeah, I just finished reading,
reviewing one called Here Besidethe Rising Tide.
(27:28):
I think it's by like Meg something.
I'm horrible at remembering authors names unless I've read
more of their stuff. But it was like a science
fiction, like an alien time travel science fiction mixed
with a contemporary literary, which was weird because it's
(27:49):
like a it was like a divorcee mom.
And it has like that family drama with the writing of like a
contemporary literary style writing.
But there was like ocean sea monsters that liked like hip hop
and other kinds of like reggae music.
(28:11):
And they defeated the bad galactic ocean monster that time
travels with candy and sweets. It was it was an odd mix up, but
it it works. So I was like, OK, this is this
is how it's changing. These are the stories we're
going to start seeing now. Yeah, very creative indeed.
(28:32):
So I've got one final question for you, someone who's worked in
the field for a while. What's your best piece of advice
for any writers out there looking to work with an agents?
Tenacity and persistence, and I'm not saying like, I don't
mean tenacity in like the the negative way.
(28:53):
They're like, Oh, well, like I get a lot of after I send a pass
or like a rejection e-mail, I'llget one that says like, oh, I
know my story is good and it's your loss.
Like none of that. But like having faith in the
story, even maybe it's not the story that you're querying with,
(29:16):
but in your, in your writing skills, knowing that I am a
writer, I have stories to tell. And eventually it's, it's going
to be published and I'm just going to keep trying and just
keep going because like, I see there's several people within
the inbox that I'll, I'll send apast e-mail to and a couple
(29:42):
months later or a year later, they'll send us a new story.
And it's, oh, no, not this one either.
Or there's a lady that I requested the full and I was
like the full, just, I read the whole manuscript and it just
wasn't there. It wasn't developed enough, but
it was more developed than the last one she sent.
(30:04):
So I sent back an e-mail and waslike, keep, you know, just keep
writing, keep, keep trying. You're, you're getting there.
So just that, just that persistence and that tenacity,
like I said. Definitely, that's really nice
advice to give someone as well. And that'll definitely like make
a big difference to her and sure, yeah.
(30:25):
So Brianna, thank you very much.It's, it's been really lovely
and very interesting chatting with you and learning what it's
like from your perspective and also giving us a really awesome
breakdown of query letters and the things to look out for.
So thank you very much. Oh well, thanks for having me.
I hope I didn't chat your ear off because like I said, I'm a
(30:47):
talker. Not at all though, so if anyone
was interested in learning more about you, where would be the
best place to go? The Holloway Literary website,
which is just Holloway Literary or my Instagram.
It's I think it's Brianna Summers 338 with periods in
(31:09):
between each between my name, mylast name and the three, three
numbers. I do have a Twitter.
I don't post much on there. Not really active, actually not
really active on most social media because I do social media
for Holloway Literary and for oh, ma'am.
So mine has kind of suffered, but that's that's where you can
(31:32):
find me. Awesome, Ovia, thank you again.
It's been an absolute pleasure and thank you everyone at home
for listening. Thank you for listening to the
Fantasy Risers Tool Shed if you'd like to join our writing
community. On discord and get.
Access to fantasy writing classes and books on Patreon.
Check the links in the description and if you don't
want to miss any future episodes.
(31:54):
Be sure to follow or subscribe. And to support the show, leave a
quick rating on Spotify or. ITunes.
And share this episode on socialmedia or with anyone who you
think may be interested. Thank you very much for
listening.
Thank you for listening to the Fantasy Writers Tool Shed if
you'd like to join our writing community.
On Discord. And get access to fancy writing
classes and books on Patreon. Check the links in the
description and if you don't want to miss any future
episodes, be sure to. Follow or subscribe.
And to support the show, leave aquick rating on Spotify or
(00:21):
iTunes and share this episode onsocial media or with anyone who
you think may be interested. Thank you very much for
listening. Enjoy the show.
Welcome to another. Episode of the Fantasy Writers
(00:43):
Tool Shed. I'm your host Richie Billing,
and today I'm delighted to be joined by book editor and
literary assistant Brianna Summers.
Brianna, welcome to the show. Hello, thank you for having me.
Thank you very much for joining me.
I understand you've been workinghard with JM Williams or Anne of
(01:04):
Metal and Magic editing some of the upcoming titles, which is
very exciting. Yeah, it's been a fun
experience. What kind of details are you
allowed to share with us about what's coming up?
So we mainly acquired 3 novelas for this coming year.
(01:28):
And then I think 2 short storiesis what we're working on.
And Justin has been hard at workand are producing our
audiobooks, getting some of our backless titles up to audio
that's. Very cool all systems go of
Matlin magic and for anyone who listens to the fantasy writers
(01:50):
to a shed for a long time. JM Williams was one of the
original hosts and he was a Co founder.
So we started this podcast together probably about five
years ago now. And then yeah, it's it's been
great to see of metal and magic growing up and expanding.
And my first novel was publishedthrough of metal and magic as
(02:13):
well, which was amazing prize ina month.
I understand, Brianna, that you work as a literary assistant at
Holloway Literary Agency. Is that correct?
Yeah. So what's it like there?
Got lots of questions I'm sure about like editing and reviewing
books and query and stuff like that.
(02:34):
But before we get into that, I think it's tell us how you ended
up where you are today. Like what's your journey being
like through the world of writing?
So I throughout school I majoredin English with an unintentional
minor and ancient Mediterranean studies, which I think most
people call the classics, and through getting that degree I
(03:00):
work. I interned with several literary
magazines and poetry publishing house and then worked part time
as a publishing assistant formatting and printing and
getting copyrights for course packets and educational books
for classes there and then. After I graduated, I didn't know
(03:25):
a whole lot about the publishingindustry outside of what was
there on campus and through the university, so I was just knew I
wanted to be an editor and just was standing out my resume when
I stumbled upon Holloway Literary didn't know what a
literary agent was. I did like a quick Google search
(03:48):
enough to pad my resume and thenI sent it in and fortunately
Nikki took a chance on me. She's the CEO and I guess senior
literary agent there at Holloway.
And so I've been there for threeyears.
I started off as an intern and then moved up to literary agent
(04:14):
and now I'm like an agent in training, junior agent and then
hopefully with my first deal coming soon and then I can step
out of the shadows. Very cool.
So I mean all of our listers or most of our listers are writers
and a lot of people don't reallyhave much experience of what
(04:34):
it's like to be an agent on a day-to-day basis.
So could you give us a bit of anidea of what your work life is
like? Yeah.
So since I am only a junior agent, I have like three other
jobs. So it's not something I do on
the day-to-day. I do in between office hours of
(04:58):
my actual like other jobs. But right now I clean out like
I'm the submissions coordinator is my official title.
So I evaluate the queries, make sure they follow all of our
submission guidelines, and then get them to the correct agents
(05:22):
inbox cause Halloween has two official agents right now.
And then I read for Nikki. So I read all of her queries and
if they're good enough, I'll request for a partial or a full.
And if I see potential there andit's really good, I'll send it
to her to read and she'll tell me yes or no.
(05:45):
And then right now I've working with Nikki with some of her
current clients to get their books edited and out on sub
submission. And what's really cool with
Nikki, she does a lot in the film from book to film and she
(06:11):
has quite a few projects in the works or in development 'cause
she also grow South as an offshoot of literary agent
Holloway Literary Agency. And that's our film side
representing like IP content andjust that book to film deal.
(06:33):
And so Nikki works with producerthere.
So she's taking me under her wing and I've seen she's
introducing me to that side of the industry.
So it's really just a lot of reading and evaluating.
Yeah. So you're the gatekeeper
essentially so. Yeah.
(06:56):
You have to You are essentially like the queen of the query
chances for the agency. So what's it like?
I mean, writers complain an awful lot about being stuck in
the query trenches, but what's it like being on the other side?
Oh, it definitely does feel likeI'm stuck in the query trenches
(07:17):
too sometimes only just because like, we like junior agents.
Even editors weren't so bad to find that book that they want to
work with too. But it really gets reading
queries over and over again because Nikki gets about 100 a
(07:39):
day. And so when you're reading them
over and over again, it gets really exhausting and kind of
disheartening because you you goin with so much hope and so much
potential with each query and each manuscript.
But then there's just something there on the business side that
(08:01):
you're just like, no, I can't. Does that have the marketing
potential yet, or this one needsmore development or there's
quite a few of them where it's just like, this one is just not
ready. Yeah.
And as horrible or as callous asit sounds, there's some of them
where you're like, you really think this was good enough to
(08:23):
send to an agent? But.
Yeah, sure, there's fancy though.
What is it about a query that stands out to you?
Really, really well written, well formatted query letter.
Most of the time. Actually, I would say probably
(08:44):
75% of the time I don't read themanuscripts because the query
letters are either confusing or the information is just all over
the place that it's hard to find.
And that's it's always really hard.
And like there have been some that I requested for some where
(09:06):
the query letter wasn't well written or it wasn't good, but
it was good enough that it caught my attention that it
convinced me to read. What does it go be a letter
looked like to you though? So the biggest one that I reject
(09:27):
like that I send rejection letters on is the subject header
isn't correct or they don't follow all the submission
guidelines. And it's it's silly, really it's
not. It's seems silly.
But really going through 100 queries, if the subject header
(09:48):
isn't right, it mainly or you don't have, if you didn't follow
the submission guidelines, it's a off to the agent or the
literary assistant that you didn't take the time or give
them enough respect or respect their time to go in and read
(10:10):
their guidelines. And that's kind of like not a
red flag, but a yellow flag. Another one is word count.
There's quite a bit of queries that usually don't hit the word
count and more established agents are really, really are
(10:35):
sticklers for word count just because they don't have time to
establish or edit do like a really thorough edit.
And that there tends to be like a little bit there's like a
little bit of a flexible thing or word between words counts.
(10:56):
But typically, especially when Isend stuff to Nikki for the
adult space, usually 96 words isthe sweet spot, especially
sending to editors. Like if that 96, you know,
thousand word count, then that'sthat's usually like perfect for
(11:17):
me as like a junior agent that'slooking for their first client
or whatever. I would almost go with 120 just
because I have the time to work with that author.
That makes sense to get it down.And obviously if you already
(11:38):
have an agent, they're more willing to work with you within
word count. But querying is.
We kind of want you to stick to the industry rules I guess.
And do you think it's like a lotof people say, I don't know if
it's like a bit of a myth, like first time or debut authors like
(11:59):
agents typically prefer a lowerware come from them.
Is that true or is it? Does it just come down to what
the story is about or what it needs it?
Kind of comes to what it needs for Nikki.
She's really good at helping debut authors get published and
(12:20):
started. That's how most of her clients
started and they were debut authors and a lot of them have
been with her for their entire careers.
So the advice she gave me was just that for debut authors, if
they're in that that word count range and the writing is good,
(12:42):
then go for it, you know, will offer them representation.
So it really depends on that word count and the skill.
Like there have been some full manuscripts that I've sent her
from debut authors where like the writing was good, There's
(13:03):
potential to grow and there's always potential to grow.
That's what I look for in debut authors when I read the
manuscript is it's good. Like their their debut is good
and I can see more time and development within the industry
and publishing that their futurewords are going to be even
better. That's what you want, isn't it?
(13:23):
You want, you want to see someone who's going to be
invested in in the sort of journey as much as you're going
to invest yourself, aren't you? Yeah.
So like in terms of structure ofa query letter, what kind of a
flow do you think it should have?
So the first thing I'll always look for is word count.
Like I don't even read the queryletter.
(13:45):
I'll scroll through and see whatthe word count is and what the
genre is and if they match up and then I'll read it.
So usually like it's helpful if like you have like just a short
intro paragraph saying like the title of your book is a word
count and genre close to inspired by or something along
(14:11):
the lines that connects your comp titles.
That's usually what I like to see, like the first paragraph of
just short pitch of title, word count, genre and the comps.
Because if the comps, if you have like Aya comp and then a
(14:33):
new adult comp, then it's a no for me.
Because to me that signals that you don't have enough.
You're you're not wide right enough in your genre.
And then the next paragraph after that short intro is just a
solid synopsis or blurb, 33 paragraphs maybe, for that
(14:59):
answers who your character is, what they want, what they're
willing to do to get it, what's stopping them or who's stopping
them, and what happens if they don't get what they want?
Like, what are the risks? Those are really the five things
(15:20):
that agents and editors really need to know or that you need
that that writers need to answerwithin their blurbs.
Most blurbs that I see come through especially with fantasy,
they're all to do with world building.
And world building is great. Like I love the dense world
(15:43):
building and everything, but that that doesn't tell me what
the story is. It just tells me the world
you've built and it doesn't really tell me how I can pitch
it to editors. And then really the last
paragraph that you need is a writer bio.
(16:04):
And you don't need to tell me that all you've always loved
writing or like you've always loved reading.
That's kind of obvious. Like if if you didn't like
writing, then you wouldn't be inthe query box.
So really just any writing credits you have.
If you don't have any writing credits, you can say, oh, this
(16:27):
is my debut novel. I've been writing for X amount
of years, but this is my this iswhat I would like my debut novel
to be. Where you live, if you have
family or if you read the agentsMSWL and you see you have
something in common, throw that in there.
But what really is going to get the agent to read your
(16:51):
manuscript is the blurb and thatpitch first paragraph.
That makes sense. It's a that's a really good
structure and insight into into everything there.
So yeah, I'm sure like I've justbeen making notes as you've been
talking. So I'm sure a lot of other
people listening to this have been making furious notes as
(17:13):
well. So that was great.
Thank you very much. Yeah, I mean, that's just a
general structure, definitely. Like when you're sending the
agents go to their agency website or I think it's like
Duotrope or somewhere where theyhave a list of like the
guidelines and everything. So make sure you're hitting all
(17:35):
of them because that's just a general outline.
Some agents want you to add likea full outline, which is a whole
different thing of the book. Or if they want you to send the
whole manuscript with it, the first 5 pages, the 1st 15 if
they want that copy and those first 15 pages copy and pasted
(17:58):
in the e-mail or as an attachment.
I think most agencies don't openattachments we don't like.
If I see there's an attachment that I didn't ask for, it's I
just delete it because unfortunately there's just a lot
of scams and viruses out there. So definitely check that.
But what I just gave is a prettygood outline starting point to
(18:19):
follow. Yeah, do you ask first synopsis
as well? We do not.
Just a blurb. Phil yeah, what what do you
think of the synopsis as a additional piece to a query?
It's kind of ironic because whenJustin, when he, when Oman's
open to queries, we want, it's alittle more informal.
(18:43):
And Justin likes like just a normal query, a regular query
letter. But instead of sending like the
1st 15 pages or a sample or the full manuscript, he wants like a
full synopsis or a full summary.And that was a little
interesting to me because I was in the submissions inbox with
him and we were both reading and, you know, commenting back
(19:07):
and forth. I didn't enjoy it as much.
Like when he would request for the full manuscript, I wasn't as
excited to read the manuscript because everything was already
spoiled. But it definitely made
evaluating the queries and the content of the stories a little
(19:29):
easier. Like faster.
Just because there there's an art to writing a fool summary
and really knowing your story well enough to create that.
So having that full synopsis, especially with fantasy, cause
fantasy is like character and plot driven with in the same
(19:52):
sense. And once then that you have to
balance tension and and stakes and the motion of the story.
So with the full synopsis, it was easier to see that than to
go in and read the story. Myself.
Yeah, totally get that. And yeah, I tried querying a
novel before and it was very common to ask for synopsis.
(20:14):
And like there is, there's definitely an ask summarising
100,000 words in one page. Yeah, yeah.
When we when Nikki and I were getting one of her clients books
prepped to go on sub, we one of the pitch materials was to write
a summary and she just had me doit as an exercise.
(20:41):
And I was like, this is kind of hard.
Like I just spent two weeks withthis manuscript and I know back
and forth, but I was putting toomuch detail in and then I would
delete a bunch and then I was like, well, that's not enough
detail. So even as like an agent and an
editor, even though it's not ourwork, but we spend as almost as
(21:04):
much time with it as an author, it's hard for us to get all that
down. Yeah, can imagine.
So you say you find a query thatyou're liking and that Nikki
likes. So what is the next steps after
that? So once I find a query, we'll,
and if Nikki likes it too, because I'm still in the
(21:25):
mentoring phases. And this is how a some
publishing analysis works that you have like an editorial
assistant that works under an editor and a mentor.
So you try to find a manuscript that both you and your mentor
like. And at this point, I've been
with Nikki three years, so I'm pretty well versed in her taste.
(21:48):
And I got lucky enough that thatthat both of ours line up pretty
well. So I'll send it to her and
she'll be like, yes, I love it. We're going to, we're going to
offer on it and then we'll offer.
And I just kind of shadow if howthe contracts written up is that
we're both Co agents. And then if the author does
(22:10):
sign, I will be doing the editing, doing most of like the
heavy lifting and doing the pitch materials.
And Nikki will just kind of be over my shoulder approving
stuff, giving me advice or guidance.
And then when it's time to send it on, on submission, I'll find
the editors and Nikki will kind of guide me.
(22:33):
I'm like, oh, I know this editor.
She this is what she's looking for.
Or actually, I think this editor, this would be a better
editor to send to at this publishing house.
So it's just kind of a guidance and then we'll send it out.
And then if we get a contract and she'll help me, you know,
(22:56):
negotiate that just kind of likea back and forth partnership.
And then when she deems that I have, usually once I make that,
once you make the first deal or the book is published, then you
kind of start like I guess that emerge from the shadows and
(23:17):
start promoting yourself as an associate agent or an associate
editor. So that's kind of how that works
in the broad sense. So yeah, it's a, it's a tough
game, isn't it, for everyone involved.
And it's good to get the insightfrom your side.
(23:38):
And just so I know writers get frustrated, but it's, it's
really important to appreciate like what you're doing on a
day-to-day basis. And I think it helps.
That benefits everyone then, doesn't it?
Everyone is on the same wavelength.
Yeah, yeah, I think it's really important to remember like
nobody's in this industry to make money or, you know, it's
(24:02):
just like a day-to-day, everydayjob.
Everybody within publishing is in it because they love stories,
they love writing, they they love books and there's
definitely a passion to it. So I think just keep in mind
like I even kind of get nervous when I'm talking to other
(24:25):
writers and it's like, oh, I'm probably going to think like I'm
like I'm this stuffy, like industry professional or uptight
because I'm a gatekeeper or whatever.
But really I just want to talk about writing technique and just
write in general or stories or books I love.
(24:46):
Like I'm sure if we all mention,oh, what are you currently
reading? And that'll span like a three
hour conversation. So.
Well, Speaking of that, I do have a linked question.
So what quite early in 2025, butas an agent yourself, like what
kind of stories are you seeing ademand for at the moment?
(25:10):
And are you seeing any new trends or is there anything
emerging down the line that you can give us a bit of an insight
into? So right now it's still very
much romanticy. And I mean, I love romanticy.
I was a romanticy reader before romanticy was a thing, so that's
always fun to see. There seem to be a lot more
(25:33):
cross genre, so similar to the Ministry of Time, I can't
remember what it's by, but it's like a science fiction, romance,
contemporary lit, like those 3 genres are very much prevalent
(25:56):
within there. So we're seeing a lot of cross
genre stuff like that. And cozies are actually really
in the fold, yeah. Saw a new strand of romantic
called Gore Mantasy the other day.
I don't know if you've heard of that one.
(26:17):
Horror. Romantic No.
Is it like, Oh yes, I've seen some of those and I was like,
OK, I guess I'll try one to see.There's a lot of like ROM com
Mantasy. I read, I read that genre title
and I was like another one. Oh my gosh.
But it's like a romantic comedy romanticy and like as a romantic
(26:41):
girlie, I love it. And but as like a epic fantasy,
high fantasy reader, it hurts a little bit too because I'm like,
no, where's the world building? Oh, you get to see it.
People's bedrooms. Yeah.
It's always interesting to see how things change and romanticy
is just. It seems to be like pairing and
(27:04):
fixed, you know, and I think it's it's good to see different
sub genres and different genres blend them together to create
like a whole new waves of like interesting stories for people
to enjoy. Yeah, I just finished reading,
reviewing one called Here Besidethe Rising Tide.
(27:28):
I think it's by like Meg something.
I'm horrible at remembering authors names unless I've read
more of their stuff. But it was like a science
fiction, like an alien time travel science fiction mixed
with a contemporary literary, which was weird because it's
(27:49):
like a it was like a divorcee mom.
And it has like that family drama with the writing of like a
contemporary literary style writing.
But there was like ocean sea monsters that liked like hip hop
and other kinds of like reggae music.
(28:11):
And they defeated the bad galactic ocean monster that time
travels with candy and sweets. It was it was an odd mix up, but
it it works. So I was like, OK, this is this
is how it's changing. These are the stories we're
going to start seeing now. Yeah, very creative indeed.
(28:32):
So I've got one final question for you, someone who's worked in
the field for a while. What's your best piece of advice
for any writers out there looking to work with an agents?
Tenacity and persistence, and I'm not saying like, I don't
mean tenacity in like the the negative way.
(28:53):
They're like, Oh, well, like I get a lot of after I send a pass
or like a rejection e-mail, I'llget one that says like, oh, I
know my story is good and it's your loss.
Like none of that. But like having faith in the
story, even maybe it's not the story that you're querying with,
(29:16):
but in your, in your writing skills, knowing that I am a
writer, I have stories to tell. And eventually it's, it's going
to be published and I'm just going to keep trying and just
keep going because like, I see there's several people within
the inbox that I'll, I'll send apast e-mail to and a couple
(29:42):
months later or a year later, they'll send us a new story.
And it's, oh, no, not this one either.
Or there's a lady that I requested the full and I was
like the full, just, I read the whole manuscript and it just
wasn't there. It wasn't developed enough, but
it was more developed than the last one she sent.
(30:04):
So I sent back an e-mail and waslike, keep, you know, just keep
writing, keep, keep trying. You're, you're getting there.
So just that, just that persistence and that tenacity,
like I said. Definitely, that's really nice
advice to give someone as well. And that'll definitely like make
a big difference to her and sure, yeah.
(30:25):
So Brianna, thank you very much.It's, it's been really lovely
and very interesting chatting with you and learning what it's
like from your perspective and also giving us a really awesome
breakdown of query letters and the things to look out for.
So thank you very much. Oh well, thanks for having me.
I hope I didn't chat your ear off because like I said, I'm a
(30:47):
talker. Not at all though, so if anyone
was interested in learning more about you, where would be the
best place to go? The Holloway Literary website,
which is just Holloway Literary or my Instagram.
It's I think it's Brianna Summers 338 with periods in
(31:09):
between each between my name, mylast name and the three, three
numbers. I do have a Twitter.
I don't post much on there. Not really active, actually not
really active on most social media because I do social media
for Holloway Literary and for oh, ma'am.
So mine has kind of suffered, but that's that's where you can
(31:32):
find me. Awesome, Ovia, thank you again.
It's been an absolute pleasure and thank you everyone at home
for listening. Thank you for listening to the
Fantasy Risers Tool Shed if you'd like to join our writing
community. On discord and get.
Access to fantasy writing classes and books on Patreon.
Check the links in the description and if you don't
want to miss any future episodes.
(31:54):
Be sure to follow or subscribe. And to support the show, leave a
quick rating on Spotify or. ITunes.
And share this episode on socialmedia or with anyone who you
think may be interested. Thank you very much for
listening.
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