Have you picked your agents for Query Roulette, or are you still wavering on who’s the right fit for your query? Over the next week, we’ll be posting short interviews with the participating agents to help you make your decision and prepare for the big day. Today, we’re featuring Christina Morgan and Jessica Felleman!
Christina Morgan
CATEGORIES: Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction, and Narrative Nonfiction in the categories of Pop Culture, Sports, Current Events, and Memoir
AGENCY: Serendipity Literary Agency
What do you pay the most attention to when reading a query letter?
Clarity and brevity. Just tell me who you are and what the book is about.
Tell us about your favorite characters from books and TV?
I’m not big on favorites! But one of my favorite characters of all time is Pontius Pilot as portrayed in The Master and Margarita. It’s just such a satirical human portrait of a biblical character that I love it.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the participants?
Don’t overthink it!
Jessica Felleman
CATEGORIES: Nonfiction including Pop Culture, Pop Science, History, Psychology, and Literary Memoirs, Commercial and Literary Fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Graphic Novels
AGENCY: Foundry Literary + Media
What do you pay the most attention to when reading a query letter?
For Fiction I look for: a solid and clear summary that isn’t too complicated but still gets the main tone of the story across.
For Non Fiction I look for: a clear description of the purpose of the book, and a reason why this author needs to tell this story now.
For both: I’m hoping that the query doesn’t promise something different than what is in the actual material, and I’m looking for that emotional hook (whether the emotion is laughter, tears, hope, etc).
A negative that sticks out is when the query tells me that the project is something “never done before” or that it will be “the best” or that I’d be missing out on a great opportunity if I pass, and anything else over-the-top like that. That kind of tone and that information doesn’t actually tell me anything about the work, but rather warns me that the author might not be open to editorial comments from me or an editor – which is a red flag and puts me in a more critical mindset from the start.
Tell us about your favorite characters from books and TV?
One of my favorite literary characters is Essun from N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth series, she’s complicated and strong and makes bad decisions as well as good ones; she both pushes the reader away and yet I still felt I could understand her AND be angry with her. Another favorite character is Buffy Summers, for a lot of the same reasons.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the participants?
Just a bit of advice. Unless an agent has asked you to make edits because they are seriously considering taking you on, take feedback with a grain of salt. Don’t start reworking the book or the proposal based on ONE person’s feedback, especially if they’ve passed while giving you that feedback. It’s not to your advantage to try and please someone who’s already said no. If many agents pass and have the same kind of feedback, then it might be time to think about making changes based on those comments before you start another round of querying.
If you’re interested in showing Christina Morgan and Jessica Felleman your query letter, register for query roulette today!
