Agents in the Afternoon: Kate McKean Answers the Big Questions

By - August 23, 2013

It's 1:00 p.m., and we're halfway through our AGENTS IN THE AFTERNOON segment.  It's time to give a big welcome to our next special guest, literary agent Kate McKean!  

Don't forget to check the bottom of this post to learn how to enter to win a query critique from thriller author and entertainment attorney Robert Rotstein, as well as for an additional offer from thriller author Jenny Milchman!

Now, on to the interview!

Welcome, Kate!

CM:  In a query letter, what is the most likely to get you the most excited about requesting an author’s work?

KM:  A storyline I haven't seen before. Show me something new, and my heart really gets going. It's hard to know what an agent has seen 100 times though, but writers should read, read, read, read, and they'll have a better idea.

CM:  Is there any personal pet peeve in a query letter that makes you more likely to reject it besides those standard red flags regarding word count, sending queries for genres the agent does not represent, etc.?

 KM:  I hate it when writers say, "I've been writing stories since I was three years old." Great! Me, too! But that doesn't mean I can write a good novel now. I've been running since I was 10 months old, but I'm not running any marathons. See what I mean?

CM:  Speaking of, your agency website lists that you represent various genres. Could you elaborate on any specific sub-genres or concepts you’re most interested in?

KM:  I recently revamped my wants on our website--so this should be helpful!

Fiction, for adults: Contemporary romance, contemporary women's fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction set in the 20th Century, high fantasy, magical realism, science fiction.

And for children/teens: Middle grade, young adult, and new adult full length novels only in the areas of: mystery, thriller, horror, romance, LGBTQ issues, contemporary fiction, sports, magical realism, fantasy, and science fiction.

Non-Fiction, for adults or children/teens: Books by authors with demonstrable platforms in the areas of sports, food writing, humor, design, creativity, and craft (sewing, knitting, etc.). Narrative Non-fiction by authors with or without an established platform. Some memoir. 

CM:  Some agents don’t like serial killer novels, some would rather not read unicorns.  Is there anything that you just don’t like to see in a premise?

 KM:  I covered this there, too!

NOTE: She is NOT actively looking for:

Fiction, for adults: Mysteries, thrillers, crime, paranormal romance, urban fantasy. She is not the best reader of fiction that features: cops/private detectives/FBI/CIA, fairy tale retellings, dragons, werewolves/vampires/zombies etc., satire, spoof, or the picaresque. No novellas.

Fiction, for children/kids: books that feature dragons, angels/demons/Grim Reaper, werewolves/vampires/zombies etc., zany middle grade stories about a character's wacky adventures, stories about bullying, stories that center around orphans or parents who die in car crashes, ghost-teens back to right wrongs. No novels in verse. No picture books or chapter books.

Non-fiction, for adults, children/teens: Memoir in the areas of cancer survival, drug addiction, mental heath, infertility, or other topics WIDELY covered by current memoir, mind/body/spirit, religion, politics, diet/exercise by authors with NO demonstrable platform, collections of blog posts or newspaper columns for republication.

CM:  Is there anything in particular you’re looking to represent that you are just waiting to find in your slush pile?

KM:  I really, really want a good contemporary women's novel that's not about cancer, jerk husbands, old flames, or getting your groove back. Give me a story! 

CM:  How would you describe your personal agenting philosophy?

KM:  I want to work with books that sock me in the gut. I want to be leveled by sentences and heartbroken by characters. I want to work with books that people force on their friends and say "You HAVE to read this!" That can happen in any genre, but it's that feeling in your gut that I'm looking for. 

CM:  What do you expect from an agent-author relationship?

KM:  I expect optimism, professionalism, trust, and fun. I don't need to be BFFs with every single one of my clients (and vise versa), but if we can't laugh on the phone or the internet sometimes, what's the fun in that. And if you're not giving your all to a book (and vise versa) and something's not working. 

CM:  There is sometimes a feeling of competition, it seems, between authors who self-publish and authors who are traditionally published. As someone with knowledge of industry trends and their effects on authors, from where do you think this “feud” stems?  What are your thoughts on the competitiveness?

KM:  There's a longstanding association with traditional publishing and legitimization. If you're a traditionally published author, you're a real author, which is clearly not true. You can be a real author and not published at all. But now, both sides are insecure because self-published novels are all over the New York Times Best Seller list, and traditionally published authors are jealous. Still, self-published authors feel like they have to fight for respect. I think it's a waste of time. Get off the internet, delete that snarky comment you wrote on some blog, and get back to work writing your book--however you decide to publish it.

CM:  What’s something people would be surprised to know about you?

KM:  I love cheerleading. LOVE it. I was one in high school, longed to be one in college, and would still do it today if it wasn't impossible/ridiculous. 

CM:  What’s the best book you’ve ever read and why?

KM:  There is absolutely no way to answer that question, or, it would be different if you asked me tomorrow or last week. Today, that answer is MT Anderson's FEED, a YA science fiction novel about teens who basically have the internet jacked into their heads. It changed how I looked at the world.  

CM:  If your house caught fire, what are the four things (rather than people) you’d save?  (Because everyone asks “three,” and I think you should get four!) 

KM:  My backup hard drive, my journals, my great-grandmother's and grandfather's unpublished writing, and my father's college ring.

CM:  What is your favorite word?

KM:  Offer. 

CM:  Least favorite word?

KM:  No.

CM:  What is one piece of advice you would give to writers seeking an agent that we have yet to talk about?

KM:  Remember that you are not your book. You may write a bad book that gets rejected all over town, but you have not been rejected all over town. Write another book. It will be better. Oh, and you probably won't sell your first book, but you have to go through the whole process anyway. Do it. And when it doesn't work, write another one.

------------------

ABOUT KATE: Kate McKean is a literary agent at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.  Kate earned her Master's degree in Fiction Writing from the University of Southern Mississippi before starting her career as a literary agent. Find out more about her and her interests at morhaimliterary.com , on Tumblr at katemckean.tumblr.com , or follow her on Twitter @kate_mckean.

 

With An Additional Giveaway From

ROBERT ROTSTEIN

 

***For Writers: International Thriller Writers' Author and Entertainment Attorney Robert Rotstein is giving away a query critique to one person who comments on this post. So, don't forget to comment!***

ABOUT ROBERT:  Robert Rotstein grew up in Culver City, California, then the location of the famed MGM Studios and so the true “Hollywood.” At an early age, he became hooked on legal dramas—not only Perry Mason, the archetype of the legal mystery, but also on the politically charged The Defenders—lawyers solving crimes and doing justice.  Perhaps it was inevitable that Rotstein would one day become an attorney whose practice focuses on the entertainment industry, and later a writer of novels about a lawyer. During his legal career, he’s represented Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie, John Sayles, James Cameron, and all the major motion picture studios, among others.  Rotstein's CORRUPT PRACTICES (Seventh Street Books, June 2013) is about Parker Stern, an L.A.-based attorney, who takes on a legal case against a powerful, dangerous religious cult.

Rotstein asks that you visit the website Help Keep A Sister Alive, http://helpkeepasisteralive.com/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/helpkeepasisteralive?hc_location=stream, where his friend and colleague provides information and observations about ovarian cancer and other cancers.  Find out more about Robert at www.robertrotstein.com .

 

With A Special Offer From

JENNY MILCHMAN

 

***For Writers: All day today, in honor of TRADE THE DAY, thriller author Jenny Milchman is offering a query letter critique to five people who purchase The Trade by Colby Marshall on StairwayPress.com to benefit the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.  For your chance to win, Enter Promotional Code TRADE THE DAY when you purchase your copy of The Trade by Colby Marshall on StairwayPress.com.***

 

Comment for your chance to win Robert's giveaway, and leave an e-mail address for contact if you win!

 

What's your biggest question about getting or working with a literary agent?