Reminder: Newer agents are golden opportunities for new writers because they’re likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and postage.
About Jennifer: Jennifer Azantian assists Sandra Dijkstra and Elise Capron, and manages incoming submissions for SDLA. At the University of California, San Diego, she studied clinical and developmental child psychology, and graduated cum laude in 2010. After graduation, she spent a wonderful summer interning at the Dijkstra Agency before joining full-time in fall of 2011.
Beyond university, Jennifer is a published author of several short stories and brings to the agency her passion for literature born of a writer’s heart. Her personal tastes run toward all flavors of the fantastic. She believes that it is against the backdrop of fantasy and science-fiction that basic human truths can be best examined, magnified, and delighted in. She is now acquiring projects and welcomes all submissions that match her interests.
She is seeking: Jennifer is only interested in: young adult science fiction and fantasy (including all of their subgenres).
How to contact: Query jen (at) dijkstraagency.com. “We read all query letters. However, because of the high volume of unsolicited submissions we receive, we are only able to respond to those queries in which we are interested. If you have not heard back from us six weeks after sending your letter, you may assume that we have passed. Please send a query letter, a 1-page synopsis, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history), and the first 10-15 pages of your manuscript. Please send all items in the body of the e-mail, not as an attachment. Let us know in your query letter if we are reading your work exclusively.”
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I am curious about new agents and how much support they receive from their bosses. How do new agents make industry contacts? How do they get to know publishers and editors, etc? Or is it like in real estate where new agents are almost self-employed, just working under the banner of the agency? Are new literary agents pretty much on their own as far as making contacts and generating business or does the agency work as a team, sharing contacts with publishers and such.
I guess it comes down to the question of what are the real benefits of a new agent for the writer? I appreciate any insight into this you can give me.