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Agent Spotlight: Meet Literary Agent Sally Kim

By on August 29, 2024   /   Articles, Editor / Agent Spotlight, For Writers  

We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Sally Kim to the agent spotlight here at From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors. Sally is a literary agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency (ABLA). She represents fiction and non-fiction picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and graphic novels and is especially eager to see authentic explorations of underrepresented cultures, relationships, and identities.

Sally took time out of her busy agenting life to share more about her pre-kidlit career, what she loves about being an agent, and some cool books from ABLA to check out.

From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors: How did you become an agent? 

Sally Kim, literary agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Sally Kim: After 15+ wonderful years in children’s book publishing, I was looking for my next big opportunity and specifically, I wanted to return to working closely with individual authors and illustrators. At the advice of trusted colleagues in the industry, I sought out informational calls with a handful of well-respected literary agents and asked them what it took to be an all-around exceptional agent. What qualities were essential from Day 1 and what skills could be learned on the job? My goal was to objectively assess my potential before taking the leap. To my delight, all the conversations went very well and strengthened my resolve to move forward. In a few short months, I was thrilled to find a place with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. I haven’t looked back since!

 

MUF: Your pre-agenting background was in kidlit marketing and publicity. How do those skills translate in your current role? 

SK: My years working in marketing and publicity gave me broad exposure to the children’s book market and an understanding of how publishers work to connect books to readers, to adapt to the ever-shifting landscape of key retailers and sales channels, and to day-in and day-out launch new books and make each of them stand out from the crowd. As a marketer, I spent many years partnering with colleagues in editorial and sales to participate in heated auctions, build bestselling brands and series, and position books for long-term success.

I believe as a new agent, I am uniquely positioned to help my clients understand how their work, whether it be a lyrical picture book or a middle grade novel-in-verse, fits into the market and where it can find its target readership. And in my time in publishing, I particularly enjoyed collaborating closely with authors and illustrators on their launch campaigns–traveling with them to conferences, bookstore appearances, and just generally evangelizing about their talent. There’s a lot of great crossover to life as an agent.

MUF:  What does a typical workday look like for you?  

SK: There is no typical day! But I can definitely describe a typical work week. The first thing to note is that while I build my career as a literary agent, I am still working as an independent consultant for children’s book publishers around the world. I’m often on early morning Zoom calls with folks on France and late afternoon calls with folks in Australia.

Thankfully, my consulting work is very flexible and I still have plenty of time and energy for agenting. In a typical week, this includes giving clients feedback on their manuscripts, strategizing on the next project to go out with, researching potential editors for an upcoming pitch, having calls with individual editors to get to know their tastes and current wishlists, and of course reading queries! Always reading queries!

Also, I should say that the agents at Andrea Brown are incredibly communicative and collaborative. All day long, we’re chatting on Slack and over email, sharing feedback and suggestions with one another on any number of topics. I’m soaking it all in and eagerly learning from my peers and mentors.

MUF: What’s your least favorite part of your job as an agent?

SK: I think my clients will agree with me, but every time an editor passes on a project, it’s hard not to feel momentarily discouraged. But I like to tell myself (and them!) that it’s all part of the process. Upward and onward we go.

MUF: What’s your favorite? 

SK: That elusive moment when I’m deep in the trenches of queries, reading my twentieth manuscript of the night and suddenly I’m blown away by a project from start to finish. The good ones really jump out and grab you in the best, most exciting way. The thrill of discovery is real!

MUF: Book bans are on our minds. What should writers, readers, parents, librarians, and other do to support access to books for kids? 

SK: Great question. And as I type out my answer, I’m really talking to myself most of all. We should all try to keep up with the latest on book ban news. Learn which of your favorite authors are being affected and make every effort to support them through it. Speak up and speak out about the harmful effects of book bans to your friends, family, and your larger community. Use every opportunity to amplify messages that support the freedom to read.

And have you heard of Authors Against Book Bans? If you are a book creator of any kind, I encourage you to join. And please listen to Jenn Laughran’s Literaticast podcast interview with founding members Maggie Tokuda-Hall and David Levithan. The episode goes live this month (August 2024) and I will be first in line to listen and take notes.

MUF: Any kidlit books coming out soon (or just out!) from your clients that we should keep an eye out for?  

SK: Yes! While I’m about to go out on submission with my first MG project (fingers crossed!), I going to take the opportunity to recommend several exceptionally good books written by other agency clients. Please check them out!

Vega's Piece of the Sky by Jennifer Torres

 

MUF: Where can people find you online? (Social media, work website, other) 

SK: Let’s connect! Please query me at https://querymanager.com/query/sallyabla. Follow me online on Instagram @sallymkim and Bluesky @sallymkim.bsky.social. And to learn more about Andrea Brown Literary agency, go to our website:  https://www.andreabrownlit.com.

 

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Interview – Christine Virnig, author of A BITE ABOVE THE REST

By on August 26, 2024   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

I had the great luck to get to read an early copy of Christine Virnig’s latest middle-grade – a Halloween themed adventure set in the very unique town of Samhain,Wisconsin. And, even though Halloween is still a few month’s away, I’m sure my interview with Christine is going to have you itching to break out the wax vampire fangs and your best monster lawn decorations.

Please tell us a little bit about A BITE ABOVE THE REST.

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to interview me! I really appreciate it!

A Bite Above the Rest is about a kid who moves from California to Samhain, Wisconsin, a tourist town where it’s Halloween 24/7. Halloween decorations stay up year-round, people wear costumes every day, and the town hall keeps vampire hours, of all things. Being the new kid is hard enough on its own, but then a terrifying encounter with the mayor causes Caleb to wonder: Could there be more to his new hometown than meets the eye? Could real vampires and werewolves and witches be hiding amongst the fakes? He immediately sets out to uncover the truth, aided by his quirky new best friend, Tai.

The premise of this book is super interesting and super fun. What inspired you to write this story?

I was inspired to write A Bite Above the Rest from the moment the main character, Caleb, popped into my head one day. The poor kid was walking around with a wooden stake in his back pocket because he was terrified that he’d encounter a vampire or werewolf or witch at any second. But as scared as he was, nobody around him was frightened. They were all just going about their business as though nothing was wrong. I was immediately filled with questions—Who was this kid? Where was he? Why was nobody else scared?—and A Bite Above the Rest was basically my attempt to answer these questions.

You tackle some very real issues in this book. A parent’s death, a new town, bullying, and anxiety among others. What do you hope readers will take away from Caleb and Tai’s adventure?

I actually didn’t write A Bite Above the Rest with any lessons or take aways in mind; my only goal was for readers to have fun reading it. But despite this, I do hope that Caleb and Tai’s adventure will show kids that we can all be brave when we need to be, especially when we’ve got a good friend at our side.

Caleb and Tai do a lot of research on monsters. Werewolves, vampires, witches, and merfolk all play a part in this book. Do you have a favorite scary being? If so, what about them do you love?

Probably vampires?? I find their lore absolutely fascinating, and I love the idea of living f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

I have always been terrible at coming up with Halloween costumes/decorations. The thought of doing it every day is exhausting to me, so I really appreciated Caleb’s approach. What about you? Are you a Halloween superfan? Do you have a favorite costume from your childhood? Do you go all out decorating your house now?

Apart from the candy, I actually didn’t like Halloween that much when I was growing up. A large part of this dislike was the costumes; they always made me feel awkward and exposed. I still feel this way as an adult, so I’m a huge fan of Caleb-style punny costumes myself. This year I think I’ll go as a fork in the road!

And no, I don’t go all out decorating my house for Halloween. But thanks to the throngs of spiders that LOVE living by our front door, we’re at least bound to have a bunch of very authentic-looking spider webs hanging about 🙂

Will you tell us a little bit about your writing process? In particular how did you go about tackling this story?

My writing process for fiction is supremely inefficient. As soon as I come up with an idea—which might be a character, a setting, a theme—I brainstorm just enough so that I can start writing, and then I let the characters do their thing. This writing style is definitely fun (for example, I didn’t know if Caleb’s suspicions about his new town would end up being real or not until I was halfway done writing, which meant I got to be surprised too!), but it does mean I need to do a lot of revising and rewriting once I finally finish my first draft.

We know no writer is created in a vacuum. Could you tell the readers about a teacher or a librarian who had an effect on your writing life?

Yes! When I was first considering writing for children, I asked the youth librarian at the public library in Verona, Wisconsin to point me towards a few of their most popular middle grade titles. Among others, she grabbed How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg. This nonfiction book was my first introduction to the world of FUNNY nonfiction, and it inspired me to write my first two books: Dung for Dinner and Waist-Deep in Dung. I wish I knew that librarian’s name so I could thank her for unknowingly giving me the inspiration I needed to just start writing.

A Bite Above the Rest ends with Caleb getting some worrying information. Can you give us a hint about what we can look forward to next from you?

Of course! As much as I’d love to revisit the world of Caleb and Tai and Samhain at some point—and I already have some ideas!—my next book is another standalone that I hope fans of A Bite Above the Rest will really love. Slated to come out in late 2025, it features a cast of ghostly main characters who attend Phantom Academy, a school for underaged ghosts. I also have a picture book coming out sometime in the next few years, but those details are still hush hush.

 

Christine Virnig is a fan of books, candy, spooky stories, poop jokes, and coffee…in no particular order. As a former physician, Christine now spends her days writing books, reading books, and working at a library where she is surrounded by books. Christine lives in southern Wisconsin with her husband, two daughters, a ridiculous number of dust bunnies, and one incredibly lazy cat. You can visit her on the web at ChristineVirnig.com.

 

A BITE ABOVE THE REST is out now and available for purchase here or at your favorite bookstore. You can follow Christine on at her website or on Instagram.

 

 

Are you ready for some Halloween fun? If so, let us know in the comments.

 

 

 

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The Secret Dead Club: Interview with Author Karen Strong

By on August 23, 2024   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

I recently got on a scary-story kick and am eating up all the horror books I can find—especially ghost stories. The Secret Dead Club by Karen Strong was a fun one as you jump right into the terror.

About the Book

Hi Karen! Super fun book (I ended up reading the whole thing in one day because I couldn’t put it down!). Can you give us a short summary about The Secret Dead Club?  

After a perilous encounter with a wicked ghost leaves Wednesday Thomas shaken and terrified, she decides to ignore the dead. Never mind that she and her mother have moved back to Alton, Georgia, and into the haunted Victorian house where her mother grew up. Wednesday swore she’d stop talking to the dead, but at her new school, she receives an invitation to be the medium of a secret club and learns there’s a lot more going on with the ghosts in Alton and the girls who can see them.

When another malevolent ghost threatens to harm Wednesday, it will take the help of new friends both living and dead banish the evil being to the spirit realm where it belongs.

 

Did you have any particular type of reader in mind when you wrote it?

I think this book will be perfect for readers who like a mix of spooky moments and heartfelt relationships.

About the Author

Karen Strong is the critically acclaimed author of middle grade novels Just South of Home, Eden’s Everdark, and The Secret Dead Club. She is also a Star Wars contributor featured in Stories of Jedi and Sith, and the editor of the young adult anthology Cool. Awkward. Black. Her work has been praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and School Library Journal and has also received recognition as a CYBILS award finalist, Ignyte award finalist, BCCB Blue Ribbon, and Junior Library Guild Gold Selection. Born and raised in Georgia, Karen is an avid lover of strong coffee, yellow flowers, and night skies.

 

So Karen, what is your connection to the supernatural?

I’ve always grown up around ghost stories so that kind of storytelling has always been a part of me. In the American South, ghosts play a major part in the culture.

 

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book?

The setting of The Secret Dead Club is based on my hometown, so there’s plenty of inspiration from actual landmarks.

 

What was your favorite scary book growing up?

When I was a kid, I read a lot of Stephen King, so that was my introduction to horror. One of my favorite horror books for kids is Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. This book also plays an important role in The Secret Dead Club.

 

Ah yes. Neat how you were able to work that in. What was/is your favorite scary movie?

The movie that has left the most lasting imprint on me is Aliens. Ripley’s character was so inspiring because she was brave, and the aliens were also very scary.

 

Do you share any personality traits with Wednesday?

Wednesday has to start over at a new school in seventh grade, so she has to figure out the best way to make friends. I was in the same situation in seventh grade, so I shared some of Wednesday’s anxieties.

 

Research/Writing

What was your original spark for The Secret Dead Club?

I’ve always wanted to write a book about friendship, but since I write in the horror genre, I also knew that I would incorporate spooky elements into the story. I was inspired by the Baby-Sitter’s Club Netflix series as well as the Pixar film Turning Red, so I wanted to focus on a group of girls with very different personalities and how they would come together for a common cause.

 

There were different types of ghosts in your book with particular rules they adhere to. Is any of this based on research?

Since I’ve written other novels with ghosts, some of the previous research helped me determine what kinds of ghosts would be in The Secret Dead Club. However the ghosts in this book to have simple rules and common names because I wanted the focus to be on the girls and their friendships.

 

What kinds of research did you do for the book? Did anything you discovered steer you in a new direction for the book?

I did some research on the Victorian houses in my hometown, which mainly focused on their architecture and history. But one of the things that came after the first draft of The Secret Dead Club was the concept of the “Callahan House” vignettes, which are scenes that take place outside of Wednesday’s point of view. My editor and I discussed how these could play a role of showing the haunted house at different times featuring some of the supporting characters in the story. One of these vignettes also plays a major role in the climax of the book. I’m pleased at how these scenes turned out as they were not originally a part of the story.

 

Can you share any tips for writing scary/horror books?

I have a spooky scene workshop that I teach to young writers and one of the tips I share is that a writer can elevate the horror and suspense by letting the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks. By staying in the moment of terror and having the character react to what is not yet seen but anticipated lets the reader’s imagination go to scarier places than the writer could ever imagine.

 

How can we learn more about you?

My website, www.karen-strong.com, is the best place to find about upcoming events and new books. I’m also on Instagram @karenmusings.

 

Thanks for your time, Karen!

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