Posts Tagged #amquerying

Meet Katie Monson, Literary Agent

By on March 31, 2025   /   Articles, Editor / Agent Spotlight  
Katie Monson

Katie MonsonKatie Monson loves kids, and she also loves books. For 12 years, Katie was a self-employed childcare provider, watching children in her home and enjoying the privilege of being home to raise her children. But recently, she decided to massively change up her life and find a new path that still allowed her to work from home and be with her kids. That new path led her to SBR Media. 

SBR Media is a literary agency for all genres. It was established in April 2016 by Stephanie Phillips. Today, SBR Media has 11 agents representing over 300 clients. As one of those agents, Katie Monson is known to be self-motivated, organized, and ready to represent clients and help lead them to success. We’re grateful she took the time to share a little bit about herself and her work with our MUF readers.

Welcome, Katie! Your path to becoming an agent is fascinating and not all that typical. What led you to the world of books and publishing? 

I’ve always had a passion for reading, ever since I was a little girl. Over the years, I developed a strong interest in reading indie romance books, which naturally led to blogging, beta reading, and editing small manuscripts for authors. 

It sounds like agenting was a natural fit. Now that you’ve been in this role for a while, what do you find to be the best and worst parts of being an agent?

The best part about being an agent is working with my authors and making their dreams come true!

The worst part is how I cannot possibly take on all the manuscripts that I read. I would love to be able to help everyone but it’s just not possible. Sending the rejection letters and knowing how the author is going to feel is the worst.

Here at MUF, we’re all about middle grade. As an agent who represents this category of work, what do you love most about middle grade novels?

I love middle grade novels because they are multifaceted. They can be for pure entertainment, but while they are being enjoyed, there can also be underlying themes that help kids navigate through life and challenges they may face. Middle grade books can help make kids feel less alone and know that what they are going through is normal!

Which middle-grade book(s) influenced you most as a child?

I loved the Wayside School books!  They were so funny to me, and I still remember them to this day. I shared them with my own kids, and they loved them too!

What are some of your favorite current middle grade novels?

I really love any of Raina Telgemeier books!  My kids loved them too!

Which genres/themes/subjects are you drawn to/not drawn to?

I am not a big sci-fi and fantasy reader, so I lack the experience needed to represent these. I love themes of being true to yourself, being a great friend/person, subtle lesson-teaching (not being in your face about it). I also love when a novel explains big feelings!

What do you look for in a query, and what types of queries do you hope to find?

A query needs to be brief and engaging. I want to be drawn in so quickly that I can’t wait to get my hands on the manuscript. Don’t give away too much, but don’t be vague either.  

I’m on the hunt for another middle grade to add to my list. I’m looking for an engaging plot with a twist no one sees coming. I want to keep the kids reading on their toes (as well as the editor we are pitching to).  

What are the top reasons you pass on a submission?

There are many reasons why but the top ones I would pass on are:

  • Word count is not where it needs to be
  • Not an exciting query that makes me NEED to read more
  • I couldn’t connect with the writing/story/characters

Do you ever participate in pitch parties, and if so, what do you love about them?

I participate in events when I find the time! LOL! I love to see how authors are able to explain their entire manuscript in such a short amount of words. I love these events so much that I have even set up a pop-up event of my own! 

That sounds interesting! Can you tell us a little more about this pop-up event?

YES!  I will randomly set up my own personal pop-up pitch event.  I ask for a brief description of their manuscript (I usually have these open to all authors) and a mood board if they have one.  From there, if I like their post then I have them contact me for more information on how to submit to me.  

We know you’re closed to submissions right now, but can you give us an idea of when you’ll reopen?

The plan is this spring for a week. This is a really busy season for me, so I am unsure of the exact time, but it will most likely be sometime in May. My best advice is to watch my socials! 

You can check out my Manuscript Wish List here: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/katie-monson/

My Instagram handle is https://www.instagram.com/litagentkatiem/ and you can follow me on X at https://twitter.com/. 

Before you go, we’d love to learn about your life outside of work. What are your favorite things to do that have nothing to do with being an agent?

I love to get lost in a good book. What agent wouldn’t love reading for pleasure? (Although, it’s harder to come by these days!) I also love traveling! Seeing the mountains in Tennessee and the beaches in Florida are two of my most favorite things. And I love spending time with my family. 

So, when I’m not reading, sitting by the pool, or complaining about the cold Rochester winters, you can probably find me traveling to the beaches of Florida, the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, and spending time with my husband and four children in Rochester, New York.

Books, beaches, mountains, and family – that sounds great! Thanks so much for joining us, Katie. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, and we’ll be watching for you to open for submissions. 

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Meet Literary Agent Dani Segelbaum

By on October 30, 2023   /   Articles, Editor / Agent Spotlight  

Dani Segelbaum agent headshot

Dani Segelbaum was born and raised in Minneapolis and grew up as a voracious reader. She’s a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, where she studied journalism and political science. 

Early in her career, she worked with established and debut authors as a literary assistant at New Leaf Literary and Media. Her career in publishing began when she became an editorial assistant at HarperCollins Publishers, where she focused primarily on highly designed non-fiction titles. 

Now, Dani is Vice President, Literary Agent, and Subsidiary Rights Director at the Carol Mann Agency. And she’s stopping by the Mixed-Up Files to tell us a little bit about her journey, the work she currently represents, and the kind of manuscripts she wants to find in her inbox.

 

Hi Dani. Welcome to the Mixed Up Files! 

Hi, Susan! It’s great to join you today.

 

Can you tell us a little about your path to becoming an agent?

I started my career as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins. After a few years, I realized I wanted to be an agent instead of an editor. From there, I went on to work at New Leaf Literary as an agent’s assistant and slowly started to build my list. I then joined Carol Mann in 2021 and am now Vice President, Subsidiary Rights Director, and Literary Agent for the agency.

 

Please give us a little background on the Carol Mann Agency.

The Carol Mann Agency was established in 1977 and has long been home to highly-regarded writers of fiction and non-fiction. We are a boutique agency that prides itself on giving individual attention to all our clients and regularly placing projects with leading publishers both in the United States and overseas. Our broad range of tastes, our experience guiding authors and their manuscripts through the publication process, and our industry relationships make us on of New York’s top literary agencies. We are privileged to work with a number of bestselling and award-winning authors.

 

It sounds like you’ve found your niche in the publishing world. Tell us what you find to be the best and worst parts about being an agent.

Best: I’m always learning something new from my authors! Each book teaches me something exciting and different.

Worst: Rejections! Although, it is a regular part of the publishing process.

 

Can you describe what you look for in a query?

I want to see that the author has done some initial research on what I’m looking for and that they followed my submission guidelines.

 

What are the top reasons you pass on a submission?

The number one reason is that the query is not in the genre I work on.

 

Here at MUF, we’re all about middle grade. Can you tell us what you love most about middle grade literature?

Stephen Colbert said, “As far as I can tell, a young adult novel is a regular novel that people actually read.” I feel the same applies for middle-grade novels. They take real-life issues and make them understandable for all ages!

 

What kind of middle grade books do you enjoy?

The middle-grade landscape has changed drastically since I was a kid. Now, there are all types of middle-grade books available that weren’t around when I was young. It’s really incredible to see.

Matt Sprouts and The Curse of the Ten Broken Toes cover

My author Matt Eicheldinger’s book MATT SPROUTS AND THE CURSE OF THE TEN BROKEN TOES is such a delight. It’s funny, relatable, and entertaining. He’s fantastic to work with and has such a creative mind. Kids will absolutely love this book. I promise!

 

What types of queries would you like most to see in your inbox right now?

I’m interested in seeing both fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, I’d really like to see literary and upmarket adult fiction including debut, historical, rom-coms, and women’s fiction. In non-fiction, I’m looking for proposals with an emphasis on politics, women’s issues, popular culture, and current events. Oh, and I love memoir, narrative non-fiction, lifestyle, and cookbooks, too!

In both fiction and non-fiction, I hope to work with authors from diverse backgrounds to tell the stories that are important to them. Overall, I’m really drawn to compelling narrators and writing that is voice-driven, highly transporting, and features unique perspectives and marginalized voices.

 

Where can authors learn more about you? 

You can follow me on Twitter (X) and Instagram at @danisegelbaum and check out my MSWL.

 

Now that we know all about Dani the agent, tell us what you like to do when you’re not at work.

When I’m not working, you’ll most likely find me baking, making homemade ice cream, or walking my dog!

 

Thanks again for joining us, Dani.

Thanks for having me!

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Agent Spotlight: Victoria Doherty-Munro of Writers House

By on June 30, 2023   /   Articles, Editor / Agent Spotlight  
Literary Agent Victoria Doherty Munro

Literary Agent Victoria Doherty Munro

 

Let’s give a warm Mixed-Up Files welcome to Victoria Doherty-Munro! Torie is a junior agent at Writers House, where she represents middle grade, young adult, and adult authors. She started at Writers House as an intern in 2010 and, after graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in English, was hired as the assistant to senior agent Daniel Lazar in 2012. She began building her own list in 2015.

What a treat it’s been for me to interview Torie and learn about her enthusiasm for good books, her preferences as an agent, and her many and varied interests, from Central Park to soccer fields!

SK: Tell us about your path to becoming an agent.

VDM: I majored in English in college (to the surprise of exactly no one, as that had always been my favorite subject in school) and had no idea what I wanted to do with that degree until the end of my sophomore year – I was in my favorite bookstore and was suddenly hit by the realization that there were people involved behind the scenes in bringing books to the world. I’d just never thought about it before, somehow! I started researching the industry and was lucky enough to get an internship at Writers House the following summer; I fell in love with both agenting and the company itself, and I sort of just…refused to leave? (Not really, but I was hired to assist senior agent Dan Lazar a few months after I graduated from college and promoted to junior agent a few years later.)   

SK: What are the best and worst parts of being an agent?

VDM: The best part is always the moment I get to tell a client that they’re going to be published! And I love the feeling I get when I’m reading a manuscript, either a new client project or a submission, and I can start to see things really coming together.

 The worst part is rejections, for sure. It really is a privilege when authors choose to submit their work to me for consideration and having to pass is never a good feeling, but I try to keep in mind that they deserve an agent who is head-over-heels in love with their work and that if that isn’t me then I’m not the right fit. And on the flip side, it’s never fun to get a rejection from an editor on a project that I’ve submitted on behalf of a client – I love those books so much, too, that getting passes can sting a little!

SK: What do you look for in a query?

VDM: An interesting premise and something that grabs my attention in the opening pages.

 SK: What are the top reasons you pass on a submission?

VDM: This is kind of hard to answer! Often there’s just something about a submission that doesn’t quite feel like a fit for me, or something that I know isn’t working but that I don’t feel I have the editorial vision to address.

 I will say, though, that recently I’ve been passing a lot due to pacing issues – either the story starts off too fast and I can’t get oriented in it or it feels like it’s taking too long to get to the heart of the plot.

SK: What do you love most about middle-grade novels?

VDM: I love that they can tackle big topics with humor and heart, in a way that makes things accessible for kids as they figure out themselves and the world around them! I also think these books can be so special because they’re often the ones that make kids into readers – one of my closest friends teaches 6th grade Language Arts and I always love hearing stories about that moment when one of her students finds *the* book that opens up the whole world of reading to them.

 SK: Which middle-grade book(s) influenced you most as a child?

VDM: How much time do you have?! I could list a million…but in the interest of brevity, I’ll say that The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was a constant favorite (so I got a kick out of the name of this website) as were Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and all its sequels by Mildred D. Taylor and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (I actually went to a book event of hers when I was in college and got her to sign my incredibly bedraggled 15-year-old copy). And my brothers and I still have several inside jokes stemming from our love of A Series of Unfortunate Events, though it’s been years since any of us have read those books.

 I was also absolutely obsessed with Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix for years and almost lost my mind when I saw the news that she’d written a sequel! 

 SK: What are some of your favorite current middle-grade novels?

VDM: Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega, Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith, The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga, and The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste all come to mind! And obviously I will be reading Falling Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix as soon as possible.

SK: Which genres/themes/subjects are you drawn to?

VDM: I tend to be most drawn to contemporary, speculative, and fantasy – and am really loving that horror is having a moment in middle grade right now! And I’m particularly interested in seeing projects from marginalized authors whose voices and perspectives haven’t historically been represented in publishing.

 SK: What advice do you have for authors who would like to send you a query?

VDM: I’m not sure I have any specific advice, other than…please do send me a query if you think we might be a good fit! I’m actively building my list of clients and would be thrilled to find another middle grade project (or two! or more!) to fall in love with.

 SK: What are your favorite things to do that have nothing to do with being an agent?

VDM: I love soccer (playing it sometimes, watching it always), trying new recipes, going to the theater, and finding new corners of Central Park to explore. I’m also sort of getting into baking, though I’m still in the phase where it kind of stresses me out…but I’m getting better!

SK: Please tell us a little about your agency.

VDM: Writers House was founded in 1973 with a vision for a new kind of literary agency, one that would combine a passion for managing a writer’s career with an integrated understanding of how storytelling works. With this two-pronged philosophy, Writers House has played a critical role in developing the careers of hundreds of novelists and non-fiction authors. We believe in offering our clients not only our expertise in negotiating contracts, but in contributing to all phases of the editorial and publishing processes. Our goal is to maximize the value of our clients’ work by providing hands-on editorial and marketing advice, as well as leading the way in branding, licensing, and selling film/TV, foreign, audio, dramatic and serial rights. 

SK: It’s been so great getting to know you, Torie. I’m sure a lot of our readers are going to be interested in connecting with you. Where can authors learn more about you? 

The best place right now is probably on Twitter, @toriedm! I tweet out specific #MSWL asks there and also post my to-read piles periodically so authors can get a sense of my taste.

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