Interactive Interview with an Agent: Hannah Bowman

And “Interview with an Agent” returns! Today’s INTERACTIVE installment features Hannah Bowman, the newest agent at Liza Dawson Associates. Details on the interactive part are at the bottom. See you down there!

KV: How long have you been agenting, and how did you get into it?

HB: I've been officially an agent since the beginning of August this year--I'm still brand new. Before that I interned at Liza Dawson Associates for eight months.

I actually got interested in publishing from the writing side: I wrote and queried a couple novels of my own--both of which were (rightly) rejected. So I've been there! As I was querying, I realized I was really interested in what agents do--the editing, negotiations, and business side of publishing--so I started looking for internships and opportunities to read manuscripts. I interned briefly with agent Weronika Janczuk before starting at Liza Dawson Associates.

KV: How would you summarize your personal agenting philosophy? What do you expect from an agent-author relationship?

HB: I'm a very hands-on agent. I love to edit and help writers draw out their story. It's so satisfying to give writers suggestions and have them say, "Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to say!" I really want to be involved in every part of the publishing process, from editing to marketing, and help my clients turn ideas and talent into long-term careers.

KV: What client work do you have coming out soon? What drew you to those writers and/or projects?

HB: Since I'm so new, I don't have any projects coming out yet. I can tell you what I'm drawn to, though: big concepts, twisty plots, and strong voices.

Let me break that down a little.

Big concepts: I love science fiction and fantasy because of the world building and the big ideas in the books. When I read query letters, I'm looking in large part for a story idea that takes my breath away. That doesn't have to a be a speculative idea: the right romance or contemporary YA concept has the same punch.

Twisty plots: I love the feeling when the threads of a complex plot come together and suddenly you know where the story has to go--and then it goes there. Revelations of secrets, hard choices and sacrifices, and anything Tolkien would call "eucatastrophe"--a happy ending pulled off when things are at their absolute worst and all seems lost--are all very satisfying to me. I really like to see conflicts be pushed as far as they can be, and I love characters who are forced to make difficult choices in impossible situations, where there's no right thing to do.

Strong voices: I think successful fiction really comes down to characters. A strong voice doesn't necessarily have to be snarky or funny, but I want to feel like the character is right there beside me.

KV: What genres do you represent? What genres do you definitely NOT represent?

HB: I represent all kinds of commercial fiction, especially science fiction and fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and cozy mysteries. I also represent all genres of YA.

I'm a hard sell on thrillers, unless they're offbeat, and on anything that could be described as "hard-boiled." I'm also likely not the right agent for a literary fiction project.

I'm looking for some select nonfiction, mostly about math or science, or religion and spirituality, especially church history. I'm not the right agent for memoirs, though.

KV: What query pet peeves and/or pitfalls should writers avoid when querying you?

HB: There's no pet peeve that will make me put down a query without reading it. I make my decisions based on the quality of writing in the query and the concept of the book. That said: I'm really not interested in hearing about what message you expect your book to teach. And, for YA queries, if you say that your book is appropriate for YA because it doesn't have bad language/mature themes, I'm likely to be skeptical that you're really familiar with the YA market.

KV: You only want to see the query letter in a writer’s initial contact, but several respected industry sites have advised writers to include a few sample pages at the bottom of every query, whether the agent asked for them or not. So if a writer goes ahead and adds those pages, do you find that more assertive or obnoxious?

HB: It doesn't really make a difference to me. Usually I've made up my mind if I want to read more before I read the pages, based on the concept and writing in the query. Occasionally, if I'm not sure, I'll look at the pages, but in most cases, the writing isn't good enough to convince me to request more. In my experience, it's more common for pages to convince me to pass than to request--but if the writing doesn't catch me, I'll end up passing on a partial anyway, so in the long run it won't change anything.

KV: What are you looking for in a manuscript right now? What are you tired of seeing at the moment?

HB: Right now I'd love to find: a really sweet contemporary romance, a high-concept women's fiction that revolves around one major event in a woman's life, and a big far-future space opera. But that's by no means a complete list--I'm open for anything great that shows up.

I'm tired of YA voices that sound the same--a little snarky, a little insecure, but not really grounded in the personality of a particular character. I'd love to see a really fresh voice in a YA contemporary or paranormal.

KV: What’s the best way to query you?

HB: Query me by e-mail at queryHannah@LizaDawsonAssociates.com, with just a query letter in the body of the e-mail. You can also send a paper query if you prefer, per our submission guidelines at lizadawsonassociates.com/submission.html, but I prefer e-queries.

My submission guidelines are also available at hannahbowman.tumblr.com/post/10824837781/submission-guidelines.

Thanks again, Ms. Bowman, for these responses. And good luck to everyone who decides to query! I imagine that will be a lot of you:)

But before you fire off those e-mails, feel free to ask any questions you may have for Ms. Bowman in the comments below. She’ll drop in periodically throughout the day to answer whatever questions she finds down there, leaving her answers in the comments as well. We’ll wrap things up at 5:00 p.m. EDT (or 2:00 p.m. PDT), but until then, ask away!