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Revision update: I’m done! Yay! Now I have to perfect my query letter.

Mandy Hubbard

Today, I’ve got an interview with author and literary agent Mandy Hubbard. Mandy recently joined D4EO Literary, representing authors of middle-grade and teen fiction. She’s also the author Prada & Prejudice, You Wish and other novels that aren’t on shelves yet. Mandy’s submission guidelines are here.

Thanks for joining us, Mandy. First, congratulations on your young adult books. They’re such great, fun ideas. What do you like best about writing and why did you choose young adult books?

I didn’t really choose YA, not on purpose. I signed my first agent based on a project about four girls in their early 20s — I was 23 at the time, so it made sense. She told me my voice would work better for YA, so I switched it around. I’ve never looked back since!

My favorite part of writing constantly changes. I just did the very last proof read for YOU WISH, my August 5th release. So right now that’s my favorite part — the part where it’s done and sparkly and I love it. At other times, the idea/fast-drafting stage is the best. I guess I just love it all!

Before becoming a literary agent, you interned at The Bent Agency. What attracted you to agenting and what do you love about it?

Even as an author, I’ve always been fascinated by the industry/business side of things. I’ve been active in the submissions process of my own books for years, and my agent was the first to tell me that I’d make a good agent myself. The wheels started turning, and when an opportunity to intern for The Bent Agency fell into my lap, I jumped on it. Interning really confirmed for me that I wanted to become an agent.

I love that I get to work with truly talented authors. It’s really amazing to fall in love with a project and then be able to work with the person who created it. I’m very editorial and have done rather extensive revisions with a few people, but getting to the end product — something amazing and fast paced and exciting — is so worth it.

Having to write a query letter is one of those groan, oh no, moments for a writer. How did you deal with it as a writer and what do you look for in a query letter as an agent?

Don’t throw sticks at me, but I always liked writing query letters. In fact, I even wrote them for my projects after I had an agent. I love boiling down my projects into 3 paragraph pitches that hit on the most exciting parts of the book.

From an agent’s stand point, the most important part of your query is the story pitch. I need to love the concept above all else. If you have writing credentials