Interview with Agent Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management AND Contest Announcement!!

Hey guys, I’ve got great news. I’m going to be hosting another agent-judged contest next Monday with Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management!!! A big applause for her, please, since she’s so awesome. Have you been following her blog, Navigating the Slush Pile? Well, she has this amazing series, her “Wednesday Reads,” in where she reviews a book and says if she would represent it or not. I think it’s a great way to see if she would be a good fit for you. For a full bio of her, go here.

To gear up for the upcoming contest, and so that you can get to know her better, today I’m bringing you guys an interview with Vickie. I hope you enjoy!

(More information about the contest below the interview.)

1) How and why did you decide to become a literary agent?

I started with Andrea Hurst as an intern right out of college and immediately fell in love with the business. Being a literary agent just felt natural to me. I love working behind the scenes and promoting authors, working with them to develop their craft and plot, getting to know their characters every bit as well as they do. Like I said, it was a natural choice, and I love every minute of it.

2) So, from your blog we know you represent:

YA: fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and steam punk.
Adult: fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic.
Adult Non-fiction: cookbooks with a strong platform, humorous memoirs, healthy living, narrative, and current events.

But among those fiction genres, would you rather represent a commercial book like Twilight or a more literary one, like The Book Thief—or both?

Now that is just a mean question. Twilight vs The Book Thief? Okay, if I had to choose one of those, I'd choose The Book Thief (based on the book alone, not sales obviously). But I understand your question. Do I normally gravitate towards more commercial or literary books? Commercial. I love a good fast paced read. I'm definitely of the generation of instant gratification. But I do enjoy a little emotional manipulation in my novels as well.

3) We also know you’re an editorial agent. What part of the editorial process with your clients do you like the most? And are you the hand-holding type of agent, or your clients are “big kids,” now and don't need your hand?

Of course all my clients are "big kids"! But I enjoy holding their hands anyways. Odd way to phrase it. But really, I enjoy interacting with my clients. If they have questions about any aspect of the business, I'm happy to enlighten them (you'll notice I do the same thing on my blog). I love the entire editorial process. I mentioned above I love getting to know a story as well as the creator knows it. I really just love being part of the process--being allowed to be part of the process. It's a huge reward to me.

I can imagine that--being part of the process! It makes me want to be a literary agent myself, lol. 

4) Can you tell us why writers would be thrilled to have you as their agent?

You're really asking me to toot my own horn here, aren't you? [Ha, I guess I am!!] Well, I'm a newer agent, and as such I love working with debut authors. We get to go through this journey together, build our respective careers together. I have tons of passion for my job, for this business (can you tell yet?) and I channel that right into working for my writers and promoting them to editors (other writers, people on the street who really don't even want to hear about it, etc).

Oh and I must add, though it's not directly related to the question, that when I sign a new client, when they give me their "Yes! I'll work with you!" I do my own happy dance. You think you're excited to sign with an agent? I'm as equally excited to have found you and get to work with you.

Awesome! I think we’d all like to see you happy dancing! ;)

5) When you’re submitting a manuscript to editors, do you get nervous, too?

Oh you bet. But it's more of an excited nervousness. I press "send" and think, "Oh, you're gonna love this and fall at my feet in appreciation that I've sent it to you." Have I mentioned that I'm my writers' biggest fans?

6) Where do you hope to be in five years from now?

I hope to still be with Andrea Hurst, living in the Northwest, with a small (manageable) flock of writers who have all seen the best seller list. But don't we all? Really, in five years, I just want to still be in this business working with writers I love and seeing them get to where they want to be in their careers.

7) Anything else you’d like to say? Maybe a tip for the upcoming contest on Love YA?

My best piece of advice, any time you're pitching (queries, contests, conferences), remember that the agent is just a person, a reader, and we're looking for something to love. That said, a specific tip, keep your one sentence pitch short and snappy. Don't try to shove too much into one sentence. If you get to the heart of your story and convey a little of why we'll love it (the voice, maybe), you've done your job.

Excellent advice, I must say!

And now the 4Fs.  (Fast Five For Fun!)

Guilty pleasure?   (That has nothing to do with books??)

Running through sprinklers.

Some random and funny fact about you that we probably don’t know? 

I'm one of four kids, somewhere in the middle, the only one with bad eyesight, a penchant for books, played a musical instrument in school, and thinks baseball is a silly sport (though I enjoy playing it).

Professional food spiller or spick-and-span lady?

Food spiller for sure. I had a special cup when I was a kid that is *almost* impossible to knock over.

(I'm a food spiller too! *high 5*)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? (Psst, you can say you’d like to visit me in Chile... kidding! ;D)

The Bahamas with my Dad on his sailboat. (slash sail to Chile!!!) I'd lay out on the deck with a book and work on my tan. Ah the simple pleasures in life. If I had to choose anywhere else, I'd love to visit some old castles in Europe, hopefully some haunted ones.

What's the one possession you couldn't live without?

A large and well stocked kitchen.

Thank you so much for doing this interview on Love YA! 

<3

And, guys, here's more interesting info about Vickie Motter!

The best way to query VM (Link): By e-mail, vickie@andreahurst.com. Send a query letter, with "Query" somewhere in the subject line. More information can be found at andreahurst.com and my blog, navigatingtheslushpile.blogspot.com.

Sample Pages: Yes. 5 pasted below the query.

She Tweets, too. She’s really nice! This is the link for you to follow her on Twitter!

And here, you have a nice interview with Vickie on Guide to Literary Agents Blog.

There’s also this other interview, in where she talks about querying, among other things, on Mother Write Repeat.

And last, but definitely not least, I encourage you to check her Agency’s Blog, in where they have an exciting line up of interviews, authors, editors, agents!

Now, about the contest.

1) It will open at 10:00 a.m. EST, on the 22th, and it will close as soon as 50 people enter the contest. (Don’t post your pitches under this post.)

2) Polish your one-sentence pitch and your first page (250 words). There will be two winners. One winner for the best first page and another winner for the best pitch. The prices will be a query critique and a 5pg critique. And if Ms. Motter likes other pitches or pages, she will request partials.

3) The contest will be for finished YA and adult fiction novels (fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic). Please note that Ms. Motter doesn’t represent MG!!

4) This is only for unagented writers only.

5) Since I’m doing this to help, you don’t need to be a follower, but I’d love it if you are. And I’d love it if you’d follow me on Twitter too ;)

6) Please, spread the word. I’m not going to haunt you if you don’t, but it’d make me REALLY happy if lots of people had the chance to enter.

What should you post next week?

-Your Name

-Title of your book

-Genre

-Word-count of your manuscript

-The one-sentence pitch

-Your first page (250 words). No more than 250, and please don’t stop mid sentence.

-Your email

If you’re a bit lost: I’m pasting a few links so you can read more about writing short pitches.

Nathan Bransford Blog
Query Tracker

Rachel Gardner’s Blog