As I've started the work of being an agent and building a client list, I've had a number of folks in different venues ask me what I'm interested in representing. So thought I'd address that here.
First and foremost, you need to know that I'm looking for books that share God's truth. I want to work with authors whose books will change lives. Who bring the depth and wealth of their own spiritual journeys to whatever they are writing. I long for books, whether fiction or nonfiction, that are filled with authenticity, vulnerability, and powerful truth.
Second, what I'm most interested in is writing, as the title of this post says, that sings. That calls to my heart and mind, that draws me in and, in the process, changes me.
FICTION
As a writer, editor, and now agent, fiction makes me dance. I love the power of story, the wonder of words that create a world and characters that transport me and leave me better for the journey. So I'm definitely interested in writers crafting wonderful novels. And I'm open to all genres.
NONFICTION
Yes, Virginia, I am interested in representing authors who write nonfiction. Especially what I call lyrical nonfiction. The kind of nonfiction with a lyrical, storyteller's narrative voice. Books that share the message as, say, Anne Lamott does in Bird by Bird or Mike Yaconelli does in Messy Spirituality. Nonfiction that captures our imagination as well as our intellect, as happens with Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz (which I mention not, as you might think, because it's a best-seller but because it's one of the few nonfiction titles in the last several years that captured me as a reader). Nonfiction that sings. Here, too, I am open to all categories.
With both fiction and nonfiction, I'm happy to consider proposals from new, unpublished authors, so long as you've done your homework (meaning you've been to writers' conferences, had your work critiqued, done the work of revising and refining so that the craft is as good as you can get it).
So...comments and questions?
I'm all ears.
Karen
