Writerlious

Hello, dear readers.  Meet Molly Jaffa, today’s spotlighted agent!  This is my fifth spotlight in a series of posts focusing on agents attending the May 2012 Backspace Conference.  The spotlights are on agents who rep YA.

Agent Profile:  Molly Jaffa, agent at Folio Literary Management

(Image linked from Folio Literary Management website)

Status: Accepting Submissions (as of 4/29/12)

About: “Molly has been working closely with Folio authors’ projects since 2008, and is an Associate Member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR). In addition to building her selective but growing list of clients, Molly utilizes her editorial background, previous work experience in the e-publishing industry, and intimate knowledge of the Folio list in her position as Director of International Rights. She actively pursues sales of international and audio rights and attends all major international book fairs, helping Folio clients’ books reach wide audiences in as many formats as possible. Molly is an avid reader, and when she’s not devouring manuscripts, she can usually be found camped out in the aisles of the Union Square Barnes & Noble (until they kick her out at closing time).” (Link)

Genre’s she is currently seeking (as of 4/29/12):

Middle Grade

Young Adult

Nonfiction for Women 

What Molly’s looking for:

“I focus exclusively on middle grade and young adult fiction. I’m looking for books that challenge the reader intellectually and emotionally, from the high-concept and fantastical to the frank, fresh, and contemporary. I love fiction set in another country, time, or place (real or imagined!) that opens up a rich new world for the reader to discover. Stories featuring characters with strong passions, talents, or smarts – or characters in search of theirs – resonate with me. I’d also like to see: Contemporary YA that’s not afraid to explore complex social issues, historical fantasy, smart middle grade adventures, and good, old-fashioned YA romance.

My current favorite (non-client) middle grade and YA books include Divergent, Across the Universe, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Moon Over Manifest, The Fault in Our Stars, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, When You Reach Me, Wintergirls, and Cinder. All-time favorites include The Phantom Tollbooth, A Wrinkle in Time, Harry Potter, The His Dark Materials trilogy, Go Ask Alice, Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, The View from Saturday, and anything by Dianna Wynne Jones or Tamora Pierce.” (Link)

What Molly’s not looking for:

Picture books or “creature” YA.  (i.e. -no vampires and werewolves). (Link)

Molly, on what makes her stop reading a partial:

“Dialogue that’s stiff or unrealistic. There are a few dialogue issues that let me know a writer’s not quite “there” yet in his or her writing journey. Repeated use of verbs other than “said” in dialogue tags (i.e., everything is “screeched,” “cried,” “squeaked,” etc.) is one. It shows me that the writer probably hasn’t developed her characters and world fully enough. If a manuscript is well-crafted, readers won’t need fancy dialogue tags to understand the character’s emotional state. Characters who constantly address each other by name (“What should we do, Billy?” “I don’t know, Jane, but the water is rising faster!” “Oh, Billy, we’re going to drown!”) is another tip-off-people don’t do that in real life. These dialogue issues may seem like easy fixes, but I’ve found that if a writer hasn’t yet honed these basic skills, the manuscript is likely to have other issues, too. It’s true that a high-concept plot is a huge plus in YA, but don’t scrimp on the nuts and bolts of writing in your hurry to get there! Great writing trumps everything. We can work on tightening the plot or developing characters together, but you’ve got to bring your best writing skills to the table. That’s something each of my clients does very well.”  (From interview at Stacy O’Neale)

Notable Clients:

Lana Krumwiede (FREAKLING, Candlewick, 2012)

Pamela Jane (LITTLE GOBLINS TEN, Balzer & Bray, 2011)

Gever Tulley (50 DANGEROUS THINGS, NAL, 2011).

(Link)

Where to find Molly on the web:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/molly_jaffa

At Folio Literary Management: http://foliolit.com/molly-jaffa/

Publisher’s Marketplace (Folio Lit Page): http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/foliolit/

Submission Guidelines (as of as of 4/29/12 –please verify before submitting!):

Query Molly directly via email at molly(at)foliolit.com

• Paste query letter and first ten pages in the body of the email
• NO attachments
• Type “Query” in the subject line
• No snail mail

Submission guidelines found here: http://foliolit.com/molly-jaffa/