Rated the number one literary agency in juvenile sales for 2007 in Publisher’s Marketplace

2008: ABLA is proud to announce that several clients have placed in the top 10 of the New York Times Bestsellers list. Congratulations to Ellen Hopkins, Jay Asher, Nate Evans and Deborah Underwood with Whoopi Goldberg! And, in 2009 we welcome Maggie Stiefvater to the above list of top ten New York Times Bestsellers.

The Andrea Brown Literary Agency is based in Northern and Southern California. Our agency accepts email queries only. If you wish to submit work to us, please look in the Agents section, select the agent who is the best fit for your work, and email that agent, with QUERY in the subject line of your email. See our Submission Guidelines for details.

We represent:

Genres
Children’s Books
Picture Books
Easy Readers
Chapter Books
Middle-Grade
Young Adult
Juvenile Nonfiction
Illustration
Crossover Fiction
Graphic Novels

We do not represent:

Submission Guidelines

As of January 1, 2007, we will ONLY accept queries via email. If you have consulted a guidebook that says that we do accept queries via the post, please note that these guidelines have changed and the information you are reading here is the most current. 
Please see our bios and choose only one agent to whom you will submit your e-query. Target the agent for whom you feel your work is the best fit and send a short email query letter to that agent. We do not open attachments, so the query must be in the body of your email, and it should include publisher submission history and previous publishing credits, if applicable. Please put QUERY and the title of your work in the subject field of your email. We receive a lot of spam, and following these directions will ensure that your query is not missed.
Please DO NOT query more than one agent at our agency. We will pass your work on if we feel it is better suited to another agent. Then, if an agent is interested in your work, she will contact you, and give you specific instructions about how to send your material. You are free to submit to other agencies at the same time, but it is a professional courtesy to let us know, up front, that yours is a multiple submission. We will contact you if we want to see additional material. Please enclose a contact phone number as well as your email address.

What to include in your query (Please no attachments):

• Picture books—query letter and full manuscript text
• Fiction—query letter and first 10 pages
• Non-fiction—query letter, proposal, and sample chapter
• Illustrations—query letter and 2-3 jpegs with pictures of children and animals

Response Time
We will make every effort to respond to your e-query within 4-8 weeks. Occasionally, it may take longer. We respond as quickly as possible, but we receive a large volume of submissions, and more than one reader is involved in the review process. Due to this large volume, we are sometimes not able to respond to every query personally. Therefore, if you have not heard from the agent you queried within 8 weeks, please assume that we are not interested in your work. PLEASE, DO NOT CALL TO FOLLOW UP!

Hints

• Be professional and courteous in your approach to any agent. Agents do form an impression based on your e-query, and you want it to be a good impression. Do not write your query in a rush. Take the time to write it well. Make sure your query and manuscripts are polished and error free.
• Remember, no attachments, with the exception of jpeg illustrations.
• Remember, a “no” from one of our agents is a “no” from the agency as a whole.  If your work is rejected, please do not resubmit the same work to another agent at our agency.  When we read material, we are investing our time. Please respect this. We DO communicate with each other about projects. 
• Please do not call to query us. It is not possible to gauge your writing ability by talking to you on the phone.
• Look carefully at our bios and choose the right agent for your work. Note that some of our agents accept ONLY children’s book projects and others accept BOTH children’s and adult work. If you have adult material as well as children’s, query an agent who accepts both genres.

Message to Authors
We understand that writing is a passion, an intensely personal calling, a long-time dream for many, and frequently a lonely endeavor. We have great respect for authors, and we share the writer’s passion—that is why we are literary agents.
Unfortunately, publishing is a business that necessarily involves a lot of rejection, at every stage. One of the most difficult things for us as agents is to have to say no. Yet, we can take on only a small fraction of all the work we see, and this is simply a business reality.
We say no for many reasons—because of changing trends in the market; because we already have something similar on our list; because we know of similar published or forthcoming titles; because something isn’t right for us; because although something may be strong, well-written and even publishable, we didn’t fall in love with it.
Try to keep “No” in perspective. This is a highly subjective business and another agent may adore your work. All it takes is one “Yes.” We wish you success in finding that “Yes,” whether with us or another agent and publisher. We appreciate your thinking of us, reading our website and giving us the opportunity to see your work.

General Advice
On querying
Limit your letter to three paragraphs. The first should identify title, genre, and market, and give a concise pitch. Position your project against what’s been published in the same vein. This means explaining what sets your work apart and why it is distinct in terms of plot, character, or audience. This does not mean declaring your project the “next” Harry Potter. The second paragraph might explain major plot movements or character arcs. Only the third should focus on your credentials. Mostly discuss the project, not yourself.

On waiting
As an agent reviews your partial or full, patience is the most popular virtue you can exhibit. We all appreciate when an author is savvy and considerate while playing the waiting game. This means sending a kind status check email at the three month mark. It also means being in touch if another agent offers representation. Ask for a response date. Give the agent a chance to get in the game before you decide. If you accept another offer, tell the agent your work is no longer available. It’s a win-win: you get a chance to choose between agents and the agent isn’t wasting time on a project that’s been picked up.

On handling rejection & revision requests
Realize that rejection is part of the business for everyone. Don’t be discouraged, or at best, don’t telegraph your discouragement. Bitter, snarky, or pleading correspondence (even if it’s funny) is unprofessional and cannot reverse a decision. Handle rejection with grace and resolve to keep working towards publication. If an agent extends a revision request, take it as a sign of interest and consider ways to fulfill it. If your immediate reaction is “she doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” return to the agent’s suggestions at a later date to see if they might honor your intentions. If so, take your time in creatively responding and send along the strongest revision possible for reconsideration.

Do’s and Don’ts
Do’s:

Do your homework. Know the different categories used to classify fiction and nonfiction and know within which category your work falls. For children’s books, you should demonstrate a familiarity with the category—know length, age of audience, formal conventions. This kind of knowledge helps to show the agent that you are approaching your writing as a professional.

Do include a proper and personalized greeting to the agent you are querying. We tend to ignore letters where this is omitted—assuming that if the author hasn’t even taken the time to target us specifically, they’re not professional or serious about the process.

Do research the agent (and agency) to whom you plan to submit your material. Make sure you follow the appropriate submission guidelines, and know what kind of material the agent represents. [Resources that contain this information are Writer's Market; Writer's Digest Guide To Literary Agents; Agency websites; Publishers Marketplace. In addition to Writer's Market, there are various other guides to publishers, editors, and literary agents that contain useful information.]

Do write a polished, professional, well crafted, and error free email query letter. Good writing and a strong pitch for your project are essential. Compel us to read on.

Do mention any referrals, personal connections or contacts.

Do keep sending your work out. Rejection is an inevitable part of the business. Everyone experiences it, and you need to develop a thick enough skin so that you keep putting your work out there even in the face of rejection (especially in the face of rejection).

Do let the agent know if yours is a multiple submission.

Do take advantage of all the wonderful resources out there for writers: the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Publishers Weekly; Publisher’s Marketplace (online), Writer’s Digest; Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers & Literary Agents; Writer’s Market, Agency Websites, Amazon, Association of Authors Representatives; Author’s Guild; Shaw’s Guide to Literary Conferences; Websites of terrific authors who are great promoters and very savvy about the business of publishing, like Barry Eisler (see Barry’s ‘On Writing’ section); Joe Konrath (see Joe’s blog); and MJ Rose’s blog Buzz, Balls, and Hype.

Don’ts:

Don’t submit an email query letter or manuscript with careless errors. Your writing should be free from errors, and the presentation of your material should be professional.

Don’t take perseverance too far.

Don’t act unprofessionally at any time—even after receiving a rejection. That way the door is left open. Also, publishing is a small community in many ways. You don’t want to get a bad reputation or to burn bridges.

Don’t use gimmicks to get attention.

Don’t expect an answer too soon. We receive anywhere from 150 to 300 submissions a week. Our agency has a tiered system of response, and also typically has two readers for projects we are seriously considering. It can take a while to get a response.

Don’t submit to more than one person at the same agency.

Don’t keep sending manuscripts to an agent who has declined your work unless the agent asked you to send more or unless a reasonable interval of time has gone by since you submitted your work and the work is significantly different.

Don’t submit to agents who don’t handle what you write.

Don’t send e-queries with a whole list of agents in the subject line. This is a big turn off. Multiple submissions are fine (say it’s a multiple submission), and you don’t have to individualize every query, but at least give the illusion of targeting the particular agent whom you are querying.

Don’t assume your job ends once you’ve found an agent (or an editor).

Don’t give up! Keep working on your writing, and believe in yourself.