Agent Interview: Becky LeJeune

Strong characters & plot

There are so many, but Sandra Bond took me under her wing and has been with me through every step of agenting. I will forever be grateful for her mentorship and teaching and for giving me a chance!

Way too many to count! Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Sue Grafton, Alyssa Cole, Johnny Compton, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Erin E. Adams, Ramona Emerson...

I am a very editorial agent. If I see issues with a manuscript I'm reading for representation, I have to have a clear vision of how we can address the issues. And I very much want that to be a conversation with the author. I want them to realize I am not the author, it isn't my story. But my goal is to help get it polished to the point that we will hook an editor. And if my ideas for changes don't align with the the author's, that's fine! Hopefully it starts a conversation OR it becomes clear that I'm not a good fit for the author in question.

Relax! I'm just a person who go into this business because I love books and I love sharing the things I love with other readers! It's also such a subjective business. A no from me will be a yes from someone else!

I need the basics: title, word count, genre, and audience (and by that I mean middle grade, YA, adult...); a paragraph or two about the plot of the book itself; and a brief bio about the author (please include anything relevant to your experience that might be connected to your inspiration behind writing the book). And that's pretty much it. Any accolades, if you have them. No worries at all if you don't. And then we ask for a sample. That's the really telling part for me. Did the author follow instructions and send the requested material and is it hooking me!

The basic writing, plot, pacing, and characters all have to be there. Beyond that, the perfect manuscript is one that hooks me from the very start, begs for my attention when I'm not able to read it, and sticks with me long after!

It varies, but the biggest issue I see is authors submitting to me personally without invite or referral, without going through Query Manager. And I know my QM has been closed to submissions, but it's because my client base has kept me very busy. I assume that any querying author wants the assurance that if they get picked up by an agent, they will be a priority. Queries, as frustrating as it is to those in the trenches, come after client obligations. The authors I work with have to take precedence.

Anything relevant. If you work in STEM for example and have written a sci fi novel based on your area of expertise, I want to know that! If you did a mentorship or a residency, I want to know that. Otherwise, basic information about who you are and what you do when you're not writing is always welcome as are any social links.

It depends on the submission. Most of the time, I can tell early on that I'm not a fit: either it's not a subject or genre that I represent or the writing just isn't quite there yet. Sometimes I'll get partway through and realize that the pacing is off and the manuscript isn't pulling me in, making me feel like I need to keep reading. Sometimes I'll read the whole thing, recognize that it's good and it will sell, but it has issues I don't have a good idea how to address, which just means I'm not the right agent.

Once I decide I want to offer representation, I send the author back their manuscript with any notes that I have. Then I schedule a getting to know you call. This call is with an eye to offering formal representation but it's really a chance for the author and I to talk and ask each other questions to determine if we think we want to work together. After the call, if things go well, I follow up with a formal offer of representation.

The day varies! It's a mix of emails, meetings, deep research, and reading/editing.

I follow and promote all of my clients on social media. Sometimes that looks like reposting their own posts about podcasts, interviews, and events. Sometimes it's cover reveals and deal announcements. I try to support them all equally with things they have going on, even if they're not directly book related. I also do work on the back end to make sure that people are getting ARCs and copies as they need and trying to help with event ideas.