Agent Twitter Takeover: Quressa Robinson

Last week our fabulous Social team organised a twitter takeover with Quressa Robinson, an agent with Nelson Literary Agency in the US. There were lots of questions about Quressa’s advice on submissions and even how she became an agent, so we thought we’d collate the highlights and share them here for you.

Q. How many submissions do you read per day? 

A. There really are no standard days so that varies. But if we are talking queries, I get about 400 a month.

Q. What type of material stands out to an agent? What grabs your attention? 

A. I’m always drawn to voice first. Not really helpful since connecting to voice is subjective and not necessarily something a writer can control. I also look for structure, the ability to follow-through with story and character arcs and an author’s understanding of the genre they write in.

Q. TWE would you ignore something with promise if it didn’t fit your MS wish list?¬†

A. My MS wish list is just a general template of things I’d like to see, so if something isn’t on it that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a pass. But if something has promise but isn’t right for me, yes, I pass. It doesn’t do myself or any potential client any good for me to take on anything that I’m not passionate about.

Q. What one thing makes you instantly dismiss a manuscript? 

A. Being offensive. Not being well-written, i.e not ready to query. Not right for me/not in a genre I represent or want to represent. It is excitedly rare that I instantly reject something.

Q. Is being an agency assistant the only route to becoming an agent? 

A. Nope, but typically some type of job in or adjacent to publishing is. I started off in editorial then moved over to agenting. I know peeps who did publicity/marketing first. Even someone who worked in production. But essentially all jobs in publishing run on an apprenticeship model, so you’ll ultimately do a lot of learning on the job.

You might also recognise Quressa from the Spotlight On Interview a few weeks ago too. Check out that full interview here!

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