SPOTLIGHT FEATURE: Ameerah Holliday from Serendipity Literary Agency
Good morning, everyone!
Today I am very excited to introduce you to Ameerah Holliday, an agent with Serendipity Literary Agency.
Ameerah Holliday joined Serendipity Literary Agency in 2019, initially on a year-long internship and then as a junior agent from 2020. She is also a former editorial assistant intern for Poetry International and currently serves as editorial director for the San Diego Poetry Annual and assistant editor for Kids! San Diego Poetry Annual.
Serendipity Literary Agency LLC is a boutique agency founded in 2000 by Regina Brooks. The agency has a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature.
Ameerah is interested in both fiction and non-fiction books. She is drawn to voice and emotion in all genres, and looks for writing that explores diverse experiences with elements of intersectionality. Ameerah would love to see stories that take you on a journey through growth or explores friendship. In non-fiction she is interested in writing derived from niche passion projects, discussions of mental health in minority communities, and books on business.
Check out some highlights from our interview with Ameerah below
“I love when authors have an elevator pitch in their query letter already. It’s really helpful and it gives a really concise idea of the themes and the things that I’ll be seeing in the story.”
Good afternoon Ameerah, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today! We would love to know more about how you became an agent, what your role entails, what you’re looking for in submissions, and advice for querying authors.
Q. What brought you to agenting?
I was in college and I was studying English lit and I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do in that space. I knew that I didn’t want to be a writer but I knew I loved to read and so I thought that maybe being in a space where I could help other writers create and craft their books would be the perfect place for me. I met another agent who worked on graphic novels and made it seem like he was part of the magic and finding the voice that was out there in the void and helping craft it and get it out into the world and I was so excited by that that I decided to do agenting.
Q: What is a day in the life of an agent like for you?
It’s a lot of reading, not only my authors and my clients work but also other people’s work as well. I also try to do a lot of outreach to editors and other people in the industry, so it’s a lot of talking to people about a love of books and ideas and TV shows that we’re all really passionate about. So it’s about 95% talking to people and figuring out the things they enjoy, and the rest is reading and offering advice and care.
Q. What’s at the top of your fiction wish-list?
I would love a rom-com, specifically one that’s queer or intersectional and contains minorities, something we haven’t necessarily seen before. I would also really love a middle grade or YA story that’s similar to Stranger Things, where the friend group is the core and they’re solving the problems together. I love the dynamic of kids coming together in their circle and basically saving the world together, I think that’s amazing.
Q. What do you love when it comes to non-fiction?
I really want to get into more of the mental health space, specifically in minority communities. I really love to push those ideals and experiences. I’m also really into business related books or books that deal with pop culture in niche ways. Because I’m in San Diego, California I‚Äôm around a lot of the Comic-Con culture and the science fiction/fantasy space, and so I love anything that deals with fandom and pop culture in unique ways. As well as anything that involves business in a new way, not necessarily advice books on being a boss but books on dealing with building your business, and how to relate to other people.
Q. What do you want to see in a query letter? And what do you hate?
I love when authors have an elevator pitch in their query letter already. It’s really helpful and it gives a really concise idea of the themes and the things that I’ll be seeing in the story. One of the things I don’t always love is comparable titles, though I know they’re necessary. Sometimes they can be a bit too vague or even a bit too extreme. I love when authors include comps, but if you’re calling your story ‘the next Game of Thrones’ I think that’s a really large sell, so I’d prefer comp titles to be a little more grounded. Also, comp titles don’t have to be limited to books, which is something I would love to see more of. If an author feels like their story is similar to a movie or TV show that just came out, they should definitely mention that.
Q. Same question when it comes to the synopsis. What should writers do? What should they avoid?
I don’t love synopses that are very hashtag heavy, so if you’re writing something and you’re using #/ownvoices or #/scifiauthor, those are very catchy taglines but I don’t love to see a whole lot of those in the synopses. I do love to get a general sense of the story and the characters and the themes I’ll be seeing. I love when you can integrate a little bit of the overall themes and the feel of the story more than giving away the plot so that I know what emotionally to expect in the story. I think if you can get your synopsis to be concise and as short as possible that’s good. A synopsis that’s more than 2 or 3 paragraphs is a little bit too much. And I’d also say that authors shouldn’t necessarily be afraid to give away the story or the surprise twist ending in the synopsis. I want to get a real feel for your story so don’t be afraid to tell me what’s going to happen.
Q. Is there anything that would make you instantly dismiss a manuscript? Would you reject something if it didn’t fit in with what you usually represent?
If I read something and it’s not necessarily for me or I get turned off in the first few pages, but I still feel like it’s a good story or has a good theme or plot, I traditionally just pass it to another agent in our agency. There’s not a whole lot that would make me automatically reject a story if I thought it was good.
Q. Tell us about a recent deal (or three) that really delighted you.
Our agency just had a recent deal go through for three picture books for one of our authors, Derrick Barnes, and our illustrator Shawn Martinbrough is set to work with him on one of the books as well. We also have a Juneteeth picture book getting ready to come out which is really fun! We have a few non-fiction books coming out. One is a book about the business side of the beauty industry, and another is discussing psychedelics and religion which is such an interesting topic so, I’m really excited to see how that one goes.
The full interview can be found on Ameerah’s AgentMatch profile.
In the meantime, if you’re struggling with your query letter and synopsis, do check out our free resources on our website. We have lots of info to help you on your way. Or, better still, if you’re a Premium Member with us, our lovely Writers Support team will be happy to offer you a free query letter review!
Responses