SPOTLIGHT FEATURE: Julie Gourinchas from Bell Lomax Moreton

Good morning, everyone!

Julie is an agency assistant at Bell Lomax Moreton who has recently begun to build her own list while supporting fellow agents at the agency. She also has experience in author scouting and editorial work.

Julie is primarily looking for dark and lyrical literary writing across a range of genres including historical, horror, dark academia, retellings of folklore and mythology, low fantasy, and grounded speculative and science fiction. She is not the right agent for children’s or young adult fiction, and is not looking for high fantasy or spacefaring sci-fi.

You can find Julie on Twitter @literaryfey, where you can learn more about her interests. She also offers Agent One-to-One sessions with Jericho Writers – book now to hear her feedback!

“Detailing how you work best and what you need can help agents identify whether there will be synergy in the partnership.”

Hi Julie, thanks for speaking with me today!

What brought you to agenting?

I had quite a roundabout way into agenting. I started my publishing career with a sort of boot camp with the Columbia Publishing Course in Oxford in 2016, and through that I connected with the Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. I was there for about two and a half years doing admin work as well as editorial work, and then I left to go freelance as an editor… right before the pandemic hit.

During this time, I provided editorial support for some agents I knew, including John Baker from Bell Lomax Moreton. I was looking for a full-time job in the publishing industry by that point, and I listed John as a reference on a job application I was submitting. As it turns out, he happened to take the reference phone call while in the same room as Paul Moreton, our Managing Director, who liked the sound of me enough to invite me for an interview!

So, Bell Lomax Moreton is the first agency I’ve been with but not the first group of agents I’ve worked with.

After joining Bell Lomax Moreton, you co-agented an author with John Baker. What did that teach you about your preferences as an agent?

It actually taught me quite a lot! When I first started working at the agency, I realised that John and I had very similar reading tastes – he represents mostly science fiction and fantasy which I really love. Because our submissions reader doesn’t read a lot of SFF, I offered to read some of the submissions in John’s inbox and I quickly found one that I was very excited about. I sent it to John and we ultimately decided to work on that project together.

However, reading John’s submissions did hone my preferences and make me realise that while I really enjoy reading high fantasy and science fiction, I don’t think it’s what I want to focus on as an agent. It can be very develop books with (for example) really expansive worldbuilding, and unlike John, I just don’t think I’m best equipped for that. My tastes have skewed over the years towards more grounded works set in our world or a world very closely adjacent to ours – I prefer speculative over high fantasy or hard science fiction. I also like literary writing which isn’t always the best match for science fiction and fantasy.

What’s a day in the life of an agent like for you?

I’m still very much an agency assistant while I build my own list, so a lot of my time is spent doing whatever is required of me by the rest of the team. I joined as essentially the jack-of-all-trades of the agency: I do a lot of admin work, but because of my editorial background, I also provide editorial support to agents who need help working on their submissions. So, reading other agents’ submissions and providing editorial feedback is a big part of my job. At the moment, in the lead-up to Bologna and London Book Fair, I’ve been looking at our rights tables. I also spend time upkeeping our database of editors and checking social media for industry news.

Speaking of social media, how have you found the experience of putting yourself out there as a newer agent?

I use Twitter fairly avidly and I find it a useful tool for connecting with publishing professionals and the huge writing community that exists there. I enjoy pitch events and there are a couple of authors I have connected with from seeing them on Twitter.

Sometimes I’m a little wary of crossing boundaries by following back authors that I don’t represent, even if it’s just because I like the content they post and would enjoy chatting with them. Because I use a personal account, I try to approach social media as human-first – i.e., I’m interacting with people in my capacity as a human rather than in my capacity as an agent. This is something that other agents have really effectively built their brand around: take Juliet Mushens, for example, who I would say spearheaded this approach of identifying yourself as an industry professional while maintaining that human-first mentality. It’s an approach that is important for me, and I think any other would lead to some difficult power dynamics that would be quite knotty to untangle.

That said, I would like authors to respect this boundary too. If I post something on my personal Twitter like “Just came back from a walk,” I don’t particularly enjoy seeing “Julie, I sent you a query on Monday” in the replies. I’m a human being and sometimes I just want to talk about a nice walk!

What’s at the top of your wishlist?

I would describe my tastes as ‘literary plus’ – literary writing that encompasses a wide variety of genres. As above, I like grounded speculative fiction. I also love anything strange or Gothic; writing that might make you close the door behind you a little quicker at night. Equally, I can appreciate a contemporary story!

If someone has a sharp, toothy, dark academia novel, I would love to see it, especially if it’s set in Edinburgh.

Would you ever consider non-fiction?

I am working on two non-fiction projects at the moment, but it’s more the case that they fell into my lap. One of them, for example, came about because an editor I knew was looking for a specific project and I happened to know an author who I thought would be a good fit, so we ended up working on it together.

I would potentially be interested in developing my non-fiction list further, though I’m not actively looking for any just yet. I’m particularly interested in accessible academic works – things like The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan or Strangers in Our Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild, that take academic concepts and treatises and apply broad, commercially viable assessments to them. Anthropology, history and political science would be the kind of space I might be interested in.

Things you like and dislike in a query letter?

I’m not very precious about query letters. People tend to stress about every last word and assume their query letter has to be perfect for it to be accepted – but that’s not how I approach things. The things that would put me off would be glaring errors: addressing the letter to ‘Dear Sir/Madam’, mistaking me for somebody else, not containing information about the word count and genre, etc.

I have received query letters that start with something like: “Dear Ms Gourinchas, I have long admired you and your client list…” Of course, five minutes of research would tell you that I’m a new agent who doesn’t really have a client list yet. I try to extend grace because I know how hard the querying process is, but I do think that those few minutes of research can make a real difference.

Something I would like to see more often is authors including in the query letter the way they want to work with an agent. For example, “I am looking for an agent who is very hands-on editorially,” or “I am looking for an agent who will let me take the lead on developing my story.” Detailing how you work best and what you need can help agents identify whether there will be synergy in the partnership.

How about synopses?

Not all agents like to read synopses, but I do – with my editorial background, I like to see the overall structure of the story and how agency, plot, tension and action move together. It’s also a good way to check that the author can communicate their ideas concisely. I tend to read the synopsis after the first pages of the manuscript; if I’m hooked by page five or so, I’ll read the synopsis before going back to the rest of the submission.

A good synopsis should convey the main conflict of the story and how the main character or characters confront it. Some synopses lay out the events of the story but fail to identify the central conflict, which can be quite confusing. An agent who reads a synopsis but isn’t given that clear sense of the central conflict is probably going to be harder to sell on the manuscript itself.

Is there anything in the opening of a manuscript that tends to hook you?

I am a sucker for beautiful writing. My tastes lean more towards the poetic, literary, flowing style of writing. Anything evocative and atmospheric is great. My favourite stories are ones where I read a single sentence and know exactly where we are – we’re on the rain-slicked, cobblestone streets of Victorian London, or we’re burning under a desert sun – anywhere with a strong sense of place will immediately catch my attention.

Any books you’ve enjoyed recently?

Over the holidays, I read Kala by Colin Walsh, which is coming this year from Atlantic Books. It’s a dual timeline narrative from three different points of view and the conceit is a classic thriller plot: someone returns to their hometown and learns that their high school best friend, who disappeared as a teenager, has been found dead. I really enjoyed the way Walsh wove together the different character threads, and I appreciated how distinctive the voices of each of the point-of-view characters were.

In speculative fiction, over the summer I read Brother Alive by Zain Khalid, also from Atlantic Books. It’s got such beautiful writing that stuck with me, and again has that focus on character dynamics while weaving together the past and the present.

And lastly, I’ll mention Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which – like almost everyone under the sun – I found to be an absolute delight.

What are your wishes for 2023? They can be for your personal career, for the agency, or for the industry as a whole?

My personal career goal is to handle my first book deal completely on my own. While I do co-represent an author with John Baker, I’m looking to sign and then sell my own first client – that would be an amazing way to start the year.

For the agency, I’d love to see continued growth. I’m really excited for the deals my colleagues are making and we have some very exciting books coming out this year.

Other hobbies and passions?

I love video games – recent favourites include Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Hades, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn. I’m playing three Dungeons & Dragons games at the moment as well. I also like to play pool, and like anyone who works in publishing, I like to read. In my spare time, I also like to do graphic design and web design. And lastly, two of my personal goals for 2023 are to work out and to travel more.

Any last pieces of advice?

It’s common advice but be sure to read within the genre you’re writing. There are some authors who feel very passionate about their project – as they should! – but have misconceptions about the genre or have created something that already exists. I’d also advise you to do your research into the agents you’re querying to make sure you know the genres and authors they represent.

Finally, social media is a tool; use it wisely. By all means, use it to grow your following and connect with other authors and agents, but make sure to respect the boundaries inherent there.

The full interview can be found on Julie’s AgentMatch profile.

Want to hear more from Julie? Why not watch our New Agent Panel (available to Premium Members) or book a personalised feedback session through our Agent One-to-Ones service. Or, 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.