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It's time! Head over to http://www.instagram.com/janklownesbit (search @janklownesbit on your phone) for tonight's live Q&A with @angiecthomas and @byobrooks! If you have questions, tag #askJNA and #AngieBrooksAMA and tune in! #JNAonline https://twitter.com/JanklowNesbit/status/1247293189465288704
Q from @angiecthomas to @byobrooks on behalf of everyone watching: what IS a literary agent? Brooks says it's sort of a "jack of all trades" job, but modern agents have become more editorial, helping make sure a book is polished for submission #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Once the agent sells a book to an editor, @byobrooks personally tries to take a step back, letting an author develop their own relationship with an editor -- but he stays in a supportive role while focusing more on career management. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Big laugh from @angiecthomas as she admits that part of her working relationship with @byobrooks involves sending a lot of memes back and forth. 
#askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
#askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"Why is it better to have an agent rather than promoting a book yourself?" @angiecthomas clarifies that an agent's job is NOT to promote ( @byobrooks adds, "That's a publicist!"), but to get your books in the hand of an editor. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Firm response to "What's an agent's fee?" @byobrooks says nothing! Agents get paid when authors get paid. "If someone charges you a fee, that's a BIG red flag." @angiecthomas says if that happens, "Run!" #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
More laughs as @angiecthomas admits that working with Brooks editorially on #TheHateUGive gave her some perspective into being a white guy, "since I've never been one." @byobrooks says he was happy to speak for his people in portraying Chris. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"Where do aspiring authors look for agents?" @angiecthomas tackles the question first: "You NEED to write a manuscript [for fiction] and a query letter," which has a short summary of the book, "just enough to pull someone in." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"The general format for cover letter is 3-4 paragraphs; the majority should read like the jacket copy of a book." @byobrooks also shouts out Janet Reid @QueryShark, who will "eviscerate" your draft of a query letter but ultimately make it better. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
The secrets come out! @angiecthomas says @byobrooks actually rejected her TWICE before #TheHateUGive, but points out that her story shows that sometimes a book won't resonate with an agent, but the next one might! #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
And @byobrooks wasn't the only one to reject @angiecthomas at first: she received "300 rejections" for #TheHateUGive! 
#askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
#askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
On writers' conferences, @byobrooks says he won't often sign a new client upon first meeting them, but he may have a conversation that sparks further communication. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
A question for Brooks: "What catches your eye in queries, good and bad?" @byobrooks: "I understand...it seems like we say no all the time, but at the end of the day, we are dedicated readers. We're looking for something that hooks us." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
When the query grabs @byobrooks, he says he's "rooting for you" as he starts to read, thinking, "'Please be good, please be good...'" Agents want to like your work as much as you want them to! #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAliveletter
A big query DON'T: "Don't bash all the other books out there! Don't say, 'I wrote this because all the other books are bad, and I'm fixing that!'" @byobrooks #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
A query DON'T from @angiecthomas: "Don't say something is the next Harry Potter!" @byobrooks adds, "These are phenomenons. The ideal books you want to compare your books to are popular, and well-written, but not ones that break the mold." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Some good news from @byobrooks: publishing "LOVES debut authors! They're shiny and new" and everyone gets excited about fresh voices. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Don't try to write a bestseller, @byobrooks warns, because publishing is "built on subjective opinion." Instead, "write what you like!" #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"Even if I'm not sure this is a genre I want to work in...if the voice is compelling, I'll follow you anywhere." @byobrooks on how to get -- and keep! -- his attention. However, he personally "needs a story to go with the writing." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
On being "a white guy from the North telling a Black woman from the South how to write her story about police brutality," @byobrooks says he would share his thoughts, but asked that @angiecthomas tell him if he ever crossed a line. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"If an agent is like, 'I don't connect with this,' don't feel like you have to change your story," @angiecthomas says; @byobrooks emphasizes that you should actively seek out a literary agent who DOES connect with your story for the right reasons. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"Your agent is your first champion. You want that person who's championing you to understand your story and what you're driving at with your story. You don't have to be best friends...but have a shared vision for [the book]." - @byobrooks #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Some q's rolling in about the book-to-film process: literary agents don't cast the movie! Authors don't cast the movie! @byobrooks personally says he has NOTHING to do with the film side: "I know enough about Hollywood to know I know nothing." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Explaining the role of a film agent, as opposed to a literary agent: @angiecthomas's film agent at United Talent Agency "had all the connections" in Hollywood, but @byobrooks was the one who connected Angie to her film agent. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"How do you become an agent?" @byobrooks makes clear, "There's no license," & everyone's path is different. Lots of English majors, but Brooks was a film major, joined the Peace Corps, wanted to be a writer...and was 30 before he tried publishing. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
For more practical advice on getting into publishing, @byobrooks advises students to try for internships, and even those who are well out of school (like he was). Internships are "necessary, because there's so much you're expected to know." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
It's easier to get an internship if you live in NYC, @byobrooks acknowledges, but there are other paths, e.g. remote opportunities. @angiecthomas shouts out @diversebooks & their grants for underrepresented candidates seeking pub internships. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Confused about what @angiecthomas means when she refers to the "Big Five" in publishing? There are five major publishing companies in the book industry: HarperCollins, Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Random House. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Audience question to @byobrooks: "Do you accept scripts?" Nope. "I work exclusively with books...I leave [the film side] to people who know what they're doing." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
What books IS @byobrooks looking for? YA and children's, yes but also: "I have a particular love for adult speculative fiction...fantasy, science fiction, horror, and the like. Not abandoning children's books, but branching out a little more!" #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Did @byobrooks "pat [him]self on the back when [he] signed @angiecthomas, because [he] knew what [he] had?" Well, sort of! "EVERY author I sign, I pat myself on the back, because every author I sign is something I'm excited about." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Brooks ( @byobrooks) reiterates what he told @angiecthomas in their first Twitter interaction about whether publishers would ever say no outright to sensitive subject matter: it's not about the subject, it's about how you write about it. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
After @angiecthomas sent #TheHateUGive to @byobrooks, he loved it...but by that point, so did plenty of other agents. "I had to fight for you!" #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Two-part message on getting rejected by literary agents: No matter how many nos, "it only takes one yes," says @angiecthomas, and @byobrooks adds, "But you want it to be the RIGHT yes." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
As @angiecthomas starts work on her fourth book (this time for middle grade readers!), she'll send @byobrooks her ideas, and "if [he] responds in ALL CAPS, I know it's a good idea." #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
On the virtues of #TheHateUGive and @angiecthomas work on "issue books" that are more than that, @byobrooks notes that it isn't exclusively focused on a moral lesson, but "it has humor and it has heart." Story matters! #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
Angie's upcoming third novel, #ConcreteRose, a prequel to #TheHateUGive focused on Starr Carter's father Maverick as a young Black man, "is probably the funniest book she's written," @byobrooks enthuses -- even if it's about gang violence. #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
"Self-publishing is not something you do because you can't find an agent or a traditional publisher...[it's] really good for someone who has a specific vision," but they have to "have the drive" to ensure it succeeds "all on their own." @byobrooks #askJNA #AngieBrooksAMA #JNAlive
