It’s Unofficially Official Agent Day and I’m lucky enough to have an agent, the lovely and ever-so-talented Alyssa Eisner Henkin of Trident Media Group, to feature today! I could come up with a hundred reasons why Alyssa is a super-talented, wonder woman kind of gal, but that would be overkill, so I’ll try to stick to ten.
The Top Ten Reasons I Feel Fortunate to have Alyssa Eisner Henkin in My Life:
10. She plucked me out of her slush pile while my queries lay drowning in others. (Ever wonder what a real slush pile looks like? Because I have. A million times.)
9. During our initial call, she told me my manuscript was messy. After sending me a detailed editorial letter, and after reading each of my drafts, she spent hours on the phone with me, brainstorming ideas to fix the problems. (Really? Agents actually do that?)
8. She busted my butt on revisions for almost an entire year, making me dig deeper and deeper until my plot was hooky enough and my characters were as fleshed out as possible. (It pains me to recall the pounds of chocolate I ingested during the process.) The thing is, though it was hard, she was right. About EVERYTHING.
7. She’s inspiring. She knows exactly what questions to ask to lead me to the best developments in my plot.
6. She’s gifted in an eerie way, knowing exactly what is wrong with my manuscript when I simply can’t figure it out. And when she points out the flaws, she does so in a manner that makes me hold my head high. Now, that is tricky!
5. I really enjoy talking with her! She tells me lots of great stories to punctuate her points. (How much fun is that?! I mean, this crazy talented agent in NYC is telling me stories?)
4.5. (Okay, so I know I’m cheating here, but I can’t help it!) She’s professional and businesslike, but also funny and caring. And at just the right moment, when I really need her to, she’ll throw in something a little feisty and crack me up.
4. She is my most fervent cheerleader. Throughout my lengthy revision process, she never let me give up. She believed in me when I didn’t have the energy to believe in myself.
3. She’s the most influential teacher I’ve had in my life. For real. I’ve learned more about writing (and the business of writing) in my year and a half of working with her than at any other point in my life.
2. She negotiated beautifully and guided me with ease when I had three offers on the table.
1. And the number one reason I feel fortunate to have Alyssa Eisner Henkin as my agent: I feel safe with her on my side. I know she’s going to help me figure out all the messy stuff, and not allow me to consider any manuscript as final until it is at its very best. Whether we’re in the early stages of brainstorming or revision, or the late stages of negotiating a contract, Alyssa will not settle for anything but the best. She’s incredible!
So, here’s what doesn’t work with this whole “Top Ten” thing . . . it barely scratches the surface. There are so many more reasons that Alyssa is a dream-your-highest-dream agent. This short list does not even begin to do her justice.
I hope you will help me make Alyssa’s Unofficially Official Agent Day even better by adding to my list. Maybe you’ve met her at a conference, worked with her when she was an editor at Simon & Schuster, or maybe she’s your wonderful agent too. Whatever the case, if you have any additions that will further highlight Alyssa’s extraordinary talent or lovely personality, please add them to the comments section!
K
Learn more about Alyssa Eisner Henkin and her submission guidelines here: http://www.tridentmediagroup.com/alyssa_henkin.html
Check out all the other lucky authors who are spreading the agent love today over at Lisa and Laura Roecker’s blog http://lisa-laura.blogspot.com/2009/12/happy-agent-day.html
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