AGENT RENEE NYEN
About Renee & Submission Guidelines
Meet Renee
Several years in the editorial department at Random House’s Colorado division provided Renee with the opportunity to work with bestselling and debut authors alike. After leaving Random House, she came to KT Literary in early 2013. She loves digging into manuscripts and helping authors shape the best story possible. Though this is great for her profession, it tends to frustrate people watching movies with her. With a penchant for depressing hipster music and an abiding love for a good adventure story, Renee is always looking for book recommendations. Even if that means creeping on people reading in public—which she does frequently. She makes her home in Arizona with her husband and their three children.
Submissions musts,
in Renee's words:
More on submitting to Renee:
1. Tell us a little about your path to becoming a literary agent and what genres you represent (and don’t represent).
My start in publishing was as an editorial assistant at a religious publisher. It was a fantastic foundation in how the publishing industry works. That said, YA and MG books have always been my favorite, so when I was lucky enough to connect with Kate Testerman it felt like such a natural fit.
Since becoming an agent in 2015, I have sold exclusively YA titles. I would love to round it out with some more MG. With a long-time deep love of female-focused thrillers and mysteries, adding that to my client list feels very natural, though I have yet to find the perfect manuscript for me.
2. What’s on your current #MSWL?
Middle Grade family stories are always exciting to me. As are mysteries and adventures. I would love some YA stories based in deep female friendships and the complications of those relationships. Fantasy and Sci-fi will always be some of my favorite YA genres. And as mentioned before, I need some dark, conflicted women to make the jump to adult fiction. I love Tana French, Gillian Flynn, and Liane Moriarty.
3. What do you look for in a query? Do you have any query pet peeves?
I love very direct queries. I want to know upfront what makes your book different than the competition. And I’m a sucker for a great comp title combo (ie: Buffy meets Angie Thomas.)
4. What is the biggest misconception writers have about literary agents?
Some people think agents love rejecting people and sit around making snarky comments about our query inbox all the time. I would say it’s quite the opposite. We understand the work that goes into writing and querying a novel, and most of the agents I know are respectful of that when we send a rejection.
5. Do you have any advice for the writers taking part in this program?
Gain all the knowledge you can. Listen to the experts. Surround yourself with people who aren’t afraid to tell you the truth. And ultimately, trust your gut. It’s your name on the book. You have the complete vision for it. Honor that.