AGENT SARA MEGIBOW
About Sara & Submission Guidelines
Meet Sara
Sara Megibow is a literary agent with kt literary out of Denver, CO. She has worked in publishing since 2006 and represents New York Times bestselling authors including Margaret Rogerson, Roni Loren, Jason M. Hough, and Jaleigh Johnson. She specializes in launching debut authors and working on long-term career development and profit strategy with them. She is a graduate of Northwestern University with degrees in Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, and American History. Always LGBTQ+ Friendly!
Submissions musts,
in Sara's words:
More on submitting to Sara:
1. Tell us a little about your path to becoming a literary agent and what genres you represent (and don’t represent).
I’ve worked in publishing since 2006, and my main goal is to craft profitable long-term careers for my authors. I want them to write books they love and make money doing it.
What genres do I represent? Middle grade novels (absolutely all sub-genres), young adult novels (absolutely all sub-genres), romance novels (same thing = absolutely all sub-genres), and science fiction/ fantasy novels for the adult market.
2. What’s on your current #MSWL?
Anything and everything that’s side-splitting, giggling, hilariously funny.
3. What do you look for in a query? Do you have any query pet peeves?
I don’t really have any query pet peeves. I think writers are sometimes too worried that rejections happen because they have a typo or the wrong font. I read each query myself, and I read it carefully! If someone misspells my name or calls me Mr. Megibow, I’m not going to reject a project for that (happens every day).
What do I look for? A big hook, a great/unique voice, a succinct description of the story, and a demonstration of superior craft.
4. What is the biggest misconception writers have about literary agents?
I know the biggest misconception my family has is that I sit around and read all day. Alas, nothing could be further from the truth. :)
There is an intense amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into crafting a profitable author career. My job gets busy once we get a book deal. From there, the literary agent shops subrights (audiobook, translation deals, Hollywood), negotiates and audits contracts, communicates with the author and their team, tracks payments, audits royalty statements, and about 100 other things.
For fun, I sit around and read. But for work, I’m herding cats and juggling plates—with a smile on my face, of course.
5. Do you have any advice for the writers taking part in this program?
Great question! I think writers taking part in this program already have a head start!
1) Keep writing!
2) Keep reading!
And, when you are reading, make sure to read widely in your genre. Look for books published in the past two years by major NY publishers—especially those by debut authors.