March 5, 2019 Interview with Agent Devin Ross of New Leaf Literary

Today, we have with us, literary agent Devin Ross of New Leaf Literary.

About Devin:

Devin hails from the windiest city in the Midwest where she spent most of her childhood. She earned her B.A. in English from Lawrence University and her Publishing Certificate from the Denver Publishing Institute. She began her publishing career as an author’s assistant, helping authors grow their platforms and meet their deadlines. Her next career move landed her in the Subsidiary Rights department at Crown Publishing Group before she found her home at New Leaf Literary & Media where worked under Joanna Volpe, soaking up every lesson in agenting she could, before becoming and agent herself.

Devin grew up wanting to be an artist. She painted to escape, and is looking for books that help her to do the same. She’s looking for anything that throws her into a new world, or that helps her see her own in a different light. Devin loves books that make her feel strongly; bonus points for stories that make her laugh and cry. Finally, she is looking for books that teach her things, whether purposeful or through the telling of a story, it doesn’t matter. She is a lifelong learner and is always looking to expand her horizons.

Devin splits her time between Denver and Manhattan, her adorable puppy and staring longingly at the mountains.

Connect with Devin:

Twitter: @Devyross

1) What’s the journey been like from working under Joanna Volpe to being promoted to agent at New Leaf Literary?  

I love this question; it gives me to opportunity to gush. Working with Joanna was a dream. It was never easy, but it shouldn’t have been. The only way to learn the business is through hard work and I learned so much from Jo. I don’t think there could have been a better mentor to learn from. She is so well respected in the industry and by her clients, and there is a reason for that: she works incredibly hard for them. So many of the lessons I learned in those years have translated to solve problems I now face and that experience has made me a better agent.

The transition itself was pretty smooth. I was naturally taking on higher-level work, and working very closely with clients. When it came time to make the shift, it was just a matter of letting everyone know.

2) How would you describe your day-to-day work as a literary agent?

The day to day is always different, but it frequently starts out the same way. I always start the week with a list of the big picture items that I’ll be trying to knock out. I read through my email, get back to everyone about various projects, have phone calls with my clients and then dive into my reading. Client work always comes first and generally speaking I send at least 3-4 edit letters out a week, which takes a good amount of time. One of the aspects of agenting that I love is that no two days are the same. You’ll always be reading new projects, finding solutions to new problems that crop up, meeting new people.

3) Some authors are [understandably] hesitant to query newer agents because they may question the agent’s experience, track record, and/or connections. But every agent starts somewhere. Would you tell us a bit more about your background and developmental process as someone newly open to queries?

Happy to! I had several internships in publishing while I was in college, when I graduated I worked as an author’s assistant for a few years, which lent to an interesting perspective on traditional vs. self-publishing and the everyday life of an author. I spent the summer after college at the Denver Publishing Institute where I received my certificate in publishing before moving out to New York for a job at Crown Publishing Group, part of Penguin Random House. I worked in subsidiary rights, where I learned a great deal about all of the ancillary rights that accompany a publishing contract: everything from first and second serial, permissions, audio, to translation rights. This job contributed so much to my foundational knowledge of publishing. It was from there that I moved to New Leaf, working with Joanna. With Jo, I worked with world-renowned writers; I worked on marketing campaigns with multi-hundred-thousand-dollar budgets, big blockbuster movie deals, and so much more. The experience I gained working with Jo is unlike any assisting job I’ve ever heard of, or experienced.

A word about authors hesitant to query newer agents. You should be hesitant! There are agencies out there that will bring on an agent with no experience, and you should be very wary of that. However, that is not the New Leaf way. At New Leaf, the clients always come first. And no one would be made an agent with New Leaf if there was a doubt in their ability to succeed and represent New Leaf clients to the standard that we hold dear. In my case, I had been working with Jo for years, I had been in the industry years longer than that, and had worked very closely with authors at every stage of my career. I was ready for that next step, and New Leaf agreed.

4) What’s your interaction like with the other agents of New Leaf Literary? 

One of the reasons New Leaf is the best place I’ve ever worked is because of its collaborative atmosphere. I am constantly in contact with all of the other agents at New Leaf. We have multiple meetings every week where we work with each other on our projects, whether it’s our submissions, refining pitches, or brainstorming solutions to problems that have arisen, all of New Leaf’s agents are readily available and happy to collaborate with each other.

5) Do you perceive there to be any advantages to a writer working with a new[er] agent, and if so, what do you believe them to be?  

Yes! There are two big advantages from my perspective. The first is that newer agents still have a lot to prove, and we are hungry to do so. We will work SO hard for you and to make sure that your project is a success. The second is the amount of time that they will have for you. Any senior agent has dozens of clients; that’s just the reality of what it means for them to have been in the industry as long as they have been. A newer agent will have far fewer than that. Every client on their list is a big client to them, and every client will get more time and attention than they would with a more senior agent.

6) I see that you worked as an author’s assistant, “helping authors grow their platform.” How important is an author’s platform to you? Are there any authors with a platform you’re especially inspired by or think writers should look to for inspiration? 

Platform is important, but it’s not crucial. That was most of the work I did as an author’s assistant because it was what the authors I worked with disliked spending time on. They didn’t want to spend time on their socials promoting themselves (which many of them were uncomfortable with), when they could be writing. When it comes to traditional publishing, a platform always helps but, especially with debuts, it’s not going to make or break your chances.

7) What’s something you as an agent face that’s especially difficult or frustrating that writers may not know?

One of the most difficult aspects of the job is passing on manuscripts that come through the queries. I find no joy in turning down projects, though I think that some querying authors don’t realize that there are a lot of reasons that we turn specific projects down other than “I just didn’t like it”. No matter how good a project is, if it is too close to something I already rep or that one of my current clients is working on, I can’t take it on. And when it comes down to it, I can’t sign 100 new clients every year, so when I’m reviewing a query or a full that I’ve requested, I have to think about how that book fits in my list as a whole, if I think we’d be a good fit based on the query letter, etc. There are so many factors that come into play when considering a project that authors don’t necessarily think about.

8) What three things are at the top of your #MSWL? Can you share with us some books similar to those you’d love to represent?

Currently my top three asks are for more women’s fiction, rom coms, and YA contemporary in my query inbox.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

9) Are you open to repping middlegrade, chapter books, or picture books? 

I am opening to repping anything! However, it does need to feel like the right fit. If you’re going to query me with a MG or PB project, there should be a very specific reason that you think I am the right fit for that specific project.

10) If you sign an author in adult or YA, would you be open to repping them in areas you may not necessarily be repping (mg and pbs)? And if so, how and when should they discuss that with you?

I always tell new authors that I sign that I am in for the long-haul, not for one specific project. So before I sign a new client I always have a phone call with them where we discuss what they would like their writing career to look like, what other projects they have in the works, what their goals are. If they have ideas in multiple genre that they are interested in writing in, I am always excited to hear what those are, and determine a strategy that will grow their career in the direction they want to go. I don’t want any of my clients to feel limited to one specific genre. If they have ambitions to write in other genres, that’s great, I want to hear about them!

11) Do you read sample pages without fail or only if the query is strong?

I usually read the sample pages. There are cases in which I don’t: When the topic of the query is something I have expressed I am specifically not looking for would be an example. But in most cases even if the query doesn’t grab me, I go on to read the pages to evaluate the writing.

12) In a query letter, do you have a preference regarding whether the author first dives into the pitch or a short personalization about why they specifically chose to query you?

It doesn’t matter to me which the author does first in a query, I will read the whole thing either way. However, they should specifically call out why they are querying me, why they think their manuscript is a good fit for my list.

13) What’s your average response time to a query? To a partial or full? Do you request R & Rs? 

Generally speaking, New Leaf agents only respond to queries personally if we are requesting the manuscript. I only request fulls; I never request partials. If I’m reading the pages, I don’t want to have to reach out again to read the whole thing. I typically respond to fulls within 2-3 weeks, though client material always comes first so sometimes it takes me a full month depending on how much reading I have on deck.

I do request R&R’s, though not often, and only if I am really in love with the writing or the concept. It’s not something I do lightly and something I would broach with the author, rather than the other way around.

14) In your opinion what makes for a successful author-agent relationship? What’s your communication like with clients?

Transparency. It goes both ways. It’s important that the author always be very open about what their specific goals are so that we are always working with a clear path in mind. At the same time, it’s crucial for the agent to be clear about the realities of the industry, even if it’s a tough conversation to have.

15) Are there any upcoming conferences or twitter events you’ll be participating in?

Yes! I’ll be participating in #DVPit this April, and I will be in Indianapolis for MWW Agent Fest in May. I’m also hosting a Writers Digest webinar on Writing and Selling YA Novels for the 2019 Market at the end of March.

EDIT: Devin will also be participating in the agent round of PBParty from March 27 – 29.

WILDCARD QUESTIONS:

What are three personality traits you would use to describe yourself?

Dedicated, Thorough, strategic

Last book you read that blew you away? 

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

If you could spend a day with any person, living or dead, who would it be?

Alan Alda! I grew up watching MASH! I think that would be quite the entertaining day.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing these awesome responses with us, Devin!