Agents Like Us - Lauren MacLeod of the Strothman Agency

I've been super fortunate to have interviewed so many of my favorite authors in my Writers Like Us series from Sara Zarr and Jennifer E. Smith to Katie McGarry and Jennifer Echols. So today I'm really excited to announce a brand new blog series.

Agents Like Us asks agents all their deep, dark agenting secrets. Of course, I couldn't kick this series off right without the help of my rockstar agent with equally awesome hair, Lauren MacLeod of the Strothman Agency. She reps young adult and middle grade. You can find her submission guidelines here, and her tweeting under @BostonBookGirl.

**PLUS--if you scroll all the way to the bottom of this post, we're giving away a signed copy of Jodi Meadows' INCARNATE.**

Lauren's answers are below in bold. Let us know what makes her like you in the comments!

Lauren on Agenting

• When writers query me, I really wish they would do their research! But more than that, I love when they include the genre, title and word count in the first sentence or two. 

• My favorite part about being an agent is the clients! Specifically working with them on amazing new projects and, of course, making the "we have an offer!" call. It makes me feel like a fairy godmother. 

• Rules and trends aside, what I really look for in a story is a connection. If it makes me feel something, I'm going to offer.

• Whenever I make a book deal, I call my dad or my husband. It is usually a while before we can officially announce but I have to tell someone! 

• I really wish I saw more YA mysteries and thrillers in the slush. Contemporary YA and funny MG is my wheelhouse so I get a lot of those, but I also really love tense, action packed stories and it seems like people don't write those as much.

Lauren on Clients

• My ideal client would be J. K. Rowling. And I would call her Jo and we would go to parties with Kate Middleton and plan the surprise Harry Potter spin-off series. 

• What I love most about my current clientele is how supportive they are of each other! Every agent thinks her clients are very talented and smart-- and I am no exception!-- but I think mine are particularly supportive and wonderful to each other and it makes me really happy. Also: you guys are all really funny. 

• What I want most for any client is success! I want my clients to find the readers and the fanbase they deserve. (I wouldn't mind them bringing in just boatloads of advance money either.)

Lauren on Life

• If I weren't an agent, I'd probably be an editor. But if I wasn't an agent because books were over, I'd want to be working in TV. I *love* stories and all the various ways we tell them. But, more realistically, I'd probably be a lawyer or a high school English teacher. 

• My favorite (non-client) book is most recently? Jellicoe Road. But ever and all time? Harry Potter. Probably ... and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

• Secretly, I'm terrified of driving in Boston! I *can* drive here, but only with lots of concentration, no music playing and only if can only take right turns. Down south, where I grew up, people drive much slower and you can do basically whatever you want so long as you drive slowly. But here! Here all drivers just want to kill you. 

I like to worry about the apocalypse too. I don't think I'm so much a "survivor" as I am an "early zombie-lifestyle adapter." Oh! And toilet snakes-- this has always been a fear, but this recent article in Slate-- "A Brief History of Toilet-Based Animal Attacks" --ramped up the nightmares. 

• My secret boyfriend is the Winchester brothers. And Captain Mal. (I will also never not have a thing for Leonardo DiCaprio.)

• I have a total girlcrush on Jennifer Lawrence (who doesn't!?!) and Michelle Obama (she got bangs because she liked them so much on me) and Kate Middleton (I can't help it! It is just-- I love that she and William seem to have so much fun together and she has such great style. Plus she got married just a few weeks after I did, so we have a deep bond) and Christina Hendricks (because I have eyes).

• Sometimes, when no one is around, I love it! I'm an introvert at heart. (Also, I talk to my dog like he is a human. And I, er, do his voice back to me too. )

• My favorite drink is Diet Coke! Unless you mean drink drink and then bourbon. Which work very well together, but is not very classy.

a Rafflecopter giveaway