Saturday, February 12, 2022

Samantha Fabien (Root Literary Agency): Agents' Panel #SCBWIWinter22

 

Samantha Fabien, Root Literary Agency

Samantha Fabien is a literary agent at Root Literary. Before joining the Root team, Samantha worked at LDLA as a literary agent and International Rights Manager. Her background includes a Bachelor’s in PR and Journalism, a certificate from the Columbia Publishing Course, and internships/part-time work at Ayesha Pande Literary, Writers House, and Chalberg & Sussman. From these experiences, Samantha has fostered her love for sharing diverse, lasting, and inclusive stories with the world —both in the U.S. and abroad. Samantha can also be found working with events and organizations like DVcon, #Edits4BlackSFF, Gotham Writers, and the New York Writing Room among others.

Samantha was one of the agents on the "Recipe For Success In 2022 From An Agent's Point Of View" panel, which was moderated by Bonnie Bader. Be sure to check out Conference blog takeaways about other agents as well: Chad Beckerman (The CAT Agency), Thao Le (Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency), Jem Chambers-Black (Andrea Brown Literary Agency), Samantha Fabien (Root Literary Agency), James McGowan (BookEnds Literary Agency).

Some takeaways from Samantha:

Theme of her advice throughout: Keep your eyes on your own paper.

Transparency is important. Writing is often about community and information is power. Engage and consume only what is helpful.

Just because your debut book doesn't hit the bestseller list doesn't mean future books won't.

There is no secret recipe to success.

Keep your eyes on your own publishing path. Sometimes, submission takes years. Sometimes, you don't sell your first book. Not every book is for every reader.

Have realistic financial expectations. Each genre, age range and publisher have their own advance levels. Trust your agent and feel free to ask them questions.

What Samantha is especially looking for:

Samantha is actively looking for adult, YA and MG. "And I am eager to support commercial and high stakes stories featuring BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disability, and neurodiversity representation." Find out more in Samantha's pinned tweet thread from Jan. 4th as well as MSWL (Manuscript Wish List).

Samantha S. Fabien logo

Books by Samantha Fabien's clients

Where to find out more about Samantha:

Samantha's website: SamanthaFabien.com (includes her MSL/manuscript wish list)

Linktr.ee page - Twitter: @samanthashsn

Root Literary website ~ Samantha's page on LiteraryAgentsOfColor.com.


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