Breakout Session 3: Tying the Knot Without Dating: What to Expect in the Creator-Agent Relationship with Jen Rofe

While this session was initially titled - Tying the Know Without Dating: What to Expect in the Creator-Agent Relationship, Jennifer has retitled it to:

Jennifer Rofé wanted to live in the Berenstain Bears tree house when she was a child. Today, she represents the authors and illustrators who create the characters and worlds that inspire young readers. As a senior agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Jennifer works with creators primarily in the middle grade, picture book, and illustration spaces. Her clients range from seasoned, award-winning, and bestselling authors and illustrators to industry newcomers, including Meg Medina, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Dev Petty, Mike Boldt, Amber Ren, and Eliza Wheeler. She has been on the faculty of many conferences including the Big Sur Writer's Workshop and numerous SCBWI events, and she is especially known for her The So What? Factor presentation.

Baseline expectations of your agent: 

• communication
• transparency
• negotiation
• advocacy
• honesty 
• handling business

10 MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE CREATOR-AGENT RELATIONSHIP

1. An agent works FOR you. No, an agent works WITH you. It's a partnership.

2. An agent will definitely sell your work and get you more work. And fast! All agents have represented projects that have never sold.

3. Your agent should be your first reader. While a writer might run ideas by their agent, the manuscript should be worked on, revised, and run through critique groups first. 

4. Your agent should love everything you write. 

5. Your agent should always have your work on submission. 

6. Your relationship with your agent will look like their relationship with other clients. Every working relationship is unique, much of that can depend upon what's happening within a creator's career.

7. A junior agent won't help me succeed like a senior agent could. Instead consider what kind of support that agent has within their agency.

8. Having a bad agent is better than having no agent. 

9. Parting with an agent is a failure. There are reasons why things don't work out. No fault to the writer or the agent. 

10. Your agent is always right.

If you are looking to learn more about the what the creator-agent relationship, this session will be wonderfully helpful. Jennifer has been honest and open, sharing helpful information about this important industry relationship. Packed with a lot of information.

If you want to view this session to hear the full content, along with the rest of the conference,

register at https://www.scbwi.org/events/virtual-summer-conference-2025. Replays of the

conferences will be available until September 14th, 2025.

Agents' Panel: Jennifer Laughran (Andrea Brown Literary)

Jennifer Laughran joined Andrea Brown Literary Agency in 2007 after a long career as a bookseller, buyer and event coordinator. Always on the lookout for sparkling YA and middle grade fiction with unusual and unforgettable characters and vivid settings, she loves funny books, thrilling books, romantic books, books that make her cry, and all-around un-put-downable books… and her true favorites are all of the above. Some clients include author-illustrators like Giselle Potter, Don Brown, Raul the Third and Phoebe Wahl; middle grade authors like Daniel Pinkwater, Kate Messner, Alex Gino and Linda Urban; YA authors like Erin Jade Lange, Paula Stokes, Karen Rivers and Ellen Emerson White, among others. Visit www.andreabrownlit.com.

I loved Jennifer's story about meeting Kate Messner at an SCBWI conference, and signing her as her first author about ten years ago. (They've sold forty books together!) While waiting to sell her first novel with her new agent, Kate drafted a poem  on the back of a brown paper bag that quickly became Over and Under the Pond.

While Jennifer reminds us we can't replicate any author's success, she says: Absorb the SCBWI anecdotes shared by agents, editors, authors, and illustrators, but know your path in publishing will be unique, too.

That said, some of the traits she credits Kate for bringing to their successful partnership are:

• Flexibility: she rolls with the punches and isn't afraid of revisions. 
• When an idea isn't working, she's willing to try something new.
• Communicative
• Actively working on new projects
• Attending an SCBWI Conference! That's how they met.

Catch more of the conference highlights this year through blog posts tagged #LA17SCBWI or as-it-happens on Twitter.

Jamie Weiss Chilton: the Current Marketplace for Nonfiction

Jamie Weiss Chilton, an agent with Andrea Brown Literary, says there are two types of nonfiction.

 

NARRTIAVE NONFICTION should be engaging like fiction—that fact that it happens to be based on real events is like icing on the cake. It’s often illustrated rather than using photographs. Aurhors may use back matter to offer additional information.

 

INFORMATIONAL NONFICTION offers the facts with no narravtive elements. It uses information sidebars, indexes, italicized words, glossaries, and other elements to teach the information to readers. It’s more text-heavy.

 

She says when you think about the nonfiction you’re writing, consider the two categories. Research the market to see if there are other books on your chosen topic, and be sure yours has a unique slant.

 

There are nonfiction books for various age levels each with its own considerations.

 

Board books: You need a strong platform and credentials. Doing your homework is important. Often board book creators create the content and they may also create novelty formats. (ROCK AND ROLL COLORS is an example.)

 

 

Picture books: Today’s nonfiction picture books are different than they were in the' 80s and '90s. Nonfiction picture book text is now shorter and snappier, more witty, clever and funny. The language is accessible and age-appropriate. A strong story arc is important and there must be dramatic tension. Choose a figure, person or event with a dramatic arc. (DAVE THE POTTER is an example.)

 

 

 

Middle grade: Jamie says research is the key—you’re getting into a tremendous amount of research writing a nonfiction book of this length. It’s important for an author to have a strong platform. Also be aware that the cost of photo permissions is taken out of an author’s advance. Some authors use their own photos. (THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE BARBIE is an example.)

 

 

 

Young adult: Memoirs have been doing well and selling well and, again, must read like fiction. Also young readers adaptations (adult books, like THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA FOR KIDS) done over for younger readers. They are relatable and can be aspirational and light and fun or, on the flip side, depressing.

 

 

 

Fact-based or fact-inspired fiction: Perfect for when an author is inspired by a real story, but can offers facts in the format of a fictional story and thus avoid permissions for using names and places. (WHEN ANJU LOVED BEING AN ELEPHANT is an example.)

 

 

Here are some reasons for rejection from real rejection letter for nonfiction project Jamie has shopped to editors:

• Unknown historical figure
• Won’t appeal to a broad enough audience
• Lacks cirriculum connection or other specialized tie-in
• Similar titles are not selling well for the publisher or other publishers