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: Adriana Dominguez, Jennifer Rofé and Alexander Slater

Literary Agents
L to R: Adriana Dominguez, Molly O'Neill,
Beth Phelan, Jennifer Rofé and
Alexander Slater 

Literary agents Adriana Dominguez, Jennifer Rofé, and Alex Slater started out discussing trends (what is popular in a given timeframe), evergreens (universal, timeless feel) and how to sell your book in today's market. Jen cited Merci Suarez Changes Gears as an evergreen book with its focus on a child claiming agency and changing family dynamics.

Concerning trends, Jen warned that "you have to be careful with trends because you'll never catch one. Those deals, those books were sold years and years before they come out on the market."

Alex shared that he recently sold a middle grade horror novel, but he knows that by the time he tries to do another one the trend will be elsewhere.

When asked about nonfiction, the panel offered a number of noteworthy responses.

Adriana says she is not a trend chaser and sees nonfiction is an evergreen. The subject, the way the story is told is more important. We're in a moment of reckoning in the country. Fresh perspectives get us looking at things in new ways. There's less resistance now to stories about people and events that have not been as well known compared to five or six years ago.

Alex responded to the question about diverse books and how they "unearth little known points of history" is a privileged view. He attended the SCBWI OK conference this spring and learned about Tulsa Race Massacre. There are many stories that people know and have been impacted by these events, so there needs to be a focus on these stories.

Jen shared that We Need Diverse Books is less a movement, but a correction. It's what should have always been happening.

Adriana said that some of us (agents) have always been focused on this and the numbers are increasing. But it's still so small compared to books being published with characters who are animals and inanimate objects. She does feel that editors are doing better at listening to diverse authors and illustrators as they bring their stories and art to books.

The agents also offered stories of how they help manage their clients' work and when it's best to submit. As business partners with creators, they are committed to helping the creators best position themselves in the market.

For more information about Adriana, visit her website and follow her on Twitter.

To find out more about Jen Rofé, head over to her agency website or Twitter.

Learn about Alex by visiting his website and Twitter.

Two Agents Report on Market Trends

Jennifer Rofe and Jamie Weiss Chilton with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency are talking about market trends in children's literature. Great workshop! Here's just a few tidbits!

What editors are looking for:

Picture books- Short text-under 700 words. Snappy writing. Character driven stories. Multiple hooks.

MG - light paranormal. Interest in light romance and fun girl stories.

YA-Editors are looking for good stories and unique perspectives on teen themes. Real kids in extraordinary situations. High concept (can be summed up in one sentence.) Multiple hooks, literary and commecial appeal.

Don’t write to a trend. A good book doesn’t need trends.

posted by Suzanne Young