Free Fall Friday – Monica Odom – August Guest Critiquer

Agent Monica Odom – Bradford Literary

Monica Odom joined Bradford Literary Agency in 2015. Prior to joining Team Bradford, she worked for five years managing finance, subrights and social media at Liza Dawson Associates, and became an associate agent there in 2013. Monica earned her Masters in Publishing: Digital & Print Media from New York University in 2014, and has a B.A. in English from Montclair State University.

 

Monica is seeking: Nonfiction by authors with demonstrable platforms in the areas of: pop culture, illustrated/graphic design, food and cooking, humor, history and social issues. She is also looking for narrative nonfiction in these areas, and some memoir. She loves to see a personal project turn into something original and surprising.

 

Fiction in the areas of: literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, compelling speculative fiction and magic realism, historical fiction, alternative histories, dark and edgy fiction, literary psychological thrillers, and illustrated/picture books.

 

Monica is open to all levels of adult and children’s projects and holds the same criteria no matter the age group: original storytelling, incredible voice, compelling characters, and vivid, detailed setting. She also likes to see a strong sense of narrative tension.

 

Monica is serious about the fact that We Need Diverse Books and is looking for authentic representation of all characters, diverse or otherwise. She enjoys working closely with her clients on the editorial and developmental level to fine-tune manuscripts and proposals, and loves the process of managing a writer or artist’s career.

 

Some things Monica is especially interested in right now:

 

– Bold, fresh, fun, fearless female voices (one or all of these qualities)

 

– Unreliable narrators

 

– 1990’s nostalgia (culture and/or setting)

 

– Clever juxtaposition of high-brow and low-brow culture

 

– Stories and projects about families, siblings, coming-of-age, race, feminism, socioeconomics and inequality, memory, language, domestic themes, and environmental change

 

– Character or characters traveling, on the road, nomads with or without a destination

 

– A subtle but effective debunking of stereotypes and convention.

 

Monica is not looking for genre romance, erotica, military, poetry, or inspirational/spiritual works.

 

In her free time, Monica can most often be found with her nose in a book (or handheld screen), out on a bicycle ride, or catering to the various and extensive needs of her spoiled-rotten cats, Sam and Luna.

Here are the guidelines for submitting a First Page in August:

In the subject line, please write “August First Page Critique” and paste the text in the email. Please make sure you include your name, the title of the piece, and whether it is as picture book, middle grade, or young adult, etc. at the top.

Plus attach your first page Word doc. to email. Format using one inch margins and 12 point New Times Roman font – double space – no more than 23 lines. First page should not be submitted with two pages. Send to: kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES: Last month a number of submissions were taken out of the mix, due to not following the directions for both the pasted email and the attached Word doc.

DEADLINE: Aug. 20th.

RESULTS: Aug. 28th.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy