Agent Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Jennifer began her career in agenting after working as a long-time children’s bookseller and buyer. She is also the founder of the extremely popular YA event series “Not Your Mother’s Book Club.” She joined the Andrea Brown Literary Agency in 2007. Always on the lookout for sparkling YA and middle grade fiction with unusual and unforgettable characters and vivid settings, she is drawn to all kinds of books, whether realistic comedies or richly imagined magical adventures. However, the common thread in her favorite stories is an offbeat world-view. Jennifer adores simplicity, but she is not interested in the conventional, predictable, mechanical, gimmicky, or ordinary. Jennifer 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. 

Jennifer is looking for sparkling middle grade and young adult fiction. I’m also open to graphic novels and picture books, particularly by author-illustrators. Great writing a must, high concept a plus. Authors from marginalized communities are encouraged to query. Diverse narratives of all kinds welcome.

For contemp, I like very voicey characters that I will laugh and cry with, and a hooky plot doesn’t hurt. I really want stories and perspectives that I may not have read before. I prefer upbeat to dismal – put the characters through hell if you must, but I hope they come out the other side stronger for it! I have a soft spot for all books featuring all shades of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. And did I mention UPBEAT? I love joyful, funny books. (I’m not saying everything about the book has to be joyful and funny! But… if nothing about it is, it might not be for me.)

For fantasy, my preference is “cute magic” and adventure involving human/humanoid POV characters we can relate to, with maybe some humor and romance, and recognizable earth or earth-like settings. I am probably not the best agent for extreme high fantasy. (I like GRACELING and Tamora Pierce… not so much GoT or LoTR). For SF, again, I prefer stories that are rooted in some version of our world.

For historical, well, I’m probably not the best person for historical unless it is pre-1929 and there’s something flashy about it. (Tudor, Regency, Victorian, WW1 and 1920’s or similar are all fine.) I have pretty much zero interest in the 1950’s-1990’s as a historical era. And I have a difficult time reading about the Holocaust. Unless the book is about punching Nazis! #PunchNazis

My personal website, with lots more of the books and clients I rep: http://www.jenniferlaughran.com/

Fun facts about me:

• I went to boarding school, and theatre school for both high school and college – I’m a sucker for stories set in and around theatres and boarding schools!
• Though I am from California, my family hails from Louisiana and Mississippi, and I lived in New Orleans for a long time. I’m interested in stories about New Orleans and the south – particularly the modern South.
• I have worked in bookstores since I was 12, but I’ve also had a variety of jobs ranging in oddness, including: a) Waitress at a mafia restaurant where all of the “upper management” was arrested because of an anti-racketeering FBI sting in the middle of dinner service!  b) Writer of love notes between Turkish gigolos and the foreign women they were wooing! c) professional audience seat filler for very dumb daytime TV talk shows (YES, you can get paid for that)! d) Puppeteer on stilts! . . . and THAT is just scratching the surface. 😉

Submission Guidelines

If you’d like to query Jennifer with your Children’s or YA work, please use the handy-dandy FORM!

Submissions should be emailed to http://QueryMe.Online/JenniferLaughran

Please use the form to query me: http://QueryMe.Online/JenniferLaughran

• Choose ONE agent from ABLA to query. We share!
• Write a compelling query letter that includes the genre/category you are writing in, a bit about you, your contact info, as well as a pitch for your book. (Not necessarily in that order.)
• Paste the first ten pages of your manuscript into the form.
• If you are an illustrator, please link to your website/portfolio.
• If you have a dummy or other attachment, you can upload it into the form.
• Queries sent to my email address may be deleted unread, or just go to spam and I’ll never see them. So please, use the form!

If you’ve followed these guidelines, you should get an auto-response telling you that your query has been received and is under consideration. I do try hard to respond to everyone who has followed the guidelines and who writes the kind of books I rep, but if it has been more than 8 weeks, consider it a no.

Guidelines & Details

Vital Info

	JennL@andreabrownlit.com
	@literaticat
	Website

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy