APRIL AGENT OF THE MONTH
Daniele Hunter – McIntosh & Otis
DANIELE HUNTER has a BA in English from Drew University, with concentrations in literary criticism, poetry, and creative writing. graduated from Binghamton University with a major in English and a minor in Anthropology. She is a member of the AALA and their DEI committee and co-directs their fellowship program through Literary Agents of Change.
She has been with the children’s department at McIntosh & Otis since a 2016 internship, and is thrilled to now be acquiring! I’m looking for (in order of priority) young adult, middle grade, and picture books. Her top priority is contemporary, but she’s also open to contemporary fantasy and sparingly considers genre fantasy/speculative, suspense, romance, and historical.
While her heart lives in contemporary stories, she also loves contemporary fantasy (as well as ghost stories) and is sparingly open to other genres.
Daniele says, “As an agent, I’ll be an author’s biggest cheerleader, and value open communication above all. I strive to be a safe space for marginalized identities/experiences but don’t force authors to disclose those to me. I’m always open to any accommodations authors need.
“I’ll be a mentor for my clients, helping them navigate the publishing industry even after an editor signs their books. I’m also extremely hands-on editorially! And though publishing is a business, I know that writing books (especially the dark, raw ones I fall for) is a very intimate endeavor, so I strive to connect with my clients not just on a professional level, but a personal one.
“Books saved me as a young reader, and now, my biggest goal as an agent is to help tell the “hard” stories, the off-the-beaten-track stories, that kids/teens who experience hardships or have underrepresented identities deeply need.”
YA and MG – Contemporary
This is my top priority. My favorite published books I’ve worked on are TOGETHER WE CAUGHT FIRE by Eva V. Gibson (YA) and THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE by Chad Lucas (MG).
-Literary, lyrical writing. Prose or novels-in-verse welcome!
-“Dark and gritty”, “issue-driven”
-I also always appreciate moments of triumph and joy, especially for marginalized characters!
-Slice-of-life and coming-of-age
-Protagonist ages: 11-12 and upward (love college-aged protagonists, on the opposite end!)
-Voice-driven, character-focused
-BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ experiences
-Chronic illness and/or disability
-Mental health, neurodivergence
-Multiple POV or mixed-perspective
-Mixed media or multiple timelines
-Romance as a subplot
-Non-romantic relationship focus—friendship and found family, “friend break-up”, complicated family dynamics
YA and MG – Genre
–Fantasy/speculative: Foremost, contemporary fantasy with lyrical writing and character focus. I’m open to near-future dystopian (but not post-apocalyptic) involving social critique and/or magic. Sparingly open to higher fantasy, if the world-building is detailed, atmospheric, and accessible. And though I’m not a fit for most supernatural or fantastical characters, I love ghost stories!
-Historical: Sparingly open; I prefer stories set in the nearer past. Lesser-told times in history, with a human-interest element alongside the historical education.
-Thriller/suspense: Must be character- and voice-driven–I like more focus on character and lyricism than is most common for these genres. I like murder mysteries, especially with unconventional formats.
-Anthology: Sparingly interested, in both fiction and nonfiction.
Picture books
This will be the smallest part of my list. My favorite (soon-t0-be) published picture book I’ve worked on is THE HOLE by Lindsay Bonilla.
-Grief – Honest about the heavy parts; hopeful but not saccharine
-BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ – Anything from slice-of-life, to celebratory, to informative, to issue-based!
-Disability, in both fiction and nonfiction
-Diverse cultures, holidays, traditions, identities
-Sparingly open to bios; women, LGBTQIA+, and/or BIPOC subjects preferred
-Author-illustrators/teams!
-I prefer human narrators over animal narrators, but I’m not totally close to the latter.
Daniele is looking for lyrical, literary, voice-driven writing, and strongly prefers books in first-person (though she’s more open to third-person in picture books). Her top priorities are dark, issue-based books, and diverse authors and stories. For YA and MG, some areas of interest for her are LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and disabled and/or chronically ill authors and stories, grief topics, novels-in-verse, relationship-based stories, mental health topics and neurodivergence, ghost stories, and multiple-POV or mixed-media stories. In picture books, she is also interested in these topics from fiction or nonfiction perspectives and is sparingly open to biography as well.
Daniele is not interested in any discriminatory topics, adult work, chapter books, early readers, lower MG, graphic novels/comics, Christian religious work, or rhyming picture books.
Query Daniele via Query Manager at this link: https://QueryManager.com/ddhunter/
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HERE IS PART ONE OF DANIELE’S INTERVIEW:
Have you always lived in New Jersey?
Yes, I have! I now live about an hour from the small town in which I was born. I’ll likely move out of state in the next few years with my husband while he pursues his PhD!
How did you choose to attend Drew University and receive a BA in English with concentrations in literary criticism, poetry, and creative writing?
I was an absolute bookworm from a very young age, and very academic. I always knew I wanted to go to college, and that I wanted to study English and work in publishing, but I wasn’t sure where exactly I wanted to end up. I also thought that if English didn’t work out, I might want to be a music therapist. So I applied to a handful of very different colleges, and didn’t go on visits till I got my acceptances. I ultimately chose Drew because I fell in love with the small, personal, arts-driven environment. It was also a beautiful campus, and very walkable.
Once there, I took an English class in my first semester that really sold me on wanting to study not just English, but poetry and writing specifically. I then had a literary criticism class in my sophomore year—something I hadn’t even known existed as a course of study till then!—that absolutely changed my life, and played a part in shaping my editorial style.
When did you decide you wanted to become an agent?
I’ve actually known I wanted to be an agent from a very young age! A family friend-of-a-friend was an editor at Scholastic, and when she heard how enamored I was with reading and writing, was very gracious in talking to me about the publishing industry, different careers I could pursue, etc. Once I got older and learned more about the job, I was especially drawn to agenting because of the personal, one-on-one relationships an agent gets to develop with their clients, and loved the idea of getting to see new projects at their very beginnings.
How did you get the job at McIntosh and Otis?
I had trouble finding a publishing job after college: I had a very serious brain surgery my sophomore year, and the recovery time made it difficult for me to get as much internship experience as hiring managers prefer. Frustrated after being cut in the final rounds of multiple different publishing job interviews, I eventually sat down and started researching other literary agencies that had children’s and YA departments, and emailed as many as I could, essentially begging them to let me work for them as a remote intern or reader! One of the only responses I got was from Christa’s former assistant, and the rest is history: I worked my way up reading for her, then for Christa, while juggling the job I had at the time. When she eventually left the company, I interviewed to take that role, and was very lucky to be brought on board.
Would you pass a manuscript to another agent if you thought a book had merit, but wasn’t what you were looking for?
Absolutely! My boss Christa and I especially pass manuscripts back and forth a lot—we have a ton of overlap in our tastes, but ultimately, she’s more interested in genre fiction, whereas I’m more interested in contemporary. So we tend to get a lot of queries that we each think may be better suited for the other. I’ve also been making a strong effort to network with agents outside M&O in the past few years, so I’d certainly make a referral elsewhere if someone came to mind for a specific manuscript!
Do you work from home or go into the office?
I work from home! I’m supervised daily by my black cat, Daffodil. 🙂
Did Covid affect how you worked?
I worked in-office daily till the start of the pandemic. I was, of course, scared when we shut down, but working remotely has been incredible. I had a major surgery for endometriosis in June 2020, and working remotely gave me the time to recover properly. And now that I’ve had even more time to get used to remote work, I really like the flexibility, and getting to work in my own environment! It’s also been a lot safer for me as an immune-compromised person.
Do you plan to limit the number of clients you represent?
For now, yes, because of my other responsibilities: I still assist on my boss’s list, and we have a handful of clients we co-represent as well. I do a high volume of administrative and subsidiary rights work for the agency. I’m a member of Literary Agents of Change and co-run their fellowship program. I have a freelance proofreading job. So, given all of this, I’m cognizant of not taking on more clients than I can extend the time and bandwidth they deserve. I never want a client to feel like they’re not important to me.
Which do you lean more towards Literary or Commercial?
Definitely literary! My favorite books are ones with very poetic, immersive, lyrical writing. Though I personally lean most toward contemporary or contemporary fantasy, I’ve also found this is true for my tastes in any genre. I tend to love the books with dark and gritty subject matter, and personally find that lyrical writing really helps to delve into those emotional experiences. Though I know these books can be seen as “quiet” or “difficult,” I think they’re also among the most powerful, and so important for the readers who need them.
BELOW ARE THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR MARCH FIRST PAGES:
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR FIRST PAGE, HERE ARE THE FIRST-PAGE CRITIQUE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES :
PLEASE name the Word document file using 2024 APRIL FIRST PAGE – Your Name – Title of first page.
- You must include at the top of the page your name, the title, and the genre. Do not use a header for this.
- Make sure you include the genre. This will help the agent give you a better critique.
- This is not an anonymous submission. So please include your name at the top of the page.
- I still need everyone to use their name, title, and genre in the file name of the attachment.
REMEMBER: I DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS WITHOUT HAVING THE FIRST PAGE PASTED DIRECTLY INTO THE EMAIL THEN THE WORD DOCUMENT ATTACHED. PLEASE PUT 2024 APRIL FIRST PAGE IN THE SUBJECT BOX AND SEND IT TO: kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com.
Your First Page Word document should be formatted using one-inch margins and 12-point New Times Roman font – double space – no more than 23 lines – only one page. Remember to indent your paragraphs. When Dialog is used “Quotation marks” should be used. When a new person speaks a new line should be used.
PLEASE DO NOT USE A HEADER. Place everything directly on the page. Remember a first Page should have a title, your name, and the genre on the first line. Thanks!
USE WORD OR A PDF – I CAN’T OPEN PAGES
Send to: kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com.
DEADLINE APRIL 19th – noon EST
RESULTS: APRIL 26th
CHECK BACK NEXT FRIDAY FOR PART TWO OF DANIELE’S INTERVIEW.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Writing and Illustrating 
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