Today I have
an interview with Literary Agent Liza Fleissig. Liza and I became acquainted
when I had queried her for my Middle Grade novel. Liza and I kept in touch. I
found Liza very warm and approachable. In the short span of time since she
started her agency, she is going places and everyone I know has the nicest
things to say for her and her agency. As Liza was the first agent I kept in
touch with, it was but natural that I when start hosting agent interviews, her
interview would be the first one on my blog.
Q. Tell us
something about yourself?
A. After dissecting a chicken in 5th grade, I
became a vegetarian and eventually a hard core vegan (before it was a “thing”)
but I still cook meat dishes for my family.
Despite my not tasting them, they somehow come out really well; in fact,
my husband jokes that my next “new venture” should be to open a restaurant and
call it Beethoven’s — a reference to the fact that he created masterful
symphonies despite being deaf.
Q. How did
you become an agent?
A. I have always had a strong sphere of influence from friends in
the publishing industry, and had been searching for something creative to do
for a long time after my children were born.
Besides, I guess when you come from an entrepreneurial family, it’s in
your blood to take risks and try new things!
Q. What’s a
typical day like in your life?
A. Exhausting but good. I am up early to make breakfast and
get my kids off to school. After dropping them off, I am at my office by
8:15am. I toggle between emails, reading/editing and contracts most of the day
- and also try to get a work out in somewhere in between (usually a conference
call on the treadmill is a good way to multi-task). I generally have lunch
meetings, whether with a client, an editor, someone in pr, etc., and then am
back at my desk until I need to leave to get my kids after school. They get out
on the later side given their sports and extra curricula activities. If we
don’t have any school event or sports game, then next comes dinner and
homework. I am very lucky to have kids who are strong students, but I still
like to go over their work. It’s not only a great way to stay connected to
them, but it’s really interesting to be learning things again! By the end of
the night, there is family reading and yes, some TV, before my kids go to bed.
Once they are settled, I am back on my computer, though at this point I usually
focus more on reading/editing until I can no longer keep my eyes open.
Q. When you
are reading all these query letters, what makes you sit up and pay attention?
A. Any short and sweet query - one that’s well written and
has a compelling storyline - is something I will always consider if our current
list can support it. If you add a strong social media/marketing platform, that
might make me more optimistic, but in the end, it’s always about the book.
Q. What kind
of manuscripts are you looking for right now?
A. I love a good thriller/suspense/mystery that keeps me
guessing until the end. I also love commercial women’s fiction with sarcastic
comic voices. Most of all, I love being surprised. Nothing is more exciting
that being over the moon for a book that I never expected to like. So at the
end of the day, just grab my attention!
Q. What’s
something you have sold that comes out now, that you’re excited about?
A. Celeste Fletcher McHale’s SECRET TO HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
(Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins Christian) is a commercial women’s fiction novel
that comes out this month and Robert Bailey’s BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE (Thomas
& Mercer) is a legal thriller that comes out in March. Both of these books
are off the charts amazing and I cannot wait to see readers’ reactions!
Q. What’s on your nightstand to read right now?
A. Honestly right now
the only thing on my nightstand now is a pile of mss!
Q. Three all
time favourite books?
A. Really tough question. I know other agents have solid
answers for this, but really, how can you pick just 3? For which part of life?
I read Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys as a kid.
Later, I loved books like Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations, though I
also read a lot of plays from Shakespeare, O. Henry and Ibsen. Eventually I became a suspense junky,
devouring Cornwell, Ludlum, King, Koontz, Demille and Patterson. And my guilty
pleasure? Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb for her “In Death” series. To this day
I would love to see Dallas and Roarke take the silver screen.
Q. Will you
be attending any writer’s conferences where writers can pitch to you?
A. I will be at
NJSCBWI annual summer conference and also Thrillerfest in NYC. I have other
events coming up but I have not finalized those yet.
Q. Which
book you wish you could have represented? Why?
A. There are too many books to list that I would have been
proud to work on, but the fact that they were given flight by someone else
doesn’t make them any less to special to me. I’m just happy they are out there
for the world to read and enjoy.
BIO: Liza Fleissig, with her partner Ginger
Harris-Dontzin, opened the Liza Royce Agency (LRA) in early
2011. Their goal was, and remains, to represent authors in all stages of their
careers, from the most established to those developing their craft, as well
as debuts. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of
Business with a degree in Finance, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
with a JD, Liza is a former partner in
a NYC based litigation law firm and brings more than 20 years of
negotiating experience to the field. This background, along with
connections rooted in publishing, movies and television, allowed them to focus
and build on a referral based clientele.
From picture
books through adult projects, fiction and non-fiction, LRA welcomes strong
voices and plot driven works. Their inaugural books became available in stores
January 2013. Their first was an Edgar nominee, another was an Indie
Next Pick, and two others were optioned for film. LRA’s success
began right out of the gate.
LINKS
(I also have
@LizaFleissig
but the agency account is the best
one if they don’t want to follow both)
Liza has
graciously offered a Query Critique Giveaway to one of my lucky (blog) followers. Let
me know in the comments if you want to be a part of the draw.
