Monday, May 18, 2009

Secret Agent Unveiled: JENNY RAPPAPORT

And a huge thank you to the uber-helpful and instructive Jenny Rappaport of The Rappaport Agency.

Jenny's Bio:

Jenny Rappaport is the owner of The Rappaport Agency, LLC, a boutique literary agency specializing in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, young adult, and romance. She has previously worked at Folio Literary Management and the L. Perkins Agency. Jenny attended Carnegie Mellon University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. She is a 2002 graduate of Orson Scott Card's Literary Boot Camp. Her nonfiction has appeared in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, her poetry in Everyday Weirdness, and her microfiction in Thaumatrope. She is currently working on a novel in her free time.

What Jenny is currently looking for:

Jenny is looking for novels that put storytelling first, with believable characters and innovative plots. Although literary novels don't necessarily appeal to her, voice and style are important components that she looks at in every novel, particularly YA. If it sounds like an adult narrating as a teenager... then it's not for her. While she loves all forms of speculative fiction, she's particularly interested in someone who can "reinvent" epic fantasy, as well as finding a good steampunk novel for her list. She currently has a dire lack of romance authors (only one!), and would love to find the next Eloisa James or Jenny Crusie.

And there you have it! Hooray for another fun, informative, helpful round. Feel free to leave thanks and comments for Jenny in the box.

Stay tuned for the announcement of this round's winners!
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22 comments:

  1. Victoria DixonMay 18, 2009 at 9:07 AM

    Thank you so much for the helpful comments, Jenny! I've already made my changes. Another contestant and I have commented off list on how impressed we were with your tact and professionalism.

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  2. StinaMay 18, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    I wasn't entered, but I learned a lot from the few entries I read. Thanks Jenny!

    I figured out who the agent was last week when Jodi Meadows commented on the Authoresses new trailer. Or maybe I have ESP. ;)

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  3. AuthoressMay 18, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    LOL That was just a lucky guess, Stina. Jodi and I follow each other on Twitter, and I asked her to pop over and take a look at the trailer. =)

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  4. sbjamesMay 18, 2009 at 9:55 AM

    Thanks Jenny and Authoress. This was my first SA go around. Jenny, I appreciated your tact and your suggestions. Inspired and invigorated, I've begun my rewrites.

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  5. nightsmusicMay 18, 2009 at 9:57 AM

    Thanks for the time you put into this. Agents are busy people and it's awesome that you take the extra time :) It was fun.

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  6. AnonymousMay 18, 2009 at 10:04 AM

    Thank you very much for the time and energy you put into this, Jenny. I really appreciate the advice. (And thank you to everyone else for their comments as well :D)

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  7. patMay 18, 2009 at 10:18 AM

    I really appreciated the feedback not only from you, but from all the readers. Your comments were insightful and I was able to learn something from every entry.
    I too, was sorry you have no interest in cars.

    Best wishes.

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  8. StinaMay 18, 2009 at 10:38 AM

    Cool. I really do have ESP. :0)

    Can't wait to see who the winners are. I didn't read them all so my ESP powers are failing me there.

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  9. Jewel AllenMay 18, 2009 at 10:46 AM

    Thanks so much Jenny! And to other readers who commented, I appreciate the feedback.

    I bit my fingernails to the nub at the outset, but I didn't really need to. This community has just been amazingly helpful.

    I recently started another novel and I put the hook early in the first 250 words :-).

    Thanks Authoress for hosting this fun contest!

    -Jewel
    #6 entry

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  10. Andrew RosenbergMay 18, 2009 at 10:51 AM

    Thanks Jenny and Authoress. I've gotten a lot of great feedback from this contest. Mostly on what NOT to do...but that's the way it goes eh?

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  11. Amanda SunMay 18, 2009 at 10:52 AM

    Thank you very much for your comments. I learned a lot and appreciate that you took the time to read our submissions.

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  12. AnonymousMay 18, 2009 at 11:36 AM

    Many thanks to Jenny and Authoress for making my first contest here a positive and highly educational experience. :) I'm impressed by every agent who takes the time out of their very busy schedule to participate in something like this. And of course, Authoress, you are made of awesome for running this site.

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  13. The Screaming GuppyMay 18, 2009 at 11:48 AM

    Thanks for running the contest Authoress, and thanks for your time on the blog, Jenny.

    Though, now I'm even more bummed I didn't make the lotto!!!! I would have loved to have heard some feedback from Jenny before I query her. Doh!

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  14. Katie O'SullivanMay 18, 2009 at 1:10 PM

    Many thanks to Authoress for running the contest and to SA Jenny for taking the time to read all our entries (even if she doesn't like mermaids! LOL)

    ...and thanks to all the people who left helpful comments on my entry (#20) and on the other entries as well! I've learned a bunch about what works and what doesn't for YA readers, and am excited to get to work rewriting!

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  15. Jenny Rae RappaportMay 18, 2009 at 1:31 PM

    You're welcome, everyone. =)

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  16. Dalton C. TeczonMay 18, 2009 at 3:03 PM

    Thank you so much Jenny! The helpful advice is very appreciated. Thank you Authoress for these very useful learning contests. I do appreciate the talent, efforts and constructive advice from my fellow writers as well. Have a great day all! Peace and Love!

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  17. MaxMay 18, 2009 at 5:29 PM

    Thanks Ms. Rappaport, and all the people who commented on my submission "La Belle Mort" (#35). This has been very helpful to me.

    max

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  18. ChristinaMay 18, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    Thank you, Jenny, and everyone else as well. You guys have been immeasurably helpful.
    -Christina (#29)

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  19. Dalton C. TeczonMay 18, 2009 at 8:15 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. Dalton C. TeczonMay 18, 2009 at 8:17 PM

    I do have a question regarding what the first 250 words should really consist of and why the first 250 words are so important to the sell-ability of a novel.

    The reason I ask is, because during this contest, I looked at the first 250 words of several popular novels I own in order to compare. I found that the first 250 words consisted of run-on sentences with a lot of adjectives. Some of the critiques, to the various submissions I read, pointed these out as undesirable parts of a novel. Gauging by the prior, many of these famous authors might not of fared well in this contest.

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  21. Maya / מיהMay 20, 2009 at 11:56 AM

    I'm really curious to hear more about what it would mean for YA fic to sound like "an adult narrating as a teenager"... I'm trying my hand at YA and I'm afraid this would apply to me! Anyone have good YA blogs to suggest?

    Maya

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  22. LauraMay 21, 2009 at 2:43 AM

    Thanks, Jenny, for the energy you've put into this contest and for the helpful feedback on all our first pages! Your comments were very insightful and has made me look at my writing from a new perspective. Thanks also to all the critters who left comments. Hopefully the new version of the opening will be better! =)

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