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Monday, January 24, 2011

Secret Agent Unveiled: MARY KOLE


Thanks and applause to the helpful and straight-shooting Mary Kole of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency!

Mary's Bio:

Mary came to children's literature from a writer's perspective and started reading at Andrea Brown Literary Agency to see what it was like "on the other side of the desk." She quickly found her passion there and, after a year of working behind the scenes, officially joined the agency in August 2009. In her quest to learn all sides of publishing, she has also worked in the children's editorial department at Chronicle Books and earned her MFA in creative writing at the University of San Francisco. At this time, Mary is only considering young adult and middle grade fiction and truly exceptional picture books from authors, illustrators, and author/illustrators. She prefers upmarket premises with literary spark and commercial appeal. Her favorite genres are character-driven fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, thriller, horror, humor, contemporary, romance and mystery. She operates the Andrea Brown East office from Brooklyn, NY.

What Mary's currently looking for:

I'm looking for YA and MG primarily. I have a strong PB list but can always look at PB projects, especially from professionally trained author/illustrators. I'd also love to find a graphic novel. In terms of genres, I'm looking for dystopian, thriller, contemporary realistic, character-driven fantasy and sci-fi (think GRACELING, not Tolkien), unique paranormal (no vampires, werewolves or fallen angels, please), horror, adventure, and mystery. I never want to shut myself out of a great project, so do know that I've been surprised by the things that have sparked with me. If your project has a great commercial hook and fantastic voice and writing, I would love to see it!

And there you have it! Winners forthcoming.
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13 comments:

  1. Joshua JacobsJanuary 24, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    I had a feeling the Secret Agent was Mary because of the similarities between her comments and her blog posts. I'm glad I was right.

    Thank you, Mary and Authoress. This was a fun, helpful experience!

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  2. Julie True KingsleyJanuary 24, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Nice to meet you Mary! This whole experience has been a thrill. It was so interesting for me to join you in your "virtual critiquing shoes!". Thanks to you and the Authoress, this has been lovely.

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  3. UnknownJanuary 24, 2011 at 9:36 AM

    Hooray, and thank you so much, Mary (and Authoress, of course). This was such a terrific opportunity, and I really appreciate the feedback!

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  4. Mary KoleJanuary 24, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    Thanks for the fun weekend reading and commenting, you all Authoress readers and writers!

    I thought someone might guess my secret identity because I do have kind of a voice when I write and give comments, so kudos to Joshua!

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  5. Ann BradenJanuary 24, 2011 at 9:48 AM

    Many thanks to both of you and to everyone who gave their feedback. The collective wisdom of this community is amazing! And getting positive encouragement from you all means so much to me. What a fabulous experience this has been.

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  6. Lori M. LeeJanuary 24, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    Thanks Mary and Authoress! And to everyone for their great feedback. This has been such great fun! Mary must have had one heck of a busy weekend with reading/critiquing entries and the conference!

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  7. Jackie Y.January 24, 2011 at 10:05 AM

    Thank you, Mary for your time and fantastic feedback. I was thrilled to read your comments. It's interesting how right on most other comments were with yours! It just goes to show what a fantastic community of writers participated.

    Authoress, thank you again for hosting this contest. You are truly wonderful! :)

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  8. Stefanie GaitherJanuary 24, 2011 at 10:18 AM

    I had a feeling it was Mary Kole! Because she mentioned her love of theater in one of the comments, and because I spend a lot of time reading/stalking the Kid Lit blog, hehe :)

    Anywho, just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of thank yous going around--kudos to Mary Kole for her fantastic feedback, of course, to the fabulous Authoress, and to all of the AMAZING writers who participated. It's been fun!

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  9. Traci VWJanuary 24, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    Thank you Mary and Authoress. This has been a lot of fun and informative. I learned a lot from reading the writing samples and the great comments as well as giving critiques. Thanks to all for your great comments on my entry. :D

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  10. ChelseyJanuary 24, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    Oh my goodness!

    I sort of hoped it was Mary! Thanks so much!

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  11. beck nicholasJanuary 24, 2011 at 5:19 PM

    Thanks Mary for all the great feedback!
    =)

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  12. Karen DuvallJanuary 24, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    What a great SA round this month! I so enjoyed reading the entries, or at least the ones I was able to get to. I'm super impressed by the talent of the YA and MG writers out there. Woot! Wished I could have read them all but I'm under deadline so I'll just catch up after the fact. Congrats to the winners and much thanks to Mary and Authoress for an awesome contest. Mwah!

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  13. MayaahJanuary 25, 2011 at 12:19 AM

    Thank you Mary! You seem super cool. I'm sure your a super great agent also!

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