Today Jennie breaks down agents and strategy in all kinds of different ways.
First, she talks about agents and what they strategically do for your career (and what they don't). Agents aren't going to say to you, "Llamas are hot right now! Bring me a book featuring llamas!" (Llama just say, I thought this was kind of how it worked.)
All agents work differently and have different personalities and styles. Some are more editorially focused. Some are great at laying out a strategic career path. As a writer pitching agents, you should have an idea of how hands-on you want them to be.
Because as Jennie keeps saying, "You get to choose, too." Choosing an agent is a two-way street. Yes, they choose you, but you can say no if you talk to them and realize it's not a good fit. Or, as I said, you can turn down the agent if s/he turns out to be a Mr. Collins. (That's for all you Jane Austen fans out there.)
Turning down an agent is very difficult for a new writer to do, by the way!
We also talk a bit about my very off-beat pitching strategy. Jennie usually suggests pitching agents in small batches, but I've decided I want to do something... different.
Because God forbid I do things like everyone else.