Q: How do you pronounce your name?

A: Jah-mess-koh

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Q: Can I call you Jem?

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A: Yes, of course. Jem. Jemiscoe. They're both me.

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Q: How can I query you?

A: Please use my query form. I only accept queries through this query form. Please do not email me your submission because it will get deleted. Please don't DM me your work on social media. And definitely don't show up in person with a printed manuscript. 

Q: What is your typical response time? And will I even get a response?

A: I respond to EVERY query in my query inbox. My response time can range from within minutes of you querying me to 6 months if I’ve requested a full. I know that 6 months is a LONG time. If I could somehow read faster, I would. Alas, I'm human. But if it’s been over 3 months and all I have is your 10-page sample, please feel free to reach out. I’m good with this. If I've had your full for over 6 months, please nudge. 

Q: When’s the best time to query; beginning of the year, end of the year, summer, winter, beginning of the week?

A: There is no perfect time of the year to query. There is no perfect day of the week. There is no perfect time of the day to send your query, either. If an agent is open, and you think they are a perfect fit, go for it!

Q: I heard somewhere you don't like comp titles, and we don't need them to query you. Is that true?

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A: You absolutely heard right. Yep! I loathe those things. And no, you do not need them when you query me. If you have them, that's okay. If you don't, please don't stress and try to come up with something on my behalf. 

Why do I hate them, you ask? Wait, you didn't ask? Wellll, I'm an oversharer, so buckle up! I hate being told something's a thing, and when it comes to comp titles, I'm the equivalent of a publishing toddler. Publishing Folks: You MUST use comp titles in your Query!! Me: Why? Publishing Folks: It's how you stand out. Me: Why? Publishing Folks: Or prove that you read in your genre. Me: Huh. Publishing Folks:  Or how you prove to us that you know where you'd fit in the bookstore or that you know your market value! Me: Why?

Because seriously, why does that fall on the creator? And isn't that more gatekeeping?

Anyhoo, I can write a whole book on why comp titles can be useful to the publisher for acquisitions, but it is also a form of gatekeeping that stems from privilege, and it should never have been the creator's responsibility. So, long story short: no, please don't feel pressured to come up with titles on my behalf. Your writing will suffice.

Q: Is a book submission with a word count of about 240,000 impossible to accept?

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A: Ummm, what the what!?! First, congrats on writing that many words! And on completing your novel(s)! But if you’re asking if that’s impossible to accept…? Well, for me, yes. That’s waaaaaay toooooo long!!! And here’s the thing: on the craft side, 99.9% of the time, you can still tell your story in fewer than 240k words. On the business side, with paper shortages and printing demands, your book would be costly to print. Too costly. And you may not want to think about the business side of things because your book is art, right? Well, but this is publishing, a mix between art and commerce, and you NEED to think about those things. So again, I can only speak for myself here, but something with that large of a word count isn’t for me.

And, of course, I'm exaggerating with this word count. I even think you might be pushing most genres even at 160k words. There are exceptions to every rule, for sure, so the best advice I can offer you when it comes to word count is to know the genre you're writing in. A 160k MG? Absolutely not. But 160k in adult sci-fi/fantasy? Well, yes. That's a little long, but wouldn't at all be an outlier. 

Q: What are you tired of seeing in a query letter? Something you see regularly that you wish you didn't?

A1: Uh, I’m not really into people waking up to an alarm and getting ready for school or work as an opening for a book. I do that every day, and it’s not a very interesting part of my day. I mean, unless someone tries to talk to me before I’ve had my first cup of coffee. If that happens, I turn into a raging beast. So, unless that’s the opening to your book, a raging beast, stomping around, foaming at the mouth because they haven’t had coffee, or something equally different (and scary and wild), I really don’t want to read another wake-up scene at the top of a novel. Just saying.

A2: I am allergic to talking animals in novels. In picture books, that’s fine, even though I will admit that I prioritize human characters in PBs. But in novels, I am absolutely, almost 100% allergic. Nothing takes me all the way out of a story like a talking turtle or platypus. Seal? That too. How about a talking sealion? Or a lion? Heck, to the yes. Those too! I will never say it’s a hard pass for me because, as I've said in another answer, there is always an exception to every rule, but for the most part, talking animals in middle grade, young adult, and adult books are NOT for me.

Q: When agents ask for the full, do they typically read the whole thing before making a choice, noting what they would want to change, giving the whole thing a chance, or will they just stop part of the way through and reject? I’ve always wondered how much of a chance they give each MS.

A: I can’t speak for every agent, but I read until I stop. Sometimes that means I get all the way to the end and wish there was more, but a lot of times, it means I read until I stopped somewhere where I thought, “Hmmmm, this isn’t quite ready yet.” There could be many reasons why I say this, and so I won’t bore you to death with a long essay on the many craft elements that can make the middle of a novel murky.

 

And when you say, “how much of a chance [we] give each [manuscript],” I’m not sure how to answer it. If we read a sample and request a full, we’ve already given the query a real chance. And if we keep reading, no matter how far we’ve gotten into the manuscript, we’ve again given the work a real chance. Even if we are editorial agents, we still aren’t developmental editors, critique partners, or editors. We are agents. If a work isn’t ready at page 50, 300, or anywhere in between, it isn’t up to us to fully get it there. We aren’t miracle workers. And we simply can’t read everything to the very end if fundamental plot or character revisions need to be made.

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Q: How many clients is too much for an agent to have?

A: Hmmm, this is a hard question. There are so many variables. Like, does that agent work full-time or do they have another (or more) jobs? What type of books do they represent? Do they rep only novels? Or do they rep illustrators? Maybe non-fiction, too (think selling books on proposal)? Are all of their clients active?

My point is that there isn’t a magical number. The question you need to ask is if the offering agent has time for the type of agent you need/want.

 

Q: Do you represent previously self-published or hybrid authors?

A: Yes. I absolutely do. Please make sure you tell me in your query letter what you're looking for in an agent. Are you looking for translation and subrights only? Do you have new material that you want to shop for trad? Whatever it is, I'd need to know that as I read and consider. 

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Q: What if I've been represented by another agent?

 

A: Of course, that's okay. Just let us know in the query form that you've been repped before. And if you get to the Call with a potential new agent, be prepared to let them know what you think didn't work and what you're looking for this time around. The client-agent relationship is just like any other relationship. Meaning, sometimes you're not the right fit. That's okay. We don't judge because of that.