Meet the Fabulous Stéphanie Abou!

Editor’s Note: The winner of last week’s giveaway with author Heather Haven is Dianne Regnier  — Congrats, Dianne! Also, this week on The Ball is Agent Week, where each Deb is interviewing her own agent. Check back each day for insider publishing tips from some of the best agents in the business!

I’m not sure what I love most about Stéphanie. She’s all the best of France and New York. Nearly all of her metaphors are in fashion or food. She’s super savvy about the publishing business. But best of all, she’s always there for me. When I started my hunt for an agent, I knew I wanted a business partner but one with a heart, and Stéphanie has proven to be the best. It’s always so nice to hear other people in the publishing world say such wonderful things about her. I’m very proud to be Stéphanie’s author. She told me at the beginning that signing with an agent was a huge leap of faith, putting the future of your hard work into someone else’s hands. I’m so glad I took that leap with Stéphanie. So now here she is, the fabulous Stéphanie Abou of LIPPINCOTT MASSIE McQUILKIN. (Stéphanie didn’t have a current picture for us, but trust me when I say she’s gorgeous!)

1)     How many pages into a manuscript do you know it’s something you want to represent?

When I decide to offer representation to an author I sometimes have a strong feeling from the very first pages, or even, once in a blue moon, from the query letter. However it is paramount for me to finish reading. Strong sense of pacing, plot development, and story arc are things that are difficult to “fix”, and it is important to finish the manuscript to be able to properly gauge on those things. I can however tell you that I know in the space of a very few pages if I will NOT offer representation. I do try to give each submission a fair shot though and read up to 50 pages when time allows, just in case I am facing a case of the ubiquitous slow and impossible to nail first chapter!

2)     When you’re looking to work with an author, what are the three things that are most important to you?

1. I have to be absolutely passionate about a manuscript and also have a very clear idea of how to sell it, who to sell it to, and almost how it could/should be published. In the case in particular of a manuscript for which I don’t think will yield a big advance, I have to not only believe in this particular book but also trust my instinct that the author is in it for the long haul and that we are going to be building an interesting body of work.

2. At the risk of sounding trite, communication and trust are paramount, which is why speaking on the phone before offering representation is so crucial. It helps me determine whether our communicating and working style mesh. For instance, I am really keen on development, and while the author always has the last say, it is important to determine from the get go whether there will be space for creative input without defensiveness. Of course I think it is important for the author to find an agent that can be their most trusted collaborator and I think those criteria work both ways.

3. As I see my relationships with my authors as ones that will last a long time, I also ideally want to represent people who will enthusiastically embrace all aspects of the work that goes into writing a book, including promotion, and someone who is as respectful of my time as I am of theirs. Oh, and a good sense of humor doesn’t hurt…

3) What was it about THE MOMENT OF EVERYTHING that made you say, “YES!”

I am a big believer in storytelling which entertains and delivers on the form at the same time. I felt like you had created an exciting story that could be read at face value but also encouraged the reader to think about what they truly wanted in life and what it meant to be relevant. You also delivered a completely unique perspective on the Silicon Valley world. Oh, and who wouldn’t fall for a used bookstore, a cat, and a thwarted romance? Then speaking with you sealed the deal. It was the total package.

4) What have you learned from your writers?

So many things but mostly that talent and hard work are the two sides of one and the same very hard to find coin. Also that the muse is fickle and needs to be constantly tended to, and that there isn’t one big project that didn’t start with a character, a voice, and lots of hard work and patience. It is an incredibly difficult journey, albeit a happy one, and they need to write to breathe. And again, that a good sense of humor doesn’t hurt…

5) What recent book do you wish you had represented?

There are so many authors that I greatly admire, but while I am not a fatalistic person I think that in the end it makes sense why one represents what they represent, and that it might have worked out differently had the publication process taken a different path. But if I should let myself envy some of my colleagues I would say that three books that have really blown me away in recent years, and which I think will endure the test of time to enjoy one day the status of “classics” are RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles, WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead, and UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand.

Thank you, Stéphanie, for joining us on Agents Week here at the Debutante Ball!