Booklovers presents… agent Kate Schafer Testerman!

Today, I’m delighted to welcome back the popular Booklovers series! I’ve got tons of fabulous folks lined up for you in the 2010 edition. Just you wait and see.

I met this lovely agent several years ago at a conference we both spoke at. She’s warm, funny, smart, approachable… pretty much everything you want in an agent relationship. I even got to see her at a conference again last year and had a blast. Many of you may know her from her popular blog, Daphne Unfeasible, and from her quick wit on Twitter (@daphneun). Please help me welcome the fabulous…

Kate Schafer Testerman

Thanks so much for being here, Kate!

Booklover Basics

Name:   Kate Schafer Testerman

Title:   Literary Agent

Company:   kt literary, llc.

Tweetname:   @daphneun

Short Bio:

Kate Schafer Testerman formed kt literary in early 2008, where she concentrates on middle grade and YA fiction as well as diving into some women’s commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. Bringing to bear the experience of working with a large agency, she concentrates on all aspects of working with her authors, offering hands-on experience, personal service, and a surfeit of optimism. Her clients include Maureen Johnson, Ellen Booraem, S. Terrell French, Josie Bloss, and Matthew Cody, among other exciting newcomers. Her interests cover a broad range including teen chick lit, urban fantasy and magical realism, adventure stories, and romantic comedies.

Questions About You 2.0

The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.

1.   PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?

In all honesty, I didn’t know starting my own literary agency was a dream until I did it, and realized that, yes, THIS is what I’m meant to be doing. I always loved books, and found my way to a literary agency through a totally natural progression, but the more I worked on other people’s books, the more I wanted to expend my energies pushing titles that I was 100% behind – that were my choices to represent, to shepherd the authors through their careers, to talk to other people about and convince them they HAD to read them, and buy them. I was able to do that to some extent at my former agency, but starting kt literary last year has opened up an entirely new world of possibilities – sure, there are tough parts, but I find the good definitely outweighs any of the bad.

2.   CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?

Every time I make a new deal, I think I’m making the world a little better. I mean, sure, that may sound a little pompous, but for my authors, I like to think each new deal has the possibility of changing their worlds – for new authors, it’s finally being able to call themselves published writers! And since I work with YA and middle grade fiction, primarily, I love the idea that a book I represented and sold may inspire young readers to go on and be writers themselves – or, like me, take up a life working in publishing.

3.   GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?

My parents, for being readers, and inspiring in me a love of books. My dad was a huge fan of historical novels like the Patrick O’Brien Aubrey/Maturin series, and Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books – that led me to discover historical novels myself, though they tended towards romances at first – which led to contemporary romance, which led to chick lit, which led to teen chick lit, which brings me back around to YA again. Also, to my elementary school principal, Sister Nancy, for telling me to stop reading during lunchtime – I’m a contrary sort, so that only made me want to read more! And the Port Chester (N.Y.) Public Library, which has these fantastic reading contests every year, and the librarians there who introduced me to Marguerite Henry, The Chronicles of Narnia, and so many more great books.

4.   PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?

I like to think helping to introduce teens to Maureen Johnson (who I knew as a friend before she became a famous writer and internet sensation) is a very nice line on my balance sheet. And I can’t wait for younger readers to meet the hero of Matthew Cody’s novel POWERLESS (Knopf, November 2009)! On a non-pitching-my-clients tangent, I like to think I’m helping writers understand the industry a little better with my Ask Daphne! blog and regular tweets. It’s a little thing I think I do every day to help.

Questions About You, The Industry Pro

5.   Why did you choose a book-related career?

Probably because I never thought of anything else! I always knew I wanted to work with books, and when I got out of college and was looking for my first “real” job, I answered every ad in the New York Times classified for an entry-level position in publishing until someone told me yes. Books have always been a part of my life, and I’m thrilled to make them my career as well.

6.   Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.

As a literary agent, I help my clients find publishers for their work, negotiate contracts, sell foreign rights, and act as a sounding board and early reader for their manuscripts.

7.   What do you love most (and least) about your job?

I love diving into a new book for the first time, and finding something that just blows my mind away. On the negative side, I hate waiting just as much as authors do for responses to my submissions, and the tedium of contract negotiation can be tiresome – but I have an awesome contracts manager who helps me get through it!

8.   What do you think would surprise people about your job?

I think a lot of people might be surprised by what my day actually entails. Sure, sometimes I can take a reading day and just go through partials or client manuscripts, but most of the time, I do my work reading at night and on the weekends. My days are spent dealing with a hundred other things that are part of an agent’s job.

9.   What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?

I love how important these books are to their readers. Those of us who are in children’s publishing, for the most part, are here I think because kids’ books touched our lives, and I love being able to pass that feeling on to someone else. Teens and tweens are so inspired by the books that they’re reading, so connected to the characters and the authors and the stories – it’s a feeling I hope they take through the rest of their lives.

10.   What books impacted you as a teen/tween?

I mentioned the Marguerite Henry books above – I had my girlish horse phase as did so many tweens, and even took riding lessons for a little while. I think the first book that made me cry – great, heaving sobs – was The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy (now, sadly, out of print). As I recall, the sobs may very well have come over something that happened to the horse in the book. I loved The Borrowers series by Mary Norton, though I’ll admit I had to look up the author’s name – the characters were what stuck with me for those books. And I wrote a fan letter to Francine Pascal about the Sweet Valley High books – I wanted to be a Jessica, but even then knew I was an Elizabeth. And wow, so many more.

11.   What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Work on your craft. I think so many writers are so eager to be published RIGHT AWAY that they jump into the querying process too early and do themselves a disservice. Take time with your manuscripts. Polish them. Share them with trusted readers. Let them sit and gather dust while you work on other things, to be able to take them up again later and see the areas that need improvement.

Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?

12.   I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?

– I own a sword and several daggers and have been certified an Advanced Actor/Combatant by the Society of American Fight Directors.
– I collect copies of The Princess Bride by William Goldman, and have a dozen editions in multiple languages.
– I danced in the original London production of Riverdance until I broke my foot.  <--UPDATE: That was the lie!
– My client Maureen Johnson and I lived in London together after college, where we often used to climb over garbage cans through the window of our flat instead of bothering with the locks on the doors.

(Readers: As always, your blog comments get you an entry into the Bundle o’ Bookmarks giveaways that happen throughout the month. You never know when the next impromptu Bundle giveaway will be for one recent commenter. Will you be the winner? I’ll update the post later to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)

Thanks to Kate for a fabulous interview!

Entry Filed under: Booklover - Industry Pros