Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Jennifer Mattson of Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Trying to pull up information on agents that represent picture books has me thinking, it can be difficult to find enough information on an agent to tell whether or not they may be a good match for you and your writing. But, you have to do the best you can with what you find and take a chance. That's my submission philosophy anyway.

This month's addition to the Monster List of Picture Book Agents is Jennifer Mattson, one of the agents at the great Andrea Brown Literary Agency. There is not a ton of information on her but I did find tidbits about Jennifer's preferences in a few posts online.

You can find Jennifer Mattson's agent profile on the Andrea Brown Agents page. You can also see some representative deals.

There is a must read interview with Jennifer on Guide to Literary Agents: Agent Advice.

Janet Tuttle blogged about a workshop she went to that Jennifer gave. She talks a bit about picture books.

Jennifer did an auction critique. Her bio talks a little about what she loves in picture books.

You can find out how to submit to Jennifer Mattson on the Andrea Brown Literary Agency submission page. Note that the Andrea Brown Agency wants to see a full picture book manuscript and that no response in 6-8 weeks means that they are not interested. Jennifer is but one of the agents at Andrea Brown that represents picture books so take a good look at all of the agent bios on the agency website and choose wisely.

Jennifer Mattson represents Kim Norman and Linda Ashman.

12/14/2015 Update:

Jennifer is now on Twitter @jannmatt

There is also some good information on Jennifer in this post by Julie Hedlund.

This post is part of the Monster List of Picture Book Agents. If you have any changes that you think should be made to this listing, please contact me or leave them in the comments. Thanks!

Fun With Rejections!

Rejections—trees really shouldn’t be wasted on such horrible news. That bad writing juju needs to be recycled into something good. Yes, there’s the wallpaper option, but that’s so depressing. Why not use them for fun?

How can a rejection letter be fun?

1. Use them as a dartboard. “Sorry it’s not right for us,” is worth zip.
2. Put all your rejection letters in a binder so you can show your family and friends that yes, you actually do work. Watch the looks of dismay and confusion on their faces as you show off your personal rejections.
3. Make a happy-faced mask to hide those bad feelings rejection brings.
4. Rip them up and jump in them. Who needs leaves!
5. Cut out the words in your rejection letters and rearrange them into acceptances: Your manuscript is right for us. Sorry you are not accepting submission requests at this time. Best of luck with your publisher.
6. Decoupage something for a successful friend that needs to be reminded of what it feels like to not get what she wants.
7. Light a bonfire. Roast some marshmallows and make s’mores.  Your family will be begging you to get more rejections.
8. Stuff a pillow —or a mattress —or a friend’s mouth (see #6).
9. Make paper maché bookends to hold up others’ books that have been published. Every time you grab a book you’ll be reminded that successful authors have been rejected too.
10. Seal those form rejects in envelopes and mail them to others at random. If everyone knew how bluntly writers are rejected they might sympathize with us a little more.

If you can’t bear to do any of these things, put those rejection letters in a suitcase and take them on vacation. They’ll feel much better in paradise.

Resources for Picture Book Writers

I wanted to give all of my picture book writing friends a heads up. Susan Uhlig has put together a great list of resources for picture book writers. From Getting Started to Layouts and Standards to Revising. She even gave the Monster List of Picture Book Agents a heads up. But shameless self promotion aside, this is a great list! I plan to dive right in and study up. I don't think I can ever learn enough about writing picture books!