It’s been another banner year here at KT Literary, and once again, I have to thank my amazing colleagues Sara Megibow, Renee Nyen, Hannah Fergesen, Hilary Harwell, and Aida Lilly for all that they do. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the tireless work these people do. In case you don’t already know, agenting isn’t exactly a 9-to-5 kind of job. It’s reading into the wee small hours of the morning, catching up on emails in five-minute increments in the pickup line at school, reviewing contracts on the kitchen table, and supporting our amazing clients countless hours a week. And I think I speak for all of us when I say we wouldn’t trade it for any other job in the world!
I asked everyone to share a few fun stats on their year, and am happy to share those with you!
From Sara:
What a year!
– an epic 7 new clients
– 22 book deals
– 7 audiobook deals
– a whopping 20 foreign deals
– 24 book birthdays
– of which, 6 were “highly anticipated” sequels
– and 3 were NYTimes bestselling books
– 4 debut authors
– 5 debut authors coming in 2020
– 4 movie/TV deals
– 8 conferences
– 6 starred PW reviews
– 785 tweets
– 800+ cups of coffee
From Renee:
115 Instagram posts
Over 40,000 impressions
A growing list of followers
9 podcast episodes
And so much more to come in 2020!
From Hannah:
2019 has truly been a year of new experiences! 3 sales plus 2 foreign deals, 5 new incredible clients, and a whole lotta bookseller and review love for clients with books out this year and debuting in 2020 (6 starred reviews, New York Times Book Section review, ABA indies Introduce and Next Pick selections, Junior Library Guild selections, Literary Lion nominations, and more). I joined the AAR, recorded 2 KT Literary Podcast episodes with our amazing host, Renee Nyen, attended dozens of editor meetings here in New York, recorded a Manuscript Wishlist Academy class about Structure in Storytelling, attended Book Expo, and supported all of KT Literary’s amazing clients (of which there were many!!) at New York Comic Con.
From Hilary:
3 new clients
3 book deals
1 audiobook deal
3 debut authors coming in 2020
As for me (Kate), your humble leader:
I went to the sets of two movies being filmed based on books I represented, took dozens of behind-the-scenes photos, and got to see one (so far!) released with a big LA premiere, red carpet and all. I have several more film/tv deals in the process, more than I’ve ever had at any one time in my agenting career. I signed three new clients, started the year strong with an offer, and closed three more deals in the last month. I’m currently keeping multiple really good secrets about some of your favorite authors, and I look forward to sharing them in 2020! My clients received multiple starred reviews, a GoodReads nomination for Best YA, and a blurb from a Gilmore Girl! I went to ALA Midwinter in Seattle, the Bologna Book Fair, BEA and BookCon in NYC, and to Los Angeles mutliple times to see clients and our film subagents.
Thank you to our readers and followers for supporting our clients and books. We’re taking a few weeks off to refresh and relax, but we’ll see you in the New Year! Until then, Happy Merry Holidays!
