Thanks for tuning in and welcome back! On this week’s Book Friends Forever podcast, Grace and Alvina welcome special guest Jennifer Laughran, literary agent, and they discuss everything from morality clauses to what makes a good agent-author relationship. Jennifer Laughran is a Senior agent at the Andrea Brown literary Agenency. Be sure to check out her own podcast called Literaticast!

“How have you been?”

As usual, the book friends check in with each other find out what’s been happening in their lives. The horrific events that took place on January 6th at the Capitol Building were obviously on everyone’s mind. Grace is excited for the upcoming Lunar New Year, Jen is mastering the art of bread making (not just sourdough), and Alvina is looking forward to new beginnings after Inauguration Day.

After Jen introduces herself and talks about how she became an agent, Grace and Alvina pepper her with some questions:

What kind of questions do you wish authors would ask of you as a perspective agent that they don’t often ask, and what would you want to know if you were the author?
What makes a good agent?
What makes a good agent and editor relationship?
What are some of your pet peeves? (Find out what is way more than just a pet peeve!)
Can an agent advocate more for an author than a lawyer or themselves? Does an agent have more of a relationship with marketing and publicity people?
Do you think agents have felt more pressure to take on more and more clients in the last 5 years or so in response to the changing economic landscape of publishing?
How many clients do you currently have?
Do you think there is a time when the interest of agents and authors are not aligned? Can you give example and how would you have dealt with this in the past?
How do mergers and imprints closing effect agents? (Penguin Random House to buy Simon & Schuster).
What do you think about morality clauses in general? (Speaking of Senator Josh Hawley’s book being canceled.)

New Podcast Feature: The Fortune Cookie Segment!

This is a segment where the book friends will cover a random topic. This week, the fortune cookie segment features random quick questions for Jen! If you become a Patreon member of this podcast, you can hear all of the others questions Grace ask authors on the Kids Ask Authors Random Questions series!* She asks authors very silly and fun questions with some interesting answers. Please visit the Patreon page to learn about more cool benefits! Patreon.com/bookfriendsforever1.

What are we grateful for?

Each episode we share what we are grateful for. This week it’s delicious home-cooked meals, the folks that have been working so hard in Georgia like Laurel Snyder, and amazing clients.

Thank you!

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You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Facebook and Instagram
Jen can be found @literaticat on Facebook and Instagram

*If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Authors Debbi Michiko Florence and Grace Lin answer the question If animals could talk, which would be the rudest? Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!