SCBWI Exclusive with...Kelly Dyksterhouse, The Tobias Literary Agency

What was your path to becoming an agent?

While pursuing my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, I took an internship at a large literary agency. From this internship, I moved to an assistant at a small boutique agency. Working at both places over a period of 8 years gave me a really wonderful inside view into the workings of the industry, and it was through these jobs that I learned that I loved the editorial process and advocating for authors who write books that matter. In 2020 I joined my colleague Jacqui Lipton at Raven Quill Literary Agency and began to build my own list. The Tobias Literary Agency has a similar culture and mission, and so it was a natural fit to affiliate with them as RQLA grew in order to best meet the needs of our clients’ careers. It was through that merger that I joined their children’s department in May of 2022. 

When you read a submission, what makes you offer representation?

This is a question that demands a multi-layered answer because the agent/author partnership uniquely blends business and art and demands a high level of relational trust. It’s not the submission itself that will prompt an offer of representation—for me, it’s just the starting point. A submission gets my attention when the query is well written, professional, gives me a sense of the author’s voice and a clear understanding of the story: who the character is, what they want and what is at stake. The job of the query is to make me want to read the pages requested. The job of the first pages I read is to make me want to read more and request the full manuscript. This happens by fulling grounding me in the story and through strong voice and immersive writing that creates a compelling character and intriguing story question. Work that I am drawn to tends to have a strong voice, beautiful writing, compelling characters, high stakes, and a fresh concept. If a manuscript has those things, I will take time to evaluate if I have a vision for where it would sit in the market.

If I read the full manuscript and I feel like I have just read something really special that says something new, then I evaluate if I have a vision for where it would sit in the market and start thinking that I want to get to know this author better. The next step is that I ask for more work—generally synopses of other WIP’s or a few more PB manuscripts if it’s a PB writer. I want to understand the breadth of the creator’s current portfolio and consistency of their voice. 

After this, I would ask for a call—and this is where the question of vision really comes in. Because no matter how much I love a project, it’s paramount that I understand the author’s vision. What is the author’s history, what brought them to querying me? Would our work styles mesh? Do our visions for the work connect, both editorially and in terms of market? Would we communicate well? Is this a relationship that would be based on trust? The author-agent relationship is a business relationship, but it is also one that, as I said above, uniquely relies on trust. A creator is always emotionally tied to their art. So a manuscript is not merely a product to be sold—there is a level of care that needs to go into pitching it to editors, always with the creator behind the project in mind.  

After a call, if I feel like we have a shared vision for the work and their career, and I strongly feel like I have the capability to meet that vision on my end, then I will offer representation. But this isn’t always the case even if I love the work. I have passed on projects that I have fallen head over heels in love with, but sensing that I am not the right agent for the author’s career because I don’t feel like I can fulfill their vision. And that is just fine—an author needs the right agent, not just any agent. 

When an author signs with your agency, what can they expect from you? 

Once a client signs with me, we generally have another long call where we discuss a plan for their work. Included in this is how they want to communicate and how much they want to know when their work is on submission. I will then work with them through a round or two of edits to get the manuscript market ready. Once a project is on submission, we will have another conversation about what project to focus on next. Submission can be a long process, and the best way to get through it is to keep moving forward and keep creating. Our agency is a full service agency, so when it is appropriate for the project, we will be simultaneously strategizing for subrights sales such as foreign and translation, film/tv markets, etc. 

What's on your manuscript wish list?

My wish list is fluid, so I love this question as it does change frequently. What doesn’t change is my taste in books. I love high concept stories that have a strong voice, immersive writing, compelling characters, and clear stakes. Right now I am primarily looking for speculative YA and MG—grounded fantasy stories, magical realism—and genre fiction like light horror, thriller or mystery. I am also interested in historical fiction if it feels relevant to our times. I love a good genre mash-up and am always looking for stories from a fresh or unique perspective and underrepresented voices.

I am not a great fit for contemporary “issue books”, books that center sexual assault or animal cruelty, or hard core sci-fi.

For picture books, I am on the lookout for high energy, character driven stories that have a strong narrative arc, unexpected twists, lots of humor, and wide audience appeal.

SCBWI members can query Kelly at www.querymanager.com/KellyDyksterhouse/SCBWI