Unfortunately I can feel myself getting into a real Charlotte’s Web situation with the big ass spider that has taken up residence on my screen door
Laura Zats
@lzats.bsky.social
Founder & Agent, Headwater Literary Management. Host of the award-winning Print Run Podcast. AALA Member. Treasurer for Literary Agents of Change. Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
ATTENTION MILLENNIAL FANTASY GIRLIES: renowned Tamora Pierce illustrator Joyce Patti has a storefront! She has prints! And mugs!
Words With Bad Definitions: Vermillion—CLEARLY this is a word that should mean green not red Psychopomp—when i think this word I see fun disco colors, and am certainly not thinking about the journey towards death!
Second, our note on identity disclosure as part of your pitch.
As I open I want to flag two fundamental things about how HLM conducts business. First, our statement on AI:
Erik is open to queries! If you’ve been waiting to submit to him, here’s your chance!
Erik Hane@erikhane.bsky.social · 2d agoI pushed the button. I'm officially open for queries.
Jason Momoa with a Cool Foldable Chair
ALT: Jason Momoa with a Cool Foldable Chair
static.klipy.com
madeline odent@oldenoughtosay.com · 5d agoHappy Friday everyone, as promised, here is my personal theory on this. I think Redwall takes place in our world, after an apocalyptic event of the nuclear variety caused rapid but varied growth of all animals, including humans, leading to our extinction and their mental development. Okay? 🧵
I’m THRILLED to be working with Robbie on this book! If you’ve ever spent 2 seconds learning about whaling, you know it’s the PERFECT subject for a horror novel.
Robbie Dorman@robbiedorman.bsky.social · 7d agoBIG BIG NEWS! I am now agented! @lzats.bsky.social has the same vision for WHALEMEN'S CHAPEL as I do, and I'm super excited to work with her!
I’m still so mad that Sci Fi and Fantasy share a category on Publisher’s Marketplace and yet Romantasy is its own
40% off a bunch of sexy summer reads including THE MISEDUCATION OF CAROLINE BINGLEY! Treat yourself, you deserve it 🍹☀️
The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley: A Sapphic Regency Historical Romance of Forbidden Love
Jane Austen meets My Fair Lady with a sapphic twist in this joyful, clever opposites-attract romance featuring everyone’s favorite person to hate on, Caroline Bingley, and Darcy’s younger sister Georg...
harpercollins.co.uk
New email address to watch out for: laurazatsheadwaterliterarymana@gmail.com is NOT me and is soliciting manuscripts and funneling them to an editorial service. I always do my dev eds myself 💅
Laura Zats@lzats.bsky.social · last mo.It’s not the first time it’s happened, but apparently some scammer is going ham this week pretending to be me. They’re using the address laurazatsheadwaterliterary@gmail.com.
If someone could buy one of my books today, I’d really appreciate it; a local tattoo shop is having a medieval/fantasy flash day in a couple weeks and I’d sure like to get a Weird Little Guy permanently embedded in my skin.
Oh good, now the scammy AI book promotion emails have whiny AI follow-ups about how a response would mean a great deal to the sender 🙄
Help I finished a really good book at the start of my work day and now all I can do is lay on the couch about it
Very cool Weaving Fact: when you make a mistake weaving and have to unpick it, you call it “The Penelope Stitch”
Laura Zats@lzats.bsky.social · 2w agoMy spouse just asked me, very earnestly, if I’d like to see The Odyssey. My good sir, have we met? Am I being punked???
My spouse just asked me, very earnestly, if I’d like to see The Odyssey. My good sir, have we met? Am I being punked???
Really dug this chance to read & talk about this with @lzats.bsky.social: a book that is both very much of the Buffy/Sookie vampire boom (and related urban fantasy trends) and yet also doing a few things very differently. And again I say: listen to @printrunpodcast.bsky.social!
Ancillary Review of Books@ancillaryreviewofbooks.org · 3w agoNew podcast episode! Literary agent and publishing podcaster @lzats.bsky.social joins to discuss Robin McKinley's award-winning SUNSHINE: an urban fantasy vampire novel that's fascinating in its own right, and also offers a lens on whole eras of publishing:
The library being "the last real third space" isn't a reason to keep adding new responsibilities to the library; it is a reason to create more third spaces.
Excellent rabbinic considerations on the plausibility of Jews seeking religious exemptions from requirements to use "AI" at work, because "why should the Pope have all the fun?"
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg@theradr.bsky.social · 3w agoSo. I did it. Lotta people gonna be mad about this one. Show it some love?
I honestly cannot believe we haven’t done a full episode on this yet, but it’s better late than never! Pre-querying writers, querying writers, and agented writers, make sure to give this a listen!
PRINT RUN@printrunpodcast.bsky.social · 3w agoNEW EPISODE ❌❌❌THE RED FLAG-ISODE❌❌❌ This week we talked about things that should give you pause when working with literary agents--what's normal, what isn't, and what you should do about it! soundcloud.com/printrunpodc...
PODCAST DROP: I got to chat about the weirdness that is SUNSHINE by the great Robin McKinley. Come listen if you want to explore with us why the writing is so slippery, why there’s WAYYYY too much worldbuilding for the plot it has, and how this book engages (and rejects) the Western Vampire Canon.
A Meal of Thorns@mealofthorns.bsky.social · 3w agoThe rise and fall (and rise) of vampire lit, YA recategorization choices, and the lingering effects of standalone books in an ocean of series: @lzats.bsky.social joins to talk about Robin McKinley's SUNSHINE!
Betty was tortured today (had her nails clipped) so we got some ice cream after to make it up to her
Erik’s opening to queries next month! Fiction and nonfiction!
Erik Hane@erikhane.bsky.social · 4w agoSo. work announcement: I have been closed to submissions since last fall, almost a year now, while trying to get caught up on the existing stack. I am almost there, finally. Which means: I am reopening to queries on Monday, August 3rd. I'll post more soon about details there. But: 8/3, i'm open
We're just an employee-owned audiobook company, standing in front of readers, asking them to make the switch so they can support their indie bookstore with every audiobook purchase 💓 (We're also a Certified B Corp, offer DRM-free audiobooks, & have 600,000+ to choose from.)
Pride month might be over but killing Mr Collins off in the first line of your novel is valid all year round, babes. www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
Unfortunately this is still happening, and the messages are getting slightly more human-sounding (still very fake tho). Please watch out, and know that I am NOT soliciting writers beyond just being open to queries like normal. My slush is robust and of very high quality and keeps me plenty busy!
Laura Zats@lzats.bsky.social · last mo.It’s not the first time it’s happened, but apparently some scammer is going ham this week pretending to be me. They’re using the address laurazatsheadwaterliterary@gmail.com.