As a literary agent and owner of The Erin Murphy Literary Agency what are your job responsibilities?
Job Responsibilities
"All the highbrow stuff you imagine when you have a title like "president," and all the other stuff that my large staff would do for me if I had one. I do have an assistant now, and he handles the accounting and some miscellanea, but I do everything else, from big-picture thinking about a writer's career to helping shape manuscripts to negotiating contracts to website updates to handling my own computer upgrades and travel arrangements and answering the phone.
Changes in children’s literature
If you could change one thing about the children’s literature world what would it be and why?
"I would make it so there was a little more risk-taking, in the name of reaching all readers with all their unique needs, rather than such a vast majority of the focus on the most likely readers."
What is your background in children’s literature?
"Before becoming an agent I was editor-in-chief at a small regional press, working on books for both children and adults, and serving on the board of an association for small and mid-sized publishers throughout the Western U.S. (and beyond). Before all that, I was the daughter of an elementary school librarian--and still am, of course, although Mom's retired now."
How many clients do you represent?
"EMLA represents about 80 clients who are actively publishing and/or for whom we are actively submitting manuscripts to editors; some of those are represented by my wonderful and amazing associate agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette."
Are you currently accepting queries?
"No. Only those that come through referral or from people I meet at conferences and such."
Genres of children’s literature
Do you represent all genres of children’s literature?
"Picture books, and novels for middle-graders and young adults. Nothing institutional in focus. Author-illustrators, but not illustrators who do not also write. I'm not drawn to super-dark, super-edgy YA in general, and only work with a little nonfiction. "
Do you have a favorite genre?
"No, but I'm a sucker for secondary characters, family or friends, who are fiercely loyal. Picture books have to have enough layers that their genius only becomes truly apparent through multiple readings. Which is not the same as having a lot of words--not by a long shot. Joan and I both seem to be drawn to some projects that others find "too quiet"--for better or for worse."
Do you like rhyme?
" I like well-done rhyme. I don't tend to seek it out. I love poetic gems of picture book texts, which may or may not be rhymed and metered."
Three Tough Questions
If you were stranded on a desert island, and you knew you were going to be there for one year, what one person, dead or alive, excluding, spouses, significant others, parents or siblings would you choose to be with you, and why?
"It would have to be someone with some great stories to tell, someone I could laugh and talk with easily and who would make me think. Someone not afraid of hard work, reliable but not predictable...and preferably well versed in survival techniques. Margaret Mead, maybe? Although then I would know I was being studied closely all the time...
If you had to pick just one food that you would eat on the Island what would it be?
"Does the island have a freezer? If so, ice cream."
What one book would you bring?
"A very thick poetry anthology. I'd get some mileage out of that. I can make a poem last all day."
Brenda Sturgis - Brenda Reeves Sturgis Brenda Reeves Sturgis is the author of 10 Turkeys in the Road, debuting in 2011, with Marshall Cavendish, ...
