Literary Agent Update - Stephen Malk

Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 update:

Still not looking for new clients.

In a "first pages" session, Stephen told us that he always reads beyond the first page of a manuscript, unless it is clearly something that he does not handle, like an adult book. He wanted to make sure that we were not stuck in "first page mentality".

He mentioned that he tends to not like books that start with dialog, especially in a picture book.

As for alliteration, he thinks you have to go all the way, or use it sparingly.

He loves absurdity (think author/illustrator Adam Rex).

He's thinking that at some point, really short middle grade novels like Frecklejuice will make a come back, but that real/true animal stories will be played-out soon (think Marely and Me).

At least two of his cats were adopted from shelters.

Tomorrow Michael Stearns