What's Your Favorite Book?

And what does it mean?????

Hi Friends!

I recorded a rally fun podcast with Claudine Wolk this week, and she asked me a great question. She said:

What’s your favorite book?

And I have an answer for this because I’ve been asked this one thousand times before. (I know what you’re thinking: Kate, this is not a great question. This is a boring and familiar question. But just hold on there. I’m getting to it.) I always say The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe because it’s A: true, B: about publishing so it’s pretty on the nose, and C: it’s a great example of a kind of historical fiction I like. (Set in New York, about women, no wars, midcentury.)

But is it my very, very, very, very favorite book? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Of all the books I’ve ever read? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Does it matter? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

When Claudine asked me this question, it made me think about how agents answer it and what writers can actually learn from it. When an agent answers this question, in a venue like a podcast or interview or on something like Manuscript Wish List, the point is for the reader to get to know the agent’s tastes so they can better match with prospective clients. It’s true I have been asked this question a thousand times, but I will answer it in an effort to meet these ends, to help writers get to know my tastes.

But you know what? My answer is heavily swayed by what I’ve recently read, which I’m sure is true for everyone. Sometimes I forget the books I truly loved if it’s been more than a few years since I read them, because, well, that’s how my brain works. I looooooooooved The Mothers by Brit Bennett and Black Juice by Margo Lanagan and The History of Love by Nicole Krauss and City of Thieves by David Benioff and The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui and King Baby by Kate Beaton and The Group by Mary McCarthy and Dare Me by Megan Abbott and a thousand others. I don’t think it’s a problem to have a handy answer instead of my verified and truly favorite book of all time, but I also think it’s impossible to have just one favorite book.

ANYWAY, when you, a writer, sees an agent talk about their favorite book, here’s how I think you should digest this information.

1. Remember what an agent might like to read for fun may not be the same as what they represent as part of their job. For example, I like Megan Abbott’s books a lot! I do not represent mystery/thrillers like Megan’s books.

2. Just because an agent likes a certain kind of book that was published a few years ago (or more), doesn’t mean there’s a market for that kind of book now. For example, I will never forget an image from a story in Margo Lanagan’s Black Juice called “Singing My Sister Down.” It will stay with me forever. That doesn’t mean I would have any luck selling a fantasy short story collection for upper middle grade readers. (You should read this book though. It’s fucking amazing.)

3. Do not read too deeply into an agent’s faves to justify sending them a book. You might see that I like King Baby (a picture book) and think well my book ALSO has a king AND a baby in it and think we’d be a good match when your book is a 400,000 word epic fantasy. You’d be wrong.

You’re not going to be able to drill down on exactly why I like something as a reader and translate that into exactly what I’m looking for as an agent, and that’s ok. You’re not meant to. You don’t have to get that part perfectly. It’s impossible to get that part perfectly. You’re just going to do the best you can, follow the rules as well as you can, as well as they are posted, and go on vibes when it comes to tastes. If you look at my list of faves, and look at your police procedural mystery with a high gore factor, you should be able to see that our vibes would probably be off if you were to send me your book. You’d probably back this feeling up with info I actually posted somewhere (i.e. I don’t rep mysteries) to confirm it. And you’d be right.

Take care, friends.

OXOXOXOX,

Kate