Episode 50: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary Agency President

Jessica Faust, President of BookEnds Literary Agency, details her 26-year career as a literary agent, growing the company from a small boutique firm to a large agency representing fiction and nonfiction for adult and children's markets. Listen in as she shares insights on current publishing trends, including the resurgence of romance, the reimagining of the cozy mystery genre, and the challenges facing the middle grade and young adult markets. BookEnds Literary Website: https://bookendsliterary.com/ Social: @bookends_literary Good Story Company: If you have a story in your head, we’re here to help you get it out into the world. We help writers of all skill sets, all genres, and all categories, at all stages of the writing process. Need a hand with brainstorming? Want to find a critique partner? Looking for an editor to help polish up your pitch, your idea, or your entire manuscript? We have all of it and more in our community. If you’re ready to take the next step (or the first step) on your writing journey, we’re here to help you. Website: https://www.goodstorycompany.com Membership: https://www.goodstorycompany.com/membership Writing Workshop: https://www.storymastermind.com Mary Kole: Former literary agent Mary Kole founded Good Story Company as an educational, editorial, and community resource for writers. She provides consulting and developmental editing services to writers of all categories and genres, working on children’s book projects from picture book to young adult, and all kinds of trade market literature, including fantasy, sci-fi, romance, and memoir. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has worked at Chronicle Books, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and Movable Type Management. She has been blogging at Kidlit.com since 2009. Her book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit, a writing reference guide for middle grade and young adult writers, is available from Writer's Digest Books. Manuscript Submission Blueprint: https://bit.ly/kolesub Writing Irresistible Kidlit: http://bit.ly/kolekidlit Irresistible Query Letters: https://amzn.to/3yg511K Writing Irresistible Picture Books: https://amzn.to/3SrApRU How to Write a Book Now: https://BookHip.com/ZHXAAKQ Writing Interiority: Crafting Irresistible Characters: https://amzn.to/4evsX0B NEW! Writing Irresistible First Pages: https://amzn.to/4gxgslq Follow us on social: YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/goodstory Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodstory.bsky.social Instagram: https://instagram.com/goodstorycompany TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@goodstoryco Facebook: https://facebook.com/goodstoryco Substack: https://goodstoryco.substack.com/