Lisa Leshne has been in the publishing business for over twenty years. She currently has her own literary agency, The Leshne Agency, with clients, such as Jill Smokler (Confessions of a Scary Mommy) and Cynthia Brown (Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain, and Courage). Before starting her own agency in 2011, she was a lit agent at LJK Literary.

Originally from Champaign, IL, she lived in Prague during the 1990s before moving to Manhattan, where she currently lives with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she loves to read and trains for marathons and triathlons.

The simple answer is that I have always loved books. (smiles) Growing up in the Midwest, they were my escape from the cornfields of Southern Illinois! I should mention that my mother was a reading teacher for over thirty years, and she definitely instilled in me an early love of reading; so I owe her a big thanks for that. I’ve always felt strongly that whatever I do in life, it needs to be something I’m passionate about—and I’ve always been passionate about championing books I loved. While I enjoyed working in the newspaper industry, I realized after becoming a mother of two young children that I wanted a career that offered me a better work/life balance. Book publishing was one of the fields I explored, and the opportunity to represent great writers appealed to me.

Not at all. It was actually a very natural transition because I started my career as an entrepreneur, and it was fun to have the opportunity to do it again at a different stage in my life.

I can’t take much credit for that—what actually happened was that Larry Kirshbaum was offered the job of leading Amazon’s New York imprint; and as a result, he needed to wind down LJK Literary. In retrospect, the timing couldn’t have been better for me!

Great question—yes! It all goes back to passion. They are all people I admire and have great stories to tell. At the end of the day, if I don’t feel passionately about authors and their projects, I can’t sell them to publishers.

It really depends on the project. Some books have a very American topic, while others are universally appealing, and sales of foreign rights can be meaningful. In Ivan Klíma’s case, his books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages, making him the most translated Czech author around the world. Blogger Jill Smokler’s Confessions of a Scary Mommy has been sold in seven countries so far, and it’s very exciting to see the foreign editions coming in!

“I can’t stress enough to authors the importance of branding and social media to build a connection with readers.”

Yes, yes, and yes! Or as I say to my authors: “Platform, platform, platform!” It’s never too early to start building an author’s platform, and it’s absolutely crucial to selling nonfiction. I can’t stress enough to authors the importance of branding and social media to build a connection with readers. One of the main reasons Jill Smokler was able to get a book deal was because of the popularity of her blog, ScaryMommy.com. When we originally pitched the book proposal to publishers, her website had 750,000 unique visitors, and she had a Twitter following of over 160,000. By the time the book was published (nine months later), those figures had basically doubled. The point is—she already had a terrific platform, which helped her get a book deal; and then she kept building on it, which helped her sell the book and propel it onto the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Platform is everything. You will have to work hard to promote and sell your book. It’s a full-time job!

That’s a tough one because I think everyone develops these skills in a different way, but I imagine that all of the things you mention could be helpful.

Many of them are referrals from someone I trust, or they are people that I approach because I think there is a real opportunity to help shape their story into a book.

I have to have passion for the project, genuinely like the author (after all, we’re going to be spending a lot of time working together), and believe that there is great commercial potential. It’s hard because sometimes the first two apply; but if I don’t believe I’m going to be able to sell the book idea to publishers, then I have to turn it down.

You can read my submission policy here: https://www.leshneagency.com/submissions/

One of the upcoming books I’m representing is The Buy Side (Crown, June 2013), a memoir written by Turney Duff, a former trader at The Galleon Group (the hedge fund at the center of history’s largest insider trading scandal). Aside from being one of the best natural writers I have ever come across, Turney has a great story to tell about how the money really gets made on Wall Street. It’s that mix of incredible writing and compelling story that every agent and publisher is hoping for.

A great example of prescriptive nonfiction I represent is Mina Samuels’ Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives (Seal Press, 2011). It’s about how sports (whether it’s running, rock climbing, or yoga) can help women overcome life’s obstacles and achieve the happiness and success they’ve been running toward. I love this book because it spoke to me personally, and I believed right away in its power to transform the lives of women in profound ways.

I have mostly represented nonfiction, but I would love to find the next Ann Patchett or Junot Diaz!

By the same token, I am always hoping to find the next J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins!

“With few exceptions, self-published books are not going to get onto bookstore shelves.”

Absolutely. To put it in perspective, Bowker, the company that handles ISBNs (book identifier codes) for books published in the United States says that the number of print and e-books self-published annually is up by 287 percent since 2006 and now totals over 235,000 titles. That’s an enormous number, and a good indicator that the industry has shifted.

The fact remains that most self-published titles only sell fewer than one hundred or one hundred fifty copies. The NY Times published a great article about this. With few exceptions, self-published books are not going to get onto bookstore shelves. And with more self-published titles flooding the market, we can assume it’s just going to get more difficult for a specific title to get discovered. So I still believe in the value of the traditional publishing process and what they have to offer in terms of curation, editing, design, distribution, promotion, etc.

I don’t have time to actively look for self-published works to represent; but if something great is brought to my attention and it has sold well as a self-published title, I could be interested.

A great story, a terrific hook, exceptional writing, and an author I can get behind and believe in.

“My biggest pet peeve is bad grammar.”

I’m so glad you asked. I can usually tell right away if I’m receiving a form letter that someone has sent to a hundred other agents. A dead giveaway is if the letter starts, “Dear Agent.” That’s enough to make me stop reading. Above all, I’d recommend that writers take the time to learn a little bit about the agent they are pitching and then personalize their pitch to them. My biggest pet peeve is bad grammar. If a prospective author can’t take the time to proofread her letter, I’m guessing I’m not going to like her proposal!

Rejection is difficult in all forms. I hate rejecting people, especially when I know that this is their dream, and they have poured so much of themselves into their work. And I hate getting rejected by editors! It happens all the time, and it’s taught me to have a thicker skin. I recognize that we all have a job to do, and I can’t take it personally; but I still get emotionally attached to people and projects!

I like to joke that I get to read for a living, and it’s partly true. The best parts of my job are reading, meeting interesting people, and working in an industry where the people I work with also possess a true love of books. It’s a nice common ground to have, and it’s fun to help bring great projects to life.

Elizabeth King Humphrey is a writer, editor, coach and reviewer. She earned her MFA at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and has a certificate in editing from the University of Chicago Graham School. Follow her on Twitter @Eliz_Humphrey.

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