We are so happy to welcome agent Larissa Melo Pienkowski to the podcast! We loved having her as a guest, and think you'll love her, too.

Larissa Melo Pienkowski is a literary agent at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, the assistant publisher of Dottir Press, and a freelance editor and sensitivity reader. As a Latinx, mixed-race bookworm, she’s passionate about #OwnVoices stories, uplifting marginalized voices, and reading voraciously across genres, with a soft spot for YA, MG, literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and books that stretch the boundaries of genre altogether. A Massachusetts native, she earned her BSW from Simmons College and her MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College, and can be found in her ceramics studio in her free time (when she doesn’t have a book in hand).

In this episode, we cover:

What’s the best way to follow up with agents—and when?

How do you deal with an exclusive submission—and advocate for yourself at the same time?

What to do if you sent your manuscript...seven months ago?

What makes publishing slow?

How long do you have to send your work after receiving a full request? Do you have to send it right away? What if it needs edits?

What’s the best way to include a second language in your book?

Larissa’s thoughts on pitch contests (and your best practices).

Does cold querying work?

If you have a twitter pitch, do you add it to your query?

Do agents drop clients if the first book doesn’t sell?

Plus much more!

You can meet with Larissa to go over your query here: https://manuscriptacademy.com/larissa-pienkowski

The comp class we mentioned is here: https://manuscriptacademy.com/hannah