BookEnds Welcomes Jessica Alvarez
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Apr 04 2011
These are exciting times both in publishing and at BookEnds. Within the last year we’ve made a lot of changes and we see many more, all good, in our future. The first of these big changes is welcoming Jessica Alvarez into the BookEnds family. I first met Jessica years ago at a Romance Writers of America conference. She was attending as a young editor from Harlequin. Fast-forward a few years to 2011, and randomly Jessica’s resume lands on my desk at just about the time I was thinking we needed to grow our staff. As a believer that sometimes things should be just that easy, I met Jessica for coffee to hear more about what she was looking for and to talk about BookEnds. I liked her. I really liked her, and more important, I thought she had great energy for BookEnds and would fit well into the fold.
We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Jessica on our team, and before I go on rambling anymore, let me turn the stage over to Jessica and let her tell you about herself . . .
Jessica (Faust)
***
Hi! I’m Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds’ newest agent. I’m thrilled to have joined the team and want to tell you a bit about myself.
My publishing career began in 2001 when I got a job as the editorial assistant for Harlequin Historicals and Steeple Hill. As a lifelong romance reader, working at Harlequin was a dream come true. And when I moved over to single titles, focusing on HQN Books and Red Dress Ink, my job got even better! I adore category romance, but being on single titles gave me the opportunity to work on a wider array of romance. Even so, after some time, I moved back to category, specifically to Harlequin Intrigue and NEXT.
As the editorial assistant for all those products I was the first line of defense when it came to submissions. I found a number of authors, including Lee Nichols, Jenna Kernan, Brenda Coulter, and Sarah Elliott. I also got to co-edit other fantastic authors—Diana Palmer, Sharon Sala, Gayle Wilson, and Kasey Michaels, to name a few. It was an unbelievable learning experience.
In 2005 I was promoted and began acquiring primarily for Silhouette Romantic Suspense, a terrific line. But when an opportunity arose on Steeple Hill, I had the perfect combination of experience needed, and it made sense for me to move.
In 2008 I embarked upon a freelance editing career. I was sad to leave my writers, colleagues, and a job I loved, but I had a life change in the works. My husband and I adopted our son that year, and freelancing provided the flexibility I needed. I enjoyed it, but it was a very solitary endeavor. I missed collaborating with writers. I missed combing through submissions. I missed being part of a team.
I’d known for some time I wanted to be a literary agent. I wanted to be the ultimate advocate for my authors, fight for them, help build their careers, help them develop and shape stories. Okay, yes, I did that as an editor, but I always felt limited since my first responsibility was to the publisher, not my writers. I’d never had the opportunity to work with Jessica or Kim, but I knew of their fantastic reputations and how highly regarded BookEnds is. I’d heard that Jessica is a great mentor, and I saw that firsthand when reading this blog. I also just had the sense that we’d work well together. So I got in touch with Jessica, and here I am.
I am actively looking for authors in women’s fiction and romance, both single title and series. I have a special fondness for historical romance and romantic suspense, but I’m also interested in paranormals, urban fantasy, all types of contemporary romance, and erotica. If your project falls under the women’s fiction or romance umbrellas, please take a peek at the agency website for specifics on how to query me. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Jessica (Alvarez)
Welcome to BookEnds, Jessica!
Congratulations, Jessica!
Congratulations. I wish you all the best!
Welcome, Jessica! Hope to meet you in person some time – perhaps at a Malice Domestic conference!
Are you gals going to get code-names now? J1 and J2, maybe? I imagine it could get confusing at times, otherwise… 🙂
Congratulations, Jessica! Wishing you a great start and fun career in your new job. I hope you won't drown in the query-tide surely heading your way.
welcome to BookEnds and congrats on the new position!!!!
Yay! Welcome to the BookEnds family, Jessica!
Congrats and welcome. On a side note Hubby and I adopted our son in 2009.
Good luck,
Congratulations! I wish you and your future clients the best.
Congratulations! With all of your experience I'm sure you'll be an awesome agent.
Jessica A,
I just happened to read this, because I always do and was surprised to see my name. So excited for your new endeavor. Congratulations!
Lee
Congrats and welcome, Jessica! You're joining a great team.
Thanks, everyone! It's great to be part of the BookEnds team. You've all been so supportive and welcoming.
And, hi, Lee! Funny meeting you here. So nice to "see" you and I hope all is well with you.
Great to see the announcement and congrats! 🙂
Welcome, Jessica! Best wishes for you to have a wonderful career at BookEnds 🙂
I'm chuckling about how interesting it is going to be with two Jessicas.
Ms. Trite says:
Welcome and run while you can.
I'm sure by now your inbox is already full of —-, ah, queries.
Best of luck.
Welcome, Jessica! May you have a long and successful career at BookEnds.
Coming out of lurking to say "Congrats Jessica". Happy and excited for you.
Welcome, welcome, Jessica! You've picked a fabulous place to begin your life as an agent. Congratulations, and let the wild ride begin!
Congrats and welcome Jessica!
Welcome Jessica,
Hope you enjoy your new career.
With a name like Bookends, it only makes sense to have two Jessicas with a Kim in the middle.
Good luck with your career change.
The submissions link doesn't include Jessica A's email address.
Congratulations and welcome. Hope to learn more about you in the future.
Welcome Jessica! You edited some of my favorite Harlequin lines/imprints!
For some reason I searched Literary Agents today and stumbled apon BookEnds and you. I tried to get "published" more than 10 years ago, only to get turned down from every major publishing company known to man. I was only writing poetry back then. Now, I have my own website and I'm at then end of writing my first novel. Once it's finished…maybe I'll venture out into the writer/agent/publishing world again.
-Janie
http://www.janiepoetry.com
All the best in your newest literary endeavor, Jessica!
Welcome, Jessica! I've already heard from authors who are querying you. Talk about hitting the ground running!
I look forward to meeting you at RWA in June–and don't believe a WORD that other Jessica says!
Your name is getting everywhere, Jessica. Congratulations on your new career. It's great to see BookEnds growing!
Hello, Jessica A. and congratulations! Gotta say … Red Dress Ink is one of my faves. I probably have more Red Dress Ink books than I do any others. 🙂
Congrats and welcome. I'm excited to have an agent specifically into romantic suspense join one of my favorite agency blogs.
Congrats and Best Wishes!