#BookEnds20 – and #TeamMoe’s 4th Anniversary

One of my favorite things I’m asked about during conferences or potential client calls is “how did you become an agent?” since I started life as a musician, went to law school, and am now in publishing. When I say my career zig-zagged a lot, it’s true! My publishing journey started during law school when I realized I didn’t actually want to be an attorney—I loved the law, but life in a firm wasn’t for me at all.

Enter the class that changed my life: Entertainment Law. That class showed me how I could combine two of my loves: the law and books — I knew I had figured out what I wanted to do with my life. While my first job out of law school wasn’t in agenting but rather literary scouting, that job helped me hone my eye for great books… but I hated not being able to champion them! I’d write a glowing report but that was it. I couldn’t fight for the authors and I knew that I needed to work at an agency.

So, when I came across the posting for BookEnds—they wanted to expand into the children’s space as well as SciFi/Fantasy—I knew that posting was written for me and me alone. Okay, so it may have taken several weeks to get up the courage to send in my resume. After I hit send, about 24 hours later I was stuttering over myself talking on the phone with the Jessica Faust. (There was so much wine consumed during this whole process, I’m sure I put Cersei Lannister to shame.) Back then, the agency was much smaller and my hiring journey was much the same as Jessica Alvarez’s—just minus the spilling coffee on myself. Though… come to think of it, I may have dribbled kimchee on my shirt at the lunch meeting/interview.

What drew me to BookEnds and what’s kept me here for four years are my colleagues and the books I’ve been able to work on. I love being at an agency that lets me represent projects I’m passionate about—especially championing voices in the LGBTQIA+ space. I’ve been able to expand the projects I’m working on beyond that initial job listing, and it’s been an honor to be the agent who had the first BookEnds sales for both a Middle Grade series and a Graphic Novel series. But beyond all that, I also appreciate a boss who understands how important a work/life balance is. This violinist can still have her home in pit orchestras and keep performing. I can’t imagine working anywhere else and am thrilled to see where the next 4 years and beyond takes me!