what i'm obsessing over: TV, TikTok, and Gen Alpha trends
plus, a Q&A with literary agent Tess Callero
happy sunday, friends! as I write to you, I’m thinking about the juxtaposition of the beautifully fragrant hyacinth next to me and the fact that yesterday, it snowed for the second time in a week. while not a big deal by Buffalo (where I’m from) standards, two snow flurries in a matter of a few days are certainly noteworthy in the city! but even so, my headspace is SO SPRING. on friday, I bought an easter-feeling bouquet containing yellow tulips, the aforementioned purple hyacinth, and some pussy willows for added texture — it felt like another way I could convince myself that warmer days may not be here yet, but we are inching closer. and until then, flowers will be keeping me in the spring state of mind.
looking back on the week and all that’s transpired since the last sunday series send, it’s funny to think how fast pop culture moves. NYFW! Tinx interviewing Pookie and Jett! then there was Sophia Richie sitting next to Kelly Rutherford front row at Tommy Hilfiger! it’s all so, so good. and I mean, how many hours of your life have been consumed this week watching videos of Taylor and Travis on the field and at the Super Bowl afterparties?? the limit does not exist. my entire algorithm is dominated by breakdowns of what all this means…the below one which analyzes Taylor’s one and only SB post really had me thinking about what it looks like for her to take control of the narrative. obsessed.
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and then, it was Valentine’s! while I didn’t have a V-Day date, I did go on a first date the following night, which yielded some amusing results that I shared on TikTok. after my “untethered autumn,” which I committed to back in october, I’m energized by getting back out there and seeing what happens! more updates to come in this realm…in the meantime, I’ll be busy talking incessantly about Netflix’s ONE DAY and the hole I went into to watch all fourteen episodes, which culminated in me crying like a baby last night with my weekly Magnolia fix. I feel moderately better that I wasn’t alone in this indulgence, thanks to
(future sunday series guest!) also being wrapped up in this world. if you haven’t started watching, now’s the time.in my final random tangent of this intro, I’m going to highlight one of my favorite articles from the week.
(love her Substack about Gen Z and Gen Alpha!)’s piece in The Cut, “Tweencore What the 13-and-under set is shopping for,” is equal parts revelatory and at the same time, not that shocking considering how our TT feeds have been inundated with videos about Gen Alpha doing Sephora hauls that rival women in their 30s! what do you make of all of this? I’ll leave you with this quote: “In sixth grade, everybody walks in with their Lululemon and their Stanleys and then once you get into seventh grade, you are done with that.” —Stella, 12
meet Tess Callero
while we’ve been lucky enough to check in with several authors, book podcasters, and Bookstagrammers, we haven’t yet had a peek into the part of publishing so critical to any author’s story being seen: the elusive literary agent. often thought of as gatekeepers, agents act as authors’ advocates to editors and publishing houses. they ensure stories make their way into the world in the most engaging and commercially successful manner possible! with this in mind, I’m excited to be bringing you my conversation with Tess Callero, literary agent with Europa Content.
Kayla Douglas: Tess, did you always know you wanted to become a literary agent? Tell us about your path that found you working in the literary world.
Tess Callero: I did not. Like most Midwesterners, publishing was a mysterious world, and while I always loved reading, actually being involved in the making of the books never crossed my mind. I went to a Big Ten school and was a marketing major in the business school. My senior year, I had the option of either graduating early, or taking up a major I actually enjoyed in addition to the marketing degree I had completed. I decided to take on an English degree, which led me to a class called Literary Editing & Publishing. The teacher had industry folks Skype in (these were pre-Zoom days). We heard from authors and editors (including Roxane Gay!), but when a literary agent assistant spoke, it was like a lightbulb came on. That is my job, I thought.
I spoke to the professor after class, who told me that, to my family’s dismay, this would mean I had to move to New York. I had never been to New York City before arriving at JFK solo in June 2014, and I knew no one in the industry. I did two unpaid internships and lived with a college friend’s family in Long Island working odd jobs before I was offered my first role assisting two agents at Curtis Brown in January 2015. It was a long seven months between graduation and getting that offer, and my parents wanted to kill me for turning down perfectly respectable entry level marketing roles in the Midwest. But I was stubborn! Back then I dreamed of the life and career I am living now, which is pretty cool to reflect on ten years later.
KD: For those who are unfamiliar, what does a literary agent do on behalf of their client?
TC: We act as an author’s advocate throughout the publishing process. What does that look like? For me, this begins with strategy. Whether I am working with fiction or nonfiction authors, I always like to discuss up front all of their ideas, goals, and visions for their career. For nonfiction, I nearly always help my authors build proposals from scratch, so I act as a coach and editor. Fiction typically comes to me fully drafted, so I provide hands-on editorial notes to get the manuscript in the best shape possible to submit to editors. Once we land their publishing partner and negotiate the deal (from the deal terms, all the way through the long form contract), I defer to their editor for any additional editorial guidance, and my role then becomes advocate through the publication process. This means that I step in should there be disagreements or someone is not fulfilling their role so that my author can focus on writing in peace. So, I am constantly checking to see: Are we hitting our deadlines? Does the cover need simple tweaks or do we need to completely shift direction? Is there an editorial dispute I need to weigh in on? Are the marketing and publicity teams getting the book’s messaging right? Is my client getting their book’s messaging right? Let’s kickstart the blurb conversation. Do we need books at an event, and who on the team can help us get them there? And, most importantly, what is book number two going to be?!
Separately from the publication process, we at Europa Content see ourselves as content managers just as much as book agents. So, I am also regularly brainstorming with my authors to see what content they’d like to put out into the world, not just this year, but for the next five years, so I can help them reach their goals. With that comes a lot of development from the ground up, which is a fun creative process. We also co-agent with film/tv agents, as well as foreign rights agents all over the world, in addition to working with lawyers, managers, and the author’s publishing team. So, I spend a lot of time on Zoom…!
KD: What's been one of your most rewarding projects that you've worked on to date?
TC: This is such a good question, and truly all of my projects are rewarding in different ways, so I will go with my most recent. One of my author’s books that recently published is A BOLD RETURN TO GIVING A DAMN by Will Harris, a fourth-generation farmer at the largest regenerative farm in the South, White Oak Pastures. We knew what they were doing at White Oak was special, but when we approached Will and his daughter, Jenni, about doing a book, they were genuinely shocked and a bit skeptical at who would be interested in a book by them.
Well, it turns out, a lot of people. We found them a perfect writing partner and a wonderful home at Viking, and since the book’s launch, Will has been featured everywhere from Joe Rogan to StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson. It’s a book that inspires readers to change the way they shop by making them question where their food comes from. It promotes community and animal welfare. It shows that we can achieve a sustainable food system and that we desperately need to reconnect with our food—our future depends on it. I just love it, and I feel honored to have played a role in a bringing it into the world.
KD: What does a "day in the life" look like?
TC: Every day is different, which is why I love my job. Some days are spent diving into queries or scouting for new nonfiction clients. Some are spent in Zoom after Zoom, either strategizing a book’s launch, meeting a new editor/pitching projects, or introducing my author to potential publishing partners. Some are spent deep in line edits, when it feels like hours pass in minutes. At any given point I am reviewing anywhere from one to several contracts. I’ve also found myself as the Chair of the AALA’s Media & Digital Innovations committee and the AI Working Group committee, meaning I am regularly meeting with other agents, the Author’s Guild, and other reps in the industry to discuss the future of AI in publishing.
KD: What aspects of bringing a book to market do you think would surprise readers most?
That it takes a very long time! I tell my authors that from the day you sign the contract, it will take 18-24 months for your book to hit shelves. So the “trends” we see in the market today actually began two years ago.
KD: When considering bringing on a new client, what types of stories do you seek out?
TC: In fiction, I represent mystery/thriller/suspense and romance. I love smart, edgy female protagonists in both categories. I love when a concept is grounded in reality, like this could be happening in your world if the circumstances were just slightly different. I love stories that are layered with the female experience, even if it’s not the main focus of the plot, whether that be navigating being a woman in the workplace, fertility and/or motherhood, sisterhood, or female friendship. I’d love a good sorority setting (I recently finished BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN by Jessica Knoll, and as the former Chapter President at a Big Ten sorority… that one hit). I’d love a siblings/family story, especially one that explores class or addiction, in the vein of Succession.
KD: If you had advice for those in the "query trenches," what would it be?
TC: Spend time on your query. An author’s initial query letter will influence an agent’s pitch to editors, which then influences the jacket copy and retailer product description written up by the editor. There are so many people in the background working on metadata, and key words, and ad spending. And so much of it starts with how you position your book in your query. What (recent) titles do you see this book sitting next to on shelves? What category are you writing in? These basic descriptors influence if I want to read the material more than the synopsis does. There is nothing that makes me more excited to read a manuscript than a writer who has shown me they understand the market in which they’re writing.
KD: Tell us about the most recent work of fiction that left you with a book hangover.
TC: TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin.
KD: What book on your TBR are you most excited to pick up?
TC: THE LIST by Yomi Adegoke. It’s literally sitting on my nightstand ready to be cracked open tonight.
KD: The Sunday Series was conceptualized as a love letter to my favorite day of the week. If we were with you in your neighborhood on Sunday, where would you take us to spend the afternoon?
TC: I moved back to Chicago during the pandemic and live in Lakeview, which is similar to an East Village vibe. We’d take a stroll down Sheffield with my foster dog-of-the-week and if the weather was nice enough (so, NOT February), we’d sit outside at Fish Bar for oysters and ceviche. But, given the time of year, we can settle for beers and pub food at Wilde, our favorite neighborhood spot that pays homage to Oscar himself!
Another lovely read, thanks Kayla🤍