Eric Smith is a literary agent for P.S. Literary as well as the author of Don’t Read the Comments, You Can Go Your Own Way, Jagged Little Pill among others. He kindly took the time to answer my questions about his work, agenting and more. Enjoy!

1. For those who don’t know the specifics, what do you do as a literary agent? 

As a literary agent, my job is working with authors to find their books a home. I suppose that’s the short and sweet answer. But we do a lot more than that. We shop around subrights (ie: an author’s audiobooks, film and tv rights, translation rights), manage their contracts, foster the relationship between them and their publisher, step in when things are getting a little messy, and help manage their career. I work with some clients book after book, guiding their literary careers and making sure we’re making smart decisions. 

I also have a lot of fun!

2. How did you get your start in the industry? 

Things kicked off for me at Quirk Books, a lovely publisher here in Philadelphia. I worked doing social media and marketing, as well as bundle of other things. After a few years there, and a desire to move into editorial or agenting, I did just that. Being there firmly established my love of weird and unconventional books, that’s for sure. I’ve since been working in publishing for… whew, 15 years now, I think? What even is time.

3. What inspired you to start working on your debut book? 

The Geek’s Guide to Dating came from some essays I’d been writing. For a while, I’d been running a local geek blog, talking about the Philadelphia geek scene, so like, local comics people, video game developers, and the like. But I was also publishing essays about the intersection of video games and relationships. Some of them went a bit viral, and as a result, my publisher came knocking, suggesting there was a book in there someplace. Two years later, that book came out. 

A surprising thing about publishing, is that if you are loud enough and visible enough in the spaces you want to write in, eventually, someone might come to YOU. 

4. How do you balance your work as a literary agent with being a writer?

Not well! Hahah. 

No, the real answer is that I prioritize my clients over my own work. I love writing, I do. But I have people counting on me, and they come first. Whatever time I have leftover at the end of the day or the end of the week, that’s for me. Sometimes that means there isn’t any time leftover, and that’s okay. My ideas aren’t going anywhere, and the only one counting on my books is… well, me! I can wait. My beloved authors can’t. 

5. Do you find that your interests as what you look for in authors as a literary agent overlaps with your own style as an author? 

Sometimes! I write Young Adult books, and I’m lucky enough to represent a number of brilliant YA authors (ie: K. Ancrum, Olivia Chadha, Jill Baguchinsky all have new books incoming!). But the authors I work with tend to write in ways I simply never could. K. Ancrum’s has a gorgeous lyrical style that borders on poetry, Olivia Chadha writes complex, sprawling sci-fi worlds, Jill Bachinsky writes horror that keeps me up at night… I am not good at any of those things. 

Like, I’d probably hesitate to work on a YA novel that’s about nerdy kids in Philadelphia, as that’s basically all I write. But YA in other spaces? Let’s go. 

6. Most of your novels are set in Philadelphia, what is it about the city that shapes your story and characters?

I hate to say it’s because I’m a lazy writer, but I do think that’s a little bit of it. I’m immersed in this place. I’ve lived here for over a decade, and it’s where I feel like I really became an adult. It’s where my coming-of-age story happened. I don’t have to do a ton of research, the world building is right here. 

But I also love this town. Lots of YA authors write about the places they’re from (everyone should read Jeff Zentner’s YA novels!), and that makes the stories all the more rich. It’s a place we know. I can deliver a way better sense of place as a result. 

7. Besides original novels, you’ve adapted the Alanis Morissette musical, Jagged Little Pill. How is that process different from regular writing?

It was WILDLY different because there was an outline and a synopsis already. The play itself. So I worked with Alanis and the team to flesh out the story based on what was already there, and then expand on what wasn’t. That was maybe the most fun part. Digging into the characters who didn’t have a ton of time on stage or in the lyric book, and giving them more of a backstory. 

It was like someone giving you a synopsis and saying “okay, go.” I loved it. 

8. You use your heritage to inform the character’s backgrounds like Adam in You Can Go Your Own Way, how does their background impact their life? 

I’m not sure Adam’s background informs his life as much in that book, but when it comes to Don’t Read the Comments and With or Without You, the backgrounds of those kiddos play a HUGE part. Being a person of color in a space that’s not welcoming (Don’t Read the Comments) or in an area of town that’s trying to push you out (With or Without You) was a core part of those stories. 

The thing with Adam, is that he’s written a bit like me. He’s so hyperfocused on everyone else, that he barely focuses on himself. His identity is a bit lost, in trying to be just like the father he is missing. And I hope that the message of the book strikes a chord with kids who wrestle with something similar. Make time for yourself. ❤ 

9. Since several of your novels deal with geek culture, I have to ask-Favorite arcade and/or online game? Also what influences helped you create the Reclaim the Sun game in Don’t Read the Comments? 

Oooh, I like any big, sprawling, epic adventure RPG. I just finished Starfield, I replayed Fallout 3 and 4 recently, and I adore the Mass Effect series. If it’s a game that has a 100+ hour story, I’m in. But my favorite game of all time is Chrono Trigger on the Super Nintendo. Even after all these years, it’s masterful, and I still play it on my iPhone.

Reclaim the Sun was a mash up of several online games… there’s some Eve Online in there, some No Man’s Sky, a little bit of World of Warcraft… all mushed together to do what I needed it to do. 

10. The Girl and the Grove was particularly meaningful you wrote in your blog. Intensely personal about the “what if’s” adoptees think of, and the crisis of identity, you went through two drafts. What was the experience like for you? 

The Girl and the Grove was my hardest book! The experience was tough. But one of my favorite authors, Erin Bowman, says that some of the best writing comes from “mining your life” and well, that’s what I did. I pulled from a lot of who I was for that one. 

That sort of thing is hard. If you’re trying to do that, make sure you’re turning to your writing group and pals as you process it. 

11. Are any upcoming projects coming out?

Not really! I’ve got a short story in an anthology coming next year that I can’t really talk about yet, and a novel on submission thanks to my agent, so we’ll see! Keep an eye out! 

You can find out more about Eric Smith at his website and blog: https://www.ericsmithrocks.com/mswl