 We asked Tommy Dean some questions and he answered! Keep reading to see if he's your dream agent. Tommy Dean is an associate literary agent with Rosecliff Literary, the author of two flash fiction chapbooks, Special Like the People on TV (Redbird Chapbooks, 2014) and Covenants (ELJ Editions, 2021), and a full flash collection, Hollows (Alternating Current Press, 2022). He lives in Indiana, where he is currently the editor of Fractured Lit and Uncharted Magazine. A recipient of the 2019 Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction, his writing can be found in Best Microfiction 2019, 2020, 2023, Best Small Fiction 2019 and 2022, Monkeybicycle, Moon City Press, and numerous other litmags. His interviews have been previously published in New Flash Fiction Review, The Rumpus, CRAFT Literary, and The Town Crier (The Puritan). He has taught writing workshops for the Gotham Writers Workshop, the Barrelhouse Conversations and Connections conference, and The Writers Workshop.  What’s your favorite moment so far of being an agent? I love meeting with authors after having read their full manuscript and talking to them about their careers and how much I loved their book, and how I so much want to help them achieve their publishing dreams. What do you love most about agenting? I love that I'm surrounded by authors' creativity and engaging writing, that my job is to read and find stories that have to make it out into the world to find their readers. It's a privilege to be trusted with someone's years of creativity and perseverance! What do you wish querying writers knew? Query formats and structures aren't there to limit the writer's creativity, but to help the agent understand and analyze the pitch quickly, and deeply to understand how the agent could help that author find their perfect publisher. That stories below 70,000 words are hard to sell, no matter how well written! What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever heard? Focus on the art of writing for as long as you, making it the best you can before thinking about it in business terms as a product. Have patience, write multiple drafts. Describe your dream client. My dream client has written the best book they can by giving themselves the time to write multiple drafts, revise for story and clarity, and has also revised based on beta readers' suggestions. They have done their research on me as an agent and therefore, are pitching me a book that we'll mutually love. A client who loves writing, who has lots of new book ideas, and who is ready to work together over the length of their career. What project would you love to see come across your desk? I'd love to see more gritty, domestic suspense with female lead characters, ready to solve mysteries and fight for their right to live happy, safe lives. I'd love to find the next Chris Whitaker, Megan Abbott, or Matthew Quirk, to find characters embroiled in crime, suspense, and mystery, and ready to face their fears. I want dynamic characters in specific, unique conflicts, who offer us a view into the problems with society. Give me a book I can't put down, full of secrets and lies, with a voice that won't let me go! You can find out more about Tommy at tommydeanwriter.com. You can query Tommy at Query Tracker. Please include a query letter and a one-page synopsis. Paragraph 1: Introduction. Please include metadata such as word count, title, genre, and comps. Please include your one sentence pitch here. Paragraph 2/3: Back copy blurb that includes important stakes, plot and action, and the hook. Focus on your main character! Paragraph 4: Your bio, including some background information and writing experience/success. Please attach the first 10 pages of your novel. If interested in your project, Tommy will request the full manuscript. You can pitch to Tommy at these upcoming Writing Day Workshops conferences: October 3-4, 2025: Online Florida Writing Workshop December 5-6, 2025: Online Writing Workshop of Chicago June 20, 2025: Writing Workshop of Chicago  This post was complied by Brandy Vallance, a literary agent with Barbara Bova Literary Agency, an award-winning author, and a Story Consultant for Writing Day Workshops. Brandy is the winner of two national writing awards, one of which included a $20,000 prize. Her novel, THE COVERED DEEP, has been featured in USA Today & Writer’s Digest. WITHIN THE VEIL has been called “passionate and riveting” and Publisher’s Weekly encourages those who like sweeping Scottish sagas to dive in because “the journey is wonderful.” Brandy loves helping writers break the chains of fear and self-doubt. You can find out more at brandyvallance.com.  Attend a Writers Conference in 2026:
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