A few weeks ago I heard that Silhouette Desire editor Melissa Jeglinski was leaving Harlequin/Silhouette to join The Knight Agency in Madison, Georgia. As of last week, The Knight Agency blog confirms the move (for some reason, I can’t get the link on the specific blog post to work, so just visit the TKA blog and scroll down to Wednesday, September 3rd). As of this typing, Melissa’s bio isn’t listed on The Knight Agency website, however the blog post reports that she will serve as an associate agent/submissions coordinator. Up ’til now, Elaine Spencer has filled the subs coordinator role. Are Melissa and Elaine now sharing the role, or is Melissa taking over while Elaine assumes other duties (like a growing client list)? I ain’t got a clue. 🙂 I also ain’t got a clue what Melissa is looking for as she builds her own roster, but if you visit the TKA website/blog often, sooner or later you’ll find out.
Melissa comes to TKA with seventeen years of publishing experience. Yowzer. She’s not the first editor I’ve heard of to move to agenting. A few years ago, Gail Fortune did the same, and Kim Lionetti, Jessica Faust, and Jacky Sach of BookEnds as well as Amy Moore-Benson of AMB Literary Management all have editorial backgrounds. I don’t know about you, but I consider this a positive. I guess it depends on how much you want your agent fiddling with your prose. Is the editing habit difficult to kick? (Or a relief to stop doing?). What do you think? Would you prefer an agent with an editing background, or does it not matter? Or do a multiple of factors come into play? (For me, it’s the latter).
Now that I’m thinking about it, though, while moving from editor to agent seems decently popular, I don’t think I’ve heard of a single agent who has moved into an editorial role. Is my brain dead? Has anyone heard of an agent turning to editing? Turning to writing, yes. Several authors in romance and other genres began their careers as either agents or editors.
Someone educate me. If you can think of a name, toss it my way. Just don’t toss no tomatoes.