Thank you Lindsay Haverslew, Julie Neches, Allison Hong Merrill, Joshua Irving Gershick, Homi Hormasji, and many others for tuning into my live video with literary agent + author Jenna Satterthwaite! This was an insight-packed hour, as Jenna guided us through her career as author and literary agent, navigating the uncertainty of the publishing world today. Jenna also generously shared meaningful intel about her practices when submitting manuscripts and negotiating deals.
Jenna Satterthwaite is an agent at Storm Literary Agency and the author of Made for You and New Year’s Party (under her own name) and the Sienna Sharpe thrillers. She writes the Substack Jenna's Substack - Author + Agent + Human.
Watch the recording of the entire hour above, and/or skim Jenna’s major takeaways below.
Publishing Today with Jenna Satterthwaite
Jenna juggles a corporate day job, agenting, authoring, and raising three children — none of which she treats as secondary. Her corporate role pays the bills while agenting builds slowly; industry estimates put the timeline to a full-time agenting income at seven to ten years. She credits a stay-at-home spouse, genuine efficiency at her day job (gained over eighteen years), and a tolerance for multitasking as the keys to making it work. Her honest bottom line: this particular balance is not replicable for most people, and she doesn’t pretend otherwise. But it’s working for her and her clients!
“I got really excited about strategy and just how to play within the bounds of the system the best way you can. . . . I think going through grief always makes you reevaluate your life.”
On the Path to Becoming an Agent
Jenna came to agenting through years in the query trenches and on submission as an author. She watched five of her own books die on submission before finally selling her sixth in a two-book deal. That painful education — learning which imprints suit which genres, absorbing editor feedback, and developing a feel for publishing strategy — made agenting feel like a natural next step. A personal loss (the death of her youngest sister) and the approaching milestone of turning forty catalyzed the leap. She started with internships and used them as a litmus test before committing fully.
