Meet Jennifer Rofé

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Rofé.

Hi Jennifer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was a tween, my uncle married my aunt, who had (and still has) a successful career in the animation space. Until that moment, I had never given much thought to where cartoons and other children’s programming came from, and I became interested in that space. I liked cartoons for much longer that most of my peers did, and I thought I might work in animation or children’s programming as a career. But in college, I had a summer internship at a major studio here in the Valley, and it was *miserable.* During college, I realized that I was a good teacher, and I ultimately became a middle-school teacher in the Bay Area, though I knew teaching wouldn’t be my long-term career or that the Bay would be home. I had also always been interested in children’s literature, so while I was still teaching, I signed up for a weekend workshop at a local indie bookstore that was for children’s writers. I signed up entirely because literary agent Andrea Brown was speaking. Andrea was the last speaker of the weekend, and as I listened to her describe her work, I knew in that moment that agenting was what I wanted to do. It seemed to be a perfect combination of my interests. At the end of the conference, I went up to Andrea and said, “I don’t have anything to pitch you; I’m not a writer. I just want to know how I get your job.” I started interning with her a few months later, slowly climbed the ranks, and 17 years later, I’m still at it!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
All things considered, it’s been pretty smooth, though that doesn’t mean it’s been easy. For the start of my agenting career, I was still teaching. But I was young and I had plenty of free time, so I would work at agenting in the morning, teach all day, and then come home and work in the evenings. I also spent time working on the weekends. I was motivated to transition into agenting full-time, but it’s commission-based work, so I knew it would take time. Eventually, I went to part-time teaching, and when I moved back to LA in 2008 after some personal upheavals, I used it as the opportunity to go full-time. However, 2008 also brought a financial crisis, which impacted the book industry and everything tanked. I sold almost nothing that year — which was also a result of my taking the time to put my life back together — and books that did come out that year had a rough go. Then there was the disconnect I contended with. By which I mean the disconnect between what I wanted to do and what I was good at doing. There was a time that I wanted to be representing big Young Adult properties and I was putting my energies there, except it turns out that not only are they not my forté, I don’t even enjoy working in that particular space! It was a deeply frustrating time, and I found myself on the verge of quitting. When I took the time to stop and evaluate what I was good at and what I enjoyed, and once I put my focus there, my career started taking off.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a literary agent for authors and illustrators of children’s literature. I represent authors and illustrators and sell their work to publishers. I pitch their work to publishers, negotiate deals for them, negotiate their contracts, and I support them through the publishing process. I am particularly known for working in the middle-grade space, though in the last few years, I’ve been focusing more on illustrators and author-illustrators. Some of my clients include major award winners, New York Times bestsellers, and the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. I’m proud of the work that my colleagues and I have always done in promoting diversity in the industry. Like so many industries, children’s literature has also struggled with representation; however, my colleagues and I have been representing and promoting diverse talent from the beginning, and we’re glad that the industry is finally paying better and more serious attention to representation in children’s literature. We still have a ways to go, though.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.andreabrownlit.com
• Instagram: @andreabrownlit, @andreabrownlit_authors
• Twitter: @jenrofe, @andreabrownlit