Publishing in Three | Step 2: Interview with Marin Takikawa

In this series, “Publishing in Three,” I aim to shine a light on the experiences of an author, literary agent, and editor to learn about each of their perspectives on how books are made.

Literary agents are the unsung heroes of publishing. In traditional publishing, literary agents are the forces that help an author get their book in the hands of an editor. It is their job to acquire books, either through scouting their own projects or receiving query submissions. From there, the agent works to represent books and their authors to publishing houses and/or any other entity that would be required to bring the written work to the public eye.

The following article is a conversation with the brilliant Marin Takikawa. Before YRG Partners, Marin joined the Foundry Literary + Media team in December 2019. Prior to that, she interned at The Book Group, Folio Literary Management, and Triada US Literary. Marin graduated from the University of Rochester, where she majored in Business and English and minored in Japanese. She’s particularly interested in literary, upmarket fiction, short story collections, select narrative nonfiction, and MG/YA. Marin gravitates toward works that grapple with the complexities and flawed dynamics within families, and simultaneously carve out the beauty of this messy, messy, world from all the murkiness. Above all else, she hopes to become a fierce champion for underrepresented voices. Born in Tokyo and raised in Singapore, Marin now lives in Queens, NY, and can be found on Twitter @marintakikawa.  

How did you discover a career in publishing, and what drew you to being an agent or working agency?

I think my answer is like that classic: “I didn't know working with books could be a career thing.” I went to a very stem focused research university, and it took me until the end of my freshman year in college to figure out that publishing was actually a thing I could do. It was because of this almost existential crisis that I hunkered down the summer after freshman year and really thought about what I wanted to do and what options there were out there for me.

This all propelled me forward and gave me a goal. I didn't know, at that point in time, about the differences between what sort of jobs there were in publishing itself—editors, agents, publicists, all that; I just knew it was my goal to have an internship in publishing. From then, it was sort of this long process where I just got rejected, left and right for every internship I applied for.

Finally, I landed something the summer before my fifth year of college, because I took an additional year, and that was actually something I found on Twitter, surprisingly. It was a fully remote internship, which was super rare before Covid. I worked at Triada US Literary Agency under Brent Taylor, and he's a really young and amazing agent, who represents middle grade and YA authors. Brent really gave me a crash course into agenting. From there, I landed an internship at Folio Literary Management under Annie Hwang, who is now at Ayesha Pande Literary. That was pivotal to how I think about agenting, and a lot of how I do stuff right now is very much inspired by her because I like, admire her so much. I continued working for her after college as well, but then the summer after college, I also got an internship at The Book Group, which was my dream agency for like an internship because the rep so many of my favorite authors. There, I got to work closely with Nicole Cunningham, who is an associate there but also an assistant to Julie Barer. I concurrently interned at Folio and The Book Group, and I'm really thankful for that experience because there was such a heavy workload. And I think that really helped me prepare to become to like, sort of get ready for the intense workload of an assistant. So yeah, I started at Foundry literally last year. It's almost the one year mark for me, like in a few days.

From your experience having not known about publishing to becoming fully involved in the process, how has your perspective on books changed?

Working in publishing is extremely eye-opening. You really get to see that there is this entire ecosystem behind pushing a book out to the public. I now understand why publishing seems so opaque from the outside, just because so much goes into bringing a book out to the consumer. While that sort of knowledge isn't pertinent to the everyday person, once you get into publishing, it's really, really fascinating to see each major player and how their contributions shaped the book that ends up in front of you.

What is your typical daily routine as an editorial assistant?

It really depends on the day. A large task that I have is evaluating queries. Then there are my boss's clients who I have to help keep happy by doing things like going over the material that they sent over. Aside from that, a lot of my job is also administrative stuff, which sounds so boring, but it's really, really important. I will work on the contracts, as well as keeping our systems and spreadsheets in order, making sure my boss knows what to do next.

Also, as an assistant, I'm not an agent yet, so in my own free time, I'm also looking into potential clients and seeing who I would want to reach out to. I do this because assistants have to have that initiative. No one is really going to just say, “Okay, now you can do it,” so you really have to show them that you want it. So there is no short answer; everyday has its own tasks that I sort through, which I guess is the beauty of publishing and agenting in specific.

As an editorial assistant, you are close to transitioning over to acquiring your own queries. What will that process look like for you?

It really differs from agency to agency. For example, at The Book Group, there are two assistants there. While one of them isn't officially open to queries, her bio is listed with all the others, so she also gets queries to her because they only have one submission inbox. Then there are other agencies like YGR Partners, where each agent has their individual submissions inbox? So, for me, because I'm still an assistant, I don't have my own submissions inbox, meaning to say I can't get queries directly sent to me. Because of that, like, I'm not officially open to queries. As I think of my ideal list, I think down the line, once I've made a few sales on my own, that would be when I would finally get my own submissions and books. That would also, of course be a conversation I would have with the founder.

When you do begin acquiring your own titles, is there a specific story or voice that you want to use your platform as an agent to highlight?

My taste is really broad, but my goal has always been to cultivate a list where I mostly represent writers of color, or writers from diaspora. Honestly, I just want to make sure that these writers are able to write without getting pigeonholed. I want them to be able to write whatever they want, whether that be about their ethnicity, upbringing, or something completely different. As an agent, I want to make sure I'm the advocate that best uplifts them and protects them from all the challenges that publishing can bring.

Agents often have the responsibility of introducing emerging authors to the publishing process. Is there any publishing advice that you want to share with emerging authors as they look to get their book published?

I feel like my advice would differ or like, people based on the different stages that they're in. For writers in general, I think the most important thing is to make sure you have a solid community behind you. It is important to both have critique partners, and also people who you're able to surround yourself with to uplift you and to uplift others. Every stage of the publishing process can be so brutal and writing itself is already a solitary career, so it's really essential to find your people.

My general advice to writers who are querying is to make your letter as strong as you can. You want to make sure that your query isn't just a word vomit. You have to think of the query not as just an introduction to your book, but also as a marketing tool. You're supposed to write just enough to entice the agent, and then let your sample pages do the work needed to entice an agent even more. That's why critique partners, and just showing people your work, are so important, because you really need that feedback to learn if your query is achieving the reaction you are aiming for.

In addition to being an editorial assistant, you have also been an intern manager at Foundry Literary + Media. Do you have any advice for someone who is aspiring to enter the publishing industry?

Read as much as possible! That also applies to writers too. You really need to know, understand what you gravitate towards. Everyone has their favorite books and can name one or two titles, but really honing that taste is so imperative.

For people who are taking that next step and finally getting something under their belt in terms of publishing experience, I think the most important thing is to not mass apply to different internships. At the end of the day, you want to find someone or like an agency that best fits you; I guarantee that the chances of you getting noticed are going to be much higher, just because you have that personal connection to your work.

Is there one book that impacted you the most as a child?

As a child, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy really impacted me a lot. A few others are Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart trilogy, Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, and Shannon Hale's Princess Academy. With those books, I will go back time and time again, and they are just as great as I remember.

Is there a book that you think everyone should read?

I have two recommendations. One is Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You. It's the sort of book that I just empathize with, I connected with so deeply. When I read it, I just felt it deep in my core, and that was groundbreaking for me.

My second is insi Goodbye, Vitamin. It's really, really short, and the structure is also really interesting. I definitely think it's an important book particularly because the Father has Alzheimer's, and the structure sort of plays with it, which is something that Rachel does really well.

What are you currently reading and/or about to read?

I just finished reading Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years. I’m not gonna lie; I cried at the end. Next on my list, because I need something light-hearted, I'm about to dive into Emma Lord’s Tweet Cute.

I am so very grateful to Marin for taking the time to speak with me about agenting. Her advice for both authors and aspiring publishers is absolutely insightful, as were the experiences and book recommendations that she shared.

Cecilia Gray is a member of the 2020 Windmill staff. She is currently pursuing a BA in Publishing Studies and Writing Studies at Hofstra University. To read more publishing and writing related articles by her, follow her series, The Writer’s Toolbox, at Firstdraft.com.