We have an amazing lineup of agents participating in Pitch Wars 2017!
On November 1st , the Pitch Wars Agent Showcase will go live for all the mentees, chosen by mentors on August 24th. We will post three separate posts by age category (MG, YA, NA/A), listing the mentees’ pitch and the first words of their manuscript (pitch words + first page words = 300 words). The agents will search from November 1-7 through the posts, find their favorites, and request them.
November 1 – 7: Agent Showcase
- November 1: Adult and New Adult entries
- November 2: MG entries
- November 3: YA entries
- November 7: Last day of Agent Showcase
For those of you new to Pitch Wars, check out “Pitch Wars 2017 … all the details!”. And come back July 19th to find your perfect mentor at the Mentor Blog Hop, running July 19-August 2!
PLEASE NOTE: This is the list of agents participating in the Agent Showcase in November. They are not mentors.
So check out the agents below and see what they’re looking for most in a manuscript. They’re listed in alphabetical order by the agency they work for. This post includes A-J, and Part 2 includes K-Z.
So here they are . . . the first half of our Pitch Wars 2017 agents!
Adams Literary
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Tracy Adams
Represent: MG, YA
Tracey Adams co-founded Adams Literary in 2004, after nearly a decade with literary agencies Writers House and McIntosh & Otis, where she was the head of the children’s department. Prior to becoming an agent, she worked in the marketing and editorial departments of Greenwillow Books and Margaret K. McElderry Books.
A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Tracey speaks frequently about her profession and the children’s book industry at conferences across the country. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the Association of Author Representatives (AAR), and a founding member of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) chapter in Charlotte, NC.
In her spare time, Tracey enjoys traveling, playing tennis, cheering for the Carolina Panthers, and test-marketing children’s books with her two daughters.
Josh Adams
Josh Adams, together with his wife Tracey, runs Adams Literary. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Business School—where he studied finance and accounting, and was awarded the Abe Shuchman Memorial Award in Marketing—Josh spent more than a decade in publishing and media before bringing his editorial and business backgrounds together as a literary agent.
A media management specialist, he led teams of creative and business professionals in developing the editorial strategy and positioning of several national publications, and directed the marketing and brand strategy of many well-known international companies as a consultant.
Adams Literary is a full-service, boutique literary agency exclusively representing children’s and young adult authors and artists. Founded by Tracey and Josh Adams, Adams Literary prides itself on nurturing the creativity of its clients and maintaining close relationships with editors and publishers in New York City and around the world.
Aevitas Creative Management
Erica Bauman
Represents: MG, YA, A
Erica Bauman is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and has worked in the publishing industry for the last five years. Before coming to Aevitas she worked at Spectrum Literary Agency.
Based in New York, Erica is currently focused on representing a wide range of authors across middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction, as well as some select narrative nonfiction projects. She is most interested in novels that straddle the line between literary and commercial, imaginative tales with a speculative twist, fearless storytellers that tackle big ideas and contemporary issues, and working with and supporting marginalized authors and stories that represent the wide range of humanity.
BookEnds Literary
Natascha Morris
Represents: MG, YA
Natascha Morris spent most of her childhood in a leather chair with her nose in a book. Formerly an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster, her passion for books across genres and her desire to finding amazing talent drove her to make the transition from editorial to literary agent.
Her editorial philosophy stems from the idea that all books should be well written and entertaining. Some of her favorite authors include Molly Idle, Sherwood Smith, Ann Rinaldi, Sabaa Tahir, and Meg Cabot. Check out her Pinterest for a quick look at her favorite books. https://www.pinterest.com/nataschamorris/
A Texas native, Natascha can often be found hunting for the best Tex-Mex in New York. Outside of reading, she is interested in urban farming and cooking.
You can contact Natascha at NMSubmissions@bookendsliterary.com or follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SoCalledYALife
Natascha is primarily looking for picture book, middle grade and young adult manuscripts across most genres, including contemporary, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, historical fiction, and narrative non-fiction. She is also looking for artists that speak to her creatively.
She is not a good fit for adult literary fiction, horror, true crime, or serious nonfiction.
Bradford Literary Agency
Natalie Lakosil
Represents: MG, YA
Natalie Lakosil is an agent at the Bradford Literary Agency. An honors graduate of the University of San Diego, California, Natalie holds a B.A. in Literature/Writing. After nearly four years at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and a brief dabble in writing author profiles and book reviews for the San Diego Union Tribune, Natalie joined the Bradford Agency in February of 2011.
Natalie is drawn to talented, hard-working new authors with a fresh, unique voice and hook. Her specialties are children’s literature (from picture book through teen and New Adult), romance (contemporary and historical), cozy mystery/crime, upmarket women’s/general fiction and select children’s nonfiction. Her interests include historical, multi-cultural, magical realism, sci-fi/fantasy, gritty, thrilling and darker contemporary novels, middle grade with heart, and short, quirky or character-driven picture books. She is always drawn to an open and positive attitude in an author, professionalism, good grammar, and fantastical, beautifully written, engaging and sexy plots.
Natalie is not looking for: Inspirational novels, memoir, romantic suspense, adult thrillers, poetry, screenplays
Natalie is a member of SCBWI & RWA.
Brower Literary & Management
Kimberly Brower
Represents: A, YA
Kimberly Brower fell in love with reading when she picked up her first Babysitter’s Club book at the age of seven and hasn’t been able to get her nose out of a book since. She holds a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge and received her JD from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Although she loves all things romance, she is also searching for books that are different and will surprise her, with empathetic characters and compelling stories. She takes great pride in her client list, from the debut authors to #1 NYT bestsellers, and likes to consider them all her favorite authors. She previously worked for over two years at Rebecca Friedman Literary before starting her own agency. After spending 14 years in California, she is thrilled to be back on the east coast living in New York City.
Kimberly is interested in commercial and upmarket fiction, with an emphasis in general/book club fiction (specifically books that involve complex relationships, ones with moral ambiguity plots is a plus), contemporary romance, and women’s fiction. However, she is always looking for books that she wants to stay up all night reading, unable to put them down, regardless of what genre an author classifies it as. She loves stories that bring her into a world she doesn’t want to leave and characters that have strong character arcs.
Jess Dallow
Represents: YA, A
Having grown up with the same name as her favorite Sweet Valley High twin, Jess Dallow has always had a love for books, especially those that feature well developed, strong female characters. She is fascinated with complex characters and a world that she can fall in love with, stories that make her want to sob and laugh within minutes of each other, and a book that she can’t put down no matter what time it is or what rerun of SVU is on. She has a BFA in Writing for Film and Television from the University of the Arts and worked in entertainment for eight years before returning to her home state of NY where she worked at a literary agency for two years before joining Brower Literary & Management.
Jess is looking for YA and adult commercial fiction. She loves family stories (in the vein of This is Where I Leave You), thrillers (give her all the serial killers you have), mysteries, and women’s fiction, especially one that features ladies supporting ladies. She’s looking for strong, complex female characters and a book she can’t put down no matter what time it is. And as much as she loves romance, she’d be interested in seeing it more as a B plot, then a straight forward romance. Other than that, please check her #MSWL on Twitter.
Aimee Ashcraft
Represents: YA, A
Aimee Ashcraft has loved books since the days of sneakily reading under her desk in elementary school. Thankfully, reading is no longer a punishable offense, and she is busy seeking out stories that feature all-encompassing worlds and compelling female characters. She loves books that are told from an original point of view and are more addictive than a good Netflix binge. Aimee received her BA from Transylvania University and her MA from NYU. She is now based in New York City and is thrilled to be joining Brower Literary and Management.
Aimee is looking for upmarket and literary fiction, specifically historical fiction, women’s fiction, and YA (all genres). She loves books that pull her in, immersing her in a world she can’t escape until the final sentence. She is looking for original voices and compelling, complex female characters.
Corvisiero Literary Agency
Justin Wells
Represents: YA, MG
Justin Wells started his journey six years ago when he started his blog which grew far beyond what he had originally thought it ever would. If you had asked him then, he would have never imagined just how much his journey would impact his future. Being a literary agent is something that Justin has fallen in love with, and is eager to continue for years to come.
Justin is going into his Senior year of college, and will be graduating with a B.S. in Mass Communications with a focus in Public Relations. He loves being able to utilize his skills in public relations to assist the agency, and his own clients through his work as a literary agent.
Justin loves every aspect of being a literary agent. He loves being able to do all he can to help writers. Be it writers he speaks to over social media, conferences, or other sources. The ability to help writers hone their craft is one of the most rewarding aspects of being an agent for him. He loves helping his amazing clients, along with the many other writers he comes into contact with through other means.
When it comes to reading, he is very open. His main focus is young adult, middle grade, and new adult, though he has been known to branch out and explore other books that catch his eye.
Kaitlyn Johnson
Represents: YA, NA, A
After receiving a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College, Kaitlyn Johnson refused to leave the concept of nightly homework behind. Centering her life around everything literary, she started her own freelance editing company, K. Johnson Editorial, as soon as her diploma arrived in the mail. She also recently became the YA Editor at Accent Press.
Check out her Twitter, @kaitylynne13, for #mswl listings and writerly life thoughts.
What Kaitlyn likes to see in her inbox:
She mostly drools for fantasy (yes, that very much includes urban!), time travel, select dystopian, romance (with erotic elements is OK), and historical fiction if it is anything other than Henry VIII. Contemporary can grab her attention only if the concept is unique enough and executed well. Overplayed tropes/characters make her cringe. Same goes for upper MG. LGBT (as well as characters questioning their sexuality) welcome in all genres accepted above
Kelly Peterson
Twitter | MSWL | Facebook | Instagram | Blog
Represents: MG, YA, NA, A
Kelly has spent her whole life with a book in her hands. Whether it’s from reading, writing, or day dreaming, her mind has always been up in the clouds wishing her fantasy stories would come true. Down on earth, somewhere between reading during science class, writing while she should be sleeping, and spending her social hours pretending she wasn’t actually a closet nerd, she finally realized that her life would be a lot happier if she just accepted her love of books.
A recent graduate of West Chester University, she earned her B.S.Ed. in English and went to pursue a career in teaching. Little did she know that despite all of her hard work, the environment she ended up in would be one she disliked. After taking a step back and reassessing her life, she realized that maybe she should have focused on the world of literary agents and publishing a long time ago.
When not working as a book nerd, Kelly can be found dancing, hiking, riding horses, perfecting her yoga technique, blogging, and writing her own manuscript. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to catch her flying around the world, saving lives. She is superwoman after all!
Though she reads various genres of Middle Grade, Young Adult, and New Adult novels, her true weakness is for YA Fantasy. More recently, Steampunk has quickly crept up the charts in her heart as well.
With books, there’s just something about strong female main characters holding their own against the world, in an environment that Kelly could never, in her wildest dreams, find herself living within. It tears at her heart and pulls at her soul, especially when the main character finds that she never needed another to complete her in the first place.
Likes:
MG: Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-fi.
YA: Fantasy (all sub genres of fantasy accepted), Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Historical (19th century and earlier with strong heroines), Dystopian (hold the cyborgs, the scorch, and diseases, please), Sword and Sorcery, a very selective few for Contemporary Romance, and any combination of the above with strong, female main characters.
NA: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance (Cowboys, anyone? Sexy and somewhat geeky entrepreneur? Celebrity? Yes?), Historical Romance, or any combination of the above.
Adult: Fantasy, Romance.
Dislikes:
Non-Fiction, Emotional Turmoil, Mystery/Crime, Children’s Picture Books.
Meg LaTorre-Snyder
Twitter | Agency Page | Website | YouTube | Facebook
Meg LaTorre-Snyder likes to think of herself as an avid book nerd with an exceptional taste for mac and cheese. This oxford comma and em dash enthusiast has had her nose plunged into a book before kindergarten and scribbled down her first stories not too long thereafter.
When not gobbling down fiction stories faster than mac and cheese, Meg can be found writing her own stories, participating in long-distance races, drinking buckets of tea, playing basketball, or reading nutrition textbooks.
As far as her professional experience goes, Meg is currently the editor of a magazine and has a background in journalism, medical writing, and website creation. She has written for online publications and local newspapers on a variety of topics, including novel writing, nutrition, healthy living, startup companies, and local politics. In addition, Meg teaches workshops and courses on writing and the publishing industry throughout the year.
To learn more about Meg, visit her website or subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.
Manuscript Wish List (#MSWL)
Meg is partial to the realm of fiction novels, specifically MG, YA, NA, and adult:
- Fantasy
- Historical fiction
- Romance
- Space opera
- Steam punk
She loves books written in third-person with multiple POVs, quirky, realistic characters, and rich descriptions.
Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Steven Salpeter
Represents: YA, A
Steven Salpeter is a literary agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd. A graduate of the University of Florida, Steven edited Tea and founded the Palmetto Prize for Fiction. He began his publishing career at Writers House and Brandt & Hochman before moving to Curtis Brown to assist Mitchell Waters and help Timothy Knowlton manage many of the agency’s venerable estate clients, including W. H. Auden, Stanley Ellin, John Knowles, Alfred Lansing, and Ayn Rand, among other bestsellers and literary award winners. He is now actively building his list, seeking literary fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, young adult, and authors who can blend elements of these genres. Steven is also interested in narrative nonfiction, gift books, history, humor, and popular science. He lives in New York City.
D4EO Literary Agency
Jessie Devine
Represents: MG, YA
After interning with Kate Brauning at Entangled Publishing, Jessie joined the D4EO team as an agency intern. He has since been promoted to assistant agent. Under the mentorship of the fantastic and brilliant Pam Victorio, Jessie is just starting to actively build his list.
Jessie is looking for YA sci-fi, fantasy, historical, and select contemporary. He’s a sucker for forbidden romance and plots where competition is a driving factor. A diverse cast of characters is a must. Queer characters A+++. For more details, his wish list is available on the MSWL website.
Don Congdon Associates
Katie Grimm
Represents: MG, YA, A
Katie joined Don Congdon Associates in 2007. She represents vivid literary fiction (be it voicey, historical, speculative, or mysterious), up-market women’s fiction, cohesive short story collections, and graphic novels. In young adult, she loves compelling, heartbreaking contemporary and speculative high-concepts rooted in science, history, and non-European cultures. In middle grade, she enjoys novels with a heartfelt, timeless quality, and stories that explore the magic of our world or those imagined. For non-fiction, she is looking for memoirs and narratives that explore greater social issues, dark and weird times in human history, the personal impact of science, and any off-beat topic explored through an academic lens. Across all genres, she’s looking for books with a heartbeat, and she’ll always be interested in previously under- or misrepresented experiences. She is also the business manager and a member of SCBWI.
Donaghy Literary Group
Stacey Donaghy
Represents: MG, YA, A
Stacey Donaghy is a literary agent and the founder of the Donaghy Literary Group, previously an agent with the Corvisiero Literary Agency in New York. She loves discovering new voices and works with writers to build long-term careers. Her client projects have sold to Publishing Houses such as Harpercollins, Simon and Schuster, Hachette Book Group USA, Sourcebooks, Kensington, Entangled and others. Stacey represents NY Times, USA Today, and Amazon Bestselling Authors, as well as Authors who have been nominated or have won awards for various works.
In fiction, Stacey is looking for romantic suspense, contemporary romance, thriller and diverse stories that highlight different cultures or LGBTQ subject matter, as well as young adult and middle grade with quirky and memorable characters.
She is not interested in receiving, sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, paranormal, supernatural, historical or literary fiction. No picture books, non-fiction, textbooks, self-help, screenplays, Christian fiction or cookbooks.
To learn more about Stacey’s manuscript wishlist and Donaghy Literary Group visit: Donaghy Literary | #MSWL | Stacey on Twitter
Donald Maass Literary Agency
Katie Shea Boutillier
Represents: YA, A
Katie Shea Boutillier joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2011. She is the Rights Director handling the agency’s translation and audio rights, and selected film/TV and electronic rights. In addition, Katie is looking for women’s fiction, YA and memoir/narrative non-fiction. She’s big on hooks and likes to see them presented within the first pages of the novel. She also loves strong voices, imperfect characters and storylines that relate to modern issues. She is a cum laude graduate of Marist College.
Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Management
Stacey Glick
Represents: MG, YA, A
Stacey Kendall Glick, Vice President, joined DG&B in 1999 after working in film and television development for five years. Following a number of internships in the entertainment business, her first job after college was at PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, where she looked for book projects to be adapted into feature films. Next, she worked as a story editor at Hearst Entertainment, where she scouted material for television movies. Stacey grew up just outside of Manhattan and is a former child actress who appeared on television, in theater, and in feature films. She now lives in New Jersey with her husband and four daughters (the youngest are identical twins), and enjoys cooking and baking, sipping wine and cocktails, taking pictures, shopping, theater, going to Mets games and eating chocolate, cheese and spicy tuna hand rolls (not necessarily in that order) when she can find the time. She has a wide-ranging and eclectic client list, and is interested in many subjects, including (but not limited to) on the adult side: nonfiction including memoir, parenting, cooking and food, psychology, science, health and wellness, lifestyle, current events, pop culture, and select adult contemporary fiction. And on the children’s side: YA, middle grade, nonfiction, and picture books. Stacey is a member of the AAR and is a council member of the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL.org).
Stacey wants to see more…Heartwarming, inspiring middle grade fiction and nonfiction
Jim McCarthy
Represents: MG, YA, A
Jim McCarthy interned for DG&B while studying urban design at New York University. Upon graduating in 2002, Jim realized he would much rather continue working with books than make the jump (as he had originally intended) to the field of city planning. As an avid fiction reader, his interests encompass both literary and commercial works in the adult and young adult categories. He is particularly interested in literary women’s fiction, underrepresented voices, mysteries, romance, paranormal fiction, and anything unusual or unexpected. In addition to fiction he is also interested in narrative nonfiction, memoir, and paranormal nonfiction. Jim was raised just outside of NYC and currently lives in Manhattan.
Jim wants to see more…Children’s nonfiction
Emerald City Literary Agency
Mandy Hubbard, Founder and President
Represents: MG, YA, Genre Romance
Mandy began her publishing career on the other side of the desk–as an author. Her debut novel, Prada and Prejudice, was published by Penguin’s Razorbill books imprint in 2009, and went on to appear in TIME magazine and Entertainment Weekly. She has since written 10 other novels, published by Harlequin, Flux, and Bloomsbury. Her work has been translated into a half dozen languages and optioned for film.
Soon, Mandy found that she was just as drawn to the business side of publishing as she was the creative one. She considered a career as a literary agent, and tested the waters by interning for an established New York City agency. The internship confirmed she’d found her passion, and soon after she sought out an agency interested in adding a new agent to their roster.
Mandy joined D4EO Literary Agency in February of 2010, where she began building her list. A few months later she sold her first book in a 4-way auction. The following year, she brokered her first six figure deal. By the end of 2015 she’d sold nearly 70 novels to major publishers, and was ready to launch Emerald City Literary Agency.
Mandy still juggles writing with agenting, and wouldn’t want it any other way.
WISHLIST:
Mandy will consider anything within MG, YA, and romance. Some of her current “gimme” items are:
-Epic fantasy and Sci-Fi for teens
-Contemporary romance (dark or light) with a great hook for YA
-Historical or Contemporary romance for adults, the sexier the better. (Including Erotica!)
-Unreliable narrators, mysteries and thrillers
-Historical MG or YA inspired by or based on real life tragedies/historical events (Example: BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, CHAINS, etc).
-Anything with royalty
-MG or YA with unusual formats or timelines
-MG or YA survival stories a la Oblivion Road, Hatchet, Etc.
When in doubt, simply send a query letter! Mandy will let you know if it’s right for her.
Lindsay Mealing
Represents: YA, A
Lindsay has been writing stories since she could first hold a pencil. It wasn’t until she sat down to edit a manuscript for the first time she realized her true love was not on the writing side of the publishing industry, but the business side. She began interning for Mandy in early 2015 and quickly realized agenting was what she wanted to do forever more.
Lindsay is a self-proclaimed nerd, loving everything science fiction and fantasy – from epic tomes to gaming. She fell head over heels with the SFF genre when she read KUSHIEL’S DART by Jacqueline Carey (she even has Phedre’s marque tattooed on her back).
You can find Lindsay on Twitter @lindsaymealing or check out what she’s currently reading on Goodreads.
Emma Sweeney Literary Agency
Kira Watson
Represents: MG, YA
Kira Watson is ESA Rights Manager. She began working at ESA as an intern in 2014 and now oversees subsidiary rights in addition to building her own YA and MG list. She graduated from Hunter College with a BA in English (with a focus on Creative Writing) and a BA in Russian Language & Culture. Kira is actively seeking YA and MG books with a strong narrative voice, well-crafted storylines, and memorable characters. Stories with folklore elements, complex villains, morally enigmatic (and very flawed) protagonists, medieval literature influences, and taboo subjects are bound to catch Kira’s attention.
Empire Literary Agency
Penny Moore
Represents: MG, YA, A
Penny Moore has always had a love of books, especially young adult and middle grade. While completing degrees in Linguistics and Japanese Language & Literature at the University of Georgia, she spent time studying comparative literature at top universities in Japan and South Korea. She then worked as a middle school TESOL teacher, which is where she solidified her passion for publishing and kids lit in particular. Penny joined Empire in 2016 as an agent after working at FinePrint Literary and while she’s interested in all genres, she’s specifically seeking inventive works featuring breakout voices and compelling plot lines. She represents Akemi Dawn Bowman, author of Starfish, and hit Instagram illustrator Beth Evans, author of I Really Didn’t Think This Through.
Foundry Literary + Media
Sam Morgan
Represents: A
Sam represents fantasy and science fiction, with an emphasis on unique, challenging, and diverse voices showcasing unforgettable characters and plots. He will also consider commercial fiction with a fresh approach to a classic idea or an appeal to humor.
A lifelong fan of nerd culture, Sam was raised in North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Communications: Media Studies and Production. He moved to New York City after graduating and soon thereafter began his agenting career at the Jabberwocky Literary Agency. He has worked with many genre writers including Brandon Sanderson, Charlaine Harris, and Jack Campbell and is actively building his client list.
Fuse Literary Agency
Michelle Richter
Represents: YA, A
Michelle Richter joined Fuse Literary after eight years at St. Martin’s Press. While there, she edited nonfiction including MELISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL by Melissa Joan Hart and RENEWABLE by Jeremy Shere, and worked on women’s fiction, memoir/ biography, pop culture, cookbooks, and diet/health books. She has an M.S. in Publishing from Pace University, and a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Russian from UMass Boston.
Michelle is primarily seeking fiction, especially book club reads, women’s fiction, contemporary romance, literary fiction, and mystery/suspense/thrillers. Her favorite authors include Ann Patchett, Emma Straub, Laura Lippman, Richard Russo, Tom Perrotta, and Gillian Flynn. She’s also open to YA fiction, particularly contemporary YA and YA mystery/thriller. For nonfiction, she’s interested in fashion, pop culture, science/medicine, sociology/social trends, and economics.
Margaret Bail
Represents: A
Margaret Bail has a BA in English and an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing. With years of experience editing manuscripts, as well as teaching university-level English and writing, she looks forward to working closely with new and established authors to help develop their voice and craft.
Her lifelong love of stories and storytelling has her looking for books that transport her into the heart of the story, so much so that she’ll forget where she is and lose track of time while she reads.
Margaret is interested in adult fiction in the genres of romance (no Christian or inspirational, please), science fiction (soft sci-fi rather than hard), mystery, thrillers, action adventure, historical fiction (not a fan of WWII era), and fantasy. In nonfiction, Margaret is interested in memoirs with a unique hook, and cookbooks with a strong platform.
Fiction genres Margaret is NOT interested in: YA, MG, children’s books; steampunk, Christian/religious literature, chick lit, women’s fiction, literary, poetry, screenplays.
Gelfman Schneider
Penelope Burns
Represents: MG, YA
Penelope Burns is the newest member of Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners. She came to the agency as an intern after graduating from Colgate University and attending the Denver Publishing Institute in 2012. Currently, as an agency assistant, Penelope is looking to a build a list of her own. She is interested in Literary and Commercial fiction and non-fiction, as well as a variety of Young Adult and Middle Grade.
Hannigan Salky Getzler Literary Agency
Carrie Hannigan
Represents: MG, YA, A
Carrie Hannigan was lucky enough to find her way to agenting quickly after moving to New York City. (There was a brief stint in the Rolling Stone Art & Photo Department and a similarly brief career at Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, a rare book and archive dealer specializing in 19th and 20th century literature.) After 16 years working at Russell & Volkening with the esteemed Timothy Seldes, she and her colleagues opened HSG Agency in 2011. Carrie specializes in children’s books but also represents a select list of adult fiction and non-fiction author as well as a few photography books.
Some of her children’s book clients include: picture book author and middle grade and YA novelist Erica Perl (CHICKEN BUTT – Abrams, WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU OJ – Knopf Books for Young Readers, and THE CAPYBARA CONSPIRACY – Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2016), author/illustrator and Theodore Geisel Honor winner Jonathan Fenske (BARNACLE IS BORED – Scholastic 2016), author/illustrator Rubin Pingk (SAMURAI SANTA: A VERY NINJA CHRISTMAS – Simon & Schuster, 2015), middle grade author Melanie Heuiser Hill (GIANT PUMPKIN SUITE – Candlewick 2017) and YA fantasy author Laurie Forest (THE BLACK WITCH – Harlequin Teen 2017).
Among Carrie’s adult clients are: Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of the New Horizons Mission and twice named to the Time 100 most influential people list (CHASING NEW HORIZONS – Picador, 2017), Whiting Award winner Paul Clemens (MADE IN DETROIT- Doubleday, PUNCHING OUT – Doubleday), novelist and journalist Ken Wells (MEELY LA BAUVE- Random House, GUMBO: A Travelogue – Norton, 2018) and photographer Michael Soluri (INFINITE WORLDS, Simon & Schuster).
In the kidlit world, right now Carrie is looking for humorous books and books with warmth, heart and a great voice in both contemporary and fantasy. She is also open to graphic novels and non-fiction.
The adult projects she is looking for are both fiction (no thrillers please – send it to Josh) and narrative non-fiction. Some non-fiction areas she is currently interested in are science, food, and photography.
ICM Partners
Hillary Jacobson
Represents: YA, A
Hillary Jacobson is a literary agent at ICM Partners and actively building a list consisting of commercial and literary fiction, YA, as well as narrative non-fiction and memoir. She is especially seeking high-concept YA, upmarket fiction, and psychological thrillers. Novels with antiheroes or unexpected twists are always a favorite. Prior to working at ICM, she interned at Random House, Janklow & Nesbit and Alloy Entertainment. She is a graduate of Brown University. She can be reached at hjacobson@icmpartners.com
Inklings Literary Agency
Naomi Davis
Represents: YA, NA, A
Naomi Davis has a background in writing, editing, and customer service, has been Michelle’s ultimately amazing assistant for two years and is now taking on select projects.
When she’s not entertaining her spawn, she’s immersed entirely in imaginary worlds with the characters who inspire her fiction, or reading stories with characters who spring off the page, grip her by the heart (/throat), and wring her emotionally dry. She loves a good bad guy, especially when he has a story to tell, too.
She currently represents a handful of select clients and is passionate about working with authors to shape their voice and platform to their fullest potential.
In fiction, Naomi is interested in Romance of any variety including Paranormal, fresh Urban Fantasy, general Fantasy, New Adult, and light Sci-Fi, as well as upper Young Adult stories in those categories.
Whitley Abell
The second half of our Pitch Wars Agents will be post later today!
We appreciate our Pitch Wars 2017 agents for taking the time to come to the agent round and support the Pitch Wars community. Please use this opportunity to get to know them and thank them on twitter.
And come back July 19th for the Pitch Wars Blog Hop! There’s going to be a fun surprise!