Agents

We cannot conceive of working the same place for 28 years — much less the challenges that arise when giving notice after said 28 years. Of course, if we ever find ourselves in that position, we’ll call Molly Friedrich, who is leaving the Aaron Priest Agency to open her place, The Friedrich Agency. Yeah, we’ll leave the wondering about creativity and agency names to another day. As of July 1, Friedrich will be sharing offices (and probably coffee makers — you know how these agency things go) with The Gernert Company. Joining Friedrich will be agent Paul Cirone and assistant […]

Once upon a time, Betsy Amster was an editor. Then one day, she looked around her office and thought, “Wait! I can be an agent. The hours will be shorter, the pay better, and no marketing meetings.” So she cleared out her desk and hung out a shingle. At least some of the preceding is at least a little bit untrue. We are not sure that people actually hang shingles in this day and age. But it’s the former editor part that makes a difference: Before opening her own agency in 1992, Amster worked on the editorial side. She spent

Was it just a month ago that Folio Literary Management opened its doors? Time really does fly when you’re having fun. Scott Hoffman, Jeff Kleinman, and Paige Wheeler now boast approximately 100 clients and lots of projects. And they’re not looking to stop. In addition to lots of talent and enthusiasm, Folio is also adding an internal public relations department to their agenting, well, folio. This seems like a natural extension of the relationship — aren’t agents somewhat in the PR business anyway? Publishers seem to be responding with enthusiasm: “The discussions we’ve had with big houses have been overwhelmingly

Julie Barer just celebrated her first anniversary as a solo agent after coming to the business the old-fashioned way: she discovered the power of hand-selling books while working in a bookstore. The principles translated to working with publishers. “At an independent bookstore, people still come in and ask booksellers for recommendations. I did a tremendous amount of hand selling. That’s what made me want to become an agent. I saw that you could really say, ‘I love this book and here’s why I’m passionate about it and go home and read it.’ If they loved it they’d come back and

We don’t know where we read it first — the news was flying fast and furious this weekend — but there’s a new superagency out there. Scott Hoffman, from PMA Lit & Film, Jeff Kleinman, from Graybill & English, and Paige Wheeler, from the Creative Media Agency, have joined forces to create Folio Literary Management. The trio’s mission is simple. In addition to the traditional work done by agents, they work beyond the publication date (now that’s what we call earning that 15%): Folio picks up where major publishers leave off. We provide regional and local publicity that can dramatically

A former public relations professional leaves the rainy safety of the Pacific Northwest to become a literary agent in New York. No, this is not a new television series, it’s Janet Reid’s life. After burning out in the PR business, Reid turned to agenting. Her agency, opened in 2003, features a mixed list of fiction and non-fiction, placed at a mix of big and small publishing houses. Reid’s eclectic tastes include genre fiction: While Reid represents various types of fiction, she is one of those rare agents who is interested in selling mysteries. “Good mystery writers, I think, they have

We know writers who analyze rejections more carefully than they do their horoscopes. Every word is turned upside-down. Every comma is considered. Does the lack of a hyphen here mean she hated it? It must. Woe to the agent or editor who spills a drop of coffee on an otherwise pristine rejection. That people have strata for rejections should be clue enough that it’s a system run amok. Agent Jennifer Jackson tackles rejection from another perspective — hers. First she sets the scene: She spends the next couple hours, reading and sorting through various submissions. Many of them are competently

After spending the week hiding from us (someone knew we were in a whiny mood), Jill surfaces to shares the fruits of her early morning work. Agent Nadia Cornier is leaving Creative Media Agency to form Firebrand Literary. Firebrand will represent approximately 70/fiction, 30/nf (popculture and narrative). In fiction, I’m going to focus a large bit on young adult & children’s literature (primarily from 12-21) and I’m also going to be looking for adult fiction — while I don’t plan on acquiring any more Sf/F at the moment (I’m happy with my list in that respect), I’d love to see