Agents at Caren Johnson Literary Agency seek adult & children's fiction, memoir, etc

Katie Shea

Caren Johnson Literary Agency
132 East 43rd Street
No. 216
New York, NY 10017
http://www.johnsonliterary.com/

The Caren Johnson Agency is a full-service literary agency based in New York City. It represents all types of books but specializes in romance (such as The Princess in His Bed by Lila DiPasqua - see here), women's fiction, high-quality middle grade and young adult fiction and narrative non-fiction.

Submissions: Query the agent you're interested in. Make sure your query is in the body of your email; we do not open attachments unless they were specifically requested). Please include the first 3-5 pages of your manuscript or your overview/ideas page pasted directly into the email below your letter. Do not query by snail mail.

Katie Shea is the newest member of the team.  Katie has been working in the literary industry since 2008. She began as a reader with FinePrint Literary Management, to assisting agents at Folio Literary Management and Langtons International Agency. She is now ecstatic to be building her own client list with the Caren Johnson Literary Agency. Katie is particularly interested in beautifully written literary fiction, sassy commercial fiction and heartwarming memoirs. She seeks a story with a strong honest voice, psychological depth and deep emotion.
Query her at: katie@johnsonliterary.com

Elana Roth is focusing her list on children's and young adult books, and is primarily looking for high concept middle grade and YA fiction. She will consider picture books from author/illustrators only If you are an author/illustrator, include a link to your online portfolio or website so we can see samples. Do not send attachments with artwork.  Elena will also consider a select number of adult projects in the areas of narrative nonfiction, pop culture and pop science. No vampires.

Elana spent 5 years at Parachute Publishing learning the ropes of the children's book industry.  She describes herself as: "A dweller of Brooklyn, an agent of books, a support-teamer of Squarespace, a purveyor of snark, an employer of awkwardness, a lover of coffee, a mistress of bourbon, and an enforcer of comma-placement.'

Query her at: elana@johnsonlitagency.com

Full submission guidelines here: http://www.johnsonliterary.com/submissions-info/

Brian Henry has a "How to Get Published" workshop coming up in Burlington on February 19 with agent Alisha Sevigny of the Rights Factory (see here). On May 7, he'll be hosting the "From the Horse's Mouth" seminar at Ryerson University, where one of the guest speakers will be Marilyn Biderman (details to come). Brian also has a few "Writing for Children and Young Adults" workshops coming up: on January 29 in Kitchener (see here), on February 26 in Barrie (see here), and on March 5 in Toronto (see here).

For information about all of Brian's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Caren Johnson Literary Agency

Caren Johnson Literary Agency
132 East 43rd Street
No. 216
New York, NY 10017

CJLA is a full-service literary agency based in New York City, founded by Caren Johnson in early 2007. We represent all types of books, but specialize in high quality children’s & young adult fiction, romance & women’s fiction, and non-fiction. We believe in working very closely with our authors during every stage of publication and beyond.

To submit to CJLA, send us a query letter describing your book and yourself. Make sure all query letters are in the body of the email. You may include 3-5 sample pages from your manuscript or your overview/idea pages from your proposal directly in the body of your email following your query letter. Attachments will not be opened unless specifically requested.

Caren Johnson Estesen is looking for romance (all genres so she's now open to paranormal and romantic suspense in addition to contemporary and historical), erotica, up-market women's fiction, thrillers and YA. In nonfiction she's looking for social sciences, narrative science, women's studies, and history (particularly World War II and the Cold War). She is not considering commercial fiction, literary fiction or mysteries at this time.

To submit to Caren, email johnsonlitagency@gmail.com

Elana Roth is focusing her list on children's and young adult books, and is primarily looking for high concept middle grade and YA fiction. She will consider picture books from author/illustrators only. She'll also consider a select number of adult projects in the areas of narrative nonfiction, pop culture and pop science. No vampires.

Elana says:
“I'm a sucker for a big hook. If you look at my clients' books, you'll see that I can't get away from it. (Prime example and shameless plug: Pam Bachorz has her debut novel, Candor coming out this fall, and it's about a planned community where everyone is brainwashed to be perfect, but one boy knows the truth and works the system to his advantage. You can't get much bigger hook than brainwashing, and the book sucked me in from the first page.) I'm always looking for a new, great hook. I love alternate visions of the world we live in, or some strange "what if?" premise. I'm mostly really big on plot. Which doesn't mean I don't think voice is crucial. But on their own, really introspective, quiet books that are all voice and no story don't do it for me. And I have a lot of YA right now, so I'd like more middle grade, but I'm not picky about genre when it comes to falling in love.”

To submit to Elana, email elana@johnsonliterary.com

Submission guidelines: http://www.johnsonliterary.com/submissions/

Home: http://www.johnsonliterary.com/

Note: I have two seminars coming up on How to Get Published. On Sept 12 in Ingersoll (details here) and on Oct 4 in Toronto (details here).

For information about Brian Henry’s upcoming writing workshops and classes see here.

Katie Shea joins Donald Maass Literary Agency, seeks women's fiction, commercial-scale literary fiction, memoir, etc.

Donald Maass Literary Agency
Suite 801
121 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001
http://www.maassagency.com/

The Donald Maass Literary Agency specializes in fiction. "All genres are welcome. We handle many authors of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, horror, romance, historical, literary and mainstream novels. mainly writing commercial fiction."

Do they work with previously unpublished writers? "Yes, all the time."

Katie Shea recently joined the Donald Maass Agency. She was previously an agent with the Caren Johnson Agency. She specializes in fiction and memoir, especially women’s fiction and commercial-scale literary fiction. She is also seeking memoir, narrative non-fiction, food, pop culture, health and lifestyle, and realistic YA. She is most interested in coming-of-age stories and stories of unique relationships. Some of her favorite authors include: Joan Didion, Mary Karr, Michael Cunningham, Alice Sebold, and Jean Kwok (Girl in Translation). She is a graduate of Marist College.

Query Katie at kshea@maassagency.com
Include a synopsis and the first five pages pasted into the body of the email, no attachments please.

More about the Donald Maass agency here. General submission guidelines here.

Brian Henry lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on December 3 in Oakville with guest Ali McDonald of The Rights Factory literary agency (see here). Also, Brian will lead a "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshop in St. Catharines on January 14, 2012 (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Lila DiPasqua gets an agent & a two-book deal

Congratulations to my student Lila DiPasqua. She’s signed with Caren Johnson Estesen of the Caren Johnson Literary Agency, and has a two-book contract with Berkley (part of the Penguin Group USA).

Lila’s first book, Awakened By a Kiss, is spicy historical romance single-author anthology. It will be out next summer.

Way to go, Lila!

Check out her blog here: www.liladipasqua.com

For information on the Caren Johnson agency see here.

Note: I’ll be leading a workshop about writing romance novels on Sept 26 in Brampton. (Details here).

For information about all my upcoming writing workshops and classes see here.

"The Princess in His Bed," a collection of three romantic fairy tales by Lila DiPasqua

Hi Brian,
I hope all is great with you! I wondered if you'd be so kind as to announce the release of my second book, The Princess in his Bed? It's out Nov. 2nd from Berkley Sensation. This is a follow-up to Awakened by a Kiss.  The third book in my Fiery Tales series, A Midnight Dance, will be out in August.

Here is the book blurb, plus a couple of great review quotes. I appreciate your support! Many thanks.

Lila DiPasqua
http://www.liladipasqua.com/

Always happy to post a notice about your new book! - Brian

The Princess in his Bed:  Inspired by “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Ugly Duckling, and “The Princess and the Pea,” Lila DiPasqua spins three sexy tales that give new meaning to the term bedtime story…

The Marquis’ New Clothes: To save her cousin, Aimee de Miran must retrieve a jeweled ring from the most sinfully seductive man at court, the Marquis de Nattes. But to search his considerable wardrobe she’ll have to get very close to the notorious rake…and soon she finds herself very close to him indeed, with his clothes—and hers—utterly forgotten…

The Lovely Duckling: Reputed for his carnal skills, Joseph d’Alumbert prefers amorous encounters without emotional entanglement—until a quick-witted lady stirs tender feelings and hot desire. Emilie de Sarron suffered burns to her body as an infant, and keeps her scars—and her heart—well hidden. But Joseph is determined to peel away her inhibitions, one slow steamy kiss at a time, to reveal the beautiful swan inside…

The Princess and the Diamonds: Princess Gabrielle can’t sleep at night. There is something hard in her bed. No, not just the stolen diamonds tucked under her mattress, but the handsome Marquis on it….whose carnal talents she can’t resist. But he threatens her secret mission, and worse, she stands to lose far more than the diamonds---her heart is at stake….

“…Strong-minded heroines you can relate to, breathtaking carnally gifted male leads…DiPasqua writes with a comfortable elegance and grace, and in turn, crafts a sexy collection that readers will love.” – Fresh Fiction.

“Ripe with steamy affairs, these lusty stories are hot enough to warm the coldest winter night.” – Publishers Weekly

Note: Lila is represented by the Caren Johnson Literary Agency.  For information on submitting to them, see here.
For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.