Emily van Beek joins Folio Literary Management, seeks children's lit

Folio Literary Management
505 8th Avenue, Suite 603
New York, NY 10018
http://foliolit.com/ 

Folio is a New York literary agency, with a dozen agents – most of whom are open to new authors. Folio handles both fiction and nonfiction.  Like many agencies that couldn't hep but notice the success of the Twilight series following on the heels of the massively successful Harry Potter series, Folio has recently been expanding the number of children's authors they represent.
 
Most recently, the highly respected children's lit agent Emily van Beek left Pippin Properties to join Folio and to help them build their children’s book division.

Emily moved from Toronto to New York in 1999 armed, as she says, "with a dream to work in children’s book publishing and inspiration from my favorite (if clichéd) Zen magnet: 'Leap and the net will appear.'"

Hyperion Books for Children hired her as an editorial assistant and she soon advanced to an editor's position.  At Hyperion, Emily worked on projects by celebrated authors and artists such as Julie Andrews Edwards, Rosemary Wells, Susan Jeffers, and L.M. Elliott.  After 3 years she moved to the agenting side of the business and spent six years as an agent and the rights director at Pippin Properties, Inc., a boutique children’s literary agency.  (For more on Pippin Properties and authors they're looking for, see here.)

"I am exclusively interested in acquiring projects for young and teen readers," says Emily.  "From picture books by authors and author/artists, to authentic and fresh middle-grade fiction, to lyrical and daring YA.

"I’m looking for voices that won’t be ignored. I am open to considering all sorts of YA from mysteries to well-written chick lit, coming-of-age, the lyrical, the literary, and the laughable. I am looking for fiction that has an impact—whether it packs a punch or effects change with a more subtle hand, but something that can’t be put down, a manuscript that begs me to turn the page, work that changes me with the reading. I’m really, really looking for something that feels new, that I haven’t read before. I am not the best agent for fangs, claws, and wings. These topics have been very successfully published already. I’m looking for what comes after vampires and werewolves. I would love to be surprised!

"I believe it was Ursula Nordstrom who once wrote (of the process of considering a manuscript) something along the lines of: “If you can resist it, do.” A tough love sort of approach to the process, but it’s a litmus test I often use to help me decide if I am the right agent to represent a particular project and to help an author achieve his or her publishing goals."

Query Emily at: Emily@foliolit.com
If you are an author / illustrator, please let me know if you have a website / online portfolio that I should visit! If you’re a novelist, please include a synopsis, the first ten pages of your manuscript, and any relevant information (such as previous publishing experience) in the body of your email. I do my best to respond to all queries within four to six weeks.

For a list of all the agents at Folio and what they represent see here.

Brian Henry has a couple "How to Get Published" workshops coming up: in Mississauga on December 4 with literary agent Martha Magor Webb of Ann McDermid and Associates (see here) and in Burlington on February 19 with agent Alisha Sevigny of the Rights Factory (see here).  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.