Literary Counsel literary agency seeks emerging writers, middle grade, YA, and adult fiction

"The Summer We Came to Life"
by Deborah Cloyed,
represented by Literary Counsel

"We want to help emerging writers, writers that perhaps wouldn’t be given a look by the more established, older agencies. We love first timers! Send us a manuscript with heart and we will do our best to help get that manuscript published, but please remember to read our guidelines.

"Our genres and specialties: General Fiction, Romance, Mystery/Crime, YA (Young Adult Novels), Picture Books, Middle Grade, and  Fantasy/Science Fiction, which must sincerely be unique. No vampires or werewolves.

"Agent Frances Black loves romance-based books and the quirkier the better. One of her all time favorite books is Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa. Somerset Maugham is also a favored author.

"'You, can smell and feel his words. Maugham’s innuendos about society, his plots and subplots and his portrayal of people can easily be observed today. One can glimpse his influences in current fiction and in original screenplays and, of course, in soap operas. His characters often take two steps forward only to fall three steps back. There’s intrigue, deceit, travel and adventure and of course there is mad love, just what books should offer.'

"Dot to Dot" a YA novel
by Kit Bakke, another author
represented by Literary Counsel

"Agent Jennifer Mishler is an avid reader and finds that books ought to be read with a good, hot cup of coffee in hand. To her, nothing is better than falling in love with strong characters and getting lost in an interesting plot.

"Jennifer enjoys reading all genres but her soft spot lies with historical-romance novels like The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly, and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. Both novels have female characters who take action and don't need to be rescued by Prince Charming, which is what attracted Jennifer to the stories. Manuscripts/Books that span different times and places, and new worlds are also things that Jennifer enjoys reading.

"Jennifer grew up reading Brian Jacques' Redwall series and still hasn't given up her passion for Young Adult novels. She recently read Aimee Carter's The Goddess Test and found the plot to be unique and fresh.

"Query fblack@literarycounsel.com
Include a summary of your manuscript, a short biography introducing yourself, a way to contact you and please attach the first three chapters of your manuscript (Word or PDF). Please do not paste the chapters in the body of your email (it's difficult for us to read submissions this way!)"

Submissions page here. Literary Counsel home page here.

Brian Henry will be leading "How to Get Published" workshops on Saturday, October 22, in Elliot Lake (see here), on Sunday, Oct 23, in Sudbury (see here) and 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, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.