Brenna Barr and Rachel Stout at Dystel & Goderich literary agency seek literary and commercial fiction, YA, true crime, etc.

Brenna Barr

Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

One Union Square West

Suite 904

New York, NY 10003

Dystel & Goderich was founded in 1994 by Jane Dystel, who had already been in the publishing business for thirty years. “We take unsolicited queries very seriously,” says Jane.” As a matter of fact, we have discovered many of our most talented authors in the slush pile. We read everything that is sent to us, whether we decide to represent it or not.”

Brenna Barr is one of the newer members of the team. She joined Dystel & Goderich after an internship at the Carolyn Jenks Agency in Cambridge, MA. When the internship came to an end, she stayed on to become Assistant to the Director.

Brenna is attracted to true crime/adventure, the occult, humor, historical pop culture, and social issues. Regarding fiction, she is enthusiastic about graphic novels, steampunk, and alternative literature. Having recently been diagnosed with multiple food intolerances, she’s also interested in cookbooks that take these issues into account.

Query Brenna at: bbarr@dystel.com

Rachel Stout joined Dystel & Goderich after graduating with a degree in English from Fordham University and working as an intern at LJK Literary Management. Rachel is interested in literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and believable thought-provoking YA, as well as magical realism.

Query Rachel at rstout@dystel.com

Submissions: No attachments. Query only one agent at Dystel & Goderich at a time. Include a cover letter, an outline or brief synopsis of the work, and a sample chapter. “We will respond to most query letters within six to eight weeks. If you don’t hear from us within that time frame, chances are we did not receive yours. Feel free to resend it.”

For a complete list of agents at Dystel & Goderich, see here.  See their submissions page here.

Brian Henry will lead a “Writing for Children and for Young Adults” workshop in Newmarket on Saturday, September 22 (see here), and he'll lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, October 13, in Toronto with Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

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