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| Gail Ross & Howard Yoon |
Ross
Yoon
1666
Connecticut Ave NW
Suite
500
Washington, DC 20009
Ross
Yoon is a literary agency specializing in serious nonfiction on a variety of
topics: everything from memoir and history and biography to popular science,
business, and psychology. Their clients include CEO’s, top doctors, Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalists, academics, politicos, and radio and television
personalities.
Anna Sproul-Latimer
is the newest member of the team. For the past five
years, Anna has been handling foreign rights for the agency, but recently she’s
begun to build her won client list.
What is she looking for? “In two words, adult
nonfiction. In six: nonfiction by and for the curious. I represent authors who
explore new frontiers, uncover hidden histories, and embed themselves in
unusual places. Their energy is so contagious, and their ideas so important,
that they’ve already begun to attract media coverage and a national audience.
“Whether they’re
journalists, top bloggers, performers, theologians, or scientists, my clients
are sharply observant and often LOL-funny, but never cynical. A good example is
my client Caitlin Doughty, creator of the “Ask a Mortician” series, whose book
I recently sold in an eight-way auction to W.W. Norton.
“Whether an agent chooses to work with an author –
or doesn’t – often boils down to the personality match. All of us agents try to
acquire for a range of different readers, but if something is of personal
interest, we’re excited before we even turn the page. Therefore, here’s me in
some alphabetically-organized keywords: airplanes, Americana, Bill Bryson,
death, England, Gene Weingarten, Jezebel, Jim Henson, @LongReads, Mary Roach,
Mervyn Peake, New York magazine, Pitcairn Island, pop culture, psychology, rock
music, the Simpsons, Sloane Crosley, weird, William Langewiesche.”
Anna does not want fiction or
children’s books.
“I also do not
want self-help that’s more about the messenger than the message. (If your work
makes use of either of these phrases—’patented method,’ ‘paradigm shift’—we
probably won’t get along.) Political screeds, liberal and conservative. Authors
who don’t understand the value of collaborative editorial process: at one
extreme, those who want to ‘build their brand’ with a book, any book; at the
other, artistes. Finally, ‘everything you know is wrong’ Gladwelly-type books
about mind, brain, and behavior. There might be room left in the market for
these, but I’m tired of reading them.”
Submissions:
Say who you are and what you’d like to write. Include a chapter outline and
a couple of sample chapters (if you have them). If you’re an expert with an
idea but no sample material yet, that’s fine too; just be ready to explain your
idea in some detail. “I do read every submission I receive carefully, although
I might not be able to respond to you in detail.”
Probably the best single step you can take toward getting manuscript ready
for publication is to join one of the “Next Step” or “Intensive” creative writing courses. Starting
in January, Brian will be leading “Next Step” courses in Mississauga (details here)
and in Georgetown (details here).
He’ll be leading “Intensive” courses in Burlington (details here)
and in Mississauga (details 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.
