Sandra Bishop joins Canadian literary agency Transatlantic; Jennifer Starkman leaves; several agents at Transatlantic are looking for new authors

Sandra Bishop

Transatlantic Agency
72 Glengowan Road
Toronto, ON M4N 1G4
Canada

http://transatlanticagency.com/

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. ~ Brian

Sandra Bishop has joined the Transatlantic Literary Agency as an agent. Earlier in her career she was a vice president at McGregor Literary, where she worked for six years before going out on her own as an independent agent. Sandra works out of Portland, Oregon, and is not currently accepting queries.

Also at Transatlantic, Jennifer Starkman has left the agency for personal reasons.

However, several agents at Transatlantic are actively looking for clients. Your best bets are probably:

Amy Tompkins

Amy Tompkins has worked in publishing since 2002 and has been with the Transatlantic Agency since 2007. She represents both adult and children’s authors and is also the international rights agent for Orca Book Publishers Ltd. and Islandport Press. Amy was previously the contracts manager at Westwood Creative Artists, is a graduate of the Publishing Program at Ryerson University, and has an MA in English Language and Literature.

“I am an omnivorous reader with eclectic tastes,” says Amy. “On the adult side, I am interested in literary fiction, historical fiction, women’s fiction including smart romance, narrative non-fiction, and quirky or original how-to books. On the children’s side, I am interested in early readers, middle-grade, young adult, and new adult. No picture books, please.”

Query Amy at: amy@transatlanticagency.com

Submissions should include a short biography, past publishing credits, and a 20-page writing sample in Word or PDF format.

Stephanie Sinclair

Stephanie Sinclair has been a lover of all things book related for over 30 years. She’s a graduate of the publishing program at Ryerson University, creative writing program at the Humber School for Writers, and the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. 

For many years, authors, journalists and theatre writers have benefited from Stephanie’s uniquely attuned and effective advice in her work as an award-nominated freelance editor. 

In 2012, Stephanie brought her many skills to the aid of Samantha Haywood, working as her assistant. Shortly thereafter, Stephanie began her training toward becoming an agent and in December 2013, became affiliated with Transatlantic Agency.

Under the mentorship of Samantha Haywood, Stephanie Sinclair currently is building her own client list of authors of literary fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, narrative nonfiction, investigative journalism and true crime.

Query Stephanie at: Stephanie@transatlanticagency.com

Submissions should include a short biography, past publishing credits, and a 20-page writing sample in Word or PDF format.

Fioan Kenshole (right) and author Mary Hoffma (left)

Fiona Kenshole joined Transatlantic just two years ago, but brings a lifetime of passion and experience of children's and YA books. 

After graduating with a Masters in English Literature from Cambridge University, she went on to spend 20 years as a senior publisher, holding key positions in the UK as Publishing Director at Oxford Univeristy Press Children's Books, as Deputy Managing Director of Hodder Children's Books, and as Editorial Director at HarperCollins. 

Her authors have won or been nominated for every major British children's literary award. Several have become million-copy bestsellers.

Fiona moved to the U.S. and spent several years creating a development slate of new projects for an animation studio. Fiona has worked with major directors and screenwriters, acquiring and adapting children's books and original scripts into movies, including the Academy nominated Coraline and Paranorman.

Query Fiona at: fiona@transatlanticagency.com  
For novels, submit a query letter with the first three chapters of your book and a full synopsis plus a short biography, pasted into the body of the email NOT as an attachment.

For picture books, submit a query letter and short biography, with your full text pasted into the body of the email NOT as an attachment. If you are illustrator, you may submit one illustration in a small file. Illustrators should also include a link to your portfolio, blog, or website.

“I personally read everything that is sent and consider it carefully,” says Fiona. “So due to the volume of submissions received, replies will be sent only for submissions actively being considered.

Rachel Letofsky

Brian Henry will lead "From the Horse’s Mouth: Strategies for Getting Published" at Ryerson University in Toronto on Saturday, Nov 29, with literary agent Rachel Letofsky of the Cooke Agency and Marketing and Publicity Manager Stephen Myers of Penguin Books (see here).

Brian will lead a "How to Get Published" workshop in Niagara on the Lake on Sunday, March 1, with literary agent Olga Filina (see here).

And Brian has a “Writing for Children & for Young Adults" workshop on Saturday, Nov 8, in Guelph (see here).

Other upcoming workshops, include: "How to Build Your Story," Saturday, Oct 18, in Peterborough (see here), "Writing With Style," Saturday, Oct 25, in Mississauga (see here), and “How to Write a Bestseller" with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, Saturday, Nov 22, in Burlington (see here) and Saturday, Dec 6, in London (see here). 

But the best way to get your manuscript ready for publication is with a weekly course. Come January, Brian will be offering an Intensive Creative Writing course on Wednesday afternoons in Burlington and The Next Step in Creative Writing courses on Wednesday evenings in Burlington, Thursday afternoons in Mississauga and Thursday evenings in Georgetown.

To date, details have been posted only for the Next Step in Creative Writing course on Wednesday evenings in Burlington (see here), but for more details of any course or workshop or to register, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.