Three agents at the McDermid Agency, a Canadian literary agency, seek new authors

Minister Without Portfolio by Michael 
Winter, agented by McDermid & Associates 

The McDermid Agency Inc.
320 Front Street West

Suite 1105

Toronto, ON M5V 3B6

http://mcdermidagency.com/

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Anne McDermid founded this agency in Toronto in January 1996. She had previously been a senior partner in the distinguished British agency Curtis Brown for several years.

The McDermid agency represents literary novelists and commercial novelists of high quality and writers of nonfiction in the areas of memoir, biography, history, literary travel, narrative science, investigative journalism, popular culture and lifestyle

The agency also represents a certain number of children's and young adult (YA) writers and writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy.

Bone & Bread by Saleema Nawaz,
agented by McDermid & Associates

The McDermid agency's clients include distinguished literary authors such as Michael Crummey, Greg Hollingshead, Andrew Pyper, Nino Ricci, David Adams Richards, Michael Winter, and Saleema Nawaz.

Anne continues to represent many well-known Canadian novelists, but is also particularly interested in the development of Canadian narrative nonfiction, evidenced in such writers as Charles Montgomery, J.B. MacKinnon (both of whom won the Charles Taylor prize for literary nonfiction in their years of publication), and Michael Harris.

Submissions:
If you are interested in submitting your work McDermid & Associates, please e-mail your query to: info@mcdermidagency.com
Your query should include a brief description of yourself and your project, and you are welcome to include the first 5 pages of your manuscript. Please do not send any further material unless invited. And naturally, you should address your query to one agent in particular.

The agency has three agents actively looking for new authors:

Martha Magor Webb is a literary agent, director and full partner at Anne McDermid and Associates. Martha represents a growing list of writers, focusing on literary fiction, narrative nonfiction (including memoir and true crime) and ideas-driven nonfiction. 

Her clients include,

Her clients include:

Michael Crummey (multiple award-winning author of Sweetland)

Alison Pick (long-listed for the Booker Prize)

Robyn Doolittle (Bestselling author of Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story)

Pasha Malla (long-listed for the Giller, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, winner of the Danuta Gleed and the Trillium awards)

Damian Tarnopolsky (shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Amazon.ca award)

Russell Smith

Jessica Grant, (winner of the Amazon.ca First Novel and the Winterset awards)

Grace O'Connell

Matt Lennox

Andrew Westoll

and Karen Le Billon, whose first book French Kids Eat Everything sold into thirteen countries and translated into ten languages.

Martha will be the guest speaker at Brian Henry's "How to Get Published" workshop, Saturday, October 29 in Caledon at the Bolton Library. Details here.

Monica Pacheco joined the agency in 2008 and represents a growing list of writers. Her clients include:

Actress/writer/director Sarah Polley (Didi and the Bean, forthcoming from HarperCollins Canada)

Yves Meynard (Chrysanthe trilogy, Tor/Macmillan 2012)

Madeline Ashby (The Machine Dynasty series, Angry Robot)

Marty Chan (The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles, Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

Irina Kovalyova (Specimen, forthcoming from House of Anansi spring 2015)

Sarah Henstra (Mad Miss Mimic, forthcoming from Penguin Canada summer 2015)

Janice Poon

Eli K.P. William

and Bram Stoker Award-winning horror writer David Nickle.

Monica is actively seeking clients in the areas of literary fiction, young adult (YA), fantasy and science fiction. She tweets here.

Monica will be the guest speaker at Writing for Children and for Young Adults workshop March 5 in Burlington. Details here.

Chris Bucci is a literary agent, director and full partner at The McDermid Agency. He began his career at the University of Toronto Press and soon became an acquisitions editor in social sciences and cultural studies. Chris joined HarperCollins Canada in 2004 as a nonfiction editor. Moving the McClelland & Stewart in 2005, Chris helped revitalize their nonfiction program, establishing relationships with international authors, agents and publishers.

Chris represents bestselling authors such as Bob Rae, Timothy Caulfield, Susan Delacourt, Jowita Bydlowdka, James Grainger, and Kerri Sakamoto.

Chris represents both fiction and nonfiction, focusing particularly on nonfiction in the areas of popular science and technology and popular culture.

Literary agent Rachel Letofsky

Brian Henry will lead How to Get Published workshops on Saturday, Feb 20, In Kitchener with literary agent Olga Filina of The Rights Factory (see here) and on Saturday, Feb 27, in Brampton with Martha Webb of the McDermid Agency (see here).

Also, Brian will lead Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshops on Saturday, March 5, in Burlington, with literary agent Monica Pacheco and author Jennifer Mook-Sang (see here), on Saturday, Apr 2, in Barrie, with literary agent Rachel Letofsky (see here), on Saturday, April 30, in Guelph, with Yasemin Uçar, senior editor, Kids Can Press and authors Jennifer Mook-Sang and Kira Vermond (see here), and Sunday, May 29, in Ottawa with acclaimed author Alan Cumyn (see here).

Other upcoming workshops include  Writing With Style, Saturday, March 12, in Oakville (see here), and Writing Your Life, Saturday, March 16, in Caledon (see here) and Saturday, April 16 in London (see here).

For more information or to register, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

But the best way to grow as a writer or to get your manuscript ready for publication may be with a weekly class. This spring, Brian will be offering a full range of courses from beginners to more experienced. See details of all six classes starting this spring here.

“Exploring Creative Writing,” Tuesday afternoons, April 19 – June 21, in Burlington (see here)

“Writing Personal Stories,” Wednesday mornings, April 27 – June 15, in Mississauga

“Next Step in Creative Writing,” Wednesday evenings, April 13 – June 15, in Burlington (see here)

“Next Step in Creative Writing,” Thursday afternoons, April 21 – June 23, in Oakville (see here)

“Intermediate Creative Writing,” Thursday evenings, April 14 – June 23, in Georgetown (see here)

“Intensive Creative Writing,” Wednesday afternoons, March 30 – June 15, in Burlington

For information about spring courses, or to reserve a spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

To register or for more information for any class or workshop, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Alton, Barrie, Bracebridge, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.