Four Agents at Fuse Literary seek everything from Picture Books to YA, from Upmarket Adult Fiction to Romance, Memoir and more

Fuse Literary 

http://www.fuseliterary.com/

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Fuse Literary (formerly Foreword Literary) is a full-service literary agency based in the Silicon Valley with agents in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Vancouver and San Diego. 

All eight agents at Fuse Literary are accepting at least some new clients, but the following four are of special interest:

Sara Sciuto is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, and also completed literature coursework at NYU. Her first industry experience was working on film and foreign rights with Taryn Fagerness Agency. From there she joined Full Circle Literary where she specialized in children’s literature and was there for over three years before joining Fuse Literary.

Sara is actively building her children’s list, including everything from picture books, to middle grade and young adult projects.

She’s looking for standout picture books, especially those with a quirky or humorous narrative (bonus for subversive humor!) as well as biographies, or projects with nonfiction/educational elements (science topics, or a little-known historical event/figure will get my attention); conceptual or art-driven projects; and spare, deceptively simple texts.

Sara enjoys working with author-illustrators, but text-only authors are welcome, too.

In Young Adult fiction, she’s looking for literary voices with commercial appeal (i.e. no “chick-lit,” please). For Middle Grade, her tastes are broader, and she seeks everything from provoking, literary historical, to fun, silly adventure stories. She has a particular soft spot for gritty narratives, anything with international or regional locales, period settings, and anything with artistic themes.

Sara is also looking for standout middle grade and YA nonfiction, including both narrative and prescriptive projects.

Sara’s also considering select prescriptive adult nonfiction in the areas of craft, design, how-to, lifestyle, and pop culture, but no memoir or narrative projects.

Currently, she is not considering any adult fiction (all genres).

Query Sara at: querysara@fuseliterary.com

Include the first 10 pages of your manuscript (or the complete picture book text) in the email body.

Michelle Richter is one of the newest agents at Fuse, and like all new agents, she needs authors. Previously, she was at St. Martin’s Press for eight years. While there, she edited nonfiction including Melissa Explains It All by Melissa Joan Hart and Renewable by Jeremy Shere, and worked on women’s fiction, memoir/biography, pop culture, cookbooks, and diet/health books. She has a M.S. in Publishing from Pace University, and a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Russian from UMass Boston.

Michelle is primarily seeking fiction, especially book club reads, women’s fiction, literary fiction, and mystery/suspense/thrillers. Her favorite authors include Ann Patchett, Emma Straub, Laura Lippman, Richard Russo, Tom Perrotta, and Gillian Flynn.

For nonfiction, she’s interested in fashion, pop culture, science/medicine, sociology/social trends, and economics.

Query Michelle at: querymichelle@fuseliterary.com

Include a 1–2  page plot synopsis and the first twenty pages of your manuscript.

Jennifer Chen Tran is an Associate Agent. Prior to joining Fuse Literary, Jennifer was principal and owner of Penumbra Literary LLC, and served as Of Counsel at The New Press. She has also interned at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth literary agency, was an editorial and publicity intern at Hunter House Publishers (since acquired by Turner Publishing), and editorial intern at Terrain Magazine.

Jennifer obtained her Juris Doctor from Northeastern School of Law in Boston, MA, and a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, with a minor in Legal Studies. Originally a visual arts major turned English major, Jennifer appreciates creativity in all its incarnations.

Jennifer acquires both fiction and nonfiction. For fiction, Jennifer is seeking literary fiction, commercial fiction, women’s fiction, upmarket fiction, contemporary romance, mature Young Adult, New Adult, suspense/ thriller and select graphic novels (both adult, YA or MG). She is particularly interested in voices from underrepresented and marginalized communities, strong and conflicted female characters, war and post-war fiction, and writers who are adept at creating a developed sense of place. She admires writers who have an ear for dialogue and who are not afraid to take emotional risks.

For nonfiction, Jennifer acquires memoir, narrative non-fiction in the areas of adventure, biography, business, current affairs, medical, history, how-to, pop-culture, psychology, social entrepreneurism, social justice, travel, and lifestyle books (home, design, fashion, food). She believes in creating books that will have a positive impact on the world, and that inform and entertain.

Query Jennifer at: queryjennifer@fuseliterary.com

For fiction, include the first twenty pages (copy and pasted into e-mail, no attachments). For non-fiction, submit your non-fiction proposal and query letter.

Tricia Skinner is the newest member of the team at Fuse Literary and like all new agents, she needs authors. Professionally, Tricia began her writing career as a newspaper reporter and wrote for The Detroit News, Investor’s Business Daily, MSN, and The Houston Chronicle. She is also a hybrid author of passionate urban fantasy (represented by Fuse co-founder Laurie McLean).

As an agent, Tricia wants to represent authors who reflect diversity and cultures in their work. The real world is not one nationality, ethnic group, or sexual orientation. She’s looking for talented writers who deeply understand that as well.

Tricia is interested in Romance in the following subgenres and specialties: science fiction, futuristic, fantasy, video games, virtual/augmented reality, military/special ops, paranormal, urban fantasy, dark/edgy YA, medieval historical.

Tricia is only soliciting new/unpublished romance manuscripts. For all other genres, she is closed to new submissions unless requested after meeting the author at conferences or online events.

Query Patricia at: querytricia@fuseliterary.com

Keep your query under 300 words. Include the first 10 pages of chapter one (no prologues) in the body of your email (no attachments).

Brian Henry at Algonquin Writers' Retreat

Brian Henry will lead Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshops 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 Your Life, Saturday, April 16 in London (see here),  How to Write Great Characters, Saturday, May 14 in Toronto (see here) and Sunday, June 5 in Georgetown (see here), and Writing and Revising, May 28, in Mississauga (see here).

Also, Brian will be part of the Windsor International Writers’ Festival May 5 – 8, where he’ll be leading Writing Query Letters that Get a Yes and a Query Letter Clinic (see here). 

Finally, Brian will lead Writer’s Retreats at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park, Currently, there’s a short waiting list for the retreat June 10 – June 12 (see here) but there is still ample space in the retreat Friday, Sept 16 through Sunday, Sept 18 (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.

Spring is here ~ and good weather is coming

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

“Writing Personal Stories,” Wednesday mornings, April 27 – June 15, in Mississauga (see here)

“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 16, in Georgetown ~ Full. To reserve a spot for the summer class, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

“Intensive Creative Writing,” Wednesday afternoons, March 30 – June 15, in Burlington ~ Full. To reserve a spot for the summer class, 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, writing retreats, 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.