Donaghy Literary Group
6 – 14845 Yonge Street
Suite 123
Aurora, Ontario
Canada
I recently attended the Windsor International Writers’ Conference. The writers in attendance enjoyed huge amounts of face time with agents and
editors, plus twenty lucky attendees left with irresistible query letters
re-written with help from yours truly. Apart from hanging out with writers and
publishing professionals, I also took the opportunity to find out what various
agents are looking for right now so I could share this info with you, dear
reader, and sometimes also to pitch the agents on behalf of my students who have a
manuscript almost ready to go. Two of the agents in attendance were Stacey
Donaghy and Sue Miller of the Donaghy Literary group…. ~Brian
Stacey Donaghy began her career with an agency in New York and in 2013
opened the doors to Donaghy Literary Group in Canada.
Asked
what manuscripts she’d like to get right now, Stacey said, “I would love to see more diverse
stories that are highly commercial. LGBTQ stories that focus on the
characters and story development and less on the "issues" related to coming out or being out. It would be exciting to receive a LGBTQ in adult or YA
that is story driven, such as a romance or thriller in
Adult and in YA a Mean Girls, Duff, even a thriller that highlights diversity
but where the story leads the way.”
More generally, Stacey is seeking
Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. Specifically, she’s
looking for:
Romantic Suspense
LGBTQ Stories, standalone or series
Diverse books
Contemporary romance
Romance with varying heat levels
New Adult
Thrillers
Middle Grade, I am looking for quirky not cute.
Young Adult
Stacey is only interested in receiving fiction
submissions at this time and is generally not
interested in Sci-fi/Fantasy, historic, dystopian,
paranormal /supernatural, literary, historic or children's picture books.
In the subject line, write “Query,”
followed by story title, genre, and “Stacey Donaghy”
Paste a one or two page synopsis
below your query and the first ten pages of your manuscript below that. No
attachments.
Note: Stacey will be the guest speaker at a the How to Get Published workshop Saturday, Oct 22, in London. See here.
Valerie Noble is based in the U.S. She loves science fiction and
fantasy (think Kristin Cashore and Suzanne Collins), but she reads everything;
for her, it’s more about the writing and less about the genre. Valerie is
seeking Young Adult and New Adult in the following areas:
Science fiction
Fantasy
Historical fantasy
Historical fiction
Valerie is generally not interested
in romance or paranormal.
In the subject line, write “Query,”
followed by story title, genre, and “Valerie Noble”
Paste a one or two page synopsis
below your query and the first ten pages of your manuscript below that. No
attachments.
Sue Miller is
an associate agent. She graduated with a degree in English Literature from York
University in Toronto, as well as a certificate in publishing, from Ryerson
University. Sue previously worked in children's publishing with Scholastic
Canada.
Prior to joining DLG, Sue interned for Bree Ogden during her time at the D4EO agency. Sue dabbles in writing and has edited short stories for other writers. An admitted social media junkie, Sue is always interested in the latest platforms for networking and relationship building within the industry. This led her to complete her Digital Marketing Management certificate from the University of Toronto.
Sue is seeking new and
exciting voices as she builds her client list, and she’s romance, young adult,
new adult and adult contemporary novels. Asked what manuscripts she’d like to get
right now, Sue said, “I would love to see high
concept, young adult, urban fiction that deals with social justice issues that
does not preach, but tells a universal human story.”
More generally, Sue is looking for:
YA
– any sub genre (think Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Cynthia Hand,
Stephanie Perkins, Colleen Hoover)
Urban
Fantasy (think Sandy Williams, Patricia Briggs, Karen Marie Moning)
Urban
Fantasy/Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ Dystopian - mash-ups (think Laini Taylor,
Samantha Shannon, Pierce Brown, Andy Weir)
Contemporary
Romance (think Jamie McGuire, K.A. Tucker, Colleen Hoover, Jojo Moyes)
And her
wish list includes:
YA or Contemporary
romance - fun and smart (not silly) and/or heart breaking, with angst,
romantic, sometimes dark
YA contemporary,
authentic voices representing urban life (think Treasure E. Blue),
multicultural (example: Canadian/Afro-Latino etc.), social change (think Heidi
Durrow, R.J. Palacio)
Literary &
Commercial fiction that mashes genres together such as, The Night Circus
Contemporary
Romance with memorable characters that I'll fondly refer to
throughout my life!
In the subject line, write “Query,” followed by story title, and
genre. Paste a one or two page synopsis below your query and the first ten
pages of your double-spaced manuscript below that. No attachments.
 |
| Michael Mirolla, publisher Guernica Books |
Also, Brian hosts From the Horse's Mouth ~
Strategies for Getting Published on
Saturday, June 18, with Barbara Berson of Helen Heller Agency, Michael Mirolla,
publisher Guernica Editions, and Bhavna Chauhan, editor, Penguin Random House
Canada, at Ryerson University in Toronto (see here).
Other upcoming workshops include 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).
For those who love great food and a beautiful setting with their writing, Brian has two Writer’s Retreats coming
up at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park: Friday, June 10 – Sunday,
June 12 (see here) and
Friday, Sept 16 – Sunday, Sept 18 (see here).
For more information or to register, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
“Welcome
to Creative Writing,” Tuesday
afternoons, Tuesday afternoons, July
5 – Aug 23, in Burlington
“Intensive
Creative Writing,” Wednesday
afternoons, July 6 – Aug 24, in Burlington
“Intensive
Creative Writing,” Wednesday
evenings, July 6 – Aug 24, in Burlington
See
details of all three classes here.
To reserve a spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.
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. Also, if you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale, to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~ Brian
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.
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