Six agents at Prospect Literary seek new authors –

Emily Sylvan Kim, president of Prospect,
is accepting new clients

Prospect Agency
551 Valley Road, PMB 377 
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
http://www.prospectagency.com/

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Prospect Agency represents both adult and children’s books (picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade and young adult), both writers and illustrators. All six agents are seeking new clients, but three are of special interest to new authors:  

Kirsten Carleton is the newest member of the team, and like all new agents, she needs authors. Before joining Prospect Agency in 2015, Kirsten learned the agenting ropes at Sobel Weber Associates and the Waxman Leavell Agency. 

She fell in love with working on writers while getting her B.A. in English with a Creative Writing concentration from Amherst College, and cemented her fascination with publishing with a Graduate Certificate in Publishing from the Columbia Publishing Course and internships at Charlesbridge and Liza Dawson Associates.

As an agent, she loves sharing an author's vision for the book, working to help him or her uncover it, and finding a home for it with editors and readers who also feel that connection. Beyond the individual book, she wants to develop satisfying and successful careers that celebrate great talent. Follow her on Twitter: @kirstencarleton

Kirsten is currently seeking upmarket YA and adult fiction with strong characters and storytelling, across speculative, thriller, and literary genres. She's drawn to books that capture her attention early on with a dynamic plot, and innovative storytelling that blends or crosses genres.

In particular, she's interested in novels that bend and blur genres; literary takes on high concept world-building; diverse characters in stories that are not just about diversity; antiheroes she find herself rooting for; characters with drive and passion; girls and women in STEM fields; settings outside the US/Europe; well-researched historical settings; YA noir/thriller/mystery; stories that introduces her to a new subculture and makes her feel like a native.

Query Kirsten through Prospect’s submissions page.

Linda Camacho joined Prospect Agency in 2015 after nearly a decade in publishing. After graduating from Cornell University, Linda interned at Simon & Schuster and Writers House literary agency, and worked at Penguin before happily settling into children's marketing at Random House. 

She has an MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Unofficially, Linda loves chocolate, travel, and far too much TV. Follow Linda on Twitter: @LindaRandom

In terms of submissions, she's pretty omnivorous. Linda is currently seeking: Adult, middle grade, and young adult fiction across all genres (romance, horror, fantasy, realistic, light sci-fi, and graphic novels). Select literary fiction (preferably with commercial bent) and picture books (both writers and illustrators welcome).

Linda is also looking for select narrative nonfiction and memoir. Diversity of all types (ethnicity, disability, sexuality, etc.).

The best way to get an idea of Linda’s taste is by checking out her Top Reads.

Children's Top Reads:

• The Dark by Lemony Snicket; illus. Jon Klassen
• If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano; illus. Erin E. Stead
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
• The Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson

Adult Top Reads:

• Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
• The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• The Sookie Stackhouse series (aka "True Blood") by Charlaine Harris
• Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• It by Stephen King
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Stitches: A Memoir by David Small

Query Linda through Prospect’s  submissions page.

Carrie Pestritto is an experienced agent, having joined Prospect in 2011 after working as an assistant at Writers House. With a B.A. in English from Amherst College, she has experienced all sides of the publishing industry, having worked as a ghostwriter, freelance writer, and as an intern in the editorial acquisitions department of the Greenwood Publishing Group.

As an agent, she loves the thrill of finding new authors with strong, unique voices and working closely with her clients to develop their ideas and manuscripts.

For Carrie, extraordinary fiction and nonfiction share the ability to transport readers to new and exciting places. As a history and mythology buff, she is intrigued by books that introduce her to another culture or time period. She is looking for description and detail that will make her feel like she is inside the story and interest her in a subject she never thought she would want to read about—or, conversely, introduce her to startling facts about something or someone she believed she already knew everything about.

Carrie is currently seeking:

• Narrative nonfiction
• Biography and memoir
• Commercial fiction with a literary twist
• Fresh chick lit
• Contemporary romance
• Upmarket women's fiction
• Near-historical fiction (from about the Gilded Age on)
• Mystery/thrillers for a female audience
• High-concept YA fantasy
• Diverse YA and upper MG
• MG with a quirky voice
• Biographical, educational, or cultural picture books

For nonfiction projects, Carrie looks for authors who have a strong platform, such as a popular blog, published articles, or related professional experience. She loves memoirs that bring her into a very atypical life situation, such as Suzanne McMinn's Chickens in the Road, and nonfiction that reveals little-known aspects of history. Cutting edge relationship or dieting books, pop psychology, and pop science also interest her.

In the fiction arena, Carrie is drawn in by relatable characters, fantastic voices, strong heroines, unusual premises, or re-imaginings of classical books. She loves feeling connected with characters and immersed in the world she is reading about, whether that be 19th century Holland or a land ruled by elemental magic.

Query Carrie through Prospect’s  submissions page.

Full submission guidelines here.

Stacey Donaghy, literary agent

Brian Henry will be leading How to Get Published workshops on Saturday, Jan 28, in Toronto with Stacey Donaghy of the Donaghy agency (see here) and on Saturday, April 22, in Midland, again with Stacey Donaghy (see here).
Note: If you're viewing this posting after March 11, 2017, see current How to Get Published workshops here (and scroll down).

Also, Brian will lead a free Writing Query Letters that Get a Yes seminar Monday, January 30, in Kitchener, (see here), How to Build Your Story Saturday, Feb 4, in Mississauga (see here) and Saturday, Feb 11, in Caledon at the Bolton library (see here), Writing and Revising, Saturday, Feb 25, in Burlington (see here), Saturday, March 4, in London (see here), and Saturday, March 25, in Toronto (see here).

Also, he'll lead How to Write a Bestseller on Saturday, Feb 18, in Guelph, with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong (see here).

Author Kira Vermond will
be one of the guest speakers
at the Kid Lit course

And Brian will  be leading Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshops on Saturday, April 1, in Windsor (see here), on Saturday, May 13, in Caledon at the Bolton Library with Yasemin Uçar, senior Editor at Kids Can Press (details to come) and on Saturday, May 27, in St. Catharines with Anne Shone, senior editor at Scholastic Books (see here). Brian will also be leading a weekly Kid Lit class, Monday afternoons, April 10 – June 19, in Mississauga (here).

Note: For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).

For more information or to reserve a spot in any Saturday workshop or weekly course, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

To move closer to publication, your best bet may be a weekly course. Some winter classes still have space available:

Exploring Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Jan 26 – March 30, Burlington Details here.

Writing Personal Stories, Tuesday mornings, Feb 9 – March 30, Oakville. Details here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, Jan 31 – March 28, Burlington. Details here.

See details of all three of these courses here.

In the spring, Brian will be offering a full range of classes from beginner to advanced:

Welcome to Creative Writing, Monday evenings,  April 10 – June 19, Burlington Details to come.

Writing Personal Stories, Thursday afternoons, April 27 – June 15, Burlington Details to come.
Writing Kid Lit, Monday afternoons, April 10 – June 19, Mississauga. Details here.

Intermediate Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings April 12 – June 14, starts by email April 5, Burlington. Details to come..

Intermediate Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, April 13 – June 15, starts by email April 6, Georgetown. Details to come.

Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, April 11 – June 13, starts by email April 4, Burlington. Details to come.

Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, April 5 – June 21, starts by email March 29, Burlington. Details to come.

For more information or to register for any of the above, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

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

Navigation tip: For many more literary agents seeking authors, click on the Literary Agents button at the top of the page, just below the banner. To see only Canadian agents, click on the button in the right-hand column under More Content. To see only agents representing kid’s lit, click on the Children’s/YA agents button in the list of Labels below.