The Bent Agency has 4 new agents looking for all sorts of books for adults and for middle grade and young adult, both fiction and nonfiction

Caraval a YA novel by Stephanie Garber,
represented by The Bent Agency 

The Bent Agency

19 West 21^st Street,
#201
Brooklyn, NY 10010

And

21 Melliss Avenue

Kew, Richmond TW9 4BQ

http://www.thebentagency.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

Since Jenny Bent left Trident media in 2009, the Bent Agency has grown into a mid-size trans-Atlantic agency with ten agents. But it’s still a young agency, and most of the agents there are actively looking for authors. In particular the agency has four new agents, not previously featured on Quick Brown Fox:

Molly Ker Hawn represents authors who write for the young adult and middle grade market, both fiction and nonfiction.

Before joining The Bent Agency, Molly worked in children’s publishing at Chronicle Books and Dial Books for Young Readers. She grew up in Northern California, but now lives in London and works with authors and publishers in both the UK and the US. {And I’m sure

She’s looking for middle grade and young adult fiction that’s inventive, well-crafted, and rich with emotion. She’s also interested in nonfiction for readers ages 8–18.

“I like wit, but not snark,” says Molly. “I prefer books that lean more toward literary than commercial, but of course my perfect book neatly bridges the two. The books on my list all share a strong sense of authentic place, whether real or imaginary. If you’ve got a terrific story, well-told, I want to read it.”

Query Molly at: hawnqueries@thebentagency.com  

Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email. No attachments.

Victoria Cappelo represents commercial and literary adult fiction, young adult fiction and narrative nonfiction. Her favourite genres are historical fiction, suspense, mysteries, upmarket woman’s fiction, and romance.

Before joining The Bent Agency, she completed internships at Serendipity Literary and the Carol Mann Agency. She lives on Long Island and in her spare time teaches dance and watches re-runs of The Office.

Query Victoria at: cappelloqueries@thebantagency.com

Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email. No attachments.

Sarah Manning grew up in Essex and read History at Durham University. She started her publishing career with the Orion Publishing Group in London. She later worked as an assistant to Juliet Mushens ar the Agency Group, where she was promoted to Agent.

She is looking for commercial and accessible literary adult fiction and nonfiction. She loves stories that make her cry, that show the world through a different set of eyes, and that are high-concept or have unreliable narrators. She’s also interested in speculative fiction: those stories that have a slight magical or fantasy element to them – but nothing that feels too unrecognizable from our own world.

She loves nonfiction that reads like fiction, that inspires her and evokes emotion. She’s also looking for popular books that have a really strong concept and could spark new trends, whether in popular science, cookery or lifestyle.

She tweets here. And check out her YouTube channel where she intends to talk about all things literary here. 

Query Sarah at: manningqueries@thebentagency.com  

Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email. No attachments.

John Bowers is from Richmond, Virginia and studied English literature at Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduating with a master’s degree in teaching, he spent a few years teaching English and Drama at American International schools in Colombia and Costa Rica. There he engaged in community outreach initiatives, picked up surfing, and after one too many eye-rolls trying to get kids to fall in love with Shakespeare, he packed his bags for Brooklyn.

Before joining the Bent Agency, John worked in literary scouting, where he read fiction and nonfiction and recommended titles for foreign publishing and film/TV adaptation. He now helps handle the Bent Agency’s foreign rights and is also building a list of literary fiction and serious nonfiction.

John is looking for Southern Gothic and Southern-influenced literary fiction along the lines of Ron Rash, Cormac McCarthy, and anything in the tradition of titans like Flannery O’Connor. He would also love to see idea-driven science fiction, such as Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Disposed, dystopian fiction such as Nick Harkaway’s The Gone-Away World, and stories that make the world feel dystopian, like Kurt Vonnegut’s classic Slaughterhouse–5.

For nonfiction, he is interested in narrative nonfiction in the vein of Beth Macy’s Factory Man and sweeping historical fiction like River of Doubt and King Leopold’s Ghost. He’s open to projects that engagingly distill topics regarding culture, media theory, finance, and popular science, much in the way of Michael Lewis and Malcolm Gladwell’s acclaimed works. He’s deeply intrigued by stories that help us better understand our world and anything that sets forth strong characters, edgy and expansive themes, and new perspectives.

Query John at: bowersqueries@thebentagency.com

Include the title of your project in the subject line of your email. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email. No attachments.

This April – starting soon! (and some have already started) – Brian will offer a full range of classes from beginner to advanced:
Welcome to Creative Writing, Monday evenings, April 17 – June 19, Burlington. Details here.

Writing Personal Stories, Thursday afternoons, April 27 – June 15, Burlington Details here.

Intermediate Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, April 13 – June 15, Georgetown. Details here.

The Compressed Intensive, Wednesday evenings, April 12 – May 31, Burlington. Details here.

Details of all classes offered this spring here.

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

Also, Brian will lead a How to Get Published workshop on Saturday, April 22, in Midland, with literary agent Sue Miller (see here).

Note: For updated postings of current How to Get Published workshops here (and scroll down).

And Brian will lead Writing for Children & for Young Adult workshops on Saturday, May 13, in Caledon at the Bolton Library with Yasemin Uçar, senior Editor at Kids Can Press and author Jennifer Mook-Sang (see here), on Saturday, May 27, in St. Catharines with Anne Shone, senior editor at Scholastic Books (see here), and on Saturday, July 29, in Collingwood with literary agent Monica Pacheco (see here). 

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

And don't miss the June in Algonquin Writing Retreat,  Friday, June 2 – Sunday, June 4 or Monday, June 5. Details here.

For more information or to reserve a spot in any Saturday workshop or weekly course, 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: If you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.