Six agents at Red Sofa Literary seek fiction and nonfiction for middle grade, young adults and adults

A Dangerous Year by Kes Trester,
represented by Red Sofa

Red Sofa Literary

PO Box 40482

#2; St. Paul, MN 55104

www.redsofaliterary.com

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Red Sofa Literary is a boutique literary agency originally established in St. Paul/Minneapolis, but now represents authors all over the world. Their mission: “To celebrate a life of reading and geek culture, where brains always win over the brawn.”’

Dawn Michelle Frederick is the owner/literary agent of Red Sofa Literary. She brings a broad knowledge of the book business to the table, with multiple years of experience as a bookseller in independent, chain, and specialty stores; sales, marketing, and book development experience; previously a literary agent at Sebastian Literary Agency. She has a B.S. in Human Ecology, and a M.S. in Information Sciences. You can find her on Twitter at @redsofaliterary

Dawn represents:

Biography — Historical, media-related, political— absolutely no personal memoirs. Creative Nonfiction — It needs to be smart, with noticeable platform, and commercial. She enjoys a wide range of topics.
History – Books that will engage the commerical reader; for example: anything Scott Simon/NPR might like
Humor – She loves a good laugh (Dawn represents the CHOOSE YOUR OWN MISERY series)
Pop Culture – Especially Americana, and anything quirky
Social Issues/Current Affairs—Women’s Studies, GLTB Studies, Social Sciences, and more.
Sports — Less mainstream, more extreme sport; Roller Derby, for example, not so much into traditional sports
Women’s Narratives – women’s nonfiction, diverse stories please!
Young Adult – Fiction, Nonfiction
Middle Grade – Fiction, Nonfiction

Query Dawn at: dawn@redsofaliterary.com

Just send a query; she’ll request pages if interested.

Full submission guidelines here. 

Jennie Goloboy joined Red Sofa Literary as an Associate Agent in the fall of 2011 and was promoted to Literary Agent in December 2013. Jennie has a PhD in the History of American Civilization from Harvard. She is also a published author of both history and fiction, and a member of SFWA, RWA, SHEAR, OAH, the AHA, and Codex Writer’s Group. Her funny, spec-fic short stories appear under her pen name, Nora Fleischer.

Jennie represents:

Science Fiction/Fantasy, especially with a literary flair. She would love to see more nontraditional settings and characters. She’s always open to optimistic, lighthearted fiction, but also enjoy a good scare.
History– must have a commercial (nonacademic) focus. Strong interest in American history, especially through 1850. Also interested in “history of an idea” books. Absolutely no personal memoirs.
Romance, primarily with sci-fi and fantasy elements.
Young Adult and Middle Grade– Mostly Science Fiction/Fantasy. No paranormal romance, dystopias, or “chosen one” stories, please.

Query Jennie at: jennie@redsofaliterary.com

Laura Zats graduated from Grinnell College with degrees in English and anthropology. She began working in the publishing industry in 2011, joining Red Sofa Literary in 2013. As an agent, she specializes in children’s fiction, science fiction and fantasy, and romance. She is also one-half of the weekly publishing podcast, Print Run. In her free time, Laura serves on the board of the Minnesota Book Publishers’ Roundtable, teaches classes on writing and publishing, and drinks a lot of tea. Connect with her on Twitter @LZats.

Laura represents:

Young Adult — Fiction, especially contemporary. I love funny and gritty, especially when the two go together. Interested in geekery, retellings, innovative storytelling, and authentic voices. Please no paranormal romance, contemporary romance, dystopia, Chosen One plotlines, or didacticism.
Middle Grade — Fiction, especially contemporary. Prefers smart, literary writing disguised as adventures. Looking for books that are heavy with STEM and will appeal to girls and boys.
Science Fiction/Fantasy — Must pass either the Mako Mori or Bechdel tests. Loves nontraditional settings, fast-paced storytelling, anthropological elements, and smart humor. Please no high fantasy.
Romance/Erotica — Especially contemporary. Must be feminist, have verbal consent throughout, and feature an independent, smart heroine. Please no vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, or mermaids.

Wish list for every genre and category: feminism, diversity (in all forms), unconventional storytelling techniques, and voice-driven narratives.

Query Laura at: laura@redsofaliterary.com

Amanda Rutter was an editor with Angry Robot, helping to sign books and authors for the Strange Chemistry imprint. Since leaving Angry Robot, she has been a freelance editor, through her own company AR Editorial Solutions, BubbleCow and Wise Ink. She also finds time to write blog posts for Tor.com. In her free time, she is a yarn fiend, knitting and crocheting a storm.

Amanda represents:

Science Fiction/Fantasy, the non-YA ideas.
Young Adult and Middle Grade – Science Fiction/Fantasy. 

Query Amanda at: amanda@redsofaliterary.com

Stacey Graham comes to agenting from the other side of the literary blanket, as an author of four books, multiple short stories, as a screenwriter, ghostwriter, and editor. She loves working with writers at all stages of their careers and will use her experience in authorship to help navigate the sometimes crazy waters of publishing for her clients. She currently lives outside of Washington, D.C. with her husband and five children. She considers the resulting nervous tick from her children to be charming.

Stacey represents:

Nonfiction humor with a strong platform (no dating memoirs)
Humorous fiction
Middle-grade with a great voice – especially funny and/or spooky
History (fiction or nonfiction) with a commercial hook. No 20th century pitches, please
Nonfiction that walks on the weird side – picture books, middle grade, young adult, or adult.

Romance

Query Stacey at: stacey@redsofaliterary.com 

Erik Hane is a freelance editor and writer based in Minneapolis in addition to being an agent with Red Sofa. Since graduating from Knox College and the Denver Publishing Institute in 2012, he has worked as an assistant editor at Oxford University Press and then as an acquiring editor at The Overlook Press, both in New York. This experience at both academic and commercial publishing houses means he’s performed editorial work on everything from serious scientific nonfiction to literary novels.

At Red Sofa, Erik is hoping to see a wide range of upmarket fiction and nonfiction. In nonfiction, he loves seeing complex subjects written about in an engaging way for the non-expert, or energetic, incisive looks at topics not usually treated that way. (“Looking at you, sports writing.”) He wants to see literary novels that place story first; no use writing beautifully if nothing’s going on.

“In fiction,” says Erik, “I typically like things that are ‘realism’ or at least close to it, though I do love light speculative elements or just a touch of science fiction, closer to just ‘surreal’ than overtly SF/F. I like novels that probably get called ‘literary’ even as they’re doing other things or fitting into other categories. I love family stories, memorable settings that matter to the book, characters with a hare-brained scheme, legends, folklore, mythology, and games. I want ‘ambitious’ novels that reach for something memorable.”

Some books and authors he’s really enjoyed in the last few years:

• Karen Russell (especially Swamplandia!)
• Marilynne Robinson
• Michael Chabon
• Jonathan Lethem
• Paul Beatty
• Brit Bennett (The Mothers)
• Garth Risk Hallberg (City on Fire)
• Marlon James (A Brief History of Seven Killings)
• David Mitchell
• Viet Thanh Nguyen (The Sympathizer)
• Louise Erdrich

In nonfiction, Erik is looking for:  

History, especially American political or social. Cultural movements, political movements, the forgotten but significant moments in between the famous points in history we’ve already read so much about
Science, specifically evolution, biology, animals, or neuroscience; think Elizabeth Kolbert, Ed Yong, E. O. Wilson, Yuval Hurari
Cultural criticism, essays, commentary, current events. “This could be on anything but off the top of my head I really like great writing on politics, race, social trends, leftism, videogames, Weird Twitter, and anything else you can convince me the world should care about.”
Sports with a larger (and necessary) cultural angle; think Grantland. “Specifically I really like tennis, football, and basketball.”
International stories, especially in places under-covered by Western media, and especially, places and people affected by U.S. foreign policy

He very much prefers narrative nonfiction in all these categories!

Query Erik at: erik@redsofaliterary.com 

New York Times #1 bestselling author
Kelley Armstrong will be the guest speaker for
How to Write a Bestseller. See here.

Brian Henry will lead a Writing for Children & for Young Adult workshop on Saturday, August 12, in Collingwood (see here). 

In the fall, Brian will lead a weekly Writing Kid Lit class, Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Oakville, with guest authors Sylvia McNicoll and Jennifer Mook-Sang (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).

Brian will lead a Writing Your Life and Other True Stories workshop on Saturday, Aug 19 in Brampton (see here). 

Join us for a Fall Colours Writing Retreat, at the wonderful Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park, Friday, Sept 15 – Sunday, Sept 17 (see here).

Also, in the fall, Brian will lead a “How to Make Yourself Write” workshop on Saturday, Oct 14, in Toronto (see here), a “Writing a Bestseller” workshop with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong on Saturday, Oct 21, in Oakville (see here), and a “How to Get Published” mini-conference, with author Hannah McKinnon, literary agent Martha Webb, and HarperCollins editor Michelle Meade on Saturday, Nov 18, in Guelph (see here).

Starting in September, Brian will lead a full range of courses, introductory to advanced: 

The Artsy Mistake Mystery by
Sylvia McNicoll, one of the guest speakers
for the Writing Kid Lit class

Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Sept 28 – Nov 30, in Burlington. See here.

Writing Personal Stories, Wednesday evenings, Sept 27 – Nov 15, in Burlington. See here.

Writing Kid Lit, Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Oakville, with guest authors Sylvia McNicoll and Jennifer Mook-Sang. See here.

Next Step in Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons Sept 26 – Nov 28, in Burlington. See here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Monday mornings, Sept 25 – Dec 4/11, in Toronto. See here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, Sept 28 – Nov 30 in Georgetown. See here.

Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, Sept 20 – Dec 6/13, in Burlington

See details of all seven courses offered in the fall here.

For more information or to reserve a spot in any workshop, retreat, 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.

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