Canadian literary agency Transatlantic has 10 agents accepting new clients, including new comer to the team Marilyn Biderman

The Break by Katherena Vermette,
represented by Marilyn Biderman

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in the “Follow Brian by Email” box in the right-hand column 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

There are some big changes at Transatlantic Literary Agency, including the hiring of a new agent, Marilyn.

Marilyn Biderman has joined Transatlantic as a senior literary agent. She will close her own firm, bringing her current roster of authors, including Katherena Vermette (The Break), to Transatlantic. Marilyn Biderman Literary Management was established in 2010, following Marilyn’s tenure as vice-president, rights and contracts, at McClelland & Stewart. While at M&S, Biderman sold internationally the works of authors such as Leonard Cohen, Alistair MacLeod, Anne Michaels, and Madeleine Thien.

Marilyn is seeking literary fiction; sweet-spot fiction, that is, accessible but literary in intent (often found at book clubs); straight-up mysteries and thrillers; and women’s commercial and historical fiction.

“I love memoir with an utterly unique story and brilliant writing; narrative non-fiction on compelling and newsworthy topics that anticipate trends; expert nonfiction of wide appeal from authors with established social media platforms; and biographies of fascinating lives,” says Marilyn. “I don’t handle children’s books, except for young adult novels with cross-over appeal (very selectively, and only by referral); or poetry, screenplays, science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy for adult readers.”

She welcomes both debut and established authors and diverse voices.

Query Marilyn at: marilyn@transatlanticagency.com

Attach a brief sample of your work (up to 1,500 words) as a Word of PDF file.

Transatlantic also has ten other literary agents accepting clients, both adult and children’s authors. See the full list and detailed submission information here.

In other news, Transatlantic co-founder and president David Bennett has sold his controlling interest in the business to agency partner Samantha Haywood. Haywood, who joined the agency in 2004, has been a partner since 2013, and  was promoted to vice-president last April. Bennett will serve as chairman emeritus, with Lynn Bennett, the agency’s other co-founder, remaining as treasurer.

Also, Transatlantic has hired Rob Firing to head up a new speakers division. Rob was formerly senior director of publicity, communications and speakers’ bureau at HarperCollins Canada.  Rob will negotiate speaking engagements for both Transatlantic  authors and other talent, and if any of that other talent needs a literary agent, Rob will do that, as well. He’s already signed Paulette Bourgeois (Franklin the Turtle) and HaprerCollins Canada authors Karen Le Billon (French Kids Eat Everything) and Zarqa Nawaz (Little Mosque on the Prairie) to the agency’s speakers’ bureau.

Simon & Schuster editor Patricia Ocampo

If you’re interested in and finding an agent or publisher (someday soon or down the road), don’t miss our “How to Get Published” mini-conference, with literary agent Martha Webb, author Hannah McKinnon, and HarperCollins editor Michelle Meade on Saturday, Nov 18, in Guelph (see here).

You’ll also want to register for the “From the Horse’s Mouth” seminar, with literary agent Stacey Donaghy, House of Anansi Press editor Douglas Richmond, and Simon & Schuster managing editor Patricia Ocampo on Saturday, Dec 2 at Ryerson University in Toronto (see here).

Also, starting soon, Brian Henry is leading a full range of writing courses, introductory to advanced, but at this point, only two classes still have space: 

Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Sept 28 – Nov 30, 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.

Brian is also leading a “Writing Kid Lit” Saturday workshop, on November 11 in London (see here).

And be sure not to miss the “Writing a Bestseller” workshop with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong on Saturday, Oct 21, in Oakville (see here).

Anansi editor Douglas Richmond

Also, in the fall, Brian will lead a “How to Make Yourself Write” workshop on Saturday, Oct 14, in Toronto (see here), a “Secrets of Writing a Page-turner” on Saturday, Oct 28, in Caledon at the Bolton Library (see here), “Writing with Style” on Saturday, Nov 4, in Barrie (see here) and “How to Build Your Story” on Saturday, Nov 25 in Burlington (see 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.

Navigation tips: Always check out the labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. Also, if you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.