New agent Jordan Hamessley at New Leaf Literary seeks kid lit: picture books to YA, plus adult sci-fi & horror

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo,
represented by New Leaf Literary

New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.

110 West 40th Street, Suite 410
New York, NY 10018

http://www.newleafliterary.com/

New Leaf Literary & Media is a full service management and representation firm. In the five years since morphing from a boutique literary agency into a one-stop shop for writers and artists, New Leaf has had thirty-six books hit the New York Times bestseller list and eight films produced, including CBS Films’ sleeper hit, THE DUFF, the DIVERGENT series, and Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize winner AMERICAN HONEY.

On the literary side, New Leaf has seven literary agents all looking for authors – everything from picture books to YA, from crime fiction to romance to upmarket woman’s fiction, and from lifestyle books to cookbooks.

Jordan Hamessley is the newest member of the team, and like all new agents, she needs authors.

With nearly a decade of experience working on the editorial side of publishing at Penguin Young Readers (Grosset & Dunlap), Egmont USA, and Adaptive Studios, Jordan made the switch to agenting. Jordan had the pleasure of editing many award winning and critically acclaimed authors such as Sara Benincasa, Len Vlahos, Ilsa J. Bick, Adam-Troy Castro, E.C. Myers, Dori Hillestad Butler, Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead, Michelle Schusterman and more.

She earned a reputation as an editor for being the “horror girl” and edited horror and ghost stories for all ages from chapter books (The Haunted Library series by Dori Hillestad Butler), middle grade (Gustav Gloom series by Adam-Troy Castro) to YA (Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward.) She also has a deep affection for contemporary middle grade with heart and humor. She is always looking to find stories that bring the queer experience to the children’s space across all age ranges.

She is actively building a list of diverse children’s fiction from picture books through YA and select adult science fiction and horror authors.

She is also looking for quirky, nonfiction picture books with a STEM focus.

Some of her favorite reads of the last few years include Nova Ren Suma’s The Walls Around Us, Isabel Quintero’s Gabi: A Girl in Pieces, Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, Charlie Jane Anders’s All the Birds in the Sky, and Barbara Dee’s Star-Crossed.

Her top five books of all time? A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Contact by Carl Sagan, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and Carrie by Stephen King.

Jordan lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and sings show tunes and tap dances in her spare time.

Query Jordan at: query@newleafliterary.com

Include the word Query in the subject line, plus the agent’s name; for example: Subject: Query, Jordan Hamessley. Please also include the category (e.g., PB, chapter book, MG, YA, adult fiction, adult nonfiction, etc.) You may include up to 5 double-spaced sample pages within the body of the email. No attachments.

If you’re interested in and finding an agent or publisher (someday soon or down the road), don’t miss the How to Get Published workshops on Saturday, Feb 24, in Oakville with literary agent Martha Webb (see here) and on Saturday, March 3, in St. Catharines with HarperCollins editor Michelle Meade and author Hannah Mary McKinnon (see here).

If you’re interested in Kid Lit, be sure to register for the Writing for Children and for Young Adults mini-conference on Saturday, April 21, in Waterloo with literary agent Barbara Berson, Simon & Schuster editor Patricia Ocampo, and Young Adult author Tanaz Bhathena (see here).

And don’t miss Writing Great Characters on Saturday, Jan 27, in Mississauga (see here), Writing and Revising on Saturday, Feb 10, in Guelph (see here), How to Write Great Dialogue, Sunday, Feb 11, in Windsor (see here), and How to Write a Bestseller with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong on Saturday, March 24, in Caledon at the Bolton Library (see here).

Also, starting soon, Brian is offering a full range of weekly writing classes, from introductory to intensive:

Exploring Creative Writing, offered at two times:

Thursday mornings, Jan 25 – March 29, in Oakville (see here)

and Friday afternoons, Feb 2 – March 23, in Toronto (see here).

Writing Personal Stories, Thursday afternoons, Jan 25 – March 15 in Burlington (see here).

Intensive Creative Writing, offered at four times/locales:

Tuesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:45 p.m. Jan 16 – March 20, at Appleby United Church, in Burlington (see here)

Thursday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m., Jan 18 – March 22, at Appleby United Church in Burlington (see here)

Friday mornings, 10:15 – 12:45, Jan 19 – March 23, Glenview Presbyterian Church in Toronto (see here)

And Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 12:45, Jan 31 – March 28, in Burlington (see here)

See details of all seven classes offered in the new year here.

For details 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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