Canadian literary agency Transatlantic absorbs American Jill Corcoran Agency; now has 17 agents

Sofie & Cecilia by Katherine Ashenburg,
represented by Transatlantic

Transatlantic Agency

2 Bloor Street East

Suite 3500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

http://transatlanticagency.com/

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Transatlantic Agency is expanding in the US, absorbing Jill Corcoran Literary Agency. Jill Corcoran, president of JCLA, joins Transatlantic as partner and senior agent Jodell Sadler joins as senior agent; and Timothy Travaglini and Elizabeth Benneet join as literary agents. Jill Corcoran clients will move with their agents and be represented by Transatlantic going forward.

“Jill Corcoran is a powerhouse and her dynamic agents are well respected for good reason,” says Samantha Haywood, president of Transatlantic. “Jill, Jodell, Elizabeth and Tim have terrific industry experience and excellent taste. They will be a great addition to our group. We are simply delighted to welcome them and their remarkable author and illustrator clients to Transatlantic, growing our already successful children’s and YA list, and increasing our presence in the US market.”

Transatlantic now has 17 agents located across North America, with US agents in New York, Boston, Chicago, Portland OR, and LA, and Canadian agents in Toronto, Vancouver and Nova Scotia. Transatlantic represents more than 500 clients, who make regular appearances on notable bestseller lists across North America and have won major awards such as the Newbery Medal (US), the Giller Prize (Canada), Michael L. Printz Honor Book (US), and the Governor General’s Award for both adult and children’s literature (Canada).

Transatlantic agents who are looking for new authors include:

Stephanie Sinclair, is growing her own author list and simultaneously manages international rights for Samantha Haywood's client list as well as for Page Two Books, a separate company owned and operated by Transatlantic agents Jesse Finkelstein and Trena White.

In fiction, Stephanie represents literary fiction and upmarket women’s and will consider literary thriller and suspense and YA crossover. 

In nonfiction, Stephanie represents narrative nonfiction, memoir, investigative journalism and true crime.

Query Stephani at: stephanie@transatlanticagency.com

Attach a 20-page writing sample in Word or PDF format. See Stephanie’s full guidelines here.

Note: Stephanie will be a guest speaker at the How to Get Published workshop, Saturday, Nov 17, in Mississauga. Details here.

Léonicka Valcius recently joined the Transatlantic Agency as assistant agent. After completing the publishing program at Centennial College, Léonicka interned at HarperCollins Canada before working at Scholastic Book Fairs Canada for nearly 4 years as a book buyer and marketer. She then joined the Online and Digital Sales team at Penguin Random House Canada where she sold ebooks and audio books. Léonicka is eager to draw from these experiences to return to her original passion: working with writers.

As the founder of #DiverseCanLit and the Chair of the Board of the Festival of Literary Diversity, serving readers and writers of colour has been the core of Léonicka’s career. She brings this same mandate to her work at Transatlantic. As an Assistant Agent, Léonicka will be working closely with Samantha Haywood, Stephanie Sinclair and Amy Tompkins with whom she will be co-agenting new clients.

Léonicka is interested in commercial fiction (especially fantasy, romance, and historical fiction), general nonfiction, and YA & children’s books.

In Adult and Young Adult fiction, Léonicka likes fun commercial fiction, romance that ranges from sweet to steamy, otherworldly fantasy, and sweeping historical fiction. She does not represent mysteries or thrillers.

In Adult non-fiction, she like narrative nonfiction that explains complex issues through the lens of a personal story. She is also seeking books that straddle the self-help/lifestyle line (#selfcare #liveyourbestlife) and the self-help/business line (#productivityhack #riseandgrind).

For Middle Grade, she loves humour, adventure, and make believe. She also enjoys stories about children navigating their changing relationships with family and friends. She strongly prefers books with at least one human character.

“I am eager to work with people of color,” says Léonicka, “including (but not limited to) trans people, disabled people, religious minorities, and queer folks.

Query Léonicka at: leonicka@transatlanticagency.com

Include a synopsis and a 20-page excerpt.

If you are comfortable, please include your social and cultural identities in your bio, especially if you self-identify as a person of color and/or part of another underrepresented group. If you are submitting a nonfiction proposal, please include information about your expertise and platform, as well as a detailed table of contents.

Jesse Finkelstein specializes in upmarket, accessible nonfiction that challenges current conceptions, whether through a “big ideas” book or narrative. “I am drawn to entrepreneurs and people who are innovators in their fields and writing about current affairs, business, culture, politics, technology, religion, and the environment,” says Jesse. And she is most interested in authors who have an existing platform.

Query Jesse at: jesse@transatlanticagency.com

Authors are encouraged to attach a maximum 20-page writing sample of their work as a Word document. See Jesse’s full guidelines here.

Trena White specializes in upmarket, accessible nonfiction that challenges current conceptions, whether through a “big ideas” book or narrative. 

“I am drawn to entrepreneurs and people who are innovators in their fields and writing about current affairs, business, culture, politics, technology, and the environment,” says Trena. 

“Journalists who are obsessed with a particular beat (gangs, climate change, etc.) always welcome. Fascinating, exceptionally well written life stories, usually with a current affairs hook. I am most interested in authors who have an existing platform.”

Query Trena at: trena@transatlanticagency.com

Authors are encouraged to embed a maximum 20-page writing sample in their email. No attachments. See Trena’s full guidelines here.

Jodell Sadler is always looking for outstanding storytellers in children’s lit. She seeks new talent and artists who have animation or design or graphic novel in their background, and are looking to launch author-illustrator projects in fiction and/or nonfiction.

She also wants awesome author-illustrators working on older genre projects.

In Chapter Books and Middle Grade she’s looking for illustrated, fresh, and graphic novel, biographies, narrative nonfiction, and great stories that pull readers in.

For Picture Books, she looks for humor, well-paced writing with a fresh approach, and projects with great visual storytelling and emotional depth. “I’m looking for diverse books, biographies and great topics and concepts.”

For Young Adult she’s seeking compelling narrative nonfiction and fiction projects. “I look for a well-paced story and unique project with voice and emotional depth. I want to feel the heart of your story and immediately connect to character.”

Jodell does take on adult titles but is highly selective and looks for an awesome voice.

Query Jodell here.

Author-illustrators please submit a portfolio link or dummy.

Jill Corcoran, formerly president of the Jill Corcoran Agency and now a partner and senior agent at Transatlantic, is looking for original, compelling concepts in children’s, YA and adult fiction and non-fiction.

Query Jill here.

Do not send queries to the Corcoran Agency email addresses; they’ll be deleted.

Elizabeth Bennett is currently closed for submissions but will be open again in the fall.

Elizabeth is generally interested in fiction and nonfiction submissions with series and franchise potential, board books, novelties, graphic novels, middle grade, and YA fiction. I tend to be partial to books with humor; books that approach contemporary issues in a fresh, new way; books that are inspired by pop-culture and current trends. I’m very interested in finding young chapter books and early readers, especially illustrated projects. If you are submitting as an author-illustrator, you must include a link to your online portfolio and/or dummy as a sample of your work.

Query Elizabeth (when she re-opens) here.

Marilyn Biderman is closed to queries until Sept 1, 2018. Then Marilyn will be open to literary fiction and sweet-spot fiction, that is, fiction that’s accessible but literary in intent (often found at book clubs). She’s also looking for literary crime fiction and women’s commercial and historical fiction.

“I love memoir with an utterly unique story and brilliant writing,” says Marilyn. Plus “narrative non-fiction on compelling and newsworthy topics that anticipate trends; expert non-fiction of wide appeal from authors with established social media platforms; and biographies of fascinating lives.” 

She welcomes both debut and established authors and diverse voices.

Query Marilyn (when she re-opens) at: marilyn@transatlanticagency.com

Attach a brief sample of your work (up to 1,500 words) as a Word of PDF file. See Marilyn’s full guidelines here.

Andrea Cascardi, who represents both children’s authors and author-illustrators and adult authors, both for fiction and nonfiction is temporarily closed to queries. But writers should keep an eye on her bio page at Transatlantic for when she’s again open to queries. See here.

See Transatlantic’s submissions page here and agent bios here.

Yasmin Uçar, senior editor,
Kids Can Press

If you’re interested in getting published, soon or somewhere down the road, don’t miss upcoming  How to Get Published workshops on Saturday, Aug 18, in Collingwood with literary agent Paige Sisley (see here) and Saturday, Nov 17, in Mississauga with literary agent Stephanie Sinclair (see here). 

For updated listing of How to Get Published workshops, see here (and scroll down).

And if you’re interested in Writing for Children & for Young Adults, Brian Henry will lead a mini-conference with Yasemin Uçar, senior editor at Kids Can Press, children’s author Kira Vermond, and YA author Tanaz Bhathena, Saturday, Sept 22, in Oakville (see here), a Writing Kid Lit weekly course on Friday afternoons, Oct 5 – Nov 30 in Toronto (see here), and a Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshop Saturday, October 12, in Sudbury (see here).

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:  How to Write Great Characters, Saturday, Aug 18, in Guelph (see here), Writing Conflict: Fight scenes, Dialogue scenes & Love scenes, Saturday, Sept 15, in Toronto (see here), and Writing and Revising, Saturday, Sept 29, in St. Catharines (see here).

Come September, Brian is leading a full roster of courses, Introductory to Intense (Details of all six courses here):

Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday, afternoons, Sept 27 - Nov 9, in Oakville. See here.

Writing Personal Stories, Thursday evenings, Oct 4 – Nov 29, in Burlington. Sees here.

Writing Kid Lit, Friday afternoons, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Toronto. See here.

And Intensive Creative Writing, offered in three locales:

Tuesday afternoons, Sept 25 – Nov 27 (first readings emailed Sept 18), in Burlington. See here.

Wednesday evenings Sept 26 – Dec 5 (first readings emailed Sept 19), in Georgetown. See here.

Friday mornings Sept 28 – Nov 30 (first readings emailed Sept 21), in Toronto. See here. See details of all six courses here.

To reserve a spot in any 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, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

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