Half a dozen American and Canadian literary agents at Transatlantic seek authors, both for kid lit and adult

Radiant Shimmering Light by Sarah Selecky
represented by Transatlantic

Transatlantic Agency

2 Bloor Street East

Suite 3500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

http://transatlanticagency.com/

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the Follow Brian by Email box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox, and if you’re not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

Transatlantic Agency is a full-service literary agency that recently absorbed the Jill Literary Agency. Transatlantic has 15 agents located across North America, with U.S. agents in New York, Boston, and Portland OR, and Canadian agents in Toronto, Vancouver and Nova Scotia.

Transatlantic agents who are looking for new authors include:

Stephanie Sinclair, is growing her own author list and simultanesously 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.

Elizabeth Bennett is currently closed for submissions but will be open again soon.

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 2019. 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 is temporarily closed to queries. She represents both children’s authors and author-illustrators and adult authors, both for fiction and nonfiction. 

Fiction: I have eclectic taste, so my submissions wish-list is broad-ranging, but any fiction submission must, first and foremost, have a compelling voice driving the story. Beyond that, I look for smart writing, and amped-up emotions: for example, if you’re writing a warm, heartfelt story, I want it to leave me emotionally spent at the end. Ditto for romance: I want to feel the heat! I’m hoping to discover funny books that literally make me snort with laughter throughout. And books that take unexpected turns that surprise or shock me in a good way. 

I look for unique yet relatable characters, and I want those characters to come from a full range of diverse backgrounds and time periods. More specifically, I’d love to see boundary-pushing stories, dark humor, literary, and clever commercial fiction.

I am open to nonfiction for young readers of all ages, and I’m keen to find innovative presentations and compelling, creative nonfiction that illuminates a broader topic by viewing it through a smaller lens. I’d like to see some “out there” nonfiction ideas that dazzle with their brilliance yet connect immediately with kids.

Author-illustrators: I’m excited to bring new storytelling talent into the field, as well as to work with artists who have experience in other fields such as animation or editorial work and are ready to send their own projects into the world.

Adult fiction: I’m a voracious reader, and I’m looking to represent what I’d love to read, which for lack of a better term I will call commercial books that beg to be discussed. As with children’s fiction, it must be superlative in one or more ways: smart, fierce, commercial, emotionally-hooking, clever, heart-pounding, diverse…the bar is high but I’m eager to discover exciting new voices.

For more about what Andrea likes, visit her website here.

Note: Andrea is currently closed to queries, except by referral or from someone attending a conference or a pitching contest that she participates in where she request queries.

 I’ll update Quick Brown Fox readers when Andrea re-opens to queries. ~Brian

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

New York Times #1 bestselling author
Kelley Armstrong will be a guest speaker
at How to Write a Bestseller workshop,
Saturday, Oct 27. See here.

If you’re interested in getting published, soon or somewhere down the road, don’t miss the upcoming How to Get Published workshop 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).

If you’re interested in writing for children or for young adults, Brian will lead a Writing Kid Lit weekly course on Thursday evenings, Jan 24 – March 28, in Oakville (see here). 

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

Also coming soon: How to Build Your Story: Plotting novels & Writing short stories, Saturday, Oct 20, in Waterloo (see here), Saturday, Nov 24 in Alliston (see here) and Saturday, Jan 19 in Oakville (see here).

And don't miss How to Write a Bestseller with New York Times #1 bestselling author  Kelley Armstrong Saturday, Oct 27, in Burlington (see here). 

One of the locals hanging out by Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park

Two weekend writing retreats:

November at the Briars Writing Retreat, Friday, Nov 2 – Sunday, Nov 4: two nights and three precious days of writing bliss. Details here.

Algonquin Writing Retreat, Friday, May 31 – Monday, June 3, 2019: four days in the luxurious isolation of Arowhon Pines Resort to get down to some real creative growth. Details here.

In both these retreats, you’ll recharge your creative batteries and get some great writing tips – all in the supportive company of your fellow writers.

Winter courses  (Details of all 5 classes here):

Tree at the Briars resort

Exploring Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Jan 24 – April 5 (no class March 14), in Burlington. Details here.

Writing Kid Lit, Thursday evenings, Jan 24 – March 28 (no class March 14), in Oakville. Details here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, Jan 22 – April 2 (no class March 12); first readings emailed Jan 15, in Burlington.

Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings Jan 23 – April 3 (no class March 13); first readings emailed Jan 16, in Burlington.

Intensive Creative Writing, Friday mornings Jan 25 – April 5 / 12 (10 or 11 weeks, no class March 13); first readings emailed Jan 16, in Toronto.

            Details of all 5 classes here.

Read reviews of Brian’s courses, retreats, and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here,  including Saturday writing workshops,weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Alliston, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, New Tecumseth, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, 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. If you're searching for more interviews with literary agents or a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.