Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Four agents at Canadian literary agency Transatlantic seek books for children and adults

Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon
represented by Transatlantiic

Transatlantic Agency
2 Bloor Street East
Suite 3500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

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. 
If you’re not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale to:  brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

Transatlantic Agency offers a full spectrum of career representation to authors (Adult, Children’s & YA, and illustrators) and storytellers (Speakers, Industry leaders & Influencers) across all genres and formats for book, content development, speaking and TV & Film. Transatlantic has 14 agents located across North America. Four of them are open to queries:

Carolyn Forde would love to see literary fiction (especially speculative and horror), commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction by experts in the field and is open-minded to a broad range of topics and styles – as long as it engages her.
There are a few things she’s not keen on – medical/disease related memoirs, police procedurals, climate thrillers, military or CIA fiction, cozy mysteries, books about film and tv behind the scenes.
Previous to joining Transatlantic Agency as Senior Agent, Carolyn was a literary agent and International Rights Director at Westwood Creative Artists for 14 years.
For the last decade Carolyn has traveled to both the London Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair and New York regularly and will continue to do so. She represents Hannah Mary McKinnon and Karma Brown, who many followers of Quick Brown Fox will be familiar with, and she’s represented authors who have won or been nominated for just about every  award going. Carolyn is also an active member of the literary community, having been a speaker or mentor at many conferences.
She has lived and worked in Japan, Mexico and the Czech Republic and is a dual citizen of Canada and the UK.
Include the first 20 pages for consideration, within the body of your query – attachments will not be opened (double spaced and 12 pt font).

Fiona Kenshole specializes in children’s and YA, from picture books to older teenage. “I love the midwifery of being an agent,” she says, “from getting your debut published to doing the movie deal.”
Fiona is hungry for middle grade fiction, especially funny stories, real children in magical worlds, and any kind of animal story. She’s passionate about the natural world and saving the planet and looks for stories that chime with those beliefs. She would especially love to find more native American writers. Yes, please, to a 21st century 101 Dalmatians or Charlotte’s Web.
Fiona adores feel-good YA, especially romcoms. And think of her for clever high school politics. 
She likes quirky contemporary, humor; unreliable narrators; wilderness adventures; immigrant stories; sister stories, practical feminism, and ghost stories.  She’d love a story about the sheer joy of escaping on your bike or on skis.
For picture books, she is currently only taking on projects with author/illustrators, especially those who share her animation background. She’s a sucker for clever British-style humor.
“I love stories that surprise me,” says Fiona. “If I can predict the ending in the opening pages, it’s probably not for me. Most of all I love compelling writing that makes me laugh out loud, or makes me love the characters so much that I like them more than the real people around me!” 
A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry
represented by Transatlantic
Fiona is not taking on rhyming picture books, picture book texts, poetry, screenplays or faith-based stories, and she doesn’t usually like sad endings.
Fiona came to agenting after nearly a decade as VP at Laika Studios, creating a development slate of new projects for the Academy Award winning animation studio. She worked with major directors and screenwriters, acquiring and adapting children’s books including the Oscar-nominated THE BOXTROLLS and CORALINE.
Previously she was a senior publisher in the UK where she published authors including Michael Bond (Paddington Bear), P.L Travers (Mary Poppins) and the Laureate Michael Morpurgo (War Horse) and was UK editor for Beverley Cleary, Lois Lowry, Bruce Coville, Gary Paulsen and Cynthia Voigt.
Fiona enjoys being on faculty as a conference guest speaker throughout the US, from Alaska to San Diego, and in Europe. She has taught publishing at Oxford Brookes University and Portland State, organized events for the Oxford Literary Festival and is herself a published author. 
She joined Transatlantic in 2013. Her clients’ recent successes include Vicki Grant’s YA romcom, 36 QUESTIONS THAT CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT YOU (Running Press), which sold in 22 languages and is optioned for TV, and Rosanne Parry’s MG A WOLF CALLED WANDER (Andersen Press/Greenwillow) which spent 26 weeks in the NYT bestseller list and sold in 11 languages. 
Query Fiona through this link here.
If you have a personal referral from one of her clients or have attended a conference or workshop with here, mention that in your submission.

Stephanie Sinclair is actively looking for both fiction and nonfiction.
She’s seeking both literary and upmarket fiction and will consider literary thriller and suspense, and YA crossover.
She does not want historical, commercial or romance fiction.
In nonfiction, she’s seeking narrative nonfiction, memoir, investigative journalism and true crime.
Stephanie looks for fiction and nonfiction work that provokes big conversations and strives for social betterment.
Stephanie is a Senior Agent with Transatlantic Agency and represents writers of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. In addition to managing her own client list, she oversees international rights sales for clients represented by Samantha Haywood and Page Two Strategies.
Stephanie is a graduate of the publishing program at Ryerson University and the creative writing program at the Humber School for Writers. For many years, authors, journalists and theatre writers have benefited from Stephanie’s uniquely attuned and effective advice in her work as an award-nominated freelance editor. Stephanie is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents.
Query Stephanie at: stephanie@transatlanticagency.com
Submissions should include a short biography, past publishing credits, and a 20-page writing sample in Word or PDF format. Replies will be sent only for submissions being actively considered.

Sandra Bishop represents notable nonfiction and award-winning fiction authors who write across a variety of categories.
Sandra is currently only interested in considering commercially viable non-fiction submissions on pop-culture, celebrity memoir, cooking, hobbies, travel, lifestyle, parenting, and relationships from authors with an established platform, online or media presence, or recognized expertise.
Sandra is not taking on new fiction authors, but she will consider representation of established romance authors seeking new representation. She will also consider complete manuscripts from fiction writers she meets at conferences, or via referral from current clients or industry associates.
No erotica, academic, or textbooks, please.
A literary agent since 2008, Sandra Bishop represents a boutique list of notable non-fiction and award-winning fiction authors.
Sandra passionately supports her clients closely from idea through negotiation and beyond, and works alongside an author’s editor, publicist, and marketing team to help create opportunities for success.
Sandra is a former Marine, and is also a Portland, Oregon native who doesn’t like ale, drive a Subaru, wait two hours in line for brunch, or live in a treehouse with a lumberjack (much to her dismay.) She does enjoy hiking, live music, paddle-boarding, sunshine, star gazing, and working out of her home office located halfway between the scenic Columbia River Gorge and the rugged Oregon coast.

See full submission details for all agents at Transatlantic here.

Evan Brown
If you’re interested in meeting an agent and in getting published, don’t miss our upcoming How to Get Published  workshops Saturday, Oct 3, in Toronto with Evan Brown of Transatlantic Literary Agency (see here) and Saturday, Oct 24, in Guelph with Paige Sisley of the CookeMcdermid agency  (see here).

And if you’re specifically interested in writing and publishing Kid Lit, don’t miss Writing for Children and for Young Adults,  with Anne Shone, Executive Editor, Scholastic Books, Saturday, September 12, local to be determined. Details here.

In the meanwhile, though, the best way of upping your game as a writer may be with a weekly course. This summer, Brian Henry’s offering an Introductory course and two Intensive courses, one of them online and, so, accessible anywhere in the world:
Online: Welcome to Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, July 8 – August 19.   Details here.
Online: Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, July 7 – Aug 25. First reading emailed June 30. Details here.
Online: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, July 8 – Aug 26. First reading emailed July 1. Details here.

Beyond that, Brian’s post-pandemic workshop schedule continues to take shape:
July 
Collingwood, Ontario
Southampton Art School: Join me in this lovely beach town on Lake Huron for two workshops: How to Build Your Story, Saturday, July 25 (see here) and How to Write Great Characters, Sunday, July 26 (see here).
August
Oakville: "You can write great dialogue," Saturday, Aug 8. Details here.  
Collingwood: "You can write great dialogue," Saturday, Aug 15.  Details here.
St. Catharines: How to Make Yourself Write," Saturday, Aug 22.  Details here.
September
Alliston: Writing for Children and for Young Adults with Anne Shone, Executive Editor, Scholastic Books, Saturday, September 12. Details here.
October
The Tower at the Briars Resort
- a great space for writing
Toronto: How to Get Published with Evan Brown of Transatlantic Literary Agency, Saturday, Oct 3. Details here.
Guelph: How to Get Published with literary agent Paige Sisley of CookeMcDermid, Saturday, Oct 24. Details here.
London: How to Write Great Characters, Saturday, October 31. Treats for everyone in costume.  Details here.
November
Jackson's Point: Writing Retreat at the Briar's Resort on Lake Simcoe, Friday, Nov 13 – Monday, Nov 16. Details to come.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Southampton, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.