There's a brand new Canadian literary agency: The READ Agency

The Read Agency

Toronto, Canada

https://thereadagency.com/

Olga Filina recently left 5 Otter Literary to create her own agency: The READ Agency. How new is this agency? Well, when I started preparing this post, her website wasn’t up yet and I had to get the scoop on how to submit straight from Olga. If you’re looking for representation, this strikes me as good opportunity to get in on the ground floor. ~Brian

Olga’s worked at every level of the publishing industry for over twenty-five years: bookselling, buying, directing literary festivals, editing, consulting, and agenting, and she’s a founding member and former executive treasurer of PACLA, the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents.

“Understanding how books are sold and discovered allows me to position the clients I represent in both English language and translation markets,” says Olga. “I'm drawn to work that's intellectually stimulating, ambitious, or written from a perspective that hasn't yet been heard. As an immigrant, I have a particular affinity for stories of belonging, displacement, and international experience. If your book could be banned in the current political climate, I want to read it.”

If you have a project ready to share, here’s what you need to know to submit:

Currently, Olga is looking for literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, cultural criticism, and projects from experts in their subject matter.

Plus, children's literature across all ages.  

She also has particular focus on underrepresented voices, international stories, and the global diaspora.

Query Olga at: submissions@thereadagency.com

Submit your query and the first ten pages of your manuscript pasted into the body of your email.

Full submission guidelines here.

Note: If you’re interested in getting published and meeting an agent, check out upcoming “How to Get Published” workshops here. We always have a literary agent as a guest speaker at these workshops.

See all our upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and glorious writing retreats here.

 

Literary agent Anna Olswanger seeks picture books and graphic novels

Beth and Cloud Won't Change by Ciara Gavin,
represented by Olswanger Literary 

Olswanger Literary 

New York, New York

https://www.olswanger.com/

Anna Olswanger has been a literary agent since 2005. She started her career at Liza Dawson Associates in Manhattan and in 2014 launched her own literary agency, Olswanger Literary LLC. Olswanger Literary currently has eight agents, represents everything from children’s picture books to adult fiction and nonfiction. Currently, though, only Anna is accepting submissions.

Anna represents a wide variety of genres, but is currently focused on illustrated books (picture books and graphic novels) and is looking to represent author-illustrators. She is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents. She’s also an author herself.  Her most recent book is the graphic novel, A Visit to Moscow (see here).

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Note: If you’re interested in getting published or getting a literary agent, check out our upcoming “How to Get Published” workshop, where we’ll have a literary agent as a guest speaker. See here.

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Anna has sold to major publishers, including Bloomsbury, Chronicle, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster. And her clients’ books have won numerous prestigious awards and topped bestsellers lists.

Anna Olswanger

Through her work as an agent of children's books, Anna has developed a special interest in animal advocacy. She is the agent for Jill Robinson and Marc Bekoff's Jasper's Story: Saving Moonbears, the story of a moon bear held captive in a cage by bear farmers in rural China until rescued by Animals Asia, the organization that Jill founded, and Alan Rabinowitz's A Boy and a Jaguar, the story of a boy who fulfills his promise to speak for animals who cannot speak for themselves.

Anna is also interested in finding unusual books with a Judaic or Israel theme. She is the agent for Ruchama Feuerman’s novel In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist, about the friendship between a rabbi’s assistant and a devout Muslim janitor, and Santiago Cohen’s picture book The Yiddish Fish, about a fish who speaks Yiddish.

Anna would like to represent more author-illustrators of color.

Anna works hard with authors to get their manuscripts into shape for submission. She finds that most manuscripts need work on plot, so if you're a potential author-illustrator client, be ready to go through many revisions before Anna agrees to send out your manuscript. Her job is to get the story to the point where an editor will make an offer. (And then be prepared to make more revisions for the editor.)

Postscript: 

Brian, Thanks for the profile. A bit more information is available at the Association of American Literary Agents site here.

I'm happy to hear from author-illustrators of picture books and graphic novels.

Anna

Query Anna at: anna@olswangerliterary.com

Include a few details about your book and the opening pages in a Word or PDF attachment. If Anna likes what she sees, she'll ask to see the full manuscript. For author-illustrators, send a PDF attachment with your text and art.

See all upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here. 

Navigation tips: For more literary agents looking for authors see here (and scroll down). If you’re looking specifically for Canadian agents, see here (and scroll down). And if you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.

Canadian literary agency has 5 agents looking for manuscripts ~ picture books through adult fiction and nonfiction

The Virgins of Venice, Gina Buonaguro
represented by Westwood 

Westwood Creative Artists

The Chelsea Shop
386 Huron Street
 Toronto, Ontario

http://www.wcaltd.com/

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here: https://brian999.substack.com/

Westwood is one of Canada’s largest literary agencies. It’s also one of the oldest and most respected. Clients include Rohinton Mistry, Joanne Levy, Justin, Alexandre, and Margaret Trudeau, Thomas King, Alan Doyle, Rosemary Sullivan, Gina Buonaguro, and Yann Martel. They have ten agents on the team, five of whom are accepting new authors:

Bridgette Kam, Literary Agent
& Contracts Associate

Bridgette joined WCA in 2019 after interning at McClelland & Stewart. She represents authors across three main areas: book club or upmarket fiction, nonfiction, and kid lit (middle grade, YA, and picture books).

In fiction, she’s looking for book club and upmarket novels that explore timely and urgent themes like Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers and Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s A Great Country; feature irresistibly lovable characters like those in Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry; powerfully bring history to life like Jabari Asim’s Yonder; and are brilliantly multi-layered like R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface.

Submissions that keep her reading have: a strong hook, skillful balance of good pacing and character immersion, emotional resonance, and very polished writing on the line-by-line level.

In middle grade and YA, she wants to see a protagonist with an unforgettable voice who she can root for, plus one or more of: mystery, history, a little bit of fantasy, and family. She prefers romance not be the central focus. “Give me a protagonist who is completely surrendered to a cause!”

Some of her favourite YA writers are June Hur (The Forest of Stolen Girls) and Stacey Lee (The Downstairs Girl), and in middle grade, Susin Nielsen, Kelly Yang, and Daniel Nayeri.

In picture books, she’s seeking kids-centric, age-appropriate books by writers and illustrators alike that have a clear story, guaranteed rer-ead quality, and an inviting and engaging approach rather than a didactic one.

In nonfiction, Kim welcomes proposals from journalists, emerging writers, and deep thinkers alike on the topics of culture, sociology, psychology, faith, and history. Some books in the last few years that have stood out for her are Jessica J. Lee’s Two Trees Make a Forest, Cheuk Kwan’s Have You Eaten Yet? Tara Isabella Burton’s Self-Made, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, Tamara Cherry’s The Trauma Beat, and Luke Burgis’ Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.

Query Kim at: submissions@wcaltd.com

Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20 pages pasted into the email.

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Note: If you’re interested in writing kid lit, don’t miss our upcoming one-day online workshop “Writing for Children and for Young Adults,” with guest Karen Li, Publisher at Groundwood Books, Sunday, Sept 22. Details here.

Also, be sure to sign up for our weekly online course “Writing Kid Lit ~ The Next Level” on Monday evenings, starting September 30. Details here.

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Chris Casuccio, Literary Agent

Chris started at Westwood in 2006, working at the front desk and being groomed to become an agent. His clients now includes both emerging authors and more acclaimed authors such as Stephen Bown, George Jonas, Richard Wagamese, and Max Wallace.

Chris is actively growing his client list.

He’s looking for stories he hasn’t heard, told well – stories that need to be told, particularly the ones that aren’t often shared, the dark corners most people don’t explore.

He’s especially attracted to big ideas, diverse voices (like everyone else), inspired experts, and driven journalism – to authors who know something that he doesn’t and care deeply about sharing their knowledge; people fearless enough to stand up and tell their truths.

He loves being floored by the impossibly simple and the endlessly complex He’s represented journalists, scientists, chefs, adventurers, poets and activists.

Chris also loves literary fiction that’s told fearlessly and authentically. 

Query Chris at: submissions@wcaltd.com

Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20 pages pasted into the email.

Jake Babad, Co-head of Media Rights
& VP Finance

As Co-Head of Media Rights, Jake helps Westwood’s clients share their stories with new audiences in film, television, theatre, etc. But although his primary focus is on media rights and financial administration, he is building a small list of clients for literary representation in the following areas:

Fiction: crime and mystery with a strong sense of place; upmarket literary fiction (especially stories involving family dynamics); sci-fi and fantasy.

Nonfiction: behaviour and neuroscience; economics; family and parenting; labour and the culture of work; law and social justice; popular culture.

Query Jake at: submissions@wcaltd.com

Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20 pages pasted into the email.

Michael Levine, Chairman

At Westwood, Michael’s talents are focussed not only on book deals, but also on the sale of rights for TV, film, and other media.

“My passions, taste and expertise are largely focused on nonfiction,” says Michael, “including history, politics, ideas books, memoirs. I have also been privileged to do work in the fiction area with such authors as the late Mordecai Richler.”

Query Michael at: submissions@wcaltd.com

Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20 pages pasted into the email.

Sara Harowitz, Literary Agent

Sara come to WCA with a decade of magazine experience as an editor and journalist. She specializes in narrative nonfiction, including lifestyle, wellness, and culture reportage; essay collections; and memoirs (think: Durga Chew-Bose’s TOO MUCH AND NOT IN THE MOOD; Alicia Elliott’s A MIND SPREAD OUT ON THE GROUND; Lisa Taddeo’s THREE WOMEN; John Vaillant’s THE GOLDEN SPRUCE). She’s interested in books that make her feel something, that take her outside of herself.

Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20 pages pasted into the email.

Full guidelines for Westwood Creative artists here.

See upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here. 

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.

Three agents at kt Literary want your manuscripts ~ everything from picture books to adult fiction & nonfiction

On the Bright Side by Anna Sortino
represented by kt Literary

kt Literary

Highlands Ranch,
Denver, Colorado

https://ktliterary.com/

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here: https://brian999.substack.com/

kt literary is a full-service literary agency. It was founded by Kate Testerman in 2008 when she moved to Colorado after a dozen years working in publishing in New York City. kt literary has fourteen agents. Three of them are currently open to queries:

Kari Sutherland is a literary agent based out of Southern California. She began on the editorial side of publishing, first at Disney Press, then HarperCollins Children’s Books where she had the honor of editing many talented authors, including Victoria Aveyard and Sara Shepard. 

Kari graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in English and Psychology and received a Masters in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice before pivoting back to her first love–books.

With her editorial insight and experience with the entire publishing process, Kari is passionate about helping to polish each manuscript and equip her clients for success.

Middle grade and YA are at the heart of her list, but Kari also represents picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, and upmarket fiction.

Query Kari through her query manager here.

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Note: If you’re interested in meeting an agent and in getting published, don’t miss our online How to get Published workshop Sunday, July 21, with guest speaker Gordon Warnock of the Fuse Agency (see here).

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Chelsea Hensley is an agent at kt literary where she represents a varied list of clients writing across ages and genres and a few who are also illustrating. She began her agenting career in 2020 at kt literary and continues to build a list that reflects her own diverse tastes.

In fiction, she wants the lushest of fantasies, the tensest thrillers, steamy, hilarious romcoms, smart sci-fi, and imaginative, innovative horror.

In Kid Lit, she seeks lyrical picture books and plucky middle grade.

She’s also eager to build up her list of Young Adult authors. She wants mysteries, thrillers and suspense and is looking for layered, tricky stories loaded with twists, turns, and red herrings. She’d love to see some confident projects with intense protagonists who aren't very concerned with being liked, and mysteries that could become series. She loves stories with complicated teenage girls, revenge arcs, puzzles, and games.

In YA she also wants horror, realistic fiction, and Fantasy/Sci-Fi.

She’s open to select nonfiction and is seeking projects in the areas of women’s sports (particularly women’s soccer), pop culture and media criticism, astrology, and tarot (including tarot decks). She’s only interested in takes that are intersectional, affirming and socially-conscious from writers who are experts in their fields, have fun and interesting platforms and something interesting to say.

See more details of what she’s looking for here.

Chelsea is a Capricorn from St. Louis, where she lives with a pair of very cute, though very chaotic, dogs. She enjoys D&D, Golden Girls, women’s soccer, chocolate chip cookies, and Airtable.

She is a member of the AALA and serves on the board of the 501©3 nonprofit, Literary Agentsof Change, which is committed to the diversification of the publishing industry in general and the agenting profession in particular. She also serves as co-director of Communications and Fundraising Committees.

Query Chelsea through her query manager here.

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Note: If you’re especially interested in Kid Lit, don’t miss our one-day day “Writing for children and for young adults” workshop, with Nan Froman, editorial director at Groundwood Books, Sunday, Sept 22. Details here.

Also, be sure to check out our weekly course, “Writing Kid Lit ~ the next level,” on Monday evenings this fall. Details here.

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Maria Napolitano began her career in publishing as a book scout, where she fell in love with the process of matchmaking books with just the right editors and publishers around the world. She went on to work in subrights and as an agent, and joined kt literary as foreign rights manager and agent in 2024. In foreign rights, Maria's focus is bringing authors to international readerships and building multi-faceted careers across global markets. 

Maria is a native New Yorker and Cornell graduate who currently lives in Astoria, Queens with a sourdough starter named Ryeley.

As an agent, Maria represents a broad range of fiction, from commercial rom-coms to radical speculative fiction, subversive thrillers, and upmarket book club fiction. She is drawn to character-driven stories, unusual perspectives, genre-bending works, and supremely pitchable high concepts.

In nonfiction, she’s looking for:

Narrative nonfiction about under-discussed historical trends, events, or origin stories that have present-day consequences.

Micro-histories that use one object or topic to explore a more universal experience or theme.

Nonfiction a la Sabrina Imbler — somewhere on the axes of narrative-pop science-personal essay. Contemporary, voicey, personal while also being sneakily educational. I love weird pieces of natural history and overlooked critters, and how the natural world can be used as a way in to writing about the human condition, but if your beat is some other area of surprising and fertile ground, that’s still fair game.

Read more about Maria's wish list on her website.

Query Maria at: maria@ktliterary.com

She doesn’t say what she’d like to see, so I’d send her a query and paste a short sample into your email, say the first chapter. ~Brian

See all upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.  

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.

ArtHouse Literary has three agents looking for authors ~ everything from picture books to literary fiction

ArtHouse Literary Agency

https://arthouselit.com/

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here:  https://brian999.substack.com/

ArtHouse Literary is a new agency, originally founded in 2020 (I think) as Art + Deco and relaunched in 2021 as ArtHouse. To date, they have just 32 deals listed on Publishers Marketplace (largely romance) and, as of yet, don’t seem to have any well-known authors. In short, it’s a start-up looking for authors who wow them with their queries.

They’re trying to position themselves as “an agency built around bold, thought-provoking, and underrepresented voices.” But of course, everyone and their dog is looking for underrepresented voices, so nothing to set them apart there. In truth, like every agency what will (or perhaps won’t) eventually give them a reputation are the authors they represent. So far they're still looking.

The firm has four agents, including the founder and Senior Agent Felice Laverne, plus three associate agents, real beginners, all of whom really need authors:

Esty Loveing-Downes, Associate Agent

Esty holds a BFA in creative writing from Ringling College of Art + Design and is currently an MFA candidate in fiction at Queens University of Charlotte. Aside from serving as a daily editor for the Southern Review of Books, she joined the teams at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency and Tobias Literary Agency before joining the ArtHouse Literary Agency team and becoming an Associate Literary Agent.

Esty is looking for romance, upmarket fiction, YA, genre-blending sci-fi, picture books, and select nonfiction and literary fiction.

In romance and YA, Esty is looking for tropes like enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and grumpy-sunshine like THE FLATSHARE or BEACH READ, or marriage-of-convenience stories like THE UNHONEYMOONERS. She’d love to see a fresh take on PRIDE & PREJUDICE, EMMA, or ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. If you’ve got contemporary stories with dual POVs and impossible love like THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR, or a classic retellings like THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS that include high stakes, plot tension, and compelling soulmate vibes—send those her way, too.

In upmarket, Esty is looking for titles with women in STEM like LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, updated classics like Ann Napolitano’s Little Women retelling, HELLO, BEAUTIFUL, and wlw knockouts with queer representation like THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. She’s also looking for genre-blending sci-fi or speculative fiction like THE NIGHT CIRCUS, magical realism like Carmen Maria Machado’s HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES, or nonlinear, poetic work like THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR. She’d also love to see “romantasy” with strong leads like A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES and CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, fae stories with romance tropes like THE CRUEL PRINCE, character-driven journeys like THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, or the fairy tale vibes of SPINNING SILVER.

In picture books, send heartwarming titles with a BIPOC focus like EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS and creative, imagination-friendly projects like DRAGONS LOVE TACOS.

Esty would also like to see literary fiction with artful realism like THE RABBIT HUTCH and TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, the heart wrenching yearning of NORMAL PEOPLE, characters challenging society like OUR MISSING HEARTS, or books like THE INCENDIARIES and SEVERANCE that examine marginalized characters, injustice, or religion. Characters examining systems of oppression through twisty plots in books like THE NICKEL BOYS, SALVAGE THE BONES, and INTERIOR CHINATOWN are welcome, and mythological retellings like Madeline Miller’s CIRCE, especially those set outside of Europe. This is a home for fresh retellings, fairy tales, and artful, rebellious prose.

For a better look at the kind of titles Esty gravitates towards, scroll her Pinterest board here.

In nonfiction, Esty is looking for insightful social commentary like that of Ijeoma Oluo, Brené Brown, and Mikki Kendall.

Query Esty through the agency’s Query Manager here.

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Note: If you’re interested in writing kid lit, don’t miss our upcoming online “Writing for Children and for Young Adults” workshop with Erin O’Connor, senior editor at Scholastic Books, Saturday, June 15. Details here.

Also, this summer, we’ll offer an online “Writing Little Kid Lit” course on Wednesday evenings, July 3 through August 14. Details here.

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Miriam Cortinovis, Associate Agent 

Born and raised in Italy, Miriam (they/she) moved to Chicago as a teenager and has since earned a BA in Creative Writing and an MA in Writing & Publishing from DePaul University. After an excellent internship at Aevitas Creative Management, for which she also freelance read, she landed at ArtHouse Literary as an intern. 

Miriam became Associate Agent through intense months of professional growth and supported learning. When not reading or writing SFF fiction of their own, Miriam enjoys playing videogames with their partner and scheming on Dungeons & Dragons with her friends. Their MSWL is inspired by all these speculative passions on top of their non-binary, bisexual, and chronically ill identity.

In general, Miriam is eagerly looking for everything and anything speculative across most age ranges – Adult, Young Adult, and Upper Middle Grade.

Query Miriam through the agency’s Query Manager here.

Carleen Geisler, Associate Agent

Carleen lives in the Greater Vancouver area. She comes from a background in technical writing and content marketing. When she found the world of publishing, she fell in love and dove in head first: starting her own author career as well as an internship at ArtHouse. She works on both sides with equal passion, and loves to help authors discover their "why" and curate their careers.

For fiction, Carleen is looking for adult contemporary stories across genres. She loves suspense, especially if it comes with a dose of weird (think GOOD RICH PEOPLE by Eliza Jane Brazier or BUNNY by Mona Awad), and dark stories are her typical go-to. She is okay with mild speculative elements if they are close to real-world or very grounded.

She loves the strange and whimsical, as well as the dark and dreadful. She likes romance, but prefers it to be part of a "bigger picture" story (think THE ARC by Tory Henwood Hoen), or at least that it has a great b-plot.

She is especially interested in stories told from the voices of women, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized communities. She loves morally grey characters, or stories where no one is really good in the end, and craves finding something that breaks the norm of a trope in a satisfying way.

She prefers shorter stories over long ones (still within novel standards though, please!) and is happy to consider manuscripts that bend or combine genres.

For nonfiction, Carleen is interested in topics along the lines of spirituality, intuition, natural living, community, culture, food, and agriculture.

Query Carleen through the agency’s Query Manager here.

See the agency’s submission guidelines here.

See all our upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day writing retreats here.

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 a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.