Tuesday, July 2, 2019

New Canadian agent at The Rights Factory

On the Outside Looking Indian
by Rupinder Gill, represented by TRF

The Rights Factory Inc. 
PO Box 499, Station C
Toronto ON M6J 3P6

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in the Follow Brian by Email box in the right-hand column under my bio and get each post delivered to your Inbox. ~Brian

New agent at The Rights Factory: 
Cecilia Lyra,  Assistant Agent
Cecilia holds a Master's Degree in Banking and Financial Law from Boston University and is completing a graduate certificate in publishing. In 2016, she bid adieu to her life as lawyer and professor of law to become a writer and literary agent. She blames this heretical career move on her nine-year-old-self, who was bitten by the reading bug and began to dream of the day when she would work with books.
When she isn't devouring novels – or dessert – Cecilia can be found drinking wine, writing her own novels, and snuggling with Babaganoush, her adorable English bulldog. Do not send her a manuscript where the dog dies – Cecilia can't handle it. Cecilia does not accept submissions for children's books, middle-grade, YA, or fantasy.
Cecilia is actively seeking literary and commercial adult Book Club fiction that feature diverse, layered characters and unexpected plot twists. She adores writers such as Curtis Sittenfeld, Liane Moriarty and Elin Hilderbrand. As a feminist, Cecilia loathes the term women's fiction – it's just fiction – but, for the purposes of clarity, that is her favorite genre.
Cecilia is also looking for unique and compelling narrative nonfiction and memoirs such as the works of Esther Perel, Roxane Gay and Tara Westover. She is particularly passionate about representing under-represented or misrepresented voices and stories that contribute to a larger cultural conversation.
Include the first 10 pages of your work
Full submission guidelines here.

To help get you write your best possible manuscript don’t miss these upcoming workshops:  Finding Your Voice, Saturday, July 13, in London (see here), How to Write a Page-Turner, Saturday, Aug 10, in Mississauga (see here), and Plotting Novels & Writing Short Stories, Saturday, Sept 14, in Toronto (see here).    

But the best way to grow as a writer may be with a weekly course. 
Here’s what’s on offer this summer:
Oakville Woodside Library: Exploring Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, July 2 – Aug 13. See here. 
Burlington: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, July 3 – Aug 21. First readings emailed June 26. See here.
Burlington: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings July 3 – Aug 21. First readings emailed June 26. See here.

And in the fall, there will be a full range of courses:
Oakville Library, Welcome to Creative Writing,  Thursday evenings,  Sept 26 – Nov 28 (no class Oct 31). Details here. 
Toronto: Writing Personal Stories, Friday afternoons, Sept 27 – Nov 29 (no class Nov 1). Details here.
Burlington: Writing Personal Stories, Thursday afternoons, Sept 26 – November 28 (no class Oct 31).  Details here.
Toronto: Intensive Creative Writing, Friday mornings, Sept 20 – Nov 8. First readings emailed  Sept 13. 
Burlington: Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, Sept 24 – Dec 11 (no class Oct 8 or Nov 5). First readings emailed Sept 17.
Georgetown: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, Sept 18 – Dec 11 (no class Oct 9). First readings emailed Sept 11. 

See details of all the fall courses here.

And don't miss …

Yasemin Uçar 
Writing for Children and for Young Adults with Kids Can Press senior editor Yasemin Uçar and children's author Jennifer Mook-Sang at the Burlington Central Library, Saturday, Oct 5. Details here.

And…
November at the Briars Writing Retreat
Friday, November 1 – Monday, November 4; four days of creativity in a setting that provides the warmth of a country estate steeped in history while providing all the benefits of an extensive, modern lakeside resort. Details here.

To reserve a spot in any upcoming weekly course, weekend retreat, or Saturday workshop, email Brian at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

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, Jackson’s Point, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, New Tecumseth, Oakville, Ottawa, 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.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Two new agents at Canadian literary agency The Rights Factory; Eight agents altogether seeking all kinds of fiction and nonfiction for adults and for children, picture books to YA to new adult

Time After Time by Hannah McKinnon,
represented by The Rights Factory
The Rights Factory Inc. 
PO Box 499, Station C
Toronto ON M6J 3P6


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

The Rights Factory (TRF) has a roster of eleven agents, eight of them seeking authors. “Whether you are a debut author just finishing your first novel, an expert, teacher or journalist working on a narrative nonfiction or prescriptive work, someone with a memoir or great life story to tell, or a graphic novelist, we’re interested in hearing from you,” says Sam Hiyate, president of TRF. “Every agent at TRF is looking for work they can get excited about, in every genre and category. If you’re in the market, we encourage you to look at the agents here and see if one of them seems like the perfect business partner for you.”

The newest members of the team are Lindsay Leggett and Anna Trader, and like all new agents, they need authors:

Lindsay Leggett is an associate agent at The Rights Factory. She grew up in the frozen wilds of Northern Ontario and turned a love of reading and writing into a passion for editing. After working for a variety of authors and publishers, she found a home at The Rights Factory.
Lindsay is focused on Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Children’s books with unique, engaging, and diverse world’s and unforgettable characters. She’s particularily interested in: magical realism, fantasy, science fiction, LGBTTQIA+, #ownvoices
Query Lindsay through The Rights Factory contact page here.

Anna Trader is an associate agent at The Rights Factory. In her previous career, Anna worked at the New York office of Consumer Reports Magazine. While working full time, she earned an MBA in Human Resources at Iona College, and years later left the big city to work with attorneys and court reporters as a general manager for a national court reporting company in West Palm Beach. 
Each of her jobs in her varied career has opened her to the variety of life’s experiences and allowed her to find new and interesting ways to improve her business knowledge, experience, technology, creativity, and editing skills, all to the benefit of her clients.
Anna’s love for literature has sustained her spirit throughout her life.   She is certainly reading a book (or two) when she isn’t with her young daughter. Like her life, she has an eclectic approach to literature, moving easily between general fiction, historical fiction and nonfiction, including health, mind & body and children’s books.  Recently, to sharpen her publishing skills, she completed her graduate certificate in publishing at Centennial College in Toronto and began working with The Rights Factory, first as an intern, then as an Agency Assistant. She is now working on building her own client list.
 In fiction, Anna is seeking Commercial Fiction, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Thrillers, and Women’s Fiction.
In nonfiction, she’s looking for Food and Drink, Health & Wellbeing, Lifestyle, and Memoir,
Query Anna through The Rights Factory contact page here.

Other agents at The Rights Factory seeking authors:

Sam Hiyate is the president and co-founder of The Rights Factory.  Among others, Sam represents Andrew Kaufman, author of such literary works as All My Friends Are Superheroes and The Waterproof Bible; Rupinder Gill, This Hour Has 22 Minutes staff writer and author of the humorous memoir On the Outside Looking Indian; and David Gilmour, multi-award winning author of The Film Club and The Perfect Order of Things. 
Sam’s projects for the agency have been in various categories, including memoir, literary and commercial fiction, narrative non-fiction and graphic novels. He’s looking for works of all categories with distinct and compelling voices. He loves to discover and help new writers prepare their works for the market, and to help them build a career with their talent.
In particular, Sam is seeking Commercial Upmarket Fiction, Literary Fiction, Memoir, Business Books, and Nonfiction.
Query Sam through TRF’s submissions page here.

Ali McDonald is The Rights Factory’s lead agent specializing in children’s literature. She represents a select list of authors with projects ranging from novelty, board books, picture books, early readers, chapter books, and graphic novels, to middle grade, young adult and new adult fiction and nonfiction. She enjoys working primarily with debut authors, but also has the distinguished pleasure of representing literary stars among her international clients.
Ali is seeking Action/Adventure, Biography, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Magic Realism, Mystery, Popular Science, Recent Historical, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative, and Thrillers – all for children to YA.

Query Ali through The Rights factory submissions page here.

Olga Filina is an associate agent with The Rights Factory. A graduate of Humber’s Creative Book Publishing Program, Olga spent over a decade as a sales manager and book buyer for both national and independent book store chains and two years as a literary assistant at The Cooke Agency.
While Olga will read anything that may set her book clubs on fire, she gravitates towards commercial and historical fiction, great genre fiction in the area of romance and mystery, nonfiction in the field of business, wellness, lifestyle and memoir, and young adult and middle grade novels with memorable characters.
In nonfiction, Olga is seeking Business, Lifestyle and Memoir.
 In her spare time, Olga sits on library boards, organizes literary festivals and runs more book clubs than she can count.
Query Olga through The Rights factory submissions page here.

Cassandra Rodgers has recently been promoted to full agent at the Rights Factory. (Congratulations, Cassie!) Cassandra has a diverse group of clients from across North America that ranges from debut authors to celebrities. 
(Many readers of Quick Brown Fox will know one of Cassie’s authors, Hannah McKinnon, from attending my classes with her and more recently from her being a guest speaker at workshops with me. Hannah is the author of Time After Time and the upcoming novels The Neighbours and of a so-far untitled third novel.)
Cassandra is actively building her list and is seeking literary fiction and commercial women’s fiction. With a degree in History and Political Science from the University of Toronto, she does have a weakness for historical fiction. 
Nonfiction is another passion – particularly politics, history, science, and finance. Memoirs that can make her laugh, cry, or inspire her are always welcome.
“I’m generally interested in a wide range of genres with a focus on the adult market,” says Cassandra.
Query Cassandra through The Rights Factory contact page here.

Natalie Kimber is as associate agent based in New York City. Natalie brings her list from her self-started Sun Rae Agency. Previously, she worked with Georgetown Booklab and as an associate to Muriel Nellis at Literary and Creative Artists, Inc.
She is inspired by bringing experimental, risky, and thoughtful new literature into the world of traditional publishing.  She appreciates authors who have a vision incorporated into their writing, from exploring history untold to re-telling timeless tales with a twist, Nat looks for writers who unveil meaningful new ways to see the world and ourselves in it.  Her passion is helping authors share their vision and talent with a grateful audience, and guiding the process that manifests a vision into book form is her raison d’etre.
On the fiction side, Natalie is seeking Action/Adventure, Commercial Fiction, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction and Young Adult boy books.
In nonfiction, she is looking for Cooking, Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, Pop Culture, Science, Spirituality, and Sustainability.
Query Natalie through The Rights Factory’s submissions page here. 

Haskell Nussbaum is a lawyer turned writer turned (associate) literary agent. He is the author of Beat That Parking Ticket and has contributed articles and stories to the National Post (Canada) Jerusalem Post, Pacific News Service and others, and he has appeared on, or been featured in, national and local news, radio and TV, including Fox and Friends, NPR, NY Post, New York Magazine, USA Today, NY1, CBS, Today in New York, and many others. 
His list is diverse, ranging from clients on the New York Times Bestseller list to debut authors. (Many readers of Quick Brown Fox will have read pieces on QBF by one of Haskell’s authors: Gila Green, author of King of the Class and the upcoming No Way Home.)
Query Haskell through The Rights factory submissions page here.

Literary agent Monica Pacheco,
guest speaker for Writing for Children
& Young Adults, on Aug 12 (see here)
Brian Henry will lead a You can write great dialogue, workshop on Saturday, July 22, in London (see here), and a Writing Your Life and Other True Stories workshop on Saturday, Aug 19 in Brampton (see here). 

Also, Brian will lead a Writing for Children & for Young Adult workshop on Saturday, August 12, in Collingwood with literary agent Monica Pacheco (see here). 
In the fall, Brian will lead a weekly Writing Kid Lit class, Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Oakville, with guest authors Sylvia McNicoll and Jennifer Mook-Sang (see here).
Note: For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).

Join us for a Fall Colours Writing Retreat, at the wonderful Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park, Friday, Sept 15 – Sunday, Sept 17 (see here).

Also, in the fall, Brian will lead a full range of courses, introductory to advanced, including (for the first time) a weekly creative writing course in Toronto: 
Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Sept 28 – Nov 30, in Burlington. See here.
Writing Personal Stories, Wednesday evenings, Sept 27 – Nov 15, in Burlington. See here.
Writing Kid Lit, Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Oakville, with guest authors Sylvia McNicoll and Jennifer Mook-Sang. See here.
Next Step in Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons Sept 26 – Nov 28, in Burlington. See here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Monday mornings, Sept 25 – Dec 4, in Toronto. See here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, Sept 28 – Nov 30 in Georgetown. See here.
Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, Sept 20 – Dec 6, in Burlington
See details of all seven courses offered in the fall here.

For more information 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.

Navigation tips: Always check out the labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. Also, if you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

How to Get Published workshops with literary agents as guest speakers offered in Burlington, London and Caledon, October 15, 22 and 29

How to Get Published
An editor, & a literary agent tell all

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful. And be sure to bring your elevator pitch! Agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got and hoping to find authors they want to represent.

Offered in 3 locales:
Saturday, Oct 15, 2016
10:o0 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Burlington Central Library 2331 New Street, Burlington, Ontario (Map here)
Presented by the Burlington Public Library 

Saturday, Oct 22, 2016
10:o0 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
London Central Library, Tonda Room, 251 Dundas St, London, Ontario (In the Citi Plaza, Map here)

Saturday, October 29, 2016
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Albion-Bolton Branch, Caledon Public Library, 150 Queen Street South, Bolton, Ontario (Map here.)

To register or for more information about any workshop, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca 

In Burlington on Oct 22, our guest speakers will be Cassandra Rodgers, associate literary agent with The Rights Factory, and Hannah McKinnon, author of Time After Time (HarperCollins UK). 

The Rights Factory (TRF) is a boutique literary agency with eight agents. TRF deals in intellectual property rights for entertainment products, including books, comics & graphic novels, film, television, and video games. TRF works directly with publishers, producers, studios, game developers and other rights-buyers in all territories, occasionally in conjunction with local representatives.  
The Rights Factory has an esteemed roster of both fiction and nonfiction writers including Jennifer Close, debut author of the must-read short story collection, Girls In White Dresses; Margot Berwin, author of Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire (optioned by Julia Roberts in conjunction with Columbia Pictures for film rights), and the paranormal romance, Aromata. and Hannah McKinnon, author of Time After Time.

Cassandra has a diverse group of clients from across North America that ranges from debut authors to celebrities. Actively building her list, she is interested in adult literary and commercial women’s fiction. With a degree in History and Political Science from the University of Toronto, she does have a weakness for historical fiction. Nonfiction is another passion – particularly politics, history, science, and finance. Memoirs that can make her laugh, cry, or inspire her are always welcome. More about The Rights Factory here.

Hannah McKinnon, the the author of Time After Time, a novel about love, loss and second chances that’s full of humour. A 40-something British and Swiss national, and more recently a Canadian import, Hannah has been telling stories for years – but only recently started writing them down. She runs an electrical contracting business with her husband, dabbles in the art of voice-overs, and writes whenever she can. When she’s not writing novels for adults, Hannah’s three boys give her plenty of material for children’s books. You can read a review of Time After Time here. 
At the workshop, Hannah will be sharing her story of how she wrote her book, found an agent and got published.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door
To reserve a spot now, email: 
brianhenry@sympatico.ca

In London, on Oct 22, our guest speaker will be Stacey Donaghy, lead agent with the Donaghy Literary Group. The Donaghy group has three agents to choose from: Stacey Donaghy, Valerie Noble, and Sue Miller.  Representing NY Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors, they’re focused on commercial fiction and are always interested in new and upcoming talented writers. 
  
Stacey Donaghy began her career with an agency in New York, then in 2013 opened her own agency in Canada. Asked what manuscripts she’d like to get right now, Stacey said, “I would love to see more diverse stories that are highly commercial.  LGBTQ stories that focus on the characters and story development and less on the "issues" related to coming out or being out.  It would be exciting to receive a LGBTQ in adult or YA that is story driven, such as a romance or thriller in Adult and in YA a Mean Girls, Duff, even a thriller that highlights diversity but where the story leads the way.” 
More generally, Stacey is seeking Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. Specifically, she’s looking for: Romantic Suspense, LGBTQ Stories, standalone or series, Diverse books, Contemporary romance, Romance with  varying heat levels, New Adult, Thrillers, Middle Grade (quirky not cute), and Young Adult. More about The Donaghy Agency here.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door
To reserve a spot now, email: 
brianhenry@sympatico.ca

On Oct 29, in Caledon at the Bolton library, our guest speaker will be Martha Magor Webb, literary agent, director and full partner at the McDermid Agency. The McDermid Agency is a well-established Canadian agency that represents literary novelists and commercial novelists of high quality and writers of nonfiction in the areas of memoir, biography, history, literary travel, narrative science, investigative journalism, popular culture and lifestyle. The agency also represents a certain number of children's and young adult (YA) writers and writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy. 
The McDermid agency's clients include distinguished literary novelists such as David Adams Richards (Winner of the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for both fiction and nonfiction), Nino Ricci, Andrew Pyper, Michael Winter, Michael Crummey, and Alison Pick. The agency also represents nonfiction authors, such as Charles Montgomery, Andrew Westoll, and James MacKinnon, all three of whom won the prestigious Charles Taylor prize for literary nonfiction in their years of publication. And the agency represents upmarket commercial fiction writers, such as Leah McLaren from the Globe and Mail, Andrew Pyper, Robert Wiersema, and Peter Darbyshire. (More about the McDermid Agency here.)

Martha represents a growing list of writers, focusing on literary fiction, narrative nonfiction (including memoir and true crime) and ideas-driven nonfiction. 
Her clients include: Michael Crummey (multiple award-winning author of Sweetland);  Alison Pick (long-listed for the Booker Prize);  Robyn Doolittle (Bestselling author of Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story);  Pasha Malla (long-listed for the Giller, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, winner of the Danuta Gleed and the Trillium awards);  Damian Tarnopolsky (shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Amazon.ca award);  Russell Smith;  Jessica Grant, (winner of the Amazon.ca First Novel and the Winterset awards);  Grace O'Connell;  Matt Lennox;  Andrew Westoll;and Karen Le Billon, whose first book French Kids Eat Everything sold into thirteen countries and translated into ten languages.

Fee:  43.36 + 13% hst = 49 + $6 for pizza lunch = 55 paid in advance by mail or in person 
or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 + $6 for pizza lunch = 59 if you wait to pay at the door
To pay in advance, make your cheque out to the Caledon Public Library and mail it to:
Attention:  Laura Nolloth, Caledon Public Library, Albion Bolton Branch, 150 Queen Street South, Bolton, ON, L7E 1E3
Or you can pay in advance in person at any Caledon Library branch. (Branch locations here.) 
To reserve a spot now, email: programs@caledon.library.on.ca  

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

A Darkness Absolute by New York Times
#1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong
What people have to say about Brian Henry and How to Get Published:

“Brian’s the real deal.  He isn't just an inspiring teacher – he's plugged into the publishing world! He got me an agent who sold my first novel, to publishers around the world.  My 13th novel, The Awakening, hit number 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. To date I’ve published 28 books. Thirteen of them have been turned into a TV show with the same name as my first novel, Bitten.”
~ Kelley Armstrong, Aylmer, Ontario

 Brian, At one of your How to Get Published workshops you helped me re-work my query letter. Before that, I'd queried dozens of agents, and guess how many of them asked to see my manuscript? None. After you helped me rewrite, I sent my new query to six agents and all of them asked to see my full manuscript. It was like I discovered the secret password.  Thank you so much,
~ Sohan S Koonar, Windsor, Ontario. 

Note: Sohan is now represented by The Rights Factory.

Hello, Brian. I’m writing to thank you for your help and advice in crafting the query letter for my novel, The Name’s George. After attending your “How to Get Published” workshop, I’ve had four requests for the full manuscript as well as one partial. I am thrilled and hopeful that I can write you again with news that I’ve secured representation. Thanks again and all the best,
~ Shauna Clinning, Oakville, Ontario
Note: Shauna is now represented by the Morty Mint Agency.

To register or for more information about any workshop, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca 

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

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, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.