 |
Where's My Cow by Susan Blackaby
represented by JDLA |
The Jennifer
De Chiara Literary Agency
New York,
Chicago, and Los Angeles
http://www.jdlit.com/
Don't ever miss what’s happening with Quick Brown Fox. If you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
~Brian
Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency {JDLA}, a New York City–based full-service
literary agency founded in 2001 and named one of the top 25 literary agencies
in the country by Writer's Digest.
The eleven agents at JDLA represent children’s
literature for all ages – picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels –
and also represent high-quality adult fiction and nonfiction in a wide range of
genres. JDLA is also proud to represent illustrators, as well as
screenwriters for both television and film. Six agents at JDLA are actively
looking for new authors:
Marie Lamba is the author of
the young adult novels What I
Meant... (Random
House), Over My Head, and Drawn, and of the picture books A Day So Gray (Clarion) and Green, Green (Farrar Straus Giroux).
Her articles are in more than 100
publications, and she’s a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest. She has
worked as an editor, an award-winning public relations writer, and a book
publicist, and has taught classes on novel writing and on author promotion.
As an agent, Marie
represents fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. She’s
currently seeking fiction and nonfiction in the
form of picture books, middle grade and young adult works, and in graphic
novels, especially with diverse points of view, or a STEM tie-in. She also
wants general adult fiction and women’s fiction. She’d love to find an original
women's novel that would inspire the next smart and funny chick flick.
She’d love a fresh non-gory ghost story for any
age. She’s fascinated with hidden treasures, artifacts and with discovering
ancient civilizations right beneath our feet. She’s a huge fan of folklore and
fairy tales, and, while she wouldn’t want a retelling, she always enjoys those
elements woven into a story in a unique way. Overall, books that are original,
moving and/or hilarious are especially welcome.
Query Marie
through her query manager here.
***
Note: Marie Lamba was the guest speaker at the
online How to Get Published workshop on Sunday,
Feb 20, 2022. Check out upcoming How to Get Published workshops here.
***
Amy Giuffrida has been an Associate Literary Agent with JDLA since
2020, though she’s been in the publishing business since 2015. Like all newish
agents, she needs authors. Amy represents middle grade, young adult and adult
fiction, plus narrative nonfiction and business, social media, tech and cooking
books for teens, though for nonfiction, she wants authors with a strong platform.
Other than YA Fantasy, she is completely open to
every genre in MG and YA for 2022!
Some things she’s especially
seeking in MG and YA this year:
• Kids who are activists
and engage in their community to invoke change
• Vengeful and angry main characters, girls who are
not made of soft edges
• Commercial and character driven—anything with a
strong voice and a big hook
• College-Age YA – PLEASE give me something like:
The Sex Lives of College Girls
• Humor with heart
• Close-knit family stories with underlying tensions
• Big, sweeping adventures
• Dark and gritty horror full of tension
• Rescue dogs
• Diverse cast of characters
For adult fiction in 2022, Amy would love to read
about people’s joy. “I want to laugh and cry with your characters and root for
them to the very end. I want to read about people I don’t know, but who become
my best friend. Give me a new home, a new world, a new sense of self.
Characters who are older also need to shine, so don’t hesitate to send me your
40+ year-old protagonists who fall in love or finally figure out their life. I
am here for it.”
In particular, she’s seeking:
• Women’s Fiction
• Book Club/Commercial Fiction
• Contemporary Romance/Rom-Coms
• Non-Political Thrillers/Mysteries/Suspense
• Horror
• Historical Fiction – with a contemporary feel
Query Amy through here query
manager here.
Tori Sharp has been an Associate
Literary Agent with JDLA since 2020, following a two-year internship. Like all
newish agents, she needs authors. Tori
has a BFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and
her bestselling graphic memoir, JUST PRETEND, is out from Little, Brown.
In middle grade, Tori wants upbeat manuscripts that make readers think about the world
around them in a new way – especially fantasy, high-concept fiction, and
memoirs. She gravitates toward stories that are simultaneously silly and
sincere. She’s looking for clearly defined magic, intimate stakes, and clever
twists that she won’t be able to stop thinking about.
Her favorite novels include
Saffy’s Angel, The School Story, Ella Enchanted, Eliza and her Monsters, Howl’s
Moving Castle, Spinning Silver, Blood Water Paint, and Chaotic Good.
As for graphic novels: “As a graphic novelist
myself, I am eager to represent stunning, playful, diverse, and important
comics for kids in elementary through high school. I love comics that are
heartfelt and gestural, and I tend to like art styles that look animated and
soft, but bright.
“I would jump at a raw but playful middle-grade graphic
memoir, slice-of-life comic strip collections, or stories that feel like fairy
tales. I also adore contemporary and historical fiction in comics. I love
romcoms, action-adventures, and modern witchcraft.
“Some of my favorite comics are Catboy, Crush, Nimona, Fake Blood,
The Prince and the Dressmaker, On a Sunbeam, Lore Olympus, and Check, Please!”
Query Tori at: querytori.jdlit@gmail.com
Include “Query” and the title of your project in the subject line and
paste the first five pages of your manuscript below your query letter.
Graphic novelists should paste a one- to two-page synopsis and five to
ten finished sample pages in the body of the email and include a full link to
your online portfolio in your query. Please do not use link shorteners like
bit.ly. Author/illustrators of graphic novels do not need a full script or
thumbnail draft in order to query, but should have a thorough synopsis
available upon request.
Savannah Brooks joined the Jennifer De Chiara team in 2018 as an Associate
Literary Agent after interning for a year and a half. She earned her MFA,
focused in creative nonfiction, from Hamline University and her BS in marketing
management from Virginia Tech.
As well as agenting, she works as a teaching
artist at the Loft Literary Center and is a reader for multiple literary
magazines. Her own creative work has been published in Barely South Review, Hobart, Lime Hawk, and Every Writer's Resource, among others.
Savannah says, “I mainly represent kid-lit (Picture
Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult), and I'm interested in books that focus
on friendship, conflicting identity, and the theme of truth. I’m always drawn
in by a protagonist venturing into a realm where society says they don’t belong
(think swapping gender norms), and characters with weird obsessions are a weird
obsession of mine—teach me strange new things, and I’m yours. I’m all about
magical realism, non-western mythology, and modern retellings, but I’m not the
best fit for high fantasy or science fiction.
 |
Sarah Rising by Ty Chapman
represented by Savannah Brooks |
“In Picture Books, I'm searching for projects that
teach about and celebrate different cultures and places in the world and those
that tackle serious topics in really accessible ways.
“For Middle Grade, I learn very heavily into
action-adventure, especially those based on global folklore and mythology, and
I love a snarky narrator and spooky situations.
“In YA, I'm looking for multicultural and queer
perspectives on everything from modern teen experiences to reframing classic
tropes like vampires and witches. I've been particularly wanting to see some
horror.
“Mostly, I’m invested in representing the diverse
world in which we live and would like to see that reflected in a cast of
characters. Show me variations in race, sexuality, gender, dis/ability, and
ethnicity, without that difference being a point of contention, and I’ll be
thrilled. Call me an idealist, but my goal for each book is to give kids/teens
an opportunity to point to the page and say, ‘Finally, there I am.’"
Savannah occasionally takes on adult fiction. She
considers two genres: 1) contemporary novels that
walk the line of being funny while still adding to a larger sociopolitical
conversation, and 2) thrillers that add to a larger sociopolitical conversation
(but are NOT law-enforcement focused, including FBI/CIA).
Query Savannah through her query
manager here.
Stephen Fraser is a Senior Agent with JDLA. Previously he worked at HarperCollins
Children’s Books. Before that, he was with Scholastic, Simon & Schuster,
and Highlights for Children.
Stephen represents both children’s and adult books in a wide range
of genres.
“I am always looking for good, original writing:
picture books with delicious words; middle grade stories that endure, that have
strong characters and plots; young adult novels that have identifiable teens
and hopeful, interesting stories for the soon-to-be adult. A good mystery
perhaps, a ghost story, some poetry, something with a bit of theater. Something
to dazzle me.”
Query Stephen at:
fraserstephena@gmail.com
For children’s and adult
fiction, paste the first 20 pages into the body of your email.
For nonfiction, attach the entire proposal as a Word documents,
including a sample chapter.
Jennifer De Chiara is President of The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, which she
founded in 2001. Before forming the agency, she was a literary agent with two
established New York agencies, worked in the editorial departments of Simon
& Schuster and Random House.
Jennifer represents adult fiction and nonfiction and children’s
fiction, picture books to young adult novels.
Regarding adult fiction: “I'm
passionate about literary fiction with a unique, beautiful voice, but I also
enjoy commercial fiction, women's fiction (no bodice-rippers, please),
chick-lit, mysteries, suspense, thrillers - in general, I'm open to manuscripts
in every category. I'm a sucker for underdog and outsider stories, manuscripts
about the triumph of the human spirit. I want to read manuscripts that will
keep me up at night, make me feel something, change the world in some way. Even
if it's a fun, commercial story, at its heart should be a wonderful protagonist
from whom I can learn.”
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The Boy and the Gorilla by Jackie Azua Kramer
represented by JDLA |
For children's fiction: “I love all kinds of
picture books – soft, quirky, funny – rhyming or non-rhyming. For middle-grade
and YA fiction, I'm looking for beautiful, distinctive voices, above all, and
character-driven stories. I'm open to every genre under the sun, but I'm not a
huge science fiction fan.
For nonfiction: “Being a former dancer/actress, I
love anything and everything Hollywood, especially celebrity
bios/autobiographies. I'm always looking for beautifully written memoirs about
people who have overcome incredible odds, books about the arts and performing
arts, behind-the-scenes-type books, and books about popular culture.
“I am passionate about books that empower people to
live their best lives, whether it's a great health or exercise book or a
spiritual-type (think Eckhart Tolle or Deepak Chopra) book, and self-help books
of all kinds. I am particularly open to books for the GLBTQ audience and, in
general, any underdog/outsider stories. I'd love to see just about any
well-written book on any topic; if you're in doubt, just query me.”
Query Jenifer at:
jenndec@aol.com
For fiction, paste the
first 20 ages into the body of your email.
For nonfiction, attach the
entire proposal as a Word document.
For screenplays, a screenplay, please email a logline, a 150-word description, and
your bio, with "Screenplay Query" in the subject line of your email.
See full guidelines for each agent, along with
their bios, here.
If you’re
interested in meeting an agent and in getting published, don’t miss our online How
to Get Published workshops. See what’s coming up next here.
And check out
other upcoming one-day workshops, weekend retreats, and weekly classes 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.
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