Three literary agents at Anne McDermid & Associates seek authors

Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan,
represented by McDermid & Associates

Anne McDermid & Associates

83 Willcocks Street
Toronto, ON  M5S 1C9
http://www.mcdermidagency.com/

Anne McDermid founded this agency in Toronto in January 1996. She had previously been a senior partner in the distinguished British agency Curtis Brown for several years.
 
The McDermid agency represents literary novelists and commercial novelists of high quality, and also writers of non-fiction in the areas of memoir, biography, history, literary travel, narrative science, investigative journalism and true crime.
 
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 authors such as Michael Crummey, Camilla Gibb, Greg Hollingshead, Andrew Pyper, Nino Ricci, David Adams Richards, Michael Winter and Vincent Lam, who won the Giller Prize in 2006.

The agency also represents writers of narrative non-fiction, such as Charles Montgomery and James MacKinnon, both of whom won the Charles Taylor prize for literary non-fiction in their years of publication. More recently, the agency has been branching out to represent upmarket commercial fiction writers, such as Leah McLaren from the Globe and Mail, Robert Wiersema, and Peter Darbyshire.

Submissions:
If you are interested in submitting your work McDermid & Associates, please e-mail your query to info@mcdermidagency.com
Your query should include a brief description of yourself and your project, and you are welcome to include the first 5 pages of your manuscript. Please do not send any further material unless invited.

The agency has three agents currently looking for new authors:

Monica Pacheco represents a growing list of writers, focusing on children's, young adult, science fiction and fantasy. Her clients include actress/writer/director Sarah Polley whose children's picture book Monica sold to HarperCollins Canada; Yves, Mynard whose fantasy trilogy she sold to Tor/Macmillan; Deborah Kerbel who was short-listed by the Canadian Library Association for 2010 YA book of the year; and horror writer David Nickle, winner of the Bram Stoker Award.

Monica will be the guest speaker at Brian Henry's "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, October 13, 2012, in Toronto. Details here.


Chris Bucci represents both fiction and non-fiction, focusing particularly on non-fiction in the areas of popular science and technology and popular culture.

Martha Magor Webb represents a growing list of writers, focusing on literary fiction, narrative non-fiction (including memoir and true crime) and ideas-driven non-fiction. 

Her clients include Pasha Malla (longlisted 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) Nicholas Ruddock, and Andrew Westoll.

Brian Henry will be leading a "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshop in Hamilton on February 9 (details here). Also, he'll be leading "How to Get Published" workshops on March 16 in Kingston (details here) and on March 17 in Peterborough (details here). To register, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca  

But probably the best single step you can take toward getting manuscript ready for publication is to join one of the “Next Step” or “Intensive” creative writing courses. Starting in January, Brian will be leading “Next Step” courses in Mississauga (details here) and in Georgetown (details here). He’ll be leading   “Intensive” courses in Burlington (details here) and in Mississauga (details here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Orillia, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Lawrence House Centre for the Arts Short Story Contest

The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts in Sarnia, Ontario, invites entries for its Short Story Competition. First prize: $300. Two second prizes: one student, one non-student. Fee: $10. Open to Canadian citizens only. Length of entry: 2,500 words max. Not previously published on any blog or website. Deadline:October 15, 2012. Full submission guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Shana Tova – Happy New Year!

Rosh Hashanah Party Rock Anthem

Happy New Year one and all for 5773! (That's  2012 - 2013 on the common calendar, but Jews have been counting the years longer than most nations.)

Love, Obey & Betray by Maggie Petru

Hi Brian,

I’m happy to announce that my book, Love, Obey & Betray, is now available for sale. My publisher, Sun Dragon Press of Guelph, will be selling the book at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival on Sunday, Sept. 16. And it can be ordered through Amazon, here.

It will soon be available in electronic format from Kindle, and negotiations are under way with Kobal et al for users of other devices.

My classmates from your courses may be a bit confused to find the author is now Maggie Petru instead of Maggie Petrushevsky. With a name no one can pronounce, let alone spell, we figured readers were going to need help so we took a hatchet to a grand Ukrainian name. Now our fingers are crossed that I'll remember who I am when someone calls me by my pen name.

For those who are scratching their heads trying to distinguish Love, Obey & Betray from all those other intriguing manuscripts we worked on at your courses, here's the synopsis from the book jacket:

Vladymyr Horbatsky emigrated to Canada at the end of WWII in search of safety and security. Over the ensuing 20 years steady work and a Canadian family create his personal paradise. Then an American Defense Department consultant comes to work for his employer and Vlad discovers that the man was his wife’s boss in her days as an Allied spy. Memories of his childhood escape from Communism and enslavement by the Nazis flood back, alerting his Cossack instincts to the fact that paradise has just developed a huge viper.

The mini version? – Just what is a husband willing to do to protect the integrity of his marriage?

The dark vignettes scattered through Vlad's background are actual events from my late husband's childhood. Two major differences must be noted. Vasyl Petrushevsky had all the confidence Vladymyr Horbatsky lacks and was, therefore, never paranoid nor abusive.

The second is a matter of age. In order to fit later events of this story, Vlad had to be 25ish when he was taken to a slave labour camp. In reality, my husband was only 16 when the SS marched the entire population of Berlin's Russian School into work camps in 1943 because they refused to kiss up as good little Hitler Youths.

Less than a tenth of those kids survived to return home two years later and even so, one of them (a good friend of Vasyl's) was aboard the Jewish refugee ship sunk the following year when the British were attempting to prevent the illegal migration of Jews to Palestine and the resulting creation of Israel.

Many thanks, Brian, for both your support and your guidance.

Maggie Petru(shevsky)

For information about Sun Dragon Press, see here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Sun Dragon, a new micro-publisher in Guelph, Ontario

Sun Dragon Press is a new micro-publisher operating out of Guelph, Ontario. To date, Sun Dragon has put out just three books, one by the publisher Marilyn Kleiber, herself. Sun Dragon publishes in both print and electronic formats but believes the future lies in ebooks. I’d assume that they don’t pay an advance. Here’s what they have to say about themselves:

 Welcome Writers!

Getting recognized by more than family and friends is often a tough journey. Sometimes the journey does not end in publication. Getting published in the traditional way is a lengthy and often frustrating process. We began Sun Dragon Press Inc. because we feel there are many writers that really need to be read by a wider audience than our mothers and siblings.

Large publishers are challenged by rising costs and are not able to hire sufficient editors to view all the manuscripts they receive on a regular basis. They are truly overwhelmed. 

We are convinced that the future is in electronic media. School children are now being issued with iPads, and computers abound in huge numbers of schools. While there will always be readers who love the feel and smell of the printed word (we admit to being in that category as well) more people are being turned back to the joy of reading with the arrival of e-books, Kindle, and the variety of electronic readers and tablets now available.

We are gathering authors and books to publish. Query Sun Dragon at: query@sundragonpress.com

Brian Henry will lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, October 13, in Toronto with Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here). 

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Three agents at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency are hungry to take on new authors

Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

PMB 515

1155 Camino del Mar

Del Mar, CA 92014

http://www.dijkstraagency.com/

Sandra Dijkstra says her agency is always looking for new authors, fresh voices, and original stories. Moreover, other than Sandra herself, all the agents at the Dijkstra agency are fairly new to the business and still building their lists. In particular, three of her agents are especially hungry for clients:

Thao Le graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a double major in Econ-Management Science and Chinese Studies. While interning at the agency during college, she realized where her true love lies -- books -- and joined the agency full-time in the spring of 2011.

Thao is building her list and she is currently looking for adult and YA soft science fiction, fantasy, and horror and all of their sub-genres. Her taste for speculative fiction is eclectic and she enjoys both gritty, dark narratives like Anne Bishop's Black Jewel series and fantastically quirky stories like Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles. 

She is also looking for light-hearted, funny, and moving contemporary YAs with a raw, authentic teen voice. She's particularly drawn to unique characters, smart-mouthed dialogue, and strong plots that can balance romance and action. She's always on the lookout for the type of stories that make you stay curled up in bed, turning page after page even after the sun has come up.

Thao is specifically not interested in: biographies, business books, cookbooks, picture books, poetry, religious/spiritual books, screenplays, self-help, short stories, or travel books.

Thao also assists with foreign rights, finance, and contracts at the Dijkstra Agency.

Query Thao at:  thao@dijkstraagency.com

Jill Marr is an acquiring associate agent at the Dijkstra Agency. She graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and a minor in History. She has a strong Internet and media background as well as over 10 years of publishing experience. 

She wrote features and ads for Pages, the literary magazine for people who love books, and continues to write book ads for publishing houses, magazine pieces and promotional features for television.

After writing ad copy and features for published books for years she knows how to find the "hook" and sell it.

Jill is interested in commercial fiction, with an emphasis on mysteries, thrillers and horror, women's commercial fiction and historical fiction. 

She is also looking for nonfiction by authors who are getting their work published regularly in magazines and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience. Jill is looking for nonfiction projects in the areas of self-help, inspirational, cookbooks, memoir (she especially loves travel and foodie memoirs), history, sports, current events, health & nutrition, pop culture, humor and music.

Please note that Jill is specifically not interested in YA, children's books, sci-fi, romance or anything involving unicorns.

Query Jill at: jmsubmissions@dijkstraagency.com

Jennifer Azantian assists Sandra Dijkstra and Elise Capron and manages incoming submissions for the agency. At the University of California, San Diego, she studied clinical and developmental child psychology, and graduated cum laude in 2010. After graduation she spent a wonderful summer interning at the Dijkstra agency before joining full-time in fall of 2011.

Jennifer is a published author of several short stories and brings to the agency her passion for literature. Her personal tastes run toward all flavors of the fantastic. She believes that it is against the backdrop of fantasy and science fiction that basic human truths can be best examined, magnified, and delighted in. 

Jennifer has just begun to acquire projects and welcomes all submissions that match her interests. Please note that Jennifer is only interested in  young adult science-fiction and fantasy (including all of their sub-genres).

Query Jennifer at: jen@dijkstraagency.com

Submissions:

Fiction: Please send a query letter, a 1-page synopsis, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history), and the first 10-15 pages of your manuscript. Please send all items in the body of the email. No attachments.

Non-fiction: Please send a query letter, an overview of your project including a chapter outline, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history), a description of competing books, and the first 10-15 pages of your first chapter. If we are interested, we will ask you to send your complete proposal. Please send all items in the body of the email. No attachments.

Full submissions guidelines here.

Brian Henry will lead a “Writing for Children and for Young Adults” workshop in Newmarket on Saturday, September 22 (see here), and he'll lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, October 13, in Toronto with Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here). 

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

You're invited to the launch of A Private Man, a detective story by Chris Laing.

Hi, Brian.

Seraphim Editions is launching six new titles on its fall list including my debut novel, A Private Man.

The Hamilton launch till take place

Saturday, September 29

at the Perkins Centre, 1429 Main St. East, Hamilton

from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The Toronto launch will be held

Sunday, September 30

at the Women's Art Asssociation, 23 Prince Arthur Ave, Toronto

from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Both events are free and refreshments will be served.

All the best,

Chris

About the book:

"July, 1947. And hotter than hell in Hamilton." So begins Chris Laing's novel about the exploits of Max Dexter, former RCMP officer. Max, an army veteran recently discharged and limping from a serious war injury, returns to his hometown to open his own private detective agency. But he gets more than he bargained for when he takes on a missing person case for an affluent new client. Soon more than the weather is making things hot for Max and his comely new assistant, Isabel O'Brien. They become involved with arson, art theft, murder and money laundering. The trail leads through the mansions of high society and along the gritty streets of Hamilton to a rip-roaring climax in Niagara Falls.

“I love a good historical mystery novel so for me A Private Man hit the spot.” – Brian Henry

About the Author:

Since his retirement, Chris Laing has expanded his long-time interest in detective stories from that of avid reader to writing in this genre. His short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Hammmered Out as well as online journals including Futures Mystery Magazine, Mystical-E Magazine and Flash Me Magazine. His short story Golden Opportunity will appear in the anthology Best New Writing 2013, to be published by Hopewell Publications. A Private Man is his first novel.

Check out seven markets for mystery short stories here. For information about submitting to Seraphim Editions, see here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Seraphim Editions publishes fiction, nonfiction and poetry

Krank by Sarah Sheard, one of my
fellow instructors at Ryerson U,
published by Separphim

Seraphim Editions

54 Bay Street

Woodstock, ON  N4S 3K9

http://www.seraphimeditions.com/

Seraphim Editions is a small independent Canadian book publisher. Founded in 1995 by Maureen Whyte, Seraphim features Canadian authors and artists and publishes fiction, including novels, short story collections and mysteries, nonfiction, and poetry. Seraphim’s offices are in Woodstock (near London, Ontario), but the publisher has a special affinity for Hamilton area authors.

Query Maureen at: info@seraphimeditions.com

For fiction, I’d suggest you include the first chapter; for nonfiction, a proposal package.

Brian Henry will lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, October 13, in Toronto with Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The 16th Annual James McIntyre Poetry Contest ~ Entries now being accepted!

James McIntyre, 1828 - 1906

Three different levels:  JK & SK, All School Grades, and Adult

Maximum of three entries per person

Suggested Styles: Rhyming Verse, Free Verse, Limerick, Haiku, Acrostic & Other

Awards given (at judges' discretion) in all styles for all three levels. In addition, the contest bestows four special awards this year:

 * Cheese Poet Laureate’s Best Dairy Odes

 * J.C. Herbert's Best Long Poems about   Ingersoll, Past or Present

 * Bonnie Mott's Best Poems about Famous Local People

 * Poems about the War of 1812

Deadline:

All entries must be received by Friday, October 12, at 4 p.m. at the Town of Ingersoll Offices (upstairs) or mail to:

James McIntyre Poetry Contest

Ingersoll Public Library

130 Oxford Street

Ingersoll, ON  N5C 2V5

Brian Henry will be the judge for the Kindergarten and for the Grades 1 through 12 divisions. Brian is a book editor, writer, creative writing instructor and the publisher of Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers.

Stephanie Gunter will be the judge for the adult division. 

Sponsored by The Town of Ingersoll and The Ingersoll Times

For more information, please call: (519) 485-0120

To download your entry form, visit: www.ingersoll.ca 

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.