Friday, May 15, 2015

Query Kombat Agents/Editors

Want to know what agents we have for Query Kombat? Mike, SC and I have greatly surpassed last year's total of agents. We have not fifteen but TWENTY-Five agents and editors!

In fact, there are so many agents and editors participating that we've had to divide up the list!

Only a third of the agents are here. Check for the rest on Mike's blog and SC's blog.

Now to get straight to the good stuff!



Don't miss the submission window on May 22, 2015!! The window will open at 5:30 pm Eastern and remain open for one hour. Get details about entering here

Make sure you're following all three blogs.

(Also my pick for the Free Pass winner is up.)



THE AGENTS/EDITORS:







Alec Shane











Thao Le

THAO LE handles finances and selected contracts at the Dijkstra Agency. She is also an agent.

She is a graduate of 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 looking for adult sci-fi/fantasy/horror, NA (new adult), YA (young adult), and MG (middle grade). She enjoys both gritty, dark narratives and fantastically quirky stories. She is also looking for light-hearted, funny, and moving contemporary YAs with a raw, authentic teen voice. She's particularly drawn to memorable characters, smart-mouthed dialogue, strong plots, and tight writing. Her favorite books are ones that reimagine familiar tales and tropes in a completely fresh new way and she has a soft spot for multicultural stories and lush settings.

Recent sales include: Katherine Harbour’s fantasy Thorn Jack (Harper Voyager), Lisa Freeman’s surf YA novel Honey Girl (Sky Pony Press), IPPY Award-winning S.K. Falls’ NA novel One Last Song (Forever Yours), and James Kendley’s paranormal thriller The Drowning God (Harper Voyager Impulse).

Thao is not looking for: biographies, business books, cookbooks, memoirs, picture books, poetry, religious/spiritual books, screenplays, self-help, short stories, or travel books.





Uwe Stender

Dr. Uwe Stender, is a Full Member of the AAR (Association of Authors' Representatives).
Our best known clients are actress Melody Thomas Scott, CNN HLN and TruTV's In Session News Anchor Christi Paul, Eric Deggans,former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan, 4 time Grammy Award winning composer Lalo Schifrin ("Mission Impossible"), Elizabeth LaBan, Stacy Tornio, and legendary NBA referee Bob Delaney.

Uwe was a guest speaker at several major conferences including the SCWC in San Diego, the Crimebake (Mystery Writers of America New England Chapter), CAPA-U in Hartford, Connecticut, the Writers' League of Texas in Austin, Penn Writers, and he spoke on a panel at the Book Expo America in New York City.

We are always open to any strong fiction (our current focus in fiction is YA, middle grade, Women's Fiction, Literary Fiction and Mysteries) and all non-fiction projects. TriadaUS Literary Agency was incorporated in April 2004.















Whitley Abell

Whitley Abell joined Inklings Literary Agency in 2013. Before joining Inklings, she completed successful internships with Carol Mann Agency and P.S. Literary Agency. She is based in St. Louis, MO, where she daylights writing proposals of the entirely unromantic variety. She graduated in 2011with a BA in English and Creative Writing, and again in 2012 with a MAT in Secondary English Education, which basically means she can tell you anything there is to know about feminist literary theory and the Common Core Standards.

Whitley is currently building her list and is primarily interested in Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Women’s Fiction. She is open to almost anything within those arenas, be it contemporary or historical, romance or thriller, realistic or supernatural, tragic or quirky. She has a soft spot for the goofy guys, awkward ducks, April Ludgates, and devout fan girls of the world. Manic pixie dream girls will be turned away at the door.

Please, NO picture books, poetry, non-fiction, or genre romance, crime/mystery, or sci-fi/fantasy for the adult market.








Patricia Nelson

Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. Previously, she interned at The Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency and in the children’s division at Running Press.
Patricia represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, and is actively looking to build her list.  In general, Patricia looks for compelling, well-written stories featuring complex characters that jump off the page and thoughtfully drawn, believable relationships. On the adult side, she is seeking women’s fiction, historical fiction, and accessible literary fiction, as well as contemporary and historical romance. For YA and MG, she is open to a wide range of genres, with particular interest in contemporary/realistic, magical realism, mystery, horror, and fantasy. She is interested in seeing diverse stories and characters in all genres.
Patricia received her bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary in 2008, and also holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the world of publishing, she spent four years as a university-level instructor of literature and writing.





Cate Hart
Cate is all about guilty pleasures. She loves salted caramel mochas, Justin Timberlake, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, and Steampunk. As a native Nashvillian, Cate’s biggest guilty pleasure is watching Nashville.

When she’s reading, Cate looks for character-driven stories, a distinguished voice, and intriguing plots.She loves characters that surprise her, like the pirate with a heart of gold, and plots that keep her guessing until the very last page.

When she’s not reading queries, Cate works with clients to build their platform, works on PR projects to help promote clients’ books, and reads manuscripts with an editorial eye. 
Cate seeks unique stories with well-crafted plots and unforgettable characters with a strong voice. Her favorite genre is historical, whether it’s Middle Grade or YA, Adult Romance or something even spicier. The time periods she loves most are Elizabethan England, the American and French Revolutions, the Victorian Era and the Gilded Age. She loves Scottish and French History. If it’s steampunk, clockpunk, or candlepunk she wants it.

Her first love will always be YA. She will consider any genre, but is looking especially for Fantasy and Magical Realism. 
For Middle Grade, she is looking for Fantasy, Adventure and Mystery with a humorous or heart-warming voice and a unique concept.
For Adult, she is only accepting Historical Romance.
Cate will also consider select LGBTQ and Erotica.




Alison Weiss
Alison Weiss is an Editor at Sky Pony Press, after six-and-half years at Egmont. As a kid, it was not unusual to find her huddled under the covers on a Saturday morning with a stack of books rather than downstairs watching cartoons. Reading and writing have always been passions, but sharing that passion with others wasn’t always as easy. That is until she found the children’s publishing world.

Her focus is chapter books through YA, and she loves everything from heartwarming middle grade to edge-of-your seat thrillers to swoony romance. She has worked with New York Times best-selling author Jessica Verday (Of Monsters and Madness), multi-Agatha Award winner Penny Warner (The Code Busters Club series), YALSA-award winning Sarah Cross (Kill Me Softly and Tear You Apart), J&P Voelkel (The Jaguar Stones), Micol Ostow (Amity), Kristen Lippert-Martin (Tabula Rasa), Sasha Dawn (Oblivion), and Sarah McGuire (Valiant), among others. She also assisted on Christopher Myers's H.O.R.S.E., which won a 2013 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award and the 2014 Odyssey Award. Follow her on Twitter @alioop7.






New Leaf Assistants


Jaida Temperly
Bio: Prior to joining New Leaf, Jaida moved from Wisconsin to NYC to intern at Writers House. Before that, she had a brief stint in medical school and milked cows on her family's dairy farm. Jaida is currently Literary Assistant to Joanna Volpe but in her down time, you can find her practicing yoga, downing coffee, or searching for the city's secret bars and cemeteries. You can follow Jaida on Twitter.

Titles:

Middle Grade: Just about anything – it’s definitely my favorite age group! But I do tend to gravitate towards stories that are darker, quirky, and whimsical. Some of my favorite titles are:

-          The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
-          The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire LeGrand
-          Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
-          A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
-          A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
-          Coraline by Neil Gaiman
-          Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Adult: I would love to see more adult queries, specifically those with a mystery, high fantasy, or religious undertone! Some of favorite titles are:

-          The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein
-          Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
-          And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
-          The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
-          Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
-          The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
-          A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
-          The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin






Jess Dallow
Bio: Before moving back to her home state of New York, Jess Dallow spent eight years working at a talent agency in Hollywood. Deciding books and cold New York winters were more her speed, she became an intern at New Leaf before being hired as a subrights assistant. In her spare time, Jess can be found at either Sprinkles or Chipotle, stuffing her face with cupcakes or guacamole (thankfully, not together). You can follow her on twitter.

Looking for: YA (Contemporary. Female friendship stories. Romance. Thrillers. Mysteries.) Adult (Same as YA!)




Jackie Lindert
Bio: Jackie earned her degree in English in her home state of Wisconsin. After college, she trekked to Colorado to attend the Denver Publishing Institute, eventually landing an internship in NYC with New Leaf Literary & Media. Following the internship, she found a job with the publishing house formerly known as Penguin Group as a Subsidiary Rights assistant. One year later she finds herself back at New Leaf as an assistant handling client care, mailings, and best of all, reading manuscripts. Fun Facts: She grew up in the Water Park Capital of the World and has a cat named Humphrey Bogart. Follow her on twitter or  pinterest!

I'm looking for YA and adult--all subgenres of both.





Danielle Barthel

Bio: Following her completion of the Denver Publishing Institute after graduation, Danielle began interning at Writers House. While there, she realized she wanted to put her English degree and love of the written word to work at a literary agency. She worked as a full-time assistant for three years, and continues to help keep the New Leaf offices running smoothly in her role of Coordinator of Team and Client Services.
In her downtime, she can be found with a cup of tea, a bar of chocolate, or really good book...sometimes all together. Follow Danielle on twitter!
Looking for: YA (contemporary, fantasy, retellings, anything with a strong romantic subplot), MG (would love to find an amazing epistolary), and adult (women's fiction, romance)





Vicki Keire

Acquiring editor at Curiosity Quills, Vicki Keire grew up in a 19th Century haunted house in the Deep South full of books, abandoned coal chutes, and plenty of places to get into trouble with her siblings. She spent the last decade teaching writing and literature at a large, football-obsessed university while slipping paranormal fiction in between the pages of her textbooks.  She’d rather burn the laundry than fold it, and believes that when an author wins the Newberry, he or she gets a secret lifetime pass to Neverland. She currently resides in Central Florida on a lake-front farm full of many furry friends.

Curiosity Quills Press is a publisher of hard-hitting dark sci-fi, speculative fiction, and paranormal works aimed at adults, young adults, and new adults.
We provide our authors with a full-service publishing experience, marketing support, and technical know-how, while ensuring that these literary marauders are truly the cream of the crop through a highly selective acquisition process.

Vicki is interested in all sub genres of romance, especially contemporary.
Blogger: http://www.vickikeirewrites.com/

13 comments:

  1. Question: if you've already queried an agent on this list, is it okay to still participate in Query Kombat?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is. If you've queried all twenty-five, then I'd give others a chance.

      Delete
  2. Also, by "cannot have been in the agent round of another contest", do you mean any contest on the web ever, or contests you guys have hosted?

    Also #2, thank you so much for all the time and effort all of you - bloggers, agents, editors, judges, audience, any and everyone - put into making these contests possible. You're all literary rock stars XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We mean any contest. You may enter a manuscript that hasn't been in an agent round.

      You're welcome. It's great fun running contests. Work, but fun too!

      Delete
  3. Hi, I'm excited about the contest tomorrow--very big deal! I have two questions.1. I'm submitting for PB's. I read in one place 250 words for query and in another, I think, 50 words for query. 2. Can you please tell me which is correct? Also, I can't seem to subscribe to "Mike's" blog. Can you tell me how to do that? Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 50/250 is not for the length of the query. The query does not have a length requirement (we recommend 250-300) The length requirement is for the first 50/250 words of the manuscript. 50 words is for picture books which are much shorter than novels. 250 words is for everyone else.

      Delete
  4. For the first 50 words of a PB, do illustration notes count as part of the word count? Thanks. Carol

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  5. HI, Michelle, Sorry to inundate you with so many questions! Reading and re-reading directions. Want to get it right. Can we really send TWO manuscript entries in one--the same-- email? What does "last day of the submission" mean? I thought there was only ONE day and one hour of submission. Today. 2:30 pm Pacific Time? We submit in body of email, is that correct? Some (my "old Yahoo") emails don't format well. Will this be understood? THANKS!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Last year we allowed two in one submission, not this year. Last year we had several days to submit, this year only an hour. That must be info that didn't get cut.

      Today at 5:30 eastern in the body of the email.

      As long as you have all the info, format as best you can on your entry.

      Delete
    2. Michelle, Thanks for clearing up the confusion! Thanks for your extra-hard work. And, from what you said above, the QUERY itself, even for a PB, can be UP TO 300 words. I don't plan for mine to be that long, but I'm trying not to do anything to get eliminated!!!! Appreciate your replies a lot! Carol

      Delete