Literary agent Ted Malawer has joined Upstart Crow Literary.  Ted was previously with Firebrand Literary, but with Firebrand's recent closure, he will join four other former Firebranders in forming Upstart Crow. He specializes in children's fiction.

The Upstart Crow agency webpage is not completely updated yet, so I will post some info about Ted below.

For YA: "I am really looking for books that walk the line between commercial and literary. I like high concept novels with great 'hooks,' unique premises, and great humor. I also enjoy lyrical fiction, as long as it has an authentic and compelling voice.  I'm a huge fan of mysteries, smart historicals, and urban fantasy about original topics (no vampires, please). I'm not so much into the snarky 'chick lit' voice, but great writing trumps everything..."

For middle grade: "I am drawn to unique coming-of-age stories. I like stories that make me laugh, but if you can make me cry, even better. I like projects with fantastical/supernatural elements, too, and action/adventure plots.  I love fun and exciting chapter books, especially with multicultural characters."

How to contact: ted@upstartcrowliterary.com; "submit a QUERY and TWENTY PAGES of your manuscript. Please put your query and sample in the body of the email, we will not open attachments. If your submission is received by our system, an automated response will be emailed to you. We will respond to most queries within two weeks to a month. Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming number of submissions received, personal responses are only very rarely possible. But if we are interested, we will request your full manuscript."

Thanks for the tip:
Writer Nancy Parish

Want more on this subject?

• See my post on the formation of Upstart Crow Literary.
  
• Upstart Crow founder Michael Stearns interviewed by editor Alice Pope.
  
• Check out our online course: Focus on Writing Fiction for Children's.
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

• See all agent interviews here.
• Word Count Guidelines for Novels and Children's Books.
  
• Check out agent Don Maass's popular book, The Fire in Fiction.  
• 20 Tips on Writing a Query Letter
  
• How Money Works: Book Royalties, Advances and Flat Fees.
  
• What are the BEST writers' conferences in the country?
  
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Chuck's update: According to his LinkedIn profile, Steve left the Dijkstra agency and now works for Amazon (as of Sept. 2009).  In fact, know that the Dijkstra Agency has had lots of changes and departures recently, so double check everything before querying a specific agent there.

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The Sandra Dijsktra Literary Agency, based in Southern California, has added another new agent to its ranks: Steve Kasdin.

The agency has no official Web site, but I can tell you that he reps thrillers, mystery, literary fiction, commercial fiction, current affairs nonfiction and novelty nonfiction.

No one at the agency (seven agents in all) takes e-mail queries.  Use snail mail, and send them to:

1155 Camino del Mar
PMB 515
Del Mar, CA 92014

Prior to becoming an agent, Steve began his career in the book business almost 20 years ago, as a buyer for Barnes and Noble. Since then, he has held a variety of executive marketing positions at St. Martin's Press, Scholastic and Harcourt. Currently handles: 50% fiction, 50% nonfiction.

Nonfiction areas of interest: quality narrative nonfiction on any interesting subject-history, biography or current affairs--as long as it moves, humor. Fiction areas of interest: commercial fiction, thrillers/suspense, crime fiction, humor/satire, offbeat/quirky, true crime. How to contact: Mail query for query/cover letters, 1-2 page synopsis, and sample of ms (no more than the first 50 pages) for fiction. Mail proposal for nonfiction.

Recent sales: Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper (Harper Collins), Stones of Fire by Chloe Pavlov (Berkley.) 

Here are a few random updates
on this random Wednesday:

Karen Gantz Zahler Literary Management and Attorney at Law
      - Her mailing address has a new zip code: 10065.

Grand Street Literary Agency
      - This is the new agency name for Bob Mecoy's agency.  His new submissions e-mail is Mecoy@grandstreetliterary.com and the new Web site is www.grandstreetliterary.com, though the site seems new because it has scant information.

The Lisa Ekus Group, LLC
      - Lisa's new e-mail is LisaEkus@LisaEkus.com, and her new name (married?) is Lisa Ekus-Saffer.

Veritas Literary Agency
      - New address: 601 Van Ness Ave., Opera Plaza, Suite E, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Just so ya know...

Greystone Literary Agency, a relatively new agency based in DC and founded by Michael Mancilla, has officially closed as of early this year.

The Web site was down this morning and a phone call to Michael confirmed the agency is no more.

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2009 UPDATE: This agency is back in business as of early 2009.  They specialize in nonfiction.  Check out their website.

I spoke today with literary agent Michelle Humphrey, who joined Sterling Lord Literistic in October. Michelle was previously with Anderson Literary Management. Take note if she's on your list of agents to query.

She's seeking literary fiction, young adult work, multicultural fiction, and the following nonfiction subjects: history, science, autobiography / biography, women's issues/studies, cultural, and current affairs.

Submission information:

Sterling Lord Literistic
65 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
michelle@sll.com (e-queries preferred)

Info Hat Tip: Special thanks to Kristen Howe.

Note from Chuck (2009): Ellen formed her own agency in 2007.  In 2009, she took on a new agent - Gary Heidt - and together they formed Signature Literary.  The submission info below about her is still good, but the name and website of the agency has changed.

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Reminder: Newer agencies are golden opportunities for new writers because they're likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and postage.

www.signaturelit.com Contact: Ellen Pepus. New agency actively seeking clients. Prior to her current position, Ms. Pepus was employed at Graybill & English Literary Agency. She worked in foreign rights as well. Adheres to AAR canon of ethics. Specializes in: fiction - both genre and literary. Narrative nonfiction is sought out, though Ms. Pepus will consider other nonfiction. Currently Handles: 30% nonfiction; 70% novels.

Nonfiction areas of interest: Animals, Anthropology/Archaeology, Art/Architecture, Biography, Parenting, Cooking/Foods, Crafts, Current Affairs, Ethnic/Cultural, Gay/Lesbian, Government, Health, History, How-to, Humor, Interior design, Language, Memoirs, Military, Money, Music, Nature, New Age, Photography, Popular Culture, Psychology, Science, Self-Help, Sociology, Translation, True Crime, Women's Issues. Fiction areas of interest: Action/Adventure, Police/Crime, Erotica, Ethnic, Family Saga, Fantasy, Feminist, Gay/Lesbian, Historical, Literary, Mainstream, Mystery, Psychic/Supernatural, Romance, Thriller, Women's. Actively seeking: Actively seeking literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction. Does not want: Does not want to receive children's, young adult, poetry, short stories, screenplays, science fiction or horror.

How to Contact: Query with SASE. Submit book proposal or first 5 pages (if fiction). E-queries are preferred. No fax queries. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Responds in 2 weeks to queries; 8 weeks to mss. Returns materials only with SASE. Terms: Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales; 20% commission on foreign sales. Offers written contract. Termination notice: 30 days. Writer's Conferences: Washington Independent Writers, Society of Southwestern Authors, North Carolina Writers Network, Southern California Writers Conference, Space Coast Writers Guild Conference.

The Harriet Wasserman Literary Agency has closed, as of Fall 2007.

Harriet was a member of the AAR and was based in the New York area. Saul Bellow was a former client of hers, and her current clients are in the process of finding new agents.

Altair Literary Agency, based in Washington, DC, is now closed, according to a note on the agency's Web page. The agency was a member of AAR.

I did some peeking around to see if the agents went elsewhere to other agencies but found nothing. If you have some info on this, please leave a comment.

Helen McGrath, who ran an agency in California (called "Helen McGrath," simply), is no longer agenting as of this past summer. The agency will not be reviewing submissions of any kind. Take note if she was on your short list.

Her agency did not use a Web site.

Dwyer & O'Grady, Inc., a literary agency that represents juvenile writers and illustrators, recently sent out a reminder that they have moved all offices to Florida. Evidently, they had different locations around the country at different points (and were most recently in New Hampshire), but now do all business at the address below.

Also note that the agency is still closed to unsolicited queries/submissions and has been for some time. The only real reason you would need to use their new address below is if you, per chance, were lucky enough to meet an agent at a writers conference and they OK'd you sending some work to them.

Dwyer & O'Grady, Inc.
Agents for Writers & Illustrators of Children's Books
725 Third Street
P.O. Box 790
Cedar Key, FL 32625-0790
(352)543-9307
(603)-375-5373 - fax
www.dwyerogrady.com

The Zack Company, Inc., a literary agency, is actively seeking clients. In the past, the agency has stopped accepting queries at different times (because of slush pile overflow, most likely).

As far as I can tell, the agency is looking for all kinds of nonfiction, and some fiction. Regardless, this seems like a great opportunity.

The agency's Web site has an incredibly detailed "What We Want" page detailing what to send and how to send it.

I just received an e-mail from Literary and Creative Artists (based in DC) saying that their address was not up to date. A recent check into the database revealed that the address was indeed updated, but perhaps older versions of Guide to Literary Agents had an outdated address.

Take note of the current address:

Literary and Creative Artists, Inc.
3543 Albemarle Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008

The Management Company, a California-based agency focusing on film and TV scripts, recently changed their submission guidelines. Here are their new guidelines:

How to contact: Submit by e-mail only (tmco@mail.com), with the e-mail subject line reading "Writer Query Letter." Have a clear, one-sentence log line in bold type and include 2-4 short paragraphs summarizing the story (i.e., what would be on the back of a DVD).

This agency will contact writers by phone for more information, but only if interested. Queries that do not follow these guidelines may not be read. This agency is actively seeking "studio-quality, high-end action scripts with great characters, as well as really good comedies." No horror please.

Address queries to Tom Klassan, The Management Co.

Leather Bound Words, a newer agency based in St. Louis that focused on nonfiction books, has closed, according to its Web site.

See the Web site to see the closure notice.

Update: As of April 2009, it looks
like this agency
is closed.

- Chuck

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Reminder: Newer agencies are golden opportunities for new writers because they're likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and postage.

P.O. Box 47594, 946 Lawrence Ave. E., Unit 2, Toronto ON M3C 1P0, Canada. Phone: (416)850-8767. E-mail: spiridon@rogers.com. Contact: Alethea Spiridon. Seeking new and established writers. Prior to becoming an agent, Ms. Spiridon was an editor for Harlequin Books in Toronto. Established: 2007. This agency specializes in romance and women's fiction. "I lived and breathed romance fiction for 6.5 years while an editor. I know what editors are looking for and can guide writers so they can land that much coveted first or next contract."

Currently Handles: 25% nonfiction books, 25% novels, 25% short story collections, 25% juvenile. Nonfiction subjects of interest: Business/Economics, Child Guidance/Parenting, Cooking/Foods/Nutrition, Current Affairs, Health/Medicine, History, How-To, Juvenile nonfiction, Language/Literature/Criticism, Memoirs, Nature/Environment, Popular Culture, Self-Help/Personal Improvement, Women's Issues/Studies. Fiction subjects of interest: Action/Adventure, Confession, Erotica, Experimental, Family Saga, Fantasy, Feminist, Glitz, Historical, Humor/Satire, Juvenile, Literary, Mainstream/Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense, Picture Books, Romance, Young Adult.

How to contact: Query with SASE. Submit:Outline/Proposal, Synopsis, Author Bio, 50 pages if submitting fiction, SASE. Accepts e-mail queries. No fax queries. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Responds in 4 weeks to queries. Responds in 6 weeks to manuscripts. Returns materials only with SASE. Actively seeking: Actively seeking romance, women's fiction, young adult, middle grade, nonfiction, mysteries, literary fiction and commercial fiction.

Terms: Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales; 20% commission on foreign sales. Offers written contract. This agency charges for office expenses, such as postage and photocopies. Tips: "Think of the agent as your first reader. Do a meticulous self-edit of your work to ensure you present your best possible writing. Observe how other books are marketed by reading tons of back cover copy and then write a blurb for your own book. If you’re struggling, you might not have a clear sense of direction for your work. You need to have a solid sense of your manuscript so you can present it seamlessly to agents (and then editors). Be clear. Be concise."

International Transactions, the literary agency of agents Sandra and Peter Riva, just sent me a postcard saying that the agency's addresses have changed. To see their submissions guidelines, open this PDF link. The submissions e-mail is submissions@IntlTrans.com.

The New Principle Mailing Address:

I.T., Inc.
Box 97
28 Alope Way
Gila, NM 88038-0097
Phone/fax/e-mail remain the same

New NYC Office:

I.T., Inc.
Suite 9L
3 Hanover Square
New York, NY 10004
Phone/fax/e-mail remain the same

According to her blog, Rachel Vater has moved to Folio Literary Management.

Says Rachel on her new venture: "I'm so excited and pleased to announce my new position with Folio Literary Management ... This is my dream agency ..."

For those who didn't know, Rachel - a rising star in the literary agent world - was once the editor of a little book called Guide to Literary Agents. She then lefting editing for the thrills of agenting, and was an agent at Don Maass and Associates as well as Lowenstein-Yost Associates.

Agents on the Web

This is as good a time as ever to mention that Rachel is an agent blogger. She tackles all kinds of subjects, including what goes into a good query, how to craft an effective pitch, and how to evaluate why exactly your novel may not be interesting to an agent.

Check it out.