Bressler|Scoggins Literary Management, a new agency, recently contacted me and said they are shifting their attention from a large array of subject to a narrower focus: romance.  Here is the news from Becky Scoggins herself:

      "After receiving hundreds upon hundreds of submissions, we have decided to specialize in romance categories, including romantic suspense, paranormal romance, contemporary romance and young adult romance.  We also are looking for women's fiction and a very select amount of women's nonfiction (parenting, motivational, business written for women).  This also fits in with our new partnership with Mamapalooza."

I have no idea what Mamapalooza is, but it sounds intriguing and it's too late to find out tonight.

I got a note from Jeff Kellogg at Pavilion Literary Management recently, noting that he was actively seeking some areas of nonfiction.

The categories are:
History
Popular Science
Medicine
Pop Culture

Submit your work to him at 660 Massachusetts Ave., #4, Boston, MA 02118, or at query@pavilionliterary.com. See the agency submission guidelines here.  Pavilion actually represents a variety of fiction and nonfiction topics, in addition to those above being actively sought.

Speaking of the Vines Agency, their Web page has BIG announcements saying not to send queries because they are not taken new clients right now.

When you see instructions in all CAPS like this, you get the feeling that some readers weren't listening at first...

The mailing address for the Steve Laube Agency has changed.  It is now:

The Steve Laube Agency
5025 N. Central Ave.
No. 635
Phoenix, AZ 85012
krichards@stevelaube.com

The agency handles both fiction and nonfiction, and primarily serves the Christian/inspirational markets (CBA).

If you're planning on querying the Scribe Agency, do it over e-mail.  According to their new submission guidelines, they are only accepting queries via e-mail now.

For more information, check out Scribe's Web page and their submissions page. 

Lindstrom Literary Management has a new Web site, as well. Check it out and review the detailed submission guidelines.

A few months ago, Lindstrom sent out a notice saying they were temporarily closed to submissions. As far as I can tell from all the Web site info, that is no longer the case. Check them out and see if they're worth a query.

Here's what they handle: 

Commercial fiction
Thrillers and mysteries
Women's fiction
Narrative nonfiction
Biography/memoir
Current events

The agency does not handle young adult or children's books, or short stories and poetry.

Lindstrom Literary Management, LLC
871 N. Greenbrier Street
Arlington, VA 22205
(703) 522-4730
lindstromlit@aol.com (NEW E-MAIL)

News from the wire:

Paraview Literary Agency, based in Virginia, is currently closed to submissions. When I here more, I'll let you know.

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.

The Maria Carvainis Agency, Inc. recently changed its mailing address. The agency is still located on the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, but the address is ever so slightly different:

New address:

Maria Carvainis Agency, Inc.
1270 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 2320
New York, NY 10020

Snail mail is the advised method to query this agency, which is comprised of several agents. Good luck!

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.

Literary agent Meredith Hays of the newly formed Fineprint Literary Management (formerly Imprint Agency) posted a note on her submission page saying she is preparing for materity leave (or on maternity leave, by this point) and no longer reviewing queries.

If she's on your short list of agents, keep checking back to her submission page to see when she will change her status.

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

Just got word of an address change for Bradford Literary Agency, which specializes in romance. The agency's new address is:

Bradford Literary Agency
10353 San Diego Mission Road
Suite 333
San Diego, CA 92108

According to her blog, literary agent Caren Johnson of the Caren Johnson Literary Agency is not taking any more submissions in 2007 because she's buried in submissions. Take note before sending any queries to her.

See her whole blog post about it here.

FYI: Caren used to be an agent at Firebrand Literary before breaking off to establish her own agency

FYI part II: The post above also has to do with Teen Read Month and has lots of good information for young adult readers.

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.

I just received a note from the Ampersand Agency, based in the United Kingdom. The note basically says that although they have always had a policy of taking on quality American writers, UK publishers are just not interested in writers from across the Atlantic.

Sigh. This brings up a bigger question - is it worth it at all to query a UK agency? There are plenty located overseas, and plenty take queries from American authors, but I so rarely hear a success story. This sounds like a good article topic for the 2009 Guide to Literary Agency upfront section...