2019

Sorche Fairbank

SORCHE FAIRBANK

Woman with dark hair, thinking about books.

Since establishing Fairbank Literary Representation in 2002, Sorche Elizabeth Fairbank has had the pleasure of working with a dynamic and varied client list, representing bestselling authors, award-winning journalists, artists, and illustrators, television and YouTube stars, and of course one of her favorite kinds of client—the debut author. Her authors are found with all the major publishers, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, the New Yorker, Guernica, Granta, Glimmer Train, the Best American series, Pushcart Prize, Smithsonian, McSweeney’s, Narrative, One Story, and many more.

Sorche’s tastes in novels tend toward literary fiction, international voices, and voice-y novels with a strong sense of place. On the nonfiction side, books that tackle current events and topical and societal issues with a narrative treatment. She has a strong interest in women’s voices and class and race issues, quality lifestyle books (food, craft, design), and the rare memoir, providing it goes beyond the “memoir.” Sorche reps a few wildly successful children’s books and is eager for more submissions from illustrator authors only. She is one of the leading agents of humor, pop culture, and gift books. She and her co-agents work closely to maximize clients’ ancillary rights, including film and television, merchandising, and translation rights.

In 2022 Sorche got a taste of the author experience, publishing her own debut picture book (Trucks on Trucks) with Harper Collins. Truly every agent should experience the publishing process from the author's perspective, for better and worse.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

Literary, international fiction. Prose both original, lyric, and thought-provoking (think Deacon King Kong, Interior Chinatown, Homeland Elegies, anything like Lauren Groff's work)
Short story collections by published authors.

Narrative nonfiction both contemporary and historical (untold stories, cultural importance, soapbox journalism), (think Three Women, Soul of an Octopus, The Feather Thief...).

Humor and gift books (likely illustrated) with national appeal, the kinds of books one sees at cash registers and in stores that aren't bookstores primarily.

Children's books by illustrator authors—fiction and nonfiction.

SAMPLE TITLES OR AUTHORS

House of Caravans by Shilpi Suneja (lyrical literary novel about the long arm of the Partition)
East of the West by Miroslav Penkov (acclaimed short story collection, published by FSG, still one of my favorites)
Feather Wars and other Skirmishes in the Great Fight to Save Birds (forthcoming fascinating narrative nonfiction coming from St Martin's Press)

Specializes In

FICTION: Children's, Commercial Fiction, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Picture Books, Short Story Collections

NONFICTION: Cultural/Social Issues, Gift Books, Investigative Journalism, Juvenile, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, History, Humor, Multicultural/Global Perspectives, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Pop Culture, Science, Women's concerns

Considers

FICTION: Graphic Novels, Family Saga

NONFICTION: LGBTQIA+, Memoir, Music, Psychology, Sports, Technology, Travel, True Crime

Posted by GrubStreet in Literary Agent

Dana Murphy

DANA MURPHY

Dana Murphy is a literary agent at The Book Group.  After studying critical film theory and sociology at New York University, Dana began her literary career assisting Brettne Bloom and Elisabeth Weed.  In 2015, The Book Group was founded, and Dana began building her own list alongside that team.

Dana is hungry for writing that is immersive and surprising, with a voice so distinct it makes her cancel plans and read through meals. She is attracted to upmarket and literary fiction for both adults and young adults, and smart narrative nonfiction/essay collections about pop culture, social issues, science, feminism, race, gender, film and television, music, comedy, religion, and place. Across genre, she is interested in finding marginalized voices that speak to the radical change our world is searching for.

Dana’s client list includes literary fiction authors such as bestseller Danya Kukafka and Center For Fiction Fellow Alexandra Tanner, as well as celebrated culture writers like Blythe Roberson, Margaret Eby, and Claire Comstock-Gay (who writes as Madame Clairevoyant at The Cut).

Born and raised in Long Island, Dana lived in New York City for a decade before moving to Philadelphia last year.  She has since fully adapted to a cheesesteak-based diet and has accepted Gritty as highest deity into her heart.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

- Journalism-based nonfiction that looks at cultural phenomena we have taken for granted through a new lens
- A romantic comedy that is actually funny, has a tangible world built beyond the couple, and makes her want to start rereading as soon as she hits the last page
- Cultural criticism with an eye towards historically maligned pop culture
- Anything with a strong sense of place, particularly set in the modern American South
- Across genre, she looks for books with a strong, nuanced sense of humor and self-assuredness

SAMPLE TITLES OR AUTHORS

Blythe Roberson
Danya Kukafka
Claire Comstock-Gay

Specializes In

FICTION: GLBT, Humor/Satire, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural, Young Adult

NONFICTION: Cultural/Social Issues, Current Affairs, GLBT, Humor, Investigative Journalism, Multi-Cultural, Music, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Pop Culture, Science

Considers

FICTION: Historical Fiction, Horror, Short Story Collections, Thrillers/Suspense, Upmarket Women's Fiction

NONFICTION: Dating/Relationships, Food & Lifestyle, History, Medical, Memoir, Psychology, Religion, Technology, True Crime, Women's Concerns

Posted by GrubStreet in Literary Agent

Marisa Corvisiero

MARISA CORVISIERO

Marisa A. Corvisiero, Esq., is a literary agent and the founder of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. She is also an author coach, literary consultant, speaker, author, and attorney with more than 18 years of experience in corporate law and trusts and estates in New York City. She holds a J.D. from the Pace University School of Law with a focus in corporate and international law. She also received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hofstra University. Marisa began her publishing career as an agent at L. Perkins Associates before founding her own agency, which now has nine agents, two apprentices, and several interns. She has attended more than 60 writing conferences, and hosted or participated in numerous boot camps, workshops, webinars, and tutorials on the craft, mindset, and business of writing at many of those events, as well as hosted her agency’s AuthorPreneur Workshops.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

For Adults she will consider Romance, Thrillers, Adventure, Paranormal, Fantasy and Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, or any combination thereof.

In Romance she is specifically looking for Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, Romantic Comedies, Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Romance with angsty and sexy plots where both characters are very well formed with their own issues or shortcomings, and an overall creative obstacle they need to overcome to reach that happily ever after.  Heat level can vary from Hallmark Sweet to Chocolate Havanero Pepper Hot. However, the language, details, and plot must be suitable for each heat level and the market the story is targeting. I.e. Hallmark sweet will need toned down language and situations; whereas a super hot story can use more crude and direct language; and have explicit or graphic situations.

For Middle Grade and Young Adult she likes character driven stories with humor or grit, and very unique concepts in Fantasy, Adventure, and Science Fiction in any time period and setting with authentic and standout voices. Issue and event driven stories, still need well formed and relatable or redeemable characters. Looking for intimate character driven plots with unique voices a la Thorne of Glass (YA) and Jed and the Junkyard War (MG).

She seeks Picture Books with special stories to deliver a subtle non didactic message, with unforgettable characters that have special value. (Illustrations not needed.)

She especially enjoys Christmas, time travel, space, science, magic, superpowers, handicaps, conspiracies, and special relationships themed stories. She is a fan of heavy science and high concept, high stakes, out of the box plots. Marisa likes to be surprised by unexpected twists (as they should be). She enjoys the challenge of figuring out villains who have logical motives that give them a good reason for being who they are and seeking what they seek, and when the morality line is blurred enough to make the reader wonder who is actually in the right.

In non-fiction, she seeks well focused books in spiritualism, self-improvement, science, business and cookbooks. This includes non fiction books especially science, finance and cookbooks for kids! Although these are her interests, her acquisitions are not limited to these topics. Marisa is always looking for new and amazing concepts that will add new and unique information, visions, levels or other value to their respective fields. Significant platforms preferred.

SAMPLE TITLES OR AUTHORS

Harper Sloan
Heidi McLaughlin
Megan Erickson
Nicole Jacquelyn
James Dashner
Stephen Bohls
Kevin McGill
Nandi Taylor
Anna Berry
JRH Lawless

Specializes In

FICTION: Chick Lit, Children's, Christian, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Multi-Cultural, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thrillers/Suspense, Upmarket Women's Fiction, Young Adult

NONFICTION: Health & Fitness, Multi-Cultural, Nature/Ecology, Parenting, Pets, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Science, Self-Help, Spirituality, Travel

Considers

FICTION: GLBT, Horror, Humor/Satire, Multi-Cultural, Mystery

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Current Affairs, Gift Books, History, Humor, Juvenile, Memoir, Men's Concerns, Military/War, Music, Religion,  Technology, True Crime, Women's Concerns

Posted by GrubStreet in Literary Agent

Katherine Fausset

KATHERINE FAUSSET

A woman in her 40s with straight brown hair.

Katherine Fausset is an agent and vice president at Curtis Brown, Ltd. where she represents primarily literary and upmarket fiction, genre fiction, and select non-fiction.

Her clients include Emily St. John Mandel, Laura van den Berg, Benjamin Percy, Jami Attenberg, Crystal Hana Kim, Elise Juska, Chip Cheek, Cara Black, Amy Lin, Duane Swierczynski, Ioan Grillo, Kyle Minor, and the Estate of Lucia Berlin. She currently lives in New Orleans.

What I'm Looking For

Literary and upmarket fiction: I'm particularly drawn to knotty family dynamics, books set outside of the US, as well as to the strange, the dark, and the humorous.

Memoirs written with a special attention to the prose style, such as Amy Lin's recently published HERE AFTER.

Sample Titles or Authors

The Stone Home, by Crystal Hana Kim
Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel
The All-Night Sun, by Diane Zinna

Specializes In

FICTION: Literary Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Crime

        NONFICTION: Memoir

Considers

FICTION: Commercial Fiction, Crime, Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Humor/Satire, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers/Suspense

NONFICTION: Narrative, Memoir

Posted by GrubStreet in Literary Agent