2020

Annie Hwang

Before joining Ayesha Pande Literary, Annie began her career at Folio Literary Management where she had the pleasure of working with debut and seasoned authors alike. As a former journalist, Annie possesses a keen editorial eye which she brings to her approach to agenting, taking an active role in the careers of her clients. Annie represents voice-driven literary fiction and select nonfiction. In particular, she gravitates toward subversive, genre-inflected literary fiction and impactful mission-driven narrative nonfiction that explores and grapples with the complexities of our world. A fierce champion for underrepresented voices, Annie is always on the hunt for gifted storytelling that stretches its genre to new heights.

Specializes In

FICTION: Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Humor/Satire, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural, Science Fiction, Short Story Collections, Thrillers/Suspense

NONFICTION: Cultural/Social Issues, Dating/Relationships, Food & Lifestyle, Gift Books, Health & Fitness, Humor, Multi-Cultural, Nature/Ecology, Pop Culture, Technology, Women's Concerns

Considers

FICTION: Upmarket Women's Fiction, Young Adult

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Current Affairs, History, Investigative Journalism, Memoir, Narrative, Parenting, Pets, Psychology, Religion, Science, Self-Help, Spirituality, Sports, Travel, True Crimes

Susanna Einstein

Susanna Einstein (she/her/hers) has worked as a literary agent since 2005 and launched Einstein Literary Management in 2015. She has worked in publishing since 1995, first in the publicity and editorial departments at what was then called Warner Books (now Grand Central Publishing) and then as a literary scout at Maria B. Campbell Associates. A native New Yorker, she graduated with distinction from Northwestern University. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

Susanna Einstein is an enthusiastic member of the Association of American Literary Agents. She has a particular fondness for crime fiction, upmarket commercial women’s fiction, Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction, and narrative non-fiction. Some representative clients in those areas are Ree Drummond, David Ellis, Jennie Fields, Rachael Herron, Emmy Laybourne, Sarah Seltzer, Daniel Stashower, and Kitty Zeldis. She likes a good story, well told.

Jonah Straus

Jonah Straus is the founder of Straus Literary, a boutique literary agency based in San Francisco with a presence in New York. He specializes in literary fiction, often with an international or multicultural outlook, as well as journalism, history, narrative nonfiction, and the culinary arts.

Jonah Straus got his start in the warehouse at Atrium Publishers Group, an independent book distributor in Northern California, and went on to hold positions in production, editorial, sales, and marketing at several publishers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He moved to New York in 2005, where he worked in marketing for arts and literary programs, including the Selected Shorts NPR reading series at Symphony Space. He established Straus Literary in 2007, and moved the agency back to San Francisco in 2013 while maintaining a regular presence in New York.

Fiction clients include Lambda award winner Achy Obejas (Days of Awe, Ballantine), National Book Award winner John Keene (Counternarratives, New Directions), David Hollander (L.I.E., Ballantine), Gregory Brown (The Lowering Days, HarperCollins), Saramago Prize winner Adriana Lisboa (Crow Blue, Bloomsbury), celebrated Canadian writer Clark Blaise (Lunar Attractions, Doubleday), and Man Asian Prize finalist Eric Gamalinda (The Descartes Highlands, Akashic).

Nonfiction writers include health care journalist Sarah DiGregorio (Early, HarperCollins), Brazilian bestseller Drauzio Varella (Lockdown, Simon & Schuster), environmental whistleblower E.G. Vallianatos (Poison Spring, Bloomsbury Press) and UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss (The Cage, Random House) as well as a select group of chefs, artisans, and food and travel writers.

Specializes In

FICTION: Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural, LGBTQIA+

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, History, Investigative Journalism, Medical, Memoir, Multi-Cultural, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Politics, Travel, Science

Considers

FICTION: Mystery, Short Story Collections, Humor/Satire, Thrillers/Suspense

NONFICTION: Humor, Men's concerns, Military/War, Music, Parenting, Politics, Psychology, Pop Culture, True Crime, Women's concerns

Reiko Davis

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

Reiko's interests are varied, but on the adult side she's primarily seeking literary and book club fiction. She loves historical, contemporary, or multigenerational novels both in the U.S. and internationally; family sagas; voice-driven coming-of-age stories; and fierce, compassionately written works that grapple with identity and belonging and portray diverse lived experiences. She'd love to connect with promising writers of short fiction who are at work on a debut story collection and/or novel.

She also represents select narrative non-fiction projects that explore social justice, issues of race and gender, and the history and experiences of women and people of color. She loves compelling journalistic narratives that read like fiction or that use an intimate personal story as a lens for a larger issue or analysis.

On the children’s side, Reiko is actively looking for middle grade projects that aren't afraid to tackle big questions or important emotional truths, and do so through remarkable storytelling, humor, and heart. Right now she's especially on the lookout for middle grade non-fiction in the areas of mental health, science, political activism, environmentalism, and narrative history. She has a real soft spot for middle grade novels that empower kids to make a difference in their communities.

Specializes In

FICTION: Children's, Commercial, Family Saga, LGBTQIA+, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Short Story Collections, Thrillers/Suspense, Young Adult

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Food & Lifestyle, History, Investigative Journalism, Juvenile, LGBTQIA+, Memoir, Multi-Cultural/Global Perspectives, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Pop Culture, Psychology, Science, True Crime, Women's Concerns

Considers

FICTION: Horror, Humor/Satire, Mystery

NONFICTION: Current Affairs, Dating/Relationships, Gift Books, Humor, Spirituality

Jessica Papin

Jessica Papin first joined DG&B in 2003, after spending eight years as an editor at Warner Books (now Grand Central). In 2004, she moved to Egypt, where she spent three years working for the American University in Cairo Press. Upon her return to the United States, she rejoined DG&B. With a background on both sides of the desk, she loves working collaboratively with clients to shape and refine their work. Her stay in the Middle East has given her an abiding interest in the history and politics of the region, as well as the broader Islamic world. She is interested in plot-driven literary and smart commercial fiction, and narrative non-fiction across a range of subjects, including history, medicine, science, economics, and women’s issues. In every case, she looks for passion, erudition, and storytelling skill. A wry sense of humor doesn’t hurt. A sampling of projects include Mychal Denzel Smith’s Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching; Therese Oneill’s Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners; Mona Eltahawy’s Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution; Qais Akbar Omar’s A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story; Christopher Yates’ Black Chalk and Grist Mill Road; and Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell, Death in the Air by Kate Winkler Dawson, and In Search of the Canary Tree by Lauren Oakes.

Specializes In

FICTION: Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural, Mystery, Thrillers/Suspense

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, GLBT, History, Humor, Investigative Journalism, Memoir, Military/War, Multi-Cultural, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Science, Technology, Travel, True Crime, Women's Concerns

Considers

FICTION: Chick Lit, Commercial Fiction, Crime, Family Saga, Fantasy, GLBT, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Horror, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Short Story Collection, Upmarket Women's Fiction, Young Adult

NONFICTION: Gift Books, Health & Fitness, Juvenile, Medical, Men's Concerns, Music, Parenting, Pets, Religion, Self-Help, Spirituality

Sorche Fairbank

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.

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

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

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

Amaryah Orenstein

Amaryah Orenstein, founder and president of GO Literary, is thrilled to help writers bring their ideas to life. Aiming to give voice to a broad range of perspectives, Amaryah represents a wide array of literary and commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. She is actively seeking works that wed beautiful writing with a strong narrative and tackle big issues in engaging, accessible, and even surprising ways. In addition to negotiating contracts, Amaryah works closely with each of her clients throughout every step of the publishing process, from concept development through publication and beyond. She takes a particular interest in the editorial process, offering skilled advice and guidance to help clients bring out the best in their writing.

Amaryah began her career at the Laura Gross Literary Agency in 2009 and, prior to that, worked as an Editorial Assistant at various academic research foundations, including The Tauber Institute, where she edited books for Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England. Originally from Montreal, she earned a BA at McGill University before coming to the United States to pursue graduate work in American History. She received her MA from the Contemporary History Institute at Ohio University and her PhD from Brandeis University.

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.

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

ANNIE HWANG

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

SAMPLE TITLES OR AUTHORS

SUSANNA EINSTEIN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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JONAH STRAUS

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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REIKO DAVIS

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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JESSICA PAPIN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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SORCHE FAIRBANK

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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DANA MURPHY

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AMARYAH ORENSTEIN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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MARISA CORVISIERO

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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ELEANOR JACKSON

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