2024

Andrea Blatt

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

Lately I've been loving books in two lanes (and it's great if a story does both!). I love books that tackle the issues at the heart of being human, that make the political personal, that make the reader complicit, that traffic in complicated relationships, or that reframe our way of thinking about the past and present. And I'm so satisfied by stories that are uplifting and inspiring, with a warm and empathetic eye, with main characters you really root for and wit at the fore.

In nonfiction, I'm especially interested in investigative journalism and cultural criticism at the moment. In fiction, I've been searching for a charming romantic comedy, more stories set outside of NYC, and a book with a touch of magic or myth.

Maria Isabelle Carlos

Maria Isabelle Carlos (she/her) is an editor at Haymarket Books in Chicago. Originally from Missouri, she received her BA in English at UNC-Chapel Hill and her MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Vanderbilt University. She worked as a bartender in New Orleans for several years, an adjunct educator, a writing coach, a cafeteria server in Yellowstone (yes, the park), and an editor at Bull City Press, Nashville Review, and Zone 3 before diving into the publishing world. She is interested in acquiring works of poetry and nonfiction that balance political incisiveness with lyricism and musicality.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

With any manuscript, my first thoughts are usually about the writing itself. I’m drawn to confident and precise diction, musical syntax, illuminating detail, and a bold, indelible narrative voice. I’m also interested in inventive, experimental forms or structures that blur the borders between genres. Equally important to me is the manuscript’s political intervention. I look for work that is well-researched yet approachable, and that contributes to or expands contemporary discourse around cultural/political issues in exciting, revelatory ways.

For poetry: full-length collections (especially debuts!), translations, and the occasional anthology. For nonfiction: essay collections, hybrid memoirs, narrative journalism, biographies about revolutionaries. I hope to lift up the voices of marginalized writers and work by or about grassroots activists.

Martine Bellen

MARTINE BELLEN has been associated with Conjunctions—holding the positions of assistant, senior, and contributing editor—since receiving her MFA from Brown University in 1987. Additionally, she has worked as an editor at Henry Holt and Company, Carroll & Graf Publishers, and Martine Bellen Literary Services. As a poet, Bellen’s tenth collection, An Anatomy of Curiosity (MadHat Press) was published in 2023, from which a poem is featured in The Best American Poetry, 2023, edited by Elaine Equi. Her other books include This Amazing Cage of Light: New and Selected Poems (Spuyten Duyvil), The Vulnerability of Order (Copper Canyon Press), and Tales of Murasaki and Other Poems (Sun & Moon), which won the National Poetry Series. Bellen is the librettist for the following operas that have been performed throughout the United States: Ovidiana, based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses (composer, Matthew Greenbaum), AH! Opera No-Opera (in collaboration with David Rosenboom), and Moon in the Mirror (composer: Stephen Dembski and text cowriter: Zhang Er). Bellen’s poetry has been translated into Chinese, German, and Italian, among other languages. She has been a recipient of the City Artist Corps Grant, Queens Art Fund, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Fund for Poetry, and has received a residency from the Rockefeller Foundation at the Bellagio Center in Bellagio, Italy.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

Bard College’s biannual literary journal Conjunctions publishes innovative fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction by emerging voices and contemporary masters. For some four decades, Conjunctions has challenged accepted forms and styles, with equal emphasis on groundbreaking experimentation and rigorous quality. We are committed to launching and supporting the careers of unknown authors—William T. Vollmann, David Foster Wallace, Karen Russell, Isabella Hammad, and Raven Leilani all had some of their very first publications in Conjunctions—while providing a space for better-known voices—like John Ashbery, Sandra Cisneros, William H. Gass, Sigrid Nunez, or Joyce Carol Oates—to work outside audience expectations.

We strongly suggest that writers new to Conjunctions read our recent issues to acquaint themselves with our publications.

William Clark

William Clark is a native of Virginia and has lived in New York since 1992. After working at several small and large agencies, he founded his own in 1999. He represents a wide range of titles across all formats to the publishing, film, television, and digital fields on behalf of clients ranging from authors of award-winning, best-selling narrative non-fiction, fiction, and illustrated books, to authors in translation, chefs, musicians, designers, and artists. He is a former director of the Association of American Literary Agents and founding director of its charitable arm, Literary Agents of Change; and a member of PEN America and The Authors Guild. He is a longtime Buddhist practitioner.

Specializes In

FICTION:

NONFICTION: Military/War, Multicultural/Global Perspectives, Music, Narrative, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Science, Spirituality, Technology, Cultural/Social Issues, Investigative Journalism, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, Health & Fitness, History, Memoir

Considers

FICTION:

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Investigative Journalism, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, History, Health & Fitness, Memoir, Military/War, Multicultural/Global Perspectives, Music, Narrative, Politics, Pop Culture, Spirituality, Science, Technology

Leslie Zampetti

Leslie launched Open Book Literary after prior experiences at Odom Media Management, Dunham Literary, and The Bent Agency.

A former librarian with over 20 years’ experience in special, public, and school libraries, Leslie’s focus was on the reader, giving them the right book at the right time—which works for matching client work to editors too. Having negotiated with organizations from Lexis-Nexis to the elementary school PTA, she is able to come to terms that favor her clients while building satisfying relationships with publishers. And after cataloging rocket launch videos for NASA and model rocket ships for an elementary school, Leslie welcomes working with the unexpected challenges that pop up in publishing.

A writer herself, Leslie is very familiar with querying from both sides of the desk.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

At Open Book Literary, the focus is on bringing under-represented voices to publishing, especially those voices centering disability, poverty, women, neurodivergence, and Judaism, Islam, and non-western religions.
Life is messy, and so are people. Identities are complex, and Leslie champions the intersections between aspects of identity.

Overall, she seeks books with a strong commercial premise, distinct prose, and multiple layers of meaning that keep you thinking long after you finish the story. Think of a calm sea: it’s cool and inviting, but deeper than you expect.

Mystery: Diverse detectives; settings that function as a character; a mystery the reader can solve (but might not).
Romance: Underrepresented main characters and love interests; upmarket voice and tropes. Everyone deserves love in their life!
Historical Fiction: Again, settings that function as a character; underrepresented time periods and places; focus on the sovereignty and history of cultures and communities, such as the Hawai’ian people.
Nonfiction: For children, stories about science and/or art that hit the sweet spot in the Venn diagram between children, parents, & teachers. For adults, stories of the remote wilderness, the natural world (think MY OCTOPUS TEACHER or BLACKFISH), and true crime that focuses on the victims and social impact.
Picture books: Only author-illustrators or illustrators; sly, dry humor; difficult, complex, or sophisticated subjects.
Young adult: Verse novels; novels in stories; young YA (main characters 13-15).

Jennifer Chen Tran

Jennifer Chen Tran is a literary agent at Glass Literary Management. With over a decade of experience in publishing, Jennifer is passionate about nurturing and championing authors and their creative lives. She represents a wide range of talent, including journalists, physicians, entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, chefs, and graphic novelists, among others.

Prior to joining Glass Literary Management, Jennifer was a literary agent at several top literary agencies and served as Of Counsel at The New Press. She obtained her Juris Doctor from Northeastern School of Law in Boston, MA, and a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. She is an attorney in good standing in New York and California.

Jennifer is an editorial agent who believes in the art of collaboration and works closely with her authors from concept to publication and beyond. As a person of color and daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Jennifer is committed to amplifying voices from BIPOC, LGBTQ, underrepresented, and marginalized communities. Her ultimate goal is to work in concert with authors to shape books that will have a lasting positive social impact on the world—books that illuminate, entertain, and inspire.

Specializes In

FICTION: Children's, Commercial Fiction, Crime, LGBTQIA+, Family Saga, Graphic Novels, Horror, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Young Adult, Thrillers/Suspense

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Dating/Relationships, Gift Books, Investigative Journalism, Juvenile, LGBTQIA+, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, Health & Fitness, History, Humor, Medical, Multicultural/Global Perspectives, Music, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Parenting, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Religion, Science, Self Help, Spirituality, Sports, Technology, Travel, True Crime, Women's concerns

Considers

FICTION: Children's, Commercial Fiction, Graphic Novels, Horror, Humor/Satire, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Thrillers/Suspense, Young Adult

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Dating/Relationships, Gift Books, Investigative Journalism, Juvenile, LGBTQIA+, Current Affairs, Food & Lifestyle, Health & Fitness, Humor, Medical, Memoir, Multicultural/Global Perspectives, Music, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Parenting, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Science, Self Help, Sports, Spirituality, Technology, Travel, True Crime, Women's concerns

Naomi Gibbs

Naomi Gibbs is an Executive Editor at Pantheon Books. Previously, she worked in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade division. She acquires literary and upmarket fiction, both American and international, as well as some select memoir, essays, and narrative nonfiction. Some of her recent and forthcoming titles include the National Book Award finalist Chain-Gang All-Stars and Friday Black by bestselling author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah; Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa, finalist for the National Book Award; How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by bestselling author Alexander Chee; Thin Skin by Jenn Shapland, finalist for the National Book Award; No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin, winner of the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay; Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen, one of President Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year; and The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Erin Clyburn

Erin Clyburn joined Howland Literary in 2022 after three years with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. She holds a BA in English Literature from Mississippi State University and an MA in Children’s Literature from Hollins University. Erin represents middle grade and young adult fiction and adult fiction and nonfiction. In middle grade, Erin is looking for horror, mystery, grounded stories with a speculative element, magical realism/fabulism, big-hearted contemporary, and adventure stories. In YA fiction, she is looking for horror, mystery, thriller, grounded stories with a speculative element, magical realism/fabulism, and Southern gothic. In adult fiction, she is looking for literary and upmarket projects in speculative fiction, horror, mystery, psychological thrillers, domestic thrillers, magical realism/fabulism, and Southern gothic, as well as commercial psychological and domestic thrillers. In nonfiction, she's interested in intersectional perspectives and is looking for deeply researched narrative nonfiction and deep dives into topics including medicine, pop science, nature/environment, food and culinary history, and pop culture, specifically video games and music.

Specializes In

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

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Food & Lifestyle, Narrative, Nature/Ecology

Considers

FICTION: Family Saga, LGBTQIA+, Horror, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers/Suspense, Young Adult, Children's

NONFICTION: Adventure/True Story, Cultural/Social Issues, Food & Lifestyle, Narrative, Nature/Ecology, Pop Culture

Pilar Garcia-Brown

Pilar Garcia-Brown is a Senior Editor at Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Previously, she worked at Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She concentrates on fiction in multiple categories, as well as the occasional narrative nonfiction. Recent and forthcoming titles include the instant New York Times bestseller Black Buck, by Mateo Askaripour; Natural Beauty, by Ling Ling Huang, which will be produced for TV by Constance Wu; and the National Book Award–nominated collection Holler, Child, by LaToya Watkins. She is co-chair of the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Fete Committee, and she lives in Brooklyn.

Specializes In

FICTION: Family Saga, Humor/Satire, LGBTQIA+, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Short Story Collections

NONFICTION: Cultural/Social Issues, LGBTQIA+, Memoir, Narrative, Pop Culture

Considers

FICTION: Commercial Fiction, Family Saga, LGBTQIA+, Graphic Novels, Horror, Humor/Satire, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction, Mystery, Short Story Collections, Thrillers/Suspense, Science Fiction

NONFICTION: Cultural/Social Issues, LGBTQIA+, Memoir, Multicultural/Global Perspectives, Narrative, Music, Pop Culture, Women's concerns

Jenny Xu

Jenny Xu is a Senior Editor at Atria Books. She began her career at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and was most recently an Editor at Harper and Ecco. Jenny acquires a broad range of literary and commercial nonfiction and the occasional poetry collection, with a particular focus on illuminating more overlooked aspects of history and culture, and work that balances the personal with broader narratives. Prior to Atria, she acquired and edited bestselling and award-winning titles including Rise: A Pop History of Asian America, by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, and Phil Wang; You’re That Bitch, by Bretman Rock; The Big Reveal, by Sasha Velour; The High Desert, by James Spooner; The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, by Franny Choi; and Whiskey Tender, by Deborah Taffa. Some of her current authors include Lorelei Lee, Stephanie Krzywonos, Lenika Cruz, Tiana Clark, Elissa Washuta, and Amber Husain.

ANDREA BLATT

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

SAMPLE AUTHORS OR TITLES

MARIA ISABELLE CARLOS

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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MARTINE BELLEN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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WILLIAM CLARK

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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LESLIE ZAMPETTI

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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JENNIFER CHEN TRAN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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NAOMI GIBBS

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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ERIN CLYBURN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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PILAR GARCIA-BROWN

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

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JENNY XU

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

SAMPLE AUTHORS OR TITLES