Caryn Karmatz Rudy joined DeFiore and Company in the fall of 2010.

Prior to becoming a literary agent, Caryn spent seventeen years as an editor of both fiction and nonfiction for Warner Books/Grand Central Publishing. Her experience on the other side of the publishing desk has armed her with invaluable insight into the hurdles editors face throughout the entire publishing process from the book's initial acquisition to the marketing, publicity and sales vital to ensuring strong sales...and she believes falling shamelessly in love with a book is the ultimate weapon in any agent's arsenal.

Caryn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and currently sits on the Board of Kelly Writers House.

Joshilyn Jackson’s NEVER HAVE I EVER (William Morrow, July 2019)

KJ Dell’Antonia’s THE CHICKEN SISTERS (Putnam, June 2020)

Kathleen Donohoe’s GHOSTS OF THE MISSING (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, February 2020) and ASHES OF FIERY WEATHER (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, August 2016)

Andy Abramowitz’s A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO FREE FALL (Lake Union, December 2020) and THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT (Touchstone/S&S, June 2015)

Lydia Netzer's SHINE, SHINE, SHINE (St. Martin's Press, August 2012) and HOW TO TELL TOLEDO FROM THE NIGHT SKY (St. Martin's Press, July 2014)

Bonnie J. Rough’s BEYOND BIRDS AND BEES: Bringing Home A New Message to Our Kids About Sex, Love, and Equality (Seal Press, August 2018)

Amy Bloch’s THE POWER OF HEART: When and How to Get Out of Your Brain (St. Martin’s Press, November 2019)

Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider's NOT YOUR MOTHER'S RULES: Dating Secrets for Texting, Booty Calls, and Everything Else! (Grand Central Publishing, February 2013)

Dallas Shaw, THE WAY SHE WEARS IT (William Morrow, March 2017)

David Siik's THE ULTIMATE TREADMILL WORKOUT (Adams Media, December 2015)

I gravitate towards fiction with memorable characters, captivating voices, and original plotting, and I relish a great page-turner as much as a literary masterpiece. I am intrigued by a wide range of nonfiction, from narrative to practical, especially focusing on lifestyle, parenting, women's issues, and memoirs that exhibit quirky perspectives. In both fiction and nonfiction, if you can make me laugh, you've won half the battle. I don't work with science fiction, horror, romance, or paranormal novels.

Please email at Caryn@defliterary.com, using the word "Query" and your book's title in the subject line. Please include a brief, compelling description of the book in the email, along with a short bio, and for fiction and memoir, please include the first five pages of the manuscript in the body of the email. Attachments will not be opened unless I have requested them.

Caryn Karmatz Rudy

Matthew Elblonk joined DeFiore and Company in 2010. He currently represents writers in the world of music, pop culture, narrative non-fiction, food, young adult, literary fiction and humor. Interests also include science and any authors with great ideas and an equally strong platform. He tends to have a soft spot for all Beatle related projects. He is currently not considering any poetry or genre fiction.

Curtis Armstrong - REVENGE OF THE NERD: Or...The Singular Adventures Of The Man Who Would Be Booger (Thomas Dunne Books)

Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood - BIRTH SCHOOL METALLICA DEATH (Da Capo)

Rex Brown - OFFICIAL TRUTH, 101 PROOF: The Inside Story of Pantera (Da Capo)

Leslie Bruce - YOU ARE A F*CKING AWESOME MOM (Seal Press)

Jason Feifer - BUILD FOR TOMORROW (Harmony)

Peter Hook - UNKNOWN PLEASURES: Inside Joy Division (It Books); THE HACIENDA (It Books); SUBSTANCE: Inside New Order (Dey Street Books)

Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair - MCCARTNEY LEGACY VOL. 1 (Dey Street Books)

Holly Madison - DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE (Dey Street Books); THE VEGAS DIARIES (Dey Street Books)

Ralph Macchio - WAXING ON: The Karate Kid and Me (Dutton)

Matthew McConaughey - GREENLIGHTS: Your Journal, Your Journey (Clarkson Potter)

John Pring and Rob Thomas - VISUALIZING THE BEATLES (Dey Street Books)

Paul Rees - ROBERT PLANT: A LIFE (It Books)

Alison Sweeney - THE STAR ATTRACTION (Hachette Books); SCARED SCRIPTLESS (Hachette Books); OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS (Hachette Books)

Bryan & Michael Voltaggio, VOLT INK. (Olive Press) and HOME, by Brian Voltaggio (Little, Brown)

Kenneth Womack - MAL EVANS BIOGRAPHY (Dey Street Books); MAL EVANS ARCHIVE (Dey Street Books)

Katie Alender - BAD GIRLS DON’T DIE Series (Hyperion); MARIE ANTOINETTE, SERIAL KILLER (Scholastic); THE DEAD GIRLS OF HYSTERIA HALL (Scholastic); THE COMPANION (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers)

Lauren Conrad - LA CANDY Series (HarperCollins); THE FAME GAME Series (HarperCollins); Lauren Conrad STYLE (HarperCollins); Lauren Conrad BEAUTY (HarperCollins); Lauren Conrad CELEBRATE (HarperCollins)

Hena Khan - AMINA’S VOICE (Salaam Reads); AMINA'S SONG (Salaam Reads); ZARA'S RULES FOR RECORD-BREAKING FUN (Salaam Reads); UNDER MY HIJAB (Lee & Low Books); THE MAIN EVENT (Little Brown Books for Young Readers)

Jeffrey Michael Ruby - PENELOPE MARCH IS MELTING (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

Lauren Shippen - THE INFINITE NOISE (Tor Teen); A NEON DARKNESS (Tor Teen); SOME FARAWAY PLACE (Tor Teen)

Bella Thorne - AUTUMN FALLS Series (Ember)

Kristina Webb - COLOR ME CREATIVE: Unlock Your Imagination (HarperCollins); COLOR ME INSPIRED (HarperCollins)

Matthew Elblonk

Tamara joined DeFiore and Company in 2022. She started her career with internships at Macmillan and Writers House, then worked at ICM for five years. Tamara represents writer and illustrator clients in both the children’s and adult markets, with a particular focus on talented LGBTQ+ and BIPOC storytellers. She holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University and an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University. She also serves on the AALA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, where she co-directs a mentorship program for early career agents from underrepresented backgrounds.

Tamara is actively seeking graphic novels for all ages and across genres; science fiction, fantasy, horror, and historical fiction for middle grade, YA, and adult readers; upmarket and book club fiction, especially genre-bending stories, and those with an international bent; and adult & YA rom-coms and romance featuring LGBTQ+ characters. She also represents select nonfiction, including illustrated projects. Across all categories, she is passionate about championing marginalized voices and perspectives.

Please submit your query here: querymanager.com/tkawar

Tamara Kawar

Originally from northern California, Laurie Abkemeier graduated from Wells College with a degree in communications and experience in broadcast and print journalism. Her first job was as an editorial assistant in the Touchstone/Fireside division of Simon & Schuster, and she soon moved to Hyperion where she acquired and edited dozens of books, including five New York Times bestsellers and many national bestsellers.

In 2003, Laurie joined DeFiore and Company as a literary agent. As a former editor with extensive experience in what goes on behind publishers’ doors, she works closely with her authors to develop their ideas, polish their proposals, and guide them from deal to publication. She has represented more than a dozen New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. Laurie strives to maintain an eclectic list that spans history, science (physical, biological, and psychological), nature, sports, adventure, health and wellness, self-improvement, investigative journalism, big ideas, women’s studies, pop culture, and the offbeat. She is very interested in working with BIPOC who are writing on these topics.

Laurie also represents a select group of artists (see complete list below).

Laurie is always open to queries. More than half of her authors have come to her via an unsolicited email query. Please see her query instructions below.

Narrative Nonfiction and Memoir Highlights:

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s SEINFELDIA (Simon & Schuster) and WHEN WOMEN INVENTED TELEVISION (Harper)

Saul Austerlitz’s JUST A SHOT AWAY (Thomas Dunne Books), GENERATION FRIENDS, and KIND OF A BIG DEAL (Dutton)

John Grogan's MARLEY & ME and THE LONGEST TRIP HOME (William Morrow)

Nathalia Holt's RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS (Little, Brown) and WISE GALS (Putnam)

Anne Gardiner Perkins' YALE NEEDS WOMEN (Sourcebooks)

Kimberly Potts’ THE WAY WE ALL BECAME THE BRADY BUNCH (Grand Central)

Melissa L. Sevigny’s BRAVE THE WILD RIVER (W.W. Norton)

Jean Kennedy Smith's THE NINE OF US (Harper)

Ralph White’s GETTING OUT OF SAIGON (Simon & Schuster)

Peter Brannen’s THE ENDS OF THE WORLD (Ecco)

Daniel Chamovitz, PhD's WHAT A PLANT KNOWS (Scientific American Books)

Lisa Cron's WIRED FOR STORY and STORY GENIUS (Ten Speed Press)

Shaun Gallagher's EXPERIMENTING WITH BABIES and EXPERIMENTING WITH KIDS (TarcherPerigee)

Keith Houston’s SHADY CHARACTERS, THE BOOK, and EMPIRE OF THE SUM (W.W. Norton) 

Jessica Lahey’s THE GIFT OF FAILURE and THE ADDICTION INOCULATION (Harper)

Steve Magness’s DO HARD THINGS (HarperOne)

Deirdre Mask’s THE ADDRESS BOOK (St. Martin’s Press)

Cal Newport’s DIGITAL MINIMALISM and A WORLD WITHOUT EMAIL (Portfolio) and DEEP WORK (Grand Central)

Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD’s THE GRIEVING BRAIN (HarperOne)

Brad Stulberg’s THE PRACTICE OF GROUNDEDNESS (Portfolio) and MASTER OF CHANGE (HarperOne)

Scott Young's ULTRALEARNING (HarperBusiness)

Meg Adams: WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS? (Andrews McMeel)

Lee Crutchley: THE NOCTURNAL JOURNAL and GET LOST! (TarcherPerigee)

Rachel Dougherty: SECRET ENGINEER (Roaring Brook) and A RACCOON AT THE WHITE HOUSE (Simon Spotlight)

Jorey Hurley: NEST, FETCH, HOP, BEEHIVE et al (Paula Wiseman/S&S Books for Young Readers)

Andrew Kolb: EDMUND UNRAVELS (Nancy Paulsen Books), PEACE: A CARD GAME (Chronicle), and ALL ABOARD! (Abrams Appleseed)

Meera Lee Patel: START WHERE YOU ARE, CREATE YOUR OWN CALM, GO YOUR OWN WAY et al (TarcherPerigee)

Yumi Sakugawa: THE LITTLE BOOK OF LIFE HACKS (St. Martin’s Press)

Becky Simpson: I’D RATHER BE SHORT (Plume) and THE ROOMMATE BOOK (Andrews McMeel)

Debbie Tung: QUIET GIRL IN A NOISY WORLD and BOOK LOVE (Andrews McMeel)

Katie Vaz: MY LIFE IN PLANTS, MAKE YOURSELF COZY and THE ESCAPE MANUAL FOR INTROVERTS (Andrews McMeel)

Laurie accepts only email queries. Send a brief email describing you and your project to Laurie@defliterary.com Please include the word “query” and your book title in the subject line. Attachments will not be opened unless requested. Submissions do not need to be exclusive, and response time is generally no more than two weeks. If you have not received a response within four weeks, please check that the defliterary.com domain name is on your email server whitelist; the response might have been rejected by your server. Please note that Laurie does not consider fiction queries of any kind.

Laurie Abkemeier

Prior to joining DeFiore & Company, Elise Howard was the founding publisher of Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Workman Publishing, which she led from 2011 to 2022. Elise was previously SVP and associate publisher at HarperCollins Children's Books, where she oversaw the publication of many award-winning and bestselling books. Some of the authors she has worked with include Masuma Ahuja, Avi, Tracey Baptiste, Kelly Barnhill, Sara Farizan, Neil Gaiman, Kelly Jensen, and Nova Ren Suma. Books she has edited have won the Newbery Medal twice, the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best juvenile novel twice, and many other awards and honors. She began her career as a book packager, conceiving, selling to publishers, and developing juvenile and adult fiction and non-fiction projects.

As a literary agent, Elise is looking for new favorites— hers, an editor’s, and ultimately the reader’s:  fiction and non-fiction to be savored and remembered for its immersive storytelling, rich world-building, and illumination of landscapes known and unknown. 

Elise is generally not looking for genre fiction, but she may take on a book with a great love story at its heart or one with elements of fantasy. She is looking for a twisty, well-done mystery, especially if it features a great new sleuth with many stories to tell.

She’s also eager to represent eye-opening narrative non-fiction, particularly stories of the natural world, visible or invisible, including the human mind and body, or of people and events previously unknown or overlooked. 

Submission guidelines: Please email queryelise@defliterary.com with the title of your work and its category (e.g., adult n.f., middle-grade fiction) in the subject line. Please include in the body of your email:

•	A brief, compelling description introducing your book.

•	A paragraph (not more!) about you, relevant to your submission.

•	For non-fiction, a concise synopsis that compels me to read on and the opening chapter.

•	For graphic novels, the first chapter or the first twenty-five pages.

•	For picture books, the full manuscript.

•	No attachments, please. Submissions that include them won’t be opened.

Elise Howard

Brian DeFiore began his career in publishing in 1981 as an editor at St. Martin's Press. In 1988 he moved to Dell Publishing as senior editor, quickly moving up to the position of Vice President and Editorial Director of Delacorte Press. In 1992 he joined The Walt Disney Company's start-up publishing operation, Hyperion, where he served for five years as Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. In 1997, he took over the Villard Books division of Random House as Senior Vice President and Publisher.

Some of the authors Brian worked with as an editor and publisher include Ridley Pearson, T. Jefferson Parker, James Lee Burke, Ken Follett, Daniel Silva, Eve Ensler, Jon Krakauer, Jack Olsen, Leonard Nimoy, Jesse Green, Roger Kahn, M. Scott Peck, Linda Barnes and Bill Carter.

Brian started the agency in 1999, with a goal to create an editorially-driven agency that served the talents of its clients and its staff by bringing together creative, innovative, enterprising and dynamic agents to work collaboratively and boldly to help shape and market books with impact. And indeed, since its inception, DeFiore and Company has had the honor of representing dozens of bestselling, award winning, and culture-shaping writers and influencers. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Authors Representatives, as the Chair of the AAR Electronic Rights Committee, and on the faculty of The Center for Publishing at New York University.

Brandon Stanton (HUMANS OF NEW YORK: STORIES, HUMANS OF NEW YORK, LITTLE HUMANS, HUMANS)

Frank Warren (POST SECRET: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives; MY SECRET; THE SECRET LIVES OF MEN AND WOMEN; A LIFETIME OF SECRETS)

Bobby and Cheryl Love (THE REDEMPTION OF BOBBY LOVE)

Joel Fuhrman (EAT FOR LIFE, THE END OF DIETING; THE EAT-TO-LIVE COOKBOOK)

Dr. Neal Barnard (YOUR BODY IN BALANCE, THE CHEESE TRAP; POWER FOODS FOR THE BRAIN; THE 21 DAY WEIGHT LOSS KICKSTART; THE VEGAN STARTER KIT; YOUR BODY IN BALANCE, forthcoming)

Jill Schlesinger (THE DUMB THINGS SMART PEOPLE DO WITH THEIR MONEY: Thirteen Ways to Right Your Financial Wrongs)

Tom Ryan (FOLLOWING ATTICUS: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship)

Louis Zamperini and David Rensin (DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T GIVE IN)

David Rensin (ALL FOR A FEW PERFECT WAVES; THE MAILROOM)

Bill Shapiro (OTHER PEOPLE'S LOVE LETTERS)

Richard Yancey (CONFESSIONS OF A TAX COLLECTOR)

Rick Yancey (THE 5TH WAVE, THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP; THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST, THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DETECTIVE)

Benjamin Hale (THE FAT ARTISTS AND OTHER STORIES, THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE)

Adena Halpern (THE TEN BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE, "29")

My tastes are eclectic, and I tend to respond favorably to projects of any sort if they demonstrate a real storytelling talent. And to me, that means a combination of strong narrative drive and mastery of voice which leads the reader seamlessly into the author's realm and won't let him leave without a fight. It's not easy to do, and not easy to describe. But when it's there, it's hard to miss. That said, the areas I tend to respond more favorably to in non-fiction are memoir, popular culture, pop science, sports, self/help and inspiration, cookbooks, humor and lifestyle. In fiction: not romance or western. But all other sorts of novels that meet the criteria for 'storytelling talent' for both adult and young adult readers.

Send a persuasive e-mail to Querybrian@defliterary.com. (Or, if you must, a snail mail letter.)
The note should clearly indicate:

a BRIEF description of the book's contents

anything about your life experiences that will make readers take notice

most importantly: a level of creativity, confidence, and precision in the prose that will make me want to read several hundred more pages written by you…

Brian DeFiore

Born in Iraq to Assyrian and Armenian parents, Parik was raised in Florida. She received her BA in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing, from the University of Central Florida. While attending UCF, she was an Editorial Assistant at The Florida Review. She joined DeFiore and Company as an intern in 2017 and became an assistant in early 2018.

Parik is interested in both fiction and nonfiction, and craves stories that center BIPOC and underrepresented voices. She is particularly drawn to immigrant narratives, specifically Middle Eastern stories, as well as the intersection of political and social justice, pop culture and current events, and cookbooks that inspire you to get into the kitchen and try new things, even if you are are still learning (as she is).

Parik Kostan

Abigail Snyder is the foreign rights assistant for DeFiore & Company, as well as for Kaplan/DeFiore Rights, working with Linda Kaplan. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she joined DeFiore in June 2022 after earning her BA in English and interning at Peachtree Publishing Company and Ayesha Pande Literary. At DeFiore, she works with agents to help negotiate contracts for publishing their authors’ works in translation and in the UK. In addition to offering assistance to authors and agents, she handles international tax forms and supports DeFiore’s involvement in the London, Frankfurt, and Bologna Book Fairs.

A lover of diverse, mission-driven storytelling and nonfiction that centers the unique intersection of place and personhood, she enjoys reading international fiction and books in translation.

Abigail Snyder

Tanusri’s background in human rights law has helped shape her eclectic list, which features compelling new voices in the adult and children’s books spaces. She looks for accessible and wide-reaching, narrative nonfiction set against themes in social justice and representation, as well as memoirs and select fiction featuring diverse perspectives, contexts, and even storytelling styles. In the YA and middle-grade spaces, Tanusri is drawn to contemporary coming-of-age stories, charming and relatable romances, ambitious world-building fantasies, and well-plotted, voice-driven suspense. She’s also a big fan of stories set in schools or interesting neighborhoods told from fresh viewpoints. For picture books, her list includes both meaningful, lyrical, stories as well as ones that bring alive the wonder and complexity of our world with humor and heart. She’s also interested in nonfiction that excites the imagination and curiosity of young readers.  Tanusri was born and raised in India, and has been living in NYC for well over a decade. She is a graduate of the National Law School of India, holds an LLM from Harvard Law School and a PhD from Oxford University. 

Simran Jeet Singh (THE LIGHT WE GIVE: The Power of Sikh Wisdom to Transform Your Life)

Ayesha Siddiqua Chaudhry (THE COLOUR OF GOD)

Keerthik Sasidharan (DHARMA FOREST: Book 1 of the Dharma Trilogy)

Kevin Christopher Snipes (MILO AND MARCOS AT THE END OF THE WORLD)

Simran Jeet Singh (FAUJA SINGH KEEPS GOING: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon)

Qasim Rashid (HANNAH AND THE RAMADAN GIFT)

Hope Lim (MY TREE, I AM A BIRD, MOMMY’S HOMETOWN, AT THE WINDOW)

You can query her at tpsubmissions@defliterary.com with a concise pitch, short bio, and a two-page synopsis if querying YA/MG fiction. For picture books, please include the entire text in the body of your email. If querying an illustrated project, please provide sample illustrations and links to your website/Instagram page.

Tanusri Prasanna

Rebecca Strauss is an agent at DeFiore and Co. and focuses on literary and commercial fiction, women's fiction, fantasy, science fiction, romance, mystery, YA, pop culture and select non-fiction. In all genres, she's looking for a compelling story, clear concept, fresh voice and emotional heart—a work that grabs you from the first page. She's especially interested in emerging writers and underrepresented voices; and, she's looking to develop long term relationships.

Before joining DeFiore and Co., Rebecca was at McIntosh and Otis for seven years where she was an agent and Director of Subsidiary Rights.  Prior to M&O, she was a foreign rights associate at Trident Media Group, and a book scout and development assistant at Sony Pictures. She's originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and earned her degree in English Literature from Duke University.

You can follow Rebecca on Twitter @rebeccaliterary.

Beth Cato (A THOUSAND RECIPES FOR REVENGE, BREATH OF EARTH, CALL OF FIRE, ROAR OF SKY, DEEP ROOTS, THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER, and THE CLOCKWORK CROWN)

Shannon Fay (INNATE MAGIC, EXTERNAL FORCES​) 

Priscilla Oliveras (WEST SIDE LOVE STORY, ISLAND AFFAIR, ANCHORED HEARTS, HIS PERFECT PARTNER, HER PERFECT AFFAIR, THEIR PERFECT MELODY, and KISS ME, CATALINA)

Nicole Peeler (TEMPEST RISING, Jane True series and JINN & JUICE)

Amanda Weaver (THE ONE I LOVE TO HATE, LOVE AND THE LAWS OF MOTION, and LOVE AROUND THE CORNER)

Liana De la Rosa (ANA MARIA AND THE FOX, TO RESIST A SCANDALOUS ROGUE, TO TAME A SCANDALOUS LADY and TO TEMPT A SCANDALOUS LORD) 

Emily Victoria (THIS GOLDEN FLAME and SILVER IN THE MIST)

Bethany Bennett (ANY ROGUE WILL DO, WEST END EARL, and DUKES DO IT BETTER)

Kate Pembrooke (NOT THE KIND OF EARL YOU MARRY and SAY YOU'LL BE MY LADY)

Alanna Martin (HEART ON A LEASH, PAWS & PREJUDICE and LOVE AND LET BARK)

Ali Solomon and Janine Annett (I AM "WHY DO I NEED VENMO?" YEARS OLD)

Tori Anne Martin​ (THIS SPELLS DISASTER)

Please email her at Rebecca@defliterary.com with a brief query letter containing information on your book, your bio and the first five pages in the body of the email. Please include the word “query” and your book title in the subject line.

Rebecca Strauss

Adam Schear is a graduate of Tulane University and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He has served on the board of directors of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA, formerly the AAR) as well as on the AALA contracts committee. He began his publishing career at the William Morris Agency and joined DeFiore and Company in 2009. His clients have won The Center for Fiction First Novel Award and the AWP Award for the Novel and have been finalists and longlisted for The Giller Prize, The New York Public Library Young Lions Award, and The Kobo Prize. For non-fiction, he loves popular science, deeply reported narratives, literary memoir, and big idea books. He’s always looking for a writer who can explain a complicated concept in a gripping way. For fiction, he is interested in seeing inspired literary novels, voice driven comedies, smart thrillers with sharp dialogue, debuts and short story collections. Send him flawed, unreliable, magnetic characters, quirky dark novels that retain their humor and heart, and novels that blur the distinction between literary and other genres. He has a soft spot for sci-fi, especially when it breaks the mold, and YA with an honest and compelling voice. Across the board, he’s looking for the type of book that you’re compelled to recommend to everyone you know, and then secretly feel jealous that they get to read it for the first time.

Jake Wolff (THE HISTORY OF LIVING FOREVER)

Julie Lekstrom Himes (MIKHAIL AND MARGARITA)

Sonya Terjanian (THE RUNAWAYS, THE OBJECTS OF HER AFFECTION)

Christian Schoon (ZENN SCARLETT, UNDER NAMELESS STARS)
 

Other highlights include novelists and short story writers Andrew Ladd, Steven Ramirez, and Erik Hoel among others.

Please e-mail him at adam@defliterary.com with a query letter containing info on the book, your bio and the first five pages in the body of the e-mail.

Adam Schear

Miriam Altshuler began her career at Russell & Volkening, where she worked for twelve years with such writers as Anne Tyler, Eudora Welty, Joseph Campbell, Nadine Gordimer, and Bernard Malamud. In 1994 she established her own agency, which she ran for twenty-one years until she joined DeFiore and Company in 2016.

Miriam specializes in adult literary and book club fiction, narrative nonfiction, and books for children. She is particularly interested in finding emerging and underrepresented voices, and she loves reading and representing books that focus on diversity and explore the experiences of BIPOC people.

First and foremost, she responds to voice and stories that are character-driven. She searches for books that draw her in and give her a new perspective on a world she doesn’t know, or make her think more deeply about a world she does know. Miriam seeks books with a heart and writers with wonderful storytelling abilities.

In fiction, she is most interested in family sagas, historical novels, and stories that offer a new twist or retelling of some kind. She does not work with adult romance, sci fi, or fantasy.

In nonfiction, she loves memoir, narrative nonfiction, and self-help (as long as it is not highly prescriptive). She particularly responds to books that have an important cultural, social, or psychological focus.

For children’s books, she focuses primarily on YA and middle grade, and her tastes vary broadly in those areas. It always comes back to the voice and the heart of a story for her.

Elizabeth Rosner (SURVIVOR CAFÉ: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory)

Marja Mills (New York Times bestselling THE MOCKINGBIRD NEXT DOOR: Life With Harper Lee)

Wednesday Martin (New York Times bestselling PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE: A Memoir)

Dr. Sue Johnson (HOLD ME TIGHT: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love; LOVE SENSE: The Revolutionary New Science of Romantic Relationships; CREATED FOR CONNECTION: The "Hold Me Tight" Guide for Christian Couples)

Harriet Brown (SHADOW DAUGHTER: A Memoir of Estrangement and Reckoning; BODY OF TRUTH: Change Your Life by Changing the Way You Think About Weight and Health; BRAVE GIRL EATING: A Family's Struggle With Anorexia)

Donna Freitas (CONSENT: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention; CONSENT ON CAMPUS: A Manifesto; THE HAPPINESS EFFECT: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost; THE END OF SEX: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy; SEX & THE SOUL: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses)

Arlene Stein (UNBOUND: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity)

Dr. Molly Millwood (TO HAVE AND TO HOLD: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma)

Andrew Carroll (MY FELLOW SOLDIERS: General John Pershing and the Americans Who Helped Win the Great War; New York Times bestselling WAR LETTERS: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars; HERE IS WHERE: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History; OPERATION HOMECOMING; BEHIND THE LINES)

Dr. Craig Malkin (RETHINKING NARCISSISM: The Bad--and Surprising Good--About Feeling Special)

Adina Hoffman (BEN HECHT: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures; TILL WE HAVE BUILT JERUSALEM: Architects of a New City; SACRED TRASH: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza; MY HAPPINESS BEARS NO RELATION TO HAPPINESS: A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century)

Phil Zuckerman (WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MORAL; LIVING THE SECULAR LIFE: New Answers to Old Questions)

Jill Santopolo (New York Times bestselling and Reese's Book Club pick THE LIGHT WE LOST; MORE THAN WORDS; EVERYTHING AFTER)

Donna Freitas (THE NINE LIVES OF ROSE NAPOLITANO)

Robb Forman Dew (National Book Award winner DALE LOVES SOPHIE TO DEATH; THE EVIDENCE AGAINST HER; THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER; BEING POLITE TO HITLER)

Douglas Trevor (THE BOOK OF WONDERS; GIRLS I KNOW; A THIN TEAR IN THE FABRIC OF SPACE)

Jennifer Murphy (the forthcoming SCARLET IN BLUE)

Walter Dean Myers, former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature (MONSTER; FALLEN ANGELS; SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH; ON A CLEAR DAY; DARIUS & TWIG; BAD BOY; HANDBOOK FOR BOYS; GAME; WE ARE AMERICA; FREDERICK DOUGLASS)

Leslie Connor (THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE; A HOME FOR GODDESSES AND DOGS)

Ted Sanders (The Keepers series: THE BOX AND THE DRAGONFLY, THE HARP AND THE RAVENVINE, THE PORTAL AND THE VEIL, THE STARLIT FORGE)

Donna Freitas (THE HEALER; UNPLUGGED; THE BODY MARKET; THE MIND VIRUS; THE TENDERNESS OF THIEVES; THE SURVIVAL KIT; THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD; THIS GORGEOUS GAME; GOLD MEDAL SUMMER; GOLD MEDAL WINTER)

Tod Olson (LOST series: LOST IN THE PACIFIC, LOST IN OUTER SPACE, LOST IN THE AMAZON; LOST IN THE ANTARCTIC; INTO THE CLOUDS: The Race to Climb the World's Most Dangerous Mountain)

Alex Sanchez (YOU BROUGHT ME THE OCEAN; THE GREATEST SUPERPOWER; RAINBOW BOYS, RAINBOW HIGH, and RAINBOW ROAD; GIRLFRIENDS WITH BOYFRIENDS; BAIT; THE GOD BOX; SO HARD TO SAY)

Charles R. Smith (28 DAYS: Moments in Black History That Changed the World; BRICK BY BRICK; I AM THE WORLD)

Kathryn Siebel (THE TROUBLE WITH TWINS; THE HAUNTING OF HENRY DAVIS)

Christine Kendall (RIDING CHANCE; THE TRUE DEFINITION OF NEVA BEANE)

PLEASE NOTE: For all subsidiary rights and permission inquiries, please contact Miriam at miriam@defliterary.com

For all manuscript queries, please send an email to her at querymiriam@defliterary.com. Miriam only accepts email queries. Include the following:

The first chapter pasted in the body of your email. Attachments will not be opened.

I also really want to know what you feel the heart of your book is, in one or two sentences.

Miriam Altshuler

Originally from rural Upstate New York, Mason Rowlee holds a BA in English, with a concentration in creative writing and journalism from Fordham College at Rose Hill. While in college, he interned at DeFiore & Company, as well as McIntosh & Otis Literary Agency, Gotham Writers Workshop, CBS Television Production and Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He previously worked as an assistant literary scout at Jenny La Plante, Inc., where he developed an eye for the types of literary and upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction that also appeal to international publishers as well as film production companies. As of August 2023, he is excited to return to DeFiore & Company as an assistant.

Mason loves innovative, boundary-pushing literary fiction, engrossing upmarket fiction, and nonfiction that amplifies traditionally underrepresented voices in publishing, particularly those by queer authors. He is not accepting queries at this time.

Mason Rowlee

Linda joined DeFiore and Company in 2015 after 15 years at the Crown Publishing Group as VP, director of subsidiary rights. Before Crown, she had worked at the Walt Disney Company’s start-up publishing group, Hyperion, where she worked with Brian. She has nearly thirty years of subsidiary rights experience and has licensed across all categories including children’s books, history, science, cooking, craft, spirituality and self-help as well as literary and commercial fiction.

She has negotiated many deals on behalf of, among others, Gillian Flynn, Anthony Marra, Martha Stewart, Andy Weir, Tim Ferriss, Deepak Chopra, Barack Obama, George Bush, Byron Katie and Hayley Pomroy.

In addition to her DCO responsibilities, Linda is also the director of a separate business, Kaplan/DeFiore Rights, which represents North American literary agents and independent publishers in the UK and translation marketplace. For more info on Kaplan/DeFiore Rights, click here.