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 is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents, and serves on the board of the nonprofit organization Literary Agents of Change, 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 speculative 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

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 MISSING SISTER, WITH MY LITTLE EYE, MOTHER MAY I, and NEVER HAVE I EVER (William Morrow)

KJ Dell’Antonia’s PLAYING THE WITCH CARD, IN HER BOOTS, and THE CHICKEN SISTERS (Putnam)

Sarah Callender's LUCY IN BETWEEN (Holiday House)

Kathleen Donohoe’s GHOSTS OF THE MISSING (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and ASHES OF FIERY WEATHER (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Andy Abramowitz’s DARLING AT THE CAMPSITE, A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO FREE FALL (Lake Union) and THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT (Touchstone/S&S)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Laura Williams' AVAILABLE (Borough Press/HarperCollins)

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

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

Tanusri’s list features compelling new voices in the adult and children’s books spaces. In fiction, she’s specifically interested in literary suspense and multi-generational family sagas. Diverse perspectives, contexts, and storytelling styles are always welcome. She also looks for select accessible and wide-reaching nonfiction that helps make sense of our times. 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 a big fan of stories set in schools or interesting neighborhoods told from fresh viewpoints. For picture books, her list includes both, meaningful and 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 select nonfiction that excites the imagination and curiosity of young readers.  Originally from India, Tanusri lived in London for a few years before putting down roots in NYC. She is a graduate of the National Law School of India, holds an LLM from Harvard Law School and a PhD from Oxford University.

Huda Al-Marashi - HAIL MARIAM, Penguin/Kokila

Ayesha Chaudhry - THE COLOUR OF GOD, One World

Alec Carvlin - HOW TO BAKE A UNIVERSE, Norton Young Readers

Deepa Iyer - WE ARE THE BUILDERS, S&S BFYR; SOCIAL CHANGE NOW, Skinner Press

Natasha Khan Kazi - MOON’S RAMADAN and LULU IN THE SPOTLIGHT, Harper/Versify; BELA AND LILY, Penguin/Kokila

Karen Konnerth - THE SNOWMAN WALTZ, Sleeping Bear Press

Hope Lim - MY TREE, Neal Porter Books; I AM A BIRD, MOMMY’S HOMETOWN and AT THE WINDOW, Candlewick; SOURGRASS, S&S/Beachlane

Qasim Rashid - HANNAH AND THE RAMADAN GIFT, Penguin/Viking Children’s

Anitha Rao Robinson- SARI SISTERS, illustrated by Anoosha Syed, Viking; MUSIC OF THE BELLS, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat, Penguin/Viking Children’s

Keerthik Sasidharan - THE DHARMA FOREST trilogy, Penguin India

Simran Jeet Singh - Adult NF: THE LIGHT WE GIVE: The Power of Sikh Wisdom to Transform our Life, and DAILY WONDERS: Finding Grace, Solace, and Joy in Everyday Moments, Penguin/Riverhead Books; SIKHS AND SIKHISM, OUP

Simran Jeet Singh - Children’s: FAUJA SINGH KEEPS GOING: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon, A VAISAKHI TO REMEMBER, and WE BELONG TO THE WORLD, Penguin/Kokila

Kevin Christopher Snipes - MILO AND MARCOS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and DON’T LET ME GO, Harper Teen

You can query her at tpsubmissions@defliterary.com. For adult fiction and YA/MG projects, along with your pitch and bio, please provide a short synopsis (under 1 page) and the first 5 pages of your book pasted in the body of your email. For picture books, please include the entire text in the body of your email, and for an illustrated project, please provide sample illustrations and links to your website/Instagram page.

Tanusri Prasanna

Chris represents books across a broad spectrum of nonfiction—memoirs, narrative, prescriptive, Christian, and sports—and works with her authors to develop books that are appealing and accessible to a broad audience.

She is passionate about stories that must be told: of an achievement-oriented mother who learns the true worth of every life when her daughter is born with Down syndrome, a medical missionary who puts his life on the line treating patients during the Ebola epidemic, a couple who makes the stunning choice to forgive their daughter’s killer.

Chris is drawn in particular to authors whose faith engages the wider world, such as  American Psychological Association president Dr. Thema Bryant, Bread for the World president and CEO Eugene Cho, The Center for Justice + Renewal founder Christena Cleveland, and the Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy (CATTA) director Jason Wilson. 

Her bestselling authors in the sports category include sportscaster Ernie Johnson Jr., Big Ten Network lead studio host Dave Revsine, and New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. Publishing a book by NFL legend Brett Favre fulfilled Chris’s wedding vows – in which she pledged allegiance to the Green Bay Packers, for better or worse.

Prior to becoming an agent, Chris worked as an editor for several New York publishing houses, including Hachette Book Group and Random House, and helped launch an independent publishing company. Chris has a degree in English from Harvard University.

Amy Julia Becker - TO BE MADE WELL: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope; WHITE PICKET FENCES: Turning Toward Love in a World Divided by Privilege; SMALL TALK: Learning From My Children About What Matters Most; A GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny

Kent and Amber Brantly - CALLED FOR LIFE: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic

Dr. Thema Bryant - MATTERS OF THE HEART: Healing Your Relationship with Yourself and Those You Love; HOMECOMING: Overcome Fear and Trauma to Reclaim Your Whole, Authentic Self; RECLAIM YOURSELF: Take Back Your Life from Stress and Trauma

Curtis Chang - THE AFTER PARTY; THE ANXIETY OPPORTUNITY: How Worry is the Doorway to Your Best Self

Eugene Cho - THOU SHALT NOT BE A JERK; OVERRATED: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? 

Chanel Dokun - LIFE STARTS NOW: How to Create the Life You’ve Been Waiting For

Christena Cleveland - GOD IS A BLACK WOMAN; OUR LADY OF LIBERATION

Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore - LITURGIES FOR WHOLENESS: Sixty Prayers to Encounter the Depth, Creativity, and Friendship of God in Ordinary Moments; LITURGIES FOR HOPE: Sixty Prayers for the Highs, Lows, and Everything in Between

Kate Grosmaire - FORGIVING MY DAUGHTER’S KILLER: A True Story of Loss, Faith, and Unexpected Grace

Sara Harberson - SOUNDBITE: The Admissions Secret that Gets You Into College and Beyond

Sister Lisa Hezmalhalch - A ROME FOR RESTLESS HEARTS: Finding a Spiritual Home in Catholicism

Ernie Johnson, Jr. - UNSCRIPTED: The Unpredictable Moments that Make Life Extraordinary 

Stephanie Landsem - THE FAULT BETWEEN US; CODE NAME EDELWEISS; IN A FAR-OFF LAND

Helen Lee - THE RACE-WISE FAMILY: Ten Postures of Becoming Households of Healing and Hope

Dave Revsine - THE OPENING KICKOFF: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation

Ekemini Uwan, Christina Edmondson, and Michelle Higgins - TRUTH’S TABLE: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation 

Jason Wilson - THE MAN THE MOMENT DEMANDS: Master the 10 Characteristics of the Comprehensive Man; BATTLE CRY: Waging and Winning the War Within 

Justin Wren - FIGHT FOR THE FORGOTTEN: How a Mixed Martial Artist Stopped Fighting for Himself and Started Fighting for Others

Jocelyn Chung - WHEN LOVE IS MORE THAN WORDS; THE RIVER OF CAREGIVING

Sarah Shin and Shin Maeng - THE GREAT WAKING UP; THE DELIVERER HAS COME

Chris Park

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.

Amanda Weaver (FAST & RECKLESS and KISS & COLLIDE)

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

Beth Cato (A THOUSAND RECIPES FOR REVENGE, A FEAST FOR STARVING STONE and THE HOUSE BETWEEN SEA AND SKY)

Bethany Bennett (ANY ROGUE WILL DO, WEST END EARL, DUKES DO IT BETTER, GOOD DUKE GONE WILD and MY BEST FRIEND'S EARL)

Faye Delacour (THE LADY HE LOST, A LADY'S GUIDE TO LONDON and A MOST WORTHY HUSBAND)

Liana De la Rosa (ANA MARIA AND THE FOX, ISABEL AND THE ROGUE and GABRIELA AND HIS GRACE) 

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

Tori Anne Martin​ (THIS SPELLS DISASTER and NO CHARM DONE)

Samara Parish (WHILE THE DUKE WAS SLEEPING and THE DUKE'S GOT MAIL) 

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

Mason Rowlee joined DeFiore & Company in 2023. He previously worked as an assistant literary scout at Jenny La Plante, Inc., where he developed an eye for the type of books that appeal to international publishers and film production companies. He also interned at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, CBS Television Production, McIntosh & Otis Literary Agency and Gotham Writers Workshop. Originally from rural Upstate New York, he is a graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill.

Mason only represents adult books. He is seeking innovative, boundary-pushing literary fiction, engrossing upmarket and commercial fiction, and nonfiction that amplifies traditionally underrepresented voices in publishing. He is particularly interested in working with queer authors.

Literary novels with genre elements (romance, fantasy, horror)

Explorations of LGBTQIA+ relationships, chosen families, and communities

Unputdownable thrillers and horror novels with social commentary

Coming-of-age adventures with small town antics

Narrative nonfiction about the inequity faced by marginalized communities

Biographies of obscure or underappreciated historical figures

Well-researched, paradigm-shifting journalism

Memoirs with strong, voice-driven writing

Disruptive self-help with a social justice component

Mason is not looking for children’s books (including YA, middle grade, early reader or picture books). He also does not represent traditional SFF or romance.

Mason accepts only email queries. Send a brief email describing yourself and your project to mason@defliterary.com with the word “QUERY” in the subject line and the first five pages of your manuscript or proposal pasted in the body of an email.

Attachments will not be opened unless requested.

Submissions do not need to be exclusive, and response time is generally no more than two weeks.

Mason Rowlee

Elise represents writers and illustrators of fiction and non-fiction for young and adult readers, and is especially drawn to immersive storytelling, rich world-building, and illumination of landscapes known and unknown, including novels, graphic novels, and picture books. She’s also drawn to eye-opening narrative non-fiction, particularly stories of the natural world, and of people and events previously unknown, overlooked, or marginalized.

Prior to joining DeFiore and Company, Elise was a longtime editor and publisher. Books she edited have won the Newbery Medal twice, the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best juvenile novel twice, and many other awards and honors.

Elise is not looking for adult genre fiction. 

Please note that Elise is currently closed to queries apart from referrals.

Elise Howard

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

Laurie Abkemeier started her career in publishing more than thirty years ago and has been a literary agent with DeFiore and Company since 2003. Previously she was a senior editor at Hyperion, where she acquired and edited dozens of nonfiction books, including five New York Times bestsellers and many national bestsellers. 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 and the outdoors, health and wellness, self-improvement, investigative journalism, big ideas, women’s studies, pop culture, food, technology (digital and analog), the traditional past and speculative future, and the offbeat. She is very interested in working with people of color and those from historically marginalized communities who are writing on these topics. 

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

Laurie is always open to queries. More than half of her authors have come to her via an unsolicited email query, and many have had no previous writing credits. Something they all have in common is the talent and desire not just to write a book but to be an author. Please see her query instructions below. 

A native of Northern California, Laurie made her way east to attend college and now lives in Northern New Jersey where she enjoys hiking, cooking, walking her dogs, sending her grown children funny comics, and finding the best Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. 

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 THE BEAST IN THE CLOUDS (One Signal)

Rachel Lance’s IN THE WAVES and CHAMBER DIVERS (Dutton)

Anne Gardiner Perkins' YALE NEEDS WOMEN (Sourcebooks)

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

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

Rebecca Boyle’s OUR MOON (Random House)

Peter Brannen’s THE ENDS OF THE WORLD (Ecco) and THE STORY OF CO2 IS THE STORY OF EVERYTHING (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) 

Kimberly Potts’ IT’S (ALMOST) ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (Gallery)

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

Steve Magness’ DO HARD THINGS and WIN THE INSIDE GAME (HarperOne)

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

Cal Newport’s SLOW PRODUCTIVITY and DIGITAL MINIMALISM (Portfolio) and DEEP WORK (Grand Central)

Mary-Frances O’Connor’s THE GRIEVING BRAIN and THE GRIEVING BODY (HarperOne)

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

Scott Young's ULTRALEARNING and GET BETTER AT ANYTHING (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), NEVERLAND, OZ, and WONDERLAND (Andrews McMeel), and the ALL ABOARD! series (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) and COSMIC COMFORT (Clarkson Potter)

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 DON'T WORRY EAT CAKE (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

Caroline Livingston graduated from Dartmouth College with High Honors and a BA in English. After working as an editorial intern at DeFiore and Company during her senior year, she joined as a full-time assistant in 2025. Caroline works closely with Laurie Abkemeier on her list and is drawn to incisive, compelling storytellers with prose that jumps off the page. She is particularly interested in up-and-coming Gen Z voices, as well as diverse perspectives across the topics of pop culture, investigative journalism, women’s studies, history, true crime, technology, and self-improvement. Originally from Rhode Island, she now lives in New York City. 

Caroline Livingston

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