Laura Usselman represents narrative and idea-driven nonfiction and select literary fiction. Her clients include national bestsellers, Pulitzer finalists, and winners of the Whiting, Gerald Loeb and National Magazine Awards. 

Laura’s favorite novels are written in distinctive prose and have memorable characters at their heart. She is forever on the hunt for fiction that broadens or deepens her understanding of what it means to be a person, and she relishes a place or a character that will remain real to her for a long time. Some of her favorite novelists working today include Kate Atkinson, Hernan Diaz, Rachel Kushner, Chang-Rae Lee, Marilynne Robinson, Junot Diaz, and Jesmyn Ward. 

In nonfiction, she is particularly on the hunt for striking and original literary nonfiction; deeply reported journalism, especially from the worlds of tech and business; immersive narrative history that illuminates our present moment; and smart cultural criticism that provides a new perspective on film, music, art, or sports. She is always drawn to writers who have an obsession with their subject and a love of language. 

Before becoming an agent, Laura earned her MFA in Fiction at Virginia Tech and worked at Cambridge University Press. She enjoys native plant gardening, cooking, and being outdoors. A native of Atlanta and an alum of the University of Georgia, she lives with her spouse and her three daughters in Decatur, Georgia.

Please send a query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript or proposal, pasted into the body of the email, to laura.query@defliterary.com. No attachments please. I generally read all queries within two weeks of receipt. I regret that due to the volume of queries received, I will respond only if I am interested in seeing more material.

Please let me know if you’ve used any AI tools in the research or organization of your manuscript or proposal. If you use AI for writing or editing, I respectfully ask that you query another agent.

THE HOUSEWIVES UNDERGROUND: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the JFK Assassination Our Most Enduring Mystery

THE SERPENT AND THE SOUTH

YOU CAN’T SEE ME

THE IMMORTAL WOMB

SHELTER

Laura Usselman

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.

Originally from Minnesota, Linda graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband and twin daughters.

Linda Kaplan

Subsidiary Rights Director

Tanusri represents writers in the children’s and adult spaces across fiction and nonfiction. In the YA and middle-grade spaces, she’s drawn to contemporary coming-of-age stories, charming and relatable romances, ambitious world-building fantasies, and well-plotted, voice-driven suspense. She’s a fan of stories set in schools or interesting neighborhoods, told from fresh viewpoints. For picture books, Tanusri’s list includes meaningful and lyrical stories as well as books 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. In adult fiction, she’s drawn to 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. 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 (Kokila, Penguin)

Deepa Iyer - WE ARE THE BUILDERS (S&S BFYR)

Natasha Khan Kazi - MOON’S RAMADAN, SUN’S EID (forthcoming Versify, Harper); BELA AND LILY (Kokila, Penguin)

Hope Lim - MOMMY’S HOMETOWN, I AM A BIRD, AT THE WINDOW (Candlewick); SOURGRASS (Beachlane, S&S)

Qasim Rashid - HANNAH AND THE RAMADAN GIFT (Viking, Penguin)

Anitha Rao-Robinson- SARI SISTERS, illustrated by Anoosha Syed, MUSIC OF THE BELLS, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat (Viking, Penguin)

Simran Jeet Singh - FAUJA SINGH KEEPS GOING, A VAISAKHI TO REMEMBER, WE BELONG TO THE WORLD (forthcoming) (Viking, Penguin)

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

Deepa Iyer – SOCIAL CHANGE NOW (Skinner Press)

Meghana Mysore – LET ALL OUR GHOSTS DEPART (Forthcoming WVU Press)

Simran Jeet Singh -THE LIGHT WE GIVE: The Power of Sikh Wisdom to Transform our Life (Riverhead, Penguin); DAILY WONDERS: Finding Grace, Solace, and Joy in Everyday Moments (forthcoming Riverhead, Penguin); SIKHS AND SIKHISM (forthcoming OUP); REMEMBERING GURU NANAK (forthcoming Princeton Univ. Press)

You can query Tanusri at tpsubmissions@defliterary.com. For adult fiction and YA/MG projects, please provide a concise pitch, bio, and short synopsis, and include the first 5 pages of the manuscript in the body of the email. For picture books, please include the entire text in the body of your email, and for an illustrated project, please attach sample illustrations in pdf format and links to your portfolio.  

Tanusri Prasanna

Barbara Jones worked as an editor for more than thirty years, first in magazines (Harper’s Magazine, Vogue, More Magazine) then in books (as editorial director at Hyperion Books and executive editor at Henry Holt). Some of the writers she worked in magazines include Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth Gilbert, Christopher Hitchens, Jean Korelitz, Lorrie Moore, Ann Patchett and Francine Prose. As a book editor, she edited and published national and New York Times bestsellers as well as national and international prizewinning titles by authors such as Luvvie Ajayi, Paul Auster, Dan Chaon, Susan Choi, Kelly Corrigan, Chitra Divakaruni, Sebastian Faulks, Lauren Groff, Janice Hadlow, Lillian Li, Julie Lythcott-Haims, Rick Moody, Rachel Khong, Lauren Francis-Sharma and many others.

As an agent, she represents an eclectic list of literary and upmarket fiction and nonfiction titles, with a special interest in voices from underrepresented communities. In 2021, she joined the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, which merged with Defiore and Company in 2026. Her clients include Mohammed Naseehu Ali, Kate Axelrod, Charles Bock, J.J. Duncan, Elizabeth Ferris, Rafael Frumkin, Tali Gumbiner, Tiffany Hanssen, Julia Harrell, Danielle Lazarin, Lisa Lindsay, Isaac Oliver, The Swans of Harlem and Anastasia Taylor-Lind among others. For more than thirty years, Barbara has also led writing workshops—at New York University, Queens University of Charlotte, Yale University and elsewhere.

CHARLOTTE: A Novel of Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Ferris (Forthcoming -- William Morrow)

THE SWANS OF HARLEM: Five Black Ballerinas Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and the Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History Karen Valby (Pantheon)

MY NAME WAS GERRY SASS, Tiffany Hanssen (Atlantic Crime)

I WILL DO BETTER, A Memoir, Charles Bock (Abrams Books)

CONFIDENCE and BUGSY: And Other Stories, Raf Frumkin (Simon & Schuster)

HOW TO GET ALONG WITHOUT ME, Kate Axelrod (Clash Books)

I have eclectic taste but always appreciate books written with respect for and generosity toward readers, books that reward rereading, and books that hum with a sense that the writer has something urgent—be it marvelous, terrifying or both—to show the reader for the reader's sake. (Even memoirs are not about the memoirist but are for and about the reader.)

Please send a query letter that includes, a brief bit of info about your project; a brief, relevant bio, and the first ten pages of your manuscript or proposal (dropped into the body of an email, not as an attachment). If you have used AI in any way to prepare your writing for submission, please disclose that with your query. Note: If you don’t hear anything at all from me within two months, you can assume that I have passed up the opportunity to engage with your work as an agent.

INTIMACY IDIOT

THE SWANS OF HARLEM

THE SWANS OF HARLEM (Adopted for Young Adults)

CONFIDENCE

MY NAME WAS GERRY SASS

I WILL DO BETTER

HOW TO GET ALONG WITHOUT ME

Barbara Jones

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.

Leila Philip (BEAVERLAND: How One Weird Rodent Made America)

Elizabeth Rosner (SURVIVOR CAFÉ: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory; THIRD EAR: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening)

Karleigh Frisbie Brogan (HOLDING: A Memoir About Mothers, Drugs, and Other Comforts)

Barbara Becker (HEARTWOOD: The Art of Living with the End in Mind)

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)

Maya Shanbhag Lang (WHAT WE CARRY: A Memoir)

Jill Santopolo (New York Times bestselling and Reese's Book Club pick THE LIGHT WE LOST; MORE THAN WORDS; EVERYTHING AFTER; THE LOVE WE FOUND; STARS IN AN ITALIAN SKY)

B.S. Shapiro (THE LOST MASTERPIECE; THE ART FORGER)

Jennifer Murphy (SCARLET IN BLUE; THE GHOST WOMEN)

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)

Maya Shanbhag Lang (THE SIXTEENTH OF JUNE)

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; ANYBODY HERE SEEN FRENCHIE?)

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)

Jill Santopolo (SPARKLE SPA series; CAN YOU GROW A STRIPED BANANA?)

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

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

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

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.

Please submit your query here: https://QueryTracker.net/query/mrowlee

As of June 2026, Mason only accepts queries through QueryTracker.

Mason Rowlee

Brian DeFiore began his career in publishing as an editor at St. Martin's Press, and spent several years on the editorial side of publishing, rising through jobs at Dell Publishing, Delacorte Press, William Morrow, as Editor-in-Chief of Hyperion and Publisher of the Villard Books division of Random House.

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, Leonard Nimoy, Jesse Green, Roger Kahn, M. Scott Peck and Bill Carter.

He started the agency in 1999 and has worked with a select list of exceptional authors and creators, while carefully building the agency with the addition of brilliant and collaborative agents and staff.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Literary Agents, as the Chair of their Media and Digital Innovations Committee, and on the faculty of The Center for Publishing at New York University.

Brandon Stanton (DEAR NEW YORK, HUMANS OF NEW YORK)

Frank Warren (POST SECRET, A LIFETIME OF SECRETS)

Dr. Neal Barnard (THE POWER FOODS DIET, YOUR BODY IN BALANCE)

Jay Heinrichs (ARISTOTLE’S GUIDE TO SELF-PERSUASION, THANK YOU FOR ARGUING)

Mihaela Noroc (THE ATLAS OF BEAUTY, THE POWER OF WOMEN)

Dr. Scott Sells (PARENTING YOUR OUT-OF-CONTROL TEENAGER)

Bobby and Cheryl Love (THE REDEMPTION OF BOBBY LOVE)

Joel Fuhrman (EAT FOR LIFE, THE END OF DIETING)

Jill Schlesinger (THE GREAT MONEY RESET, THE DUMB THINGS SMART PEOPLE DO WITH THEIR MONEY)

Tom Ryan (WILL’S RED COAT, FOLLOWING ATTICUS)

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)

Jake Wolff (THE STUTTERING KITCHENS, THE HISTORY OF LIVING FOREVER)

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

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.

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

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)