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

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

John Meils joined DeFiore & Company in 2024 after five years as an editor at Workman Publishing. Previously, he held editor roles at Macmillan, Sterling/Union Square, and award-winning book packager Melcher Media. John has acquired and edited national bestsellers, including most recently Smart Brevity. Other titles of note that John acquired as an editor include: You Are What You Watch, Murderabilia, Brave New You, Patient Zero, How Sex Changed the Internet, and the forthcoming Whiskey Bible. John has also worked as a journalist in Washington, DC, where he covered national politics as well as local issues including cannabis regulation, corruption, and climate change.

As an editor who often came up with his own book ideas and built them from scratch, John is passionate about working with authors to fully realize their own visions and shape them into successful books, beginning with their proposals. He is also expert at guiding first-time authors through the publication process, something he did frequently as an editor.

John is looking to build a wide-ranging non-fiction list that includes: how-to of all sorts, health & wellness, science (pop, space, biological, and psychological), technology, nature/outdoors, true crime, quirky histories (medical, adventure, offbeat), investigative journalism, international relations, sports, parenting, and business. For prescriptive how-to, John is particularly keen to see books with a clear promise and message, a programmatic approach, and a strong author platform.

John has a deep history of producing illustrated books as an editor and will consider author-artist and visually driven projects with a clear and unique focus. He has also worked extensively helping brands (Nike, InStyle, Harley Davidson, Axios) translate their messages to books and is open to guiding established and emerging brands interested in launching book programs.

John accepts only email queries. Send a brief email describing yourself and your project to john@defliterary.com. Please be sure to include the word “QUERY:” at the beginning of your subject line, followed by your book title. Attachments will not be opened unless expressly requested. John’s response time is usually less than two weeks and you need not query him exclusively. If you have not received a response within a month, please check that the defliterary.com domain name is on your email server whitelist, as the response may have been rejected by your server. John does not consider fiction queries of any kind or hard copy submissions.

John Meils

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

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)

Rob Sheffield - HEARTBREAK IS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM (Dey Street 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)

Matthew McConaughey - JUST BECAUSE (Viking 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

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

Lisa Gallagher joined DeFiore & Company Literary Management Inc., as a literary agent in 2014, after working at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for five years.

Lisa represents novelists and memoirists who are great storytellers, delivering both narrative urgency and dramatic tension, combined with multi-faceted characters and a transporting sense of place, as well as experts, celebrities, academics, and journalists writing across a range of nonfiction categories. She has more than thirty years of publishing experience and insight from both sides of the Atlantic, and now as an agent, being a champion of authors and their work continues to be her passion. Her clients include New York Times bestselling novelists Christopher Moore and Charles Todd; Pulitzer Prize winner Julia Keller; film director, producer, author and visual artist Leopoldo Gout; memoirist Molly Bloom; and #1 New York Times bestseller Dr. Ian K. Smith, to name a few.

Formerly SVP & Publisher, William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins), Gallagher was previously Associate Publisher at Bloomsbury USA, following a move to New York from Bloomsbury's London office in 1998. Gallagher was educated at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, UK.

Submission Guidelines: No hard copy submissions are accepted. Please submit the first ten pages of your manuscript or proposal to lgsubmissions@defliterary.com in the body of your email. No attachments, please. Submissions that include them won’t be opened.

Lisa will do her best to read and respond to you within six weeks of receiving your submission. Unfortunately, due to the volume of submissions received, she is unable to respond to every one personally, so if you haven’t heard from her at all by then, it means that Lisa is unable to offer you representation.  It is acceptable to make multiple submissions to different agencies - just let her know - and if you get an offer of representation from another agent before hearing back from Lisa, she would be grateful if you could let her know by sending an email with the subject line “Offer received.” Thank you very much.

Lisa Gallagher

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

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) and MASTER OF CHANGE (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

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

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, 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 an agent, Elise is looking for new favorites— hers, an editor’s, and ultimately the reader’s: juvenile and adult fiction and 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 overlooked. Elise is not looking for adult genre fiction. She is taking on a select group of illustrators.

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 work.

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 illustration, one to three samples and information about where to find you portfolio or social media.

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

If Elise would like to read more of your manuscript or discuss representation, she’ll respond as within eight weeks of the date of your submission. She regrets that she is not able to respond to every submission.

Elise Howard

Reiko Davis joined DeFiore in 2016. Before that, she was at Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency for four years. She grew up in Kansas City, received her BA in Comparative Literature and Art History from Brown University, and is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course. 

She represents both adult and children's books. 

On the adult side, she's seeking literary and upmarket fiction as well as narrative non-fiction.

Historical and contemporary novels set both in the U.S. and internationally

Ambitious, multigenerational family sagas

Novels that rewrite what it means to be an American today

Stories set in our world with speculative or magical elements

Offbeat novels with troubled but loveable protagonists

Mystery, crime, and suspense novels with a literary edge to the writing

Coming-of-age stories, especially later in life

For adult non-fiction, she loves immersive, investigative works of journalism, history that fills a gap on the bookshelf, and cultural criticism. She's drawn to compelling narratives that read like fiction or that use an intimate personal story as a lens for a larger issue or analysis. This especially includes works that explore social justice, the history and experiences of women and people of color, and contemporary culture. She is also on the lookout for true crime projects that shed light on larger societal issues. She does the very occasional book on writing craft.

For children's literature, Reiko is actively looking for middle grade projects that aren't afraid to tackle big questions or important emotional truths, and do so through remarkable storytelling, humor, and heart. In addition to MG novels, she has a soft spot for MG non-fiction in the areas of mental health, science, political activism, environmentalism, and narrative history. She loves works that empower kids to make a difference in their communities. 

Reiko is not currently looking for YA or picture books. She does not represent genre category SFF, horror, or romance. Nor is she the best agent for practical non-fiction with a prescriptive bent.

Shannon Sanders COMPANY (Graywolf); THE GREAT WHEREVER (forthcoming from Holt)

Devi S. Laskar THE ATLAS OF REDS AND BLUES (Counterpoint); CIRCA (Mariner); MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR (forthcoming from Mariner)

Genevieve Plunkett PREPARE HER (Catapult); IN THE LOBBY OF THE DREAM HOTEL (Catapult); THE LONELY GIRLS' VEGETABLE PATCH (forthcoming from Feminist Press)

Anna Hogeland WILD ASTER (forthcoming from Bloomsbury)

Joseph Moldover TO THE END OF RECKONING (forthcoming from Mysterious Press)

Mary Annaïse Heglar TROUBLED WATERS (Harper Muse); HALLOWED GROUND (forthcoming from Harper Muse)

Joey Falco BLOOD ON THE VINE (Crooked Lane Books)

Lucy Jane Bledsoe A THIN BRIGHT LINE; THE EVOLUTION OF LOVE; LAVA FALLS; TELL THE REST (Akashic); ALL HANDS ON DECK (forthcoming from Akashic)

Sean O'Brien WHITE HOUSE CLUBHOUSE; WHITE HOUSE ON FIRE!; WHITE HOUSE UNDERCOVER (Norton Young Readers)

MinuteEarth HOW NOT TO GO EXTINCT: THE WILD WAYS EARTH’S MOST RESILIENT SPECIES SURVIVE (forthcoming from Bloomsbury Children's)

Stephanie Seales JODIE DOESN'T LOVE DOGS (forthcoming from Candlewick Press)

Andrea Debbink THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: Habitats (Quirk Books); THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: Creatures (Quirk Books); SYLVIE AND THE WOLF (Sounds True); IF THE RIVERS RUN FREE (Sleeping Bear Press); I WITNESSED: THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (forthcoming from Harper Alley); THE (SUPER)NATURAL INVESTIGATOR OF OTHERWORLDLY WONDERS (forthcoming from Storey)

Kristina Wong, Dr. Theodore Chao, Jenessa Joffe, and Anna Michelle Wang AUNTIE KRISTINA'S GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM (forthcoming from Beaming Books)

Dawn Cusick THE ASTROCHIMPS: America's First Astronauts (Chicago Review Press)

Lucy Jane Bledsoe RUNNING WILD (Holiday House); NO STOPPING US NOW (Three Rooms Press)

Brittany Geragotelis STEALING GREENWICH, GOING WILD, and NO ADMISSIONS (THE INFAMOUS FRANKIE LORDE series) (Pixel + Ink)

Lindsey Klingele THE MARKED GIRL (Harper Teen); THE BROKEN WORLD (Harper Teen); THE TRUTH LIES HERE (Harper Teen)

Nancy A. Nichols WOMEN BEHIND THE WHEEL: An Unexpected and Personal History of the Car (Pegasus Books)

Mary Annaïse Heglar 'TIL HEAVEN AND EARTH RING (forthcoming from Pantheon)

Alison Owings MAYOR OF THE TENDERLOIN: Del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco (Beacon Press)

Katie Simon TELL ME WHAT YOU LIKE: An Honest Discussion of Sex and Intimacy After Sexual Assault (forthcoming from Citadel Books/Kensington)

Freda Epum THE GLOOMY GIRL VARIETY SHOW: A Memoir (Feminist Press)

Andrea Debbink THRIVE WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED: A Guided Journal to Help You Connect with the Natural Wonders in Your Neighborhood (Quirk Books); FLOWER FINDING: Delight in the Splendor of Wild Blooms (Chronicle); BIRD WATCHING: Press Pause and Admire the Avian World (Chronicle)

Dennis James Sweeney HOW TO SUBMIT: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses (New World Library)

Alan Gelb HAVING THE LAST SAY: Capturing Your Legacy in One Small Story (Tarcher Perigee); CONQUERING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY IN TEN STEPS; SEVEN STEPS TO CONFIDENT WRITING (New World Library)