Before joining DeFiore in 2016, Reiko Davis 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.
Reiko's interests are varied, but on the adult side she's primarily seeking literary and book club fiction. She loves historical, contemporary, or multigenerational novels both in the U.S. and internationally; family sagas; voice-driven coming-of-age stories; the occasional rom-com; and fierce, compassionately written works that grapple with identity and belonging and portray diverse lived experiences. She'd love to connect with promising writers of short fiction who are at work on a debut story collection and/or novel.
She also represents select narrative non-fiction projects that explore social justice, issues of race and gender, and the history and experiences of women and people of color. She loves compelling journalistic narratives that read like fiction or that use an intimate personal story as a lens for a larger issue or analysis. She consumes a lot of true crime in her free time so is open to seeing projects in the vein of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, The Fact of a Body, or Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil if a project like that were to cross her desk.
On the children’s side, 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. Right now she's especially on the lookout for middle grade non-fiction in the areas of mental health, science, political activism, environmentalism, and narrative history. She has a real soft spot for middle grade novels that empower kids to make a difference in their communities.
She's not looking for adult genre category fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, horror) or adult nonfiction with a highly prescriptive bent.
Fiction Highlights:
Lucy Jane Bledsoe A THIN BRIGHT LINE; THE EVOLUTION OF LOVE; LAVA FALLS; TELL THE REST (Akashic Books)
Devi S. Laskar THE ATLAS OF REDS AND BLUES (Counterpoint); CIRCA (Mariner Books); MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR (forthcoming from Mariner Books)
Genevieve Plunkett PREPARE HER (Catapult); IN THE LOBBY OF THE DREAM HOTEL (Catapult)
Shannon Sanders COMPANY (Graywolf Press)
Children's Highlights:
Lucy Jane Bledsoe RUNNING WILD (Margaret Ferguson Books); NO STOPPING US NOW (Three Rooms Press)
Andrea Debbink THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: How Adventurers, Artists, Scientists—and You—Can Protect Earth's Habitats; THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: CREATURES: How Adventurers, Artists, Scientists—and You—Can Protect Earth's Animals (Quirk Books); SYLVIE AND THE WOLF (Sounds True); IF THE RIVERS RUN FREE (Sleeping Bear Press); I WITNESSED: THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (forthcoming from Clarion Books)
Dawn Cusick THE ASTROCHIMPS: America's First Astronauts (Chicago Review Press)
Brittany Geragotelis STEALING GREENWICH, GOING WILD, and NO ADMISSIONS (THE INFAMOUS FRANKIE LORDE series, Pixel + Ink); SIX MINUTES series with Gen Z Media (forthcoming from Razorbill)
Lindsey Klingele THE MARKED GIRL; THE BROKEN WORLD; THE TRUTH LIES HERE (Harper Teen)
Sean O'Brien WHITE HOUSE CLUBHOUSE series (Norton Young Readers)
Stephanie Seales JODIE DOESN'T LOVE DOGS (forthcoming from Candlewick Press)
Kristina Wong, Dr. Theodore Chao, Jenessa Joffe, and Anna Michelle Wang AUNTIE KRISTINA'S GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM (forthcoming from Beaming Books)
Nonfiction Highlights:
Andrea Debbink THRIVE WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED: A Guided Journal to Help You Get Outside, Touch Grass, and Connect with the Natural Wonders in Your Neighborhood (Quirk Books); FLOWER FORAGING (Chronicle)
Freda Epum THE GLOOMY GIRL VARIETY SHOW (forthcoming from Feminist Press)
Alan Gelb HAVING THE LAST SAY: Capturing Your Legacy in One Small Story (Tarcher Perigee); CONQUERING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY IN TEN STEPS (Ten Speed Press); SEVEN STEPS TO CONFIDENT WRITING (New World Library)
Nancy A. Nichols WOMEN BEHIND THE WHEEL: An Unexpected and Personal History of the Car (Pegasus Books)
Alison Owings MAYOR OF THE TENDERLOIN: Del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco (forthcoming from Beacon Press)
Katie Simon UNTITLED ON SEX AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT (forthcoming from Kensington)
Dennis James Sweeney HOW TO SUBMIT: Publishing Your Writing with Small Presses and Literary Magazines (forthcoming from New World Library)
Brittany Wagner NEXT CHANCE YOU: Tools, Tips, and Tough Love for Bringing Your A-Game to Life (HCI Books)
Mallory Weggemann LIMITLESS: The Power of Hope and Resilience to Overcome Circumstance (Thomas Nelson)
How to Submit to Reiko Davis:
Please email her at reiko@defliterary.com with "Query" and the title of the project in the subject line as well as the following:
- A brief description of your project
- A brief, relevant bio
- For fiction, please include the first twenty pages of your manuscript pasted in the body of your email.
- No attachments, please.
