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
Joey Falco BLOOD ON THE VINE (forthcoming)
Devi S. Laskar THE ATLAS OF REDS AND BLUES; CIRCA; MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR (forthcoming)
Genevieve Plunkett PREPARE HER; IN THE LOBBY OF THE DREAM HOTEL
Shannon Sanders COMPANY
Children's Highlights:
Lucy Jane Bledsoe RUNNING WILD; NO STOPPING US NOW
Andrea Debbink THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: HABITATS; THE WILD WORLD HANDBOOK: CREATURES; SYLVIE AND THE WOLF; IF THE RIVERS RUN FREE; I WITNESSED: THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (forthcoming)
Dawn Cusick THE ASTROCHIMPS
Brittany Geragotelis STEALING GREENWICH, GOING WILD, and NO ADMISSIONS (THE INFAMOUS FRANKIE LORDE series); SIX MINUTES series with Gen Z Media (forthcoming)
Lindsey Klingele THE MARKED GIRL; THE BROKEN WORLD; THE TRUTH LIES HERE
Sean O'Brien WHITE HOUSE CLUBHOUSE; WHITE HOUSE ON FIRE! (forthcoming)
Stephanie Seales JODIE DOESN'T LOVE DOGS (forthcoming)
Kristina Wong, Dr. Theodore Chao, Jenessa Joffe, and Anna Michelle Wang AUNTIE KRISTINA'S GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM (forthcoming)
Nonfiction Highlights:
Andrea Debbink THRIVE WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED; FLOWER FINDING; BIRD WATCHING (forthcoming)
Freda Epum THE GLOOMY GIRL VARIETY SHOW (forthcoming)
Alan Gelb HAVING THE LAST SAY; CONQUERING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY IN TEN STEPS; SEVEN STEPS TO CONFIDENT WRITING
Nancy A. Nichols WOMEN BEHIND THE WHEEL
Alison Owings MAYOR OF THE TENDERLOIN (forthcoming)
Katie Simon UNTITLED ON SEX AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT (forthcoming)
Dennis James Sweeney HOW TO SUBMIT (forthcoming)
Brittany Wagner NEXT CHANCE YOU
Mallory Weggemann LIMITLESS
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.
