Literary Agent Interview Series
Learn from the experts! Every Wednesday this Fall, we will hear from agents representing picture book authors in the book industry. We will get the inside scoop on what they look for when reading manuscripts and more!
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Tune in every Wednesday this fall with host and publisher Maria Dismondy!
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Agents
Meet the line up of literary agents participating in this interview series. Click their name to watch the replay after the LIVE interview date has passed.
Stephanie Hansen
9-9-20 METAMORPHOSIS LITERARY AGENCY
Stephanie represents authors with their debut novels and New York Times-bestsellers and has brokered deals with small presses and major publishing houses. She holds a master’s degree with a Creative Writing Specialization. She predominantly represents YA SF/F but has a secret addiction for romance. While these are her favorite, she handles everything fiction from children's books to adult thrillers. Previously an editor for Mind’s Eye Literary Magazine, she joined Metamorphosis July 2016. Originally looking to help Midwest authors in "flyover states" to garner the attention of major publishing houses, she found camaraderie with multiple agents and editors. Stephanie is unilaterally deaf with 90 dB tinnitus. She's dedicated to elevating voices that often go unheard.
Mark Gottlieb
9-16-20 TRIDENT MEDIA GROUP
Mark Gottlieb is a prominent literary agent working at book publishing’s leading literary agency Trident Media Group in New York City. He has ranked highly among literary agents across the industry for overall number of deals and other individual categories. While at Trident Media Group, Mark Gottlieb has represented New York Times bestselling authors as well as major award-winning authors. He has optioned and sold numerous books to production companies and studios for film and TV adaptation. Mark Gottlieb greatly enjoys working with authors to help manage and grow their careers with the resources available at Trident Media Group. In addition to having worked at the company’s Foreign Rights Department, he also ran the company’s Audiobook Department. Utilizing his drive and intuition for discovering talented writers, he is currently expanding his client list of authors. As a literary agent he looks forward to bringing authors to the largest possible audience.
Alyssa Jennette
9-23-20 STONESONG
Alyssa Jennette joined Stonesong in June 2015 after interning at the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency. She grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Illustration in 2010. As a result, she has unique insight and expertise when it comes to design-heavy or illustrated works. Alyssa is a very editorial agent; she finds a lot of joy in shaping stories alongside the author and delights in building long-term partnerships. In her spare time, she's the co-founder of a four-year-old book club called #readmorewomen, and a snuggler of cats.
Jessica Reino
09-30-20 METAMORPHOSIS LITERARY AGENCY
Working for many years as a freelance substantive editor and being a multi-genre author herself, it is no surprise that Jessica has a wide variety of tastes when it comes to storytelling. She's a member of SCBWI New England, The Women’s Fiction Writers Association where she was a Webinar Program Leader. She has also been a contributor for The Children’s Writer’s Guild Online Magazine as well as a reviewer for Story Monsters Ink. She has experience as an author coach and freelance editor with Pandamoon Publishing. She also runs a monthly Twitter chat #thewriterszen. Whether the story is tackling tough topics, or serves solely to entertain, Jessica is looking for manuscripts that are well-written with a strong voice in order to make that emotional connection.
Kaitlyn Sanchez
10-07-20 OLSWANGER LITERARY
Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez is a mom, wife, associate agent at Olswanger Literary, middle school math teacher, and picture book author. She's also the proud co-creator and co-host of the Spring Fling Kidlit Contest, creator and co-host of the Kidlit Fall Writing Frenzy Contest, and co-creator co-host of Kidlit Zombie Week. In her free time, she loves to play soccer, binge-watch TV shows, and, of course, read, especially when she's all cozied up with her husband and daughter reading together.
Saba Sulaiman
10-14-20 Talcott Notch Literary Services
Saba Sulaiman is an agent at Talcott Notch Literary Services, a boutique agency located in Milford, CT. She holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MA from the University of Chicago, where she studied modern Persian literature. In children’s fiction, she is building her Picture Book, Middle Grade and Young Adult lists, and is particularly (although not exclusively) interested in contemporary realistic stories. Being an immigrant who is constantly negotiating her own identity and sense of belonging in a place she now calls “home,” she is committed to highlighting more diverse voices with compelling stories to tell; stories that demonstrate the true range of perspectives that exist in this world, and address urgent and often underexplored issues in both fiction and non-fiction with veracity and heart. Follow her on Twitter @agentsaba and learn more about her at sabasulaiman.com
Joyce Sweeney
10-21-20 THE SEYMOUR AGENCY
Young adult author, poet, developmental editor and writing coach for over 25 years, Joyce Sweeney has joined The Seymour Agency, representing picture books and middle grade novels. She loves theater, illustration art and animals.
Eva Scalzo
10-28-20 Speilburg Literary
Eva Scalzo was born in New Jersey, but lived in Houston, Buenos Aires, San Juan, and Boston before settling down outside of Binghamton, New York. She has been reading romance since the fifth grade when she discovered the Sweet Valley High series. On inheriting her grandmother’s collection of vintage Harlequin Romances, she set a goal to someday finish reading them all on top of her already massive TBR.Eva has a B.A. in the Humanities from the University of Puerto Rico and a M.A. in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College. Since graduating in 2002, she has spent her career in scholarly publishing, working for Houghton Mifflin, Blackwell Publishing, John Wiley & Sons, and Cornell University in a variety of roles. She has been with Speilburg Literary since 2013, and started accepting clients in 2017. Eva is a member of RWA and SCBWI.
Karly Caserza
10-29-20 FUSE LITERARY
Karly has a deep love for characters with a strong voice and seeks out stories she can get lost in. Diversity in genre fiction is a major bonus. She specializes in picture books (fiction and nonfiction), middle grade, and young adult genre fiction
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