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John Thornton

An agent with The Spieler Agency (see other agents at this agency).

About

John Thornton has been with the Spieler Agency since 1994, after a thirty-year career as an editor, publishing executive and editorial director of the Book-of-the-Month Club. Though he does not handle fiction projects, his nonfiction tastes are eclectic. They fall along two axes: excellent writing and high-quality subject matter. Of late his clients have written on topics such as memoir (Richard Lischer, Stations of the Heart, recollections of losing a beloved adult child), biography (Phillip Schewe, Maverick Genius, a life of Freeman Dyson), natural history (Richard Conniff, The Species Seekers, a history of man’s searches to record life on Earth; a history of Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History, forthcoming), social issues (Ira Rosofsky, Nasty, Brutish, and Long, a psychologist’s memoir of life in the eldercare business), consumer guidebooks (Carol Levine, Long-Term Care for Dummies—she’s a MacArthur Fellow), history (Thomas Madden, Venice: A New History; a history of Istanbul, forthcoming), belles lettres (Susan Cahill, The Hidden Gardens of Paris), spirituality (Heidi Neumark, Breathing Space, her two decades of pastoring in the South Bronx; a memoir of her newly discovered German-Jewish heritage, Googling Moses, forthcoming), cultural history (George Cotkin, Dive Deeper: Journeys with Moby-Dick), among various others.

This agent may not respond to all queries. After waiting 21 days, assume your submission will not be accepted.

Country

United States

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

Nonfiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Book

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary, Mainstream, Personal.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
History: See guidelines.
Memoir.
Religion/Spirituality: Spirituality.
Society/Culture: Social issues, See guidelines.

Submissions:

Methods: Email. Postal.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

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John Thornton Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the agency or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

We have not received any submission reports for this listing in the past 12 months.

Your Submissions

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Before Submitting

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  • Always read the full guidelines provided by the agency/agent.
  • Unless the agency's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
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Dates

Last Updated: 28 Jun 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.

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