Skip to Content

An Important Announcement
We are excited to announce the long-awaited Duotrope community! Create your profile, high five your fellow creators, and journey along Rejection Road.

Kate McKean

An agent with Howard Morhaim Literary Agency (see other agents at this agency).

About

Kate McKean joined HMLA, Inc. in 2006. She earned her master’s degree in fiction writing at the University of Southern Mississippi and began her publishing career at the University Press of Florida. She is proud to work with authors in a wide variety of genres including NYT best seller Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches, NYT best seller Daniel M. Lavery’s Texts from Jane Eyre, E.J. Koh’s award-winning memoir The Magical Language of Others, and Bobby Finger’s celebrated novel The Old Place. In addition to working with clients, she is an adjunct professor at New York University. She is the author of the forthcoming book Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, to be published by Atria in June 2025.

Country of Publication

United States

Professional Associations

Member of AALA

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

Statistics Synopsis

Slower
Kate McKean's overall average response time is slower than most agents.
Normal Acceptance
Kate McKean's overall acceptance rate is within a normal range for agents.
More Responsive
Kate McKean's overall rate of non-response is lower than most agents.

Collapse section Fiction Temp Closed

She is primarily interested in fiction for adults, young adults and middle grade readers in the areas of contemporary fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction set in the 20th Century, LGBTQ issues, fantasy, magical realism, and science fiction.

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Adults, Middle grades, Young adults.

Genres:

General Subgenres: Historical, Magic Realism, Women's Fiction
Fantasy Open to all/most Subgenres, including: Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic, Magic Realism, excluding Vampire
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres, excluding Shapeshifter, Vampire
Romance Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Novel

Styles:

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

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Sexuality/Gender: LGBTQ issues.
Sports/Recreation.

Submissions:

Method: QueryTracker.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.

Collapse section Nonfiction Temp Closed

In non-fiction, for adults or children/teens, she represents books by authors with demonstrable platforms in the areas of pop-culture, memoir, humor, creativity, and craft.

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Adults, Middle grades, Young adults.

Lengths:

Book

Styles:

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

Topics:

Lifestyle: Food and Drink.
Memoir.
Society/Culture: Pop culture.
Sports/Recreation.
Other: See guidelines.

Submissions:

Method: QueryTracker.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.

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

Agent Impersonation Scams are becoming commonplace.
A legitimate agent will not contact you and request money to represent you. Never pay an agent an up-front fee. That is not how literary agent representation works. Agents earn a commission only after they've landed a publishing deal for you. Also, agents scarcely ever contact writers. If an agent that you haven't queried contacts you about representation, be suspicious. Look up the agent and check if the email address is correct for that agent/agency.

Kate McKean 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.

Filter:
Accuracy
We have received 15 reports from 15 different members within the past 12 months. The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.
Days Reported
0 min | 146.8 mean avg | 130.5 median | 267 max days (104.5 std dev)
Responses
80.0 %
Acceptances:
0.00 %
Rejections:
80.00 % (143.6 avg. days per rejection) | 0.0 % personal, 100.0 % form, 0.0 % unspecified
Non-Responses
13.33 %
Lost/Returned:
-
Never Responded:
13.33 % (122.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as never responded)
Withdrawals
6.67 % (108.0 avg. days per withdrawal)

Other Information

The agent will try to make a decision within 84 days. (80.0 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 84 days.)
Most recent response reported was received on 07 Aug 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 08 Feb 2026.
Date compiled: 15 Sep 2026 09:44 UTC (less than a minute ago).

Work submitted to this agent was also submitted to...

This section is available to subscribers only. Sign up and start your free trial today!

Members accepted by this agent also had work accepted by...

This section is available to subscribers only. Become a member and start your free trial today!

Your Submissions

This section is available to subscribers only. Join today!

Before Submitting

We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is correct. We do our best to keep up, but it isn't always possible. Duotrope listings do not imply endorsement or recommendation of the agent or agency being listed. Before submitting, you should use your own judgment to determine whether the agent/agency meets your standards.

  • Always read the full guidelines provided by the agency/agent.
  • Unless the agency's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
  • For agency submissions, it is standard to submit a query letter and sample instead of the full manuscript. Do this unless otherwise instructed.
  • Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 08 Jun 2026

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

Cookie Consent: This site uses secure first-party cookies for essential, preference-setting, and statistical purposes. We do not use any marketing, advertising, or third-party cookies. Read our full cookie policy.