Marilyn Allen An agent with Allen O'Shea Literary Agency About Marilyn Allen is a literary agent and founding partner in the Allen O'Shea Literary Agency. She has culminated 25 years of experience by doing sales and marketing for various publishing houses. She served as Associate Publisher, Director of Marketing and Senior Vice President to Harper Collins, as well as Vice President to both Penguin and Simon & Schuster. She has directed sales and marketing teams for Penguin Books, Simon & Schuster, and Avon Books. Marilyn has had the pleasure of working with authors such as Stephen King, Ken Follett, Barbara Kingsolver, John Gray and Mary Higgins Clark, but currently represents many nonfiction authors including several New York Times bestselling writers. Her focuses are nonfiction, cooking, health, parenting, crafts, self-help, pop culture and business. She herself has co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Book Proposals and Query Letters (Penguin Books) with her partner Coleen O'Shea. Country United States AI Policy Unknown AI policy Nonfiction Open Audience:Open to a broad Audience.Lengths: BookStyles:Open to all/most Styles, including: Mainstream.Topics: Business/Finance: General, Business, Personal finance. Children/Family: Parenting/Child care. Health/Medicine: General, Nutrition sciences. History. Lifestyle: General, Cooking, Crafts, Diet, Fitness, Food and Drink. Politics/Political Science. Science. Society/Culture: Pop culture. Sports/Recreation.Submissions:Method: Email. Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary. Go to agent's webpage Report: Submission/Query Correction/Update New Cover ArtSocial:LinkedIn LinkedIn For the Agent: Request Interview Duosuma Submission Manager Link to Duotrope 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. Marilyn Allen 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: Category: Group by submission Include outliers Accuracy We have received 1 report within the past 12 months. The more responses reported, the more accurate the information. Other Information Most recent response reported was received on 29 Jan 2026. Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 23 Jan 2026. Date compiled: 16 Sep 2026 21:40 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 SubmittingWe 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. DatesLast Updated: 07 Jun 2026We 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. Accept All Cookies Allow Essential Cookies Only