Agent Interviews

Binky Urban
Betsy Lerner
Jennifer Lyons
Lynn Nesbit

Eric Smith, Jennie Dunham, Jessica Faust, James McGowan, Emelie Burl, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon

Julie Barer, Eric Simonoff, Molly Friedrich

Patty Carothers, Stephanie Hansen, Jane Dystel, and Jill Marsal

My colleague Hannah Sheppard for striking out on her own and what she has put in place to break down some of the barriers for authors and make the agency more inclusive.

Amy Brewer at Metamorphosis Literary Agency; Paige Wheeler at Creative Media Agency; and Patrice Caldwell at New Leaf Literary & Media.

I admire agents who behave professionally with clients and editors, who are dedicated to getting top quality writing for young readers out into the world. These are the folks I consider my peers.

Caroline Montgomery for her taste, style and integrity; Lorella Belli for her fire and energy; Andrew Lownie, king of non-fiction; Christine Green, a class act; Becky Thomas, inspired; James Wills, an irresistible force; Donald Winchester, articulate, intelligent and effective; Laetitia Rutherford, a powerhouse; Megan Carroll, 5000 watt brain; the awesome team that is Jane Graham Maw and Jen Christie; and others including Heather Holden-Brown, Lizzy Kremer, Emma Paterson, Isobel Dixon, Oli Munson, John Berlyne, Judith Murdoch, Rupert Heath, Barbara Levy, Jane Judd, Luigi Bonomi, Lisa Eveleigh and Gordon Wise.

Laurie Fox.

Those who teach as well as represents their clients

Oh wow, I could rattle off so many names. Generally, I admire agents who put their clients' wishes and needs first, do business in a kind but firm way, and are incredible at selling. Specifically? Kate Testerman and the KT Literary crew, Elana Roth Parker, Christy Ewers, Claire Harris, Cece Lyra, Molly O'Neill, Jemiscoe Chambers-Black, Holly Root, Samantha Fabien, Saritza Hernández, Jennifer March Soloway, James McGowan, Elena Giovinazzo, Jennifer Azantian, Lilly Ghahremani.... I could literally list dozens and I'm going to need to update this list later when I think of more people who need to be on this list! There are a lot of amazing people in this industry.

I have a lot of respect and admiration for my colleagues at the Trident Media Group literary agency in New York City. They have helped lead the way in making Trident Media group book publishing's leading literary agency in both volume of deals and amount of money for deals, consecutively since 2004.

John Talbot, Jeff Kleinman, Dan Conaway, Robin Rue, Amy Moore-Benson, Paula Munier, David Black

I'm obviously a huge fan of Tanera Simons!

My wonderful colleague Ellen Levine; she is so passionate about her work and it’s truly infectious.

Linda Loewenthal
Wendy Sherman
Lynn Johnston

Janet Kobobel Grant
Wendy Lawton
Debbie Alsdorf
Barb Roose
Cynthia Ruchti
Jen Babakhan

Richard Curtis

There are so many, but Sandra Bond took me under her wing and has been with me through every step of agenting. I will forever be grateful for her mentorship and teaching and for giving me a chance!

Philip Spitzer, Esther Newberg, Amanda "Binky" Urban, Rob Weisbach, Bill Clegg

Jennifer Lyons

Lynn Nesbit, and all my colleagues at J&N
Rebecca Carter
Bill Clegg
Chris Wellbelove
Anna Stein
Brettne Bloom
Zoe Pagnamenta
and so many more!

Agents these days are the axis of an author's career. When editors leave or authors move on, the one consistent thing is the partnership with an agent. So any agent who embraces this approach to agenting -- business partner, editorial advisor, "life coach," fierce advocate for the author -- is someone I admire.

The other agents in Books & Such Literary Management--Janet Grant (president and mentor), Wendy Lawton (my agent), Rachel Kent, Rachelle Gardner, and Barb Roose--are all inspiring and gifted.

Sarah Younger, Jessica Faust, Rebecca Podos, Eric Smith

I greatly admire Bill Clegg given the kinds of works and authors he represents and how uniformly interesting they are.

Claire Wilson, Jodie Hodges, Alice Sutherland-Hawes and Julia Churchill

Paige Wheeler for her commitment to full client support and personal relationships, as well as the depth of her industry knowledge.

First and foremost, all my fellow agents at Seymour. After that, I would say Kaitlyn Sanchez and Jen Rofe.