Pay It Forward Day 4

• Colleen
• Paying It Forward Series
• 0 Comments

 Happy Monday!

I think this Pay It Forward series may take a bit longer than a week! I hope people are finding it helpful.  The more informed you are about the agent or editor you approach with your project the better your chances are of success.

Don’t forget to check submission guidelines. Some of the agents and editors listed below are only open to unsolicited queries from Rutgers conference attendees.

Remember to follow me (writergirlrowan ) on Twitter.  : )

Coll

Steve Meltzer is currently the Associate Publisher/Executive Managing Editor for Dutton Children’s Books and Dial Books for Young Readers. He also edits the Celebra Children’s Books line. He has been in publishing for 25 years and has served in a variety of positions in the publishing industry. Steve is the editor of many books for young readers including John Madden’s Heros of Football:The Story of America’s Game; The Sydney Taylor award-inning, Hanukkah at Valley Forge by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Greg Harlin; Barbarians! by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Robert Byrd; and Useful Fools by C.A. Schmidt (a Booklist Best Book of the Year). His series include Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol and the Boy, Were We Wrong About…books. Dutton and Dial are looking for high concept MG titles, compelling YA fiction with a distinct voice and character based PBs.

Beth Miller, Literary Agent Assistant, Writers House. Beth has been Robin Rue’s assistant at Writers House since 2007. She has the pleasure of working with a number of adult fiction clients, as well as such YA and children’s authors as Garret Freymann-Weyr, Elizabeth Scott, Holly Lisle, Helen Lowe, Jennifer Bradbury, and Carmela & Steve D’Amico. She is always on the lookout for YA or MG, but isn’t the best choice for PBs. In her other life, she was a DNA sequencing technician at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. She much prefers books to E. coli.

Joe Monti, Agent, Barry Goldblatt Literary. With over twenty years of experience ranging from bookseller to children’s fiction buyer for B&N, and then sales director to editor, I feel I offer a unique and wide background to my clients. Of note: While I made my career by doing what I love, namely championing fantasy works, and helping create the modern YA category; MG fiction is the soft spot in my dragon scale armor, particularly realistic MG. You see, I’m actually still nine years old inside. I’m also not interested in representing folks who solely write PBs or solely illustrate, but happily have clients that do both. Joe will accept queries after the conference.

Brianne Mulligan, Associate Editor, Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers. Brianne primarily edits YA and MG commercial fiction. She acquired the forthcoming Department 19 by Will Hill, the first in a major new YA trilogy, Darwen Arkwright & the Peregrine Pact, bestselling author A.J. Hartley’s upcoming MG debut, and is working with NY Times bestselling author Nancy Holder on her next novel for Razorbill. She began her career on the adult side, first at Random House’s Double day Broadway, then at Penguin’s Gotham Books, where she edited several nonfiction titles that could sit comfortably in the teen section, including Hill Harper’s Letters to a Young Sister and Lucky Magazine’s The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style. Brianne is looking for high concept YA and MG fiction with a strong hook and an ambitious plot, and especially loves books for boys.

Daniel Nayeri, Editor, Clarion Books. While open to anything weird and new, Daniel is mostly looking for high concept MG and YA fiction; books of rampant disregard for educational value, and dedicated solely to wonderlust. He wants stuff that reminds him of an 18^th century circus in France, knife fights in Cairo, and the exact manner in which to dispose of jerks at school. Generally speaking, Daniel would rather avoid holiday books, children of divorce books, books of greater pedagogical interest than whimsy, or really anything with political bones to pick. Daniel will be open to receiving submissions post-Rutgers.

Catherine Onder, Senior Editor, Disney-Hyperion Books for Children. Catherine edits PBs and chapter books and MG and YA novels. Authors and illustrators she has worked with include R.J. Anderson, Matthew Armstrong, Ally Carter, Geraldine McCaughrean and Jenny Valentine. She loves editing a variety of genres, but always looks for a strong voice and clear vision in all.

Kathleen Ortiz, Associate Agent and Foreign Rights Manager, Lowenstein Associates. Kathleen began her career in publishing as an editorial assistant and interactive media designer for the YA section before moving on as an online editor for the features, art& entertainment sections for an online news outlet and teaching high school classes as a visual media instructor. She’s currently Associate Agent and Foreign Rights Manager at Lowenstein Associates. With the continued demand for online marketing in publishing, a strong online platform is essential for today’s authors. Kathleen uses her background in interactive media design to assist Lowenstein Associates’ clients with branding themselves. Kathleen is currently seeking YA (specifically edgy/darker, MG and chapter books. A strong voice and unique plot are essential in capturing her attention; however, shed pretty much perform a happy dance on YouTube if a creepy, keeps-her-up-at-night YA thriller or a YA romance with a male POV were to cross her desk. Kathleen will be open to receiving submissions post-Rutgers.