Agents Symposium

Lauren E. Abramo joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2005 after getting degrees in English at 

NYU and Irish Studies at NUI Galway. As VP and Subsidiary Rights Director for the agency she maintains a small client list and sells foreign and audio rights. She’s eagerly looking for middle grade (contemporary, fantasy, and adventure), contemporary YA, and smart, accessible adult fiction in a variety of categories, including literary, romance, thrillers, and women’s fiction. She’s also interested in adult narrative nonfiction, especially pop culture, psychology, pop science, reportage, media, humor, and contemporary culture, primarily where those areas intersect with social justice. In all categories she’s especially interested in underrepresented voices. Born in New York City and raised not far outside it, she now lives in Brooklyn.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Memoir, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative), Suspense, Romance, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Maggie Cooper is an agent with Aevitas Creative Management, representing fiction and select nonfiction animated by imagination, empathy, and joy. She is actively seeking genre-bending literary fiction; beautifully told queer stories; and smart, feminist vacation reads. Her other passions include unclassifiable book projects, food and cookbooks, and well earned happy endings—particularly for characters underrepresented in mainstream publishing.

After working in the worlds of small presses, academic publishing, and literary journals, Maggie came to Aevitas in 2018. Based in Boston, she holds a degree in English from Yale University, attended the Clarion Writers Workshop, and earned her MFA in fiction from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she served as an editor for The Greensboro Review.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Short fiction collections, Romance, Graphic Novels or Memoirs

Head of the Los Angeles office, Seth Fishman is a Vice President and agent at The Gernert Company, which he joined in 2010 after beginning his career as an agent at Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. Born in Midland, Texas, he graduated from Princeton University and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. His interests are wide-ranging, but in particular he’s looking for the new voice, the original idea, the entirely breathtaking creative angle in both fiction and nonfiction. He represents adult and kids books, as well as illustrated. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and children, and is the author of the award-winning picture book, A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars, along with Bad Drawer and several other picture books.

Actively seeking: Literary Fiction, Thriller/Action Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Graphic novels or memoirs, Picture Book

Cherise Fisher began her career in publishing more than 25 years ago. Over the course of her career as an acquiring editor at Simon & Schuster and Editor in Chief of Plume (an imprint of Penguin Random House), she has edited and published several national bestselling and award winning authors. As an agent, she is interested in working with novelists who have multiple compulsively readable yarns in their head (both historical and contemporary), memoirists who showcase the diversity of human experience, and non-fiction writers who seek to provoke, inspire, and educate. Her intention is that all the books she helps bring into the world are relevant, enduring, and help readers maximize their life.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative, Practical, How-to, Cookery), Memoir, Historical Fiction

Mark Gottlieb is a highly ranked literary agent, both in overall deals and other individual categories. Using that same initiative and insight for identifying talented writers, he is actively building his client list of authors. Mark Gottlieb is excited to work directly with authors, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources that are available at Trident Media Group. Through his work at Trident Media Group, Mark Gottlieb continues to represent numerous New York Times bestselling authors, as well as major award-winning authors, and has optioned and sold books to film and TV production companies. He previously ran the agency’s audiobook department, in addition to working in foreign rights. In his free time, Mark Gottlieb tutors free English language classes to adults from low-income immigrant families, via the Literacy Volunteers program at Family Centers, a nonprofit organization offering education, health and human services. He is also the Founder and President of the Stamford Literature, Arts & Culture Salon (SLACS). Mark Gottlieb is actively seeking submissions in all categories and genres and looks forward to bringing new and established authors to the curious minds of their future readers.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative, Practical, How-to, Cookery), Mystery, Thriller/Action Adventure, Suspense, Science Fiction / Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Graphic novels or memoirs, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Carrie Howland founded Howland Literary, LLC in 2018, after thirteen years as an agent, most recently at Empire Literary. Carrie holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Albion College, where she was the Poetry Editor of The Albion Review. Her poetry has appeared in various literary journals and magazines. She attends several conferences, both nationally and internationally, throughout the year. In her spare time, Carrie volunteers as a foster for a local dog rescue and is an active member of the Junior League. Her passions include music, pop culture, and the Midwest. She has been featured in several publications discussing her work as an agent including Poets & Writers, SCWBI insight, Akashic Books, and Slice Magazine.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Short fiction collections, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative, Practical, How-to, Cookery), Essay collections, Mystery, Thriller/Action Adventure, Suspense, Romance

Chad Luibl (Janklow & Nesbit) received a BA in English at Lynchburg University before moving to Eastern Europe to teach English for several years. While in Krakow, Poland, he got his MA in European Studies at Jagiellonian University, with a focus in Comparative Literature. He went on to get his MFA in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was also the coordinator of the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, an intern in the Literature Department at the National Endowment for the Arts, and an editor at Blackbird and Broad Street literary journals.

Chad comes from the workshop model of creative writing and has a hands-on editorial approach to agenting. He is interested in narrative nonfiction with a strong emotional pull from journalists and writers who challenge the status quo. For fiction, he is particularly drawn to novels that are more character or plot-driven, thrillers that are as inventive as they are suspenseful, speculative and historical fiction that offer a nuanced perspective on place, and graphic novels that push the boundaries of the genre.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative), Memoir, Mystery, Thriller / Action Adventure, Suspense, Historical Fiction, Horror, Graphic novels or memoirs, Picture Book

Eric Smith is a literary agent and Young Adult author from Elizabeth, New Jersey. As an agent with P.S. Literary, he’s worked on New York Times bestselling and award-winning books. His recent novels include the YALSA Best Books for Young Readers selection Don’t Read the Comments (Inkyard Press, 2020), You Can Go Your Own Way (Inkyard Press, 2021), and the anthology Battle of the Bands (Candlewick, 2021), co-edited with award-winning author Lauren Gibaldi. His latest book, Jagged Little Pill: The Novel, was written with Alanis Morissette, Academy award-winner Diablo Cody, and Glen Ballard, and is an adaptation of the Grammy and Tony award winning musical.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative, Practical, How-to, Cookery), Essay collections, Memoir, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Julie Stevenson is a literary agent with Massie & McQuilkin in New York. She represents literary and upmarket fiction, suspense, memoir, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction, young adult fiction and children’s picture books. She is drawn to storytelling with unforgettable characters, an authorial command of voice, and a strong sense of narrative tension. She looks for work that both entertains and explores the depths of human experience, particularly the many facets of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and regional backgrounds. She’s agented books that have won the Pulitzer Prize, the MWA Edgar Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Caldecott Honor. Before she became an agent, Julie worked in the editorial departments of Tin House and Publishers Weekly. She received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

Actively seeking: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, General Nonfiction (Creative and/or Narrative), Suspense, Historical Fiction, Graphic novels or memoirs, Young Adult

Saba Sulaiman is an agent at Talcott Notch Literary Services, a boutique agency located in Milford, CT. She holds a BA in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College and an MA from the University of Chicago, where she studied modern Persian literature. Being an immigrant who is constantly negotiating her own identity and sense of belonging in a place she now calls “home,” she is committed to championing books by writers from marginalized communities with compelling stories to tell; stories that demonstrate the true range of perspectives that exist in this world, and address urgent and often underexplored issues in both fiction and non-fiction with veracity and heart. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @agentsaba and learn more about her at sabasulaiman.com.

Actively seeking: Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Picture Book