Gavin Bennett's Blog: 30 Literary Agents Seeking Diverse Books NOW — Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Picture Books

In celebration of my three new books released this September, I’m doing a lot of special lists of agents seeking queries right now. I’ve already done lists on picture book agents, thriller agents, fantasy agents, horror agents, and women’s fiction agents. Below find a list for 30 agents seeking diverse books for children/teens NOW.

(This post is so big I broke it up into 3 sections. This is Part I. See Part II here and then see Part III here.)

three covers

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The 2016 Guide to Literary Agents is a big database of agents — who they are, what they want, how to submit and more. Find it in the Writer’s Digest Shop or anywhere else books are sold.
The 2016 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market has oodles of markets (agents, publishers, etc.) for writers & illustrators of children’s books — from picture books to middle grade to young adult. Find it in the Writer’s Digest Shop or anywhere else books are sold.

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All the agents listed below personally confirmed to me as of October 2015 that they are actively seeking diverse kidlit submissions NOW (young adult, middle grade, picture books). Some gave personal notes about their tastes while some did not. Good luck querying!

1. Amaryah Orenstein (Go Literary)

Genres: young adult, middle grade.

How to submit: E-query only to begin: submissions [at] go-lit.com.

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carrie-pestritto 2. Carrie Pestritto (Prospect Agency)

Genres: picture books, upper middle grade (contemporary), contemporary young adult, historical middle grade or young adult.

How to submit: “We request a query letter, three chapters and a brief synopsis. If you are submitting a picture book text, please submit the entire manuscript. Illustrators should provide a link to their URL. We only accept submissions through our website. Please go to our SUBMISSIONS page to upload your materials. Please do not send submissions via email or mail. Responds in 3 months if interested. Illustrators and author-illustrators should refer to the guidelines in PROSPECT PORTFOLIO regarding submissions.” (Please do not submit to Linda Camacho [also on this list] if submitting to Carrie.)

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3. Mark Gottlieb (Trident Media)

Genres: picture books, middle grade, young adult.

How to submit: Use the online submission form here. Make sure you direct your inquiry to Mark.

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4. Linda Camacho (Prospect Agency)

Genres: middle grade, young adult.

How to submit: “We request a query letter, three chapters and a brief synopsis. If you are submitting a picture book text, please submit the entire manuscript. Illustrators should provide a link to their URL. We only accept submissions through our website. Please go to our SUBMISSIONS page to upload your materials. Please do not send submissions via email or mail. Responds in 3 months if interested. Illustrators and author-illustrators should refer to the guidelines in PROSPECT PORTFOLIO regarding submissions.” (Please do not submit to Carrie Pestritto [also on this list] if submitting to Linda.)

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5. Shannon Hassan (Marsal Lyon Literary)

Genres: middle grade, young adult.

How to submit: E-query Shannon [at] MarsalLyonLiteraryAgency.com and put “Query” in the subject line. “In all submissions, please include a contact phone number as well as your email address.”

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6. Laura Bradford (Bradford Literary)

Genres: young adult.

How to submit: queries [at] bradfordlit.com. Put “Query: [title]” in your subject line. Please email a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis. Please be sure to include the genre and word count in your cover letter. (If you submit to Laura, please do not submit to an of the other Bradford Lit agents on this list — Monica Odom or Sarah LaPolla.)

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7. Clelia Gore (Martin Literary Management)

Genres: picture books, middle grade, young adult.

Notes: “I seek protagonists we don’t see enough of — minorities, mixed race, heroes with disabilities, etc.”

How to submit: “Please send your queries to Clelia [at] MartinLiteraryManagement.com. In the subject line of your email, write ‘QUERY’ followed by the title of your work. In your e-mail, provide the text of your query letter, followed by a short sample of your writing pasted into the text of the e-mail (only illustration attachments will be opened). Kindly indicate if this is a multiple submission. Your query letter should include publisher submission history and previous publishing credits, if applicable. If you receive an offer of representation from another agent, please let us know immediately.”

PICTURE BOOKS: Query letter + full manuscript text pasted in email.
ILLUSTRATORS: Query letter + 2 to 3 illustration samples (attached in jpeg or pdf format), link to online portfolio, and text of picture book pasted in email, if applicable.
FICTION: Query letter + text of first ten pages pasted in email.

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In this on-demand webinar, “Writing Great Books for Young Adults,” literary agent Regina Brooks of Serendpity Literary explains you’ll learn the key elements that should be included in your query, how to make your novel’s first paragraphs entice an agent/editor to request your full manuscript, the five key elements necessary for engaging the young adult reader, and much more.

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Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 10.18.07 AM 8. Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Literary)

Genres: middle grade, young adult.

Notes: “Seeking diversity in class, culture, gender, race, family structure, and disability.”

How to submit: Send query, synopsis, and first 25 pages to query [at] deemuraliterary.com. No attachments please.

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9. Rachel Brooks (L. Perkins Agency)

Genres: young adult.

Notes: “I am looking for YA diversity of all shapes and sizes.”

How to submit: rachel [at] lperkinsagency.com. Paste the first 5 pages of your ms after your query in the e-mail.

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10. Emmanuelle Morgen (Stonesong)

Genres: middle grade, young adult.

How to submit: submissions [at] stonesong.com addressed to Emmanuelle. Include the word ‘query’ in the subject line of your email to ensure we receive it and it isn’t filtered as spam. Include the first chapter or first 10 pages of your work, pasted into the body of your email, so that we may get a sense of your writing. Please note that Emmanuelle is closed to queries in December. We welcome queries from independent and self-published authors. If you have self-published your book and are interested in working with a publisher for future works, please include descriptions of published and forthcoming works, as well as information about sales and reviews. Our system is set up so that every email query receives an automatic reply confirming receipt. After that, we will be in touch only in the event we would like to request more material. This is because we receive such a volume of submissions that it is impossible for us to respond individually to every query. If you have not received a request from us within 12 weeks, consider that we have passed. If we request additional material, we will of course respond with a specific reply. Please feel free to follow up with additional news about your submission during the 12-week period.”

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See Agents 11-20 on the list here.

See Agents 21-30 on the list here.

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