The Kneerim & Williams Agency and The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency have joined together to form a new literary agency, Calligraph, based in New York and Boston. Katherine Flynn and Zoë Pagnamenta serve as managing partners, joined by Alison MacKeen as partner. Kneerim & Williams co-founder John Taylor (Ike) Williams says in the announcement, “I am thrilled we are uniting with Zoë and her distinguished agency. My late co-founder and friend, Jill Kneerim, and I had long treasured our friendship with Zoë and admired her many successes. My colleagues and I look forward to working with her and her team to […]
Agency News
WME Acquires Ross Yoon Agency
Consolidation continues among the big representation agencies, as WME announced Friday morning their acquisition of Washington, DC-based literary agency Ross Yoon Agency. Ross Yoon’s president Gail Ross and principal Howard Yoon will join WME as partners. The office becomes WME’s first physical location in the DC region. “Gail and Howard set the gold standard of nonfiction representation,” head of WME’s book department Jay Mandel said in the announcement. “They have impeccable taste, unparalleled editorial chops, and an admirable sense of purpose about the authors they represent. Ross Yoon is the perfect complement to our book business, with a brilliant client base […]
Agency News: Bernstein to Take Over for Bergholz
Agent Susan Bergholz at Susan Bergholz Literary Services will retire as of June 1 and transfer control of her agency to Stuart Bernstein Representation for Artists. A number of Bergholz’s authors, including Julia Alvarez and Sandra Cisneros, had already begun working with Bernstein on new projects in recent years, and now control of their backlists will follow. Separately, “A number of authors who already have new representation will transfer backlist to those agents or take control themselves.” Bernstein said in the announcement, “Meeting Susan Bergholz helped me plan the direction of my life and shape my approach to working with […]
Authors Guild Updates Statement On New Leaf Literary
The Author’s Guild met with New Leaf Literary & Media to discuss the transition for their clients affected by Jordan Hamessley’s abrupt departure. Twenty-seven of Hamessley’s 45 clients were let go from the agency, while 18 were offered new agents. The AG writes in a statement, “New Leaf’s leadership has assured us that they have been addressing affected authors’ concerns and will continue to do so.” The agency has committed to a number of courses of action for active clients. Authors with books on submission can choose to have New Leaf pull the project “or to continue with the submission […]
Hamessley Posts Statement About Departure From New Leaf
Further to Tuesday’s report about agent Jordan Hamessley’s abrupt departure from New Leaf Literary & Media, Hamessley posted a long statement online, writing that it was not amicable. Subsequent to Hamessley’s departure, 27 of her 45 clients were let go from the agency, while 18 were offered new agents. Hamessley writes: “Thank you to everyone who has reached out these past few days following my sudden and unexpected departure from New Leaf Literary & Media. It was not my choice to leave, and I am heartbroken to learn that the publishing journeys of so many of my clients have been disrupted, I […]
Disruptions Leave A Number of Children’s Book Creators Looking for New Representation
Unrelated and varied circumstances at three different literary agencies last week left a number of children’s and young adult authors and illustrators looking for new representation, and became the focus of much discussion and concern on social media. The development with the biggest impact was at New Leaf Literary Agency, coming after the agency “parted ways amicably” with agent Jordan Hamessley, according to emails sent to clients. Update: After this story ran, Hamessley, who had not responded to our DMs, posted a lengthy statement on Twitter: “It was not my choice to leave, and I am heartbroken to learn that […]