Vicky Bijur started her eponymous literary agency in 1988 after working at Oxford University Press and for the Charlotte Sheedy Agency. She represents fiction and non-fiction and has served as president of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, now the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA). She has been on the AALA Royalties Committee since 1993 and is chair of the AALA Ethics Committee. What are some questions to ask a prospective agent? 1) Will you keep me reasonably informed throughout the process of selling my book? For example, can we discuss the list of publishers to whom you would submit […]
Authors Lunch
Dealmaker Updates – November
Authors Talk: Elizabeth Crook
The Madstone. (Little, Brown & Company, November 7, 2023. Editor: Ben George. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman.) Elizabeth Crook has published five previous novels, including The Which Way Tree, The Night Journal, which received the Spur Award from Western Writers of America, and Monday, Monday, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2014 and winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. She lives in Austin, TX with her family. How did you find your agent? In 1990 a friend introduced me to James (Jim) Landis, who was then editor-in-chief of William Morrow. Jim was […]
Ask an Expert: Deb Futter, President and Publisher, Celadon
Deb Futter is the president and publisher of Celadon Books. Prior to this role, she was the publisher of Twelve and vice president and editor-in-chief at Grand Central Publishing; previously, she spent 25 years at Random House Inc. She has acquired and edited numerous bestselling and acclaimed books by authors including Abby Wambach, Barbara Ehrenreich, Carole King, Jane Hamilton, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Min Jin Lee, Noah Hawley, Pete Dexter, Scott Turow, and Steve Martin, among many others. What criteria do you think about when you consider a work of fiction by a debut author? I like a book to be […]
Dealmaker Updates – October
Authors Talk: Etaf Rum
Evil Eye. (Harper, September 5, 2023. Editor: Emily Griffin. Agent: Julia Kardon, Hannigan Getzler Literary.) Etaf Rum was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY by Palestinian immigrants. She lives in North Carolina with her two children and owns a coffee shop and bookstore called Books and Beans. Her first novel, A Woman Is No Man, was a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick. How did you find your agent? Julia Kardon was kind enough to respond to my Twitter message telling her how much I loved Brit Bennett’s The Mothers and whether […]