2019-10-01_Writer_s_Digest

food narrative/food studies,

illustrated/art/photography (espe-

cially graphic), political and current

events, pop-science, pop-culture

(especially punk and geek culture),

self-help,how-to,humor,pets,busi-

ness,andcareer.“I’mlookingfor

large-platformprojectsinwhichthe

bookrepresentssomethingbigger

thanthebookitself,onwhichyou

areanexpert,theonebestfit tobring

it tothepage.I prefertoworkwith

sociallyresponsiblebooksthatraise

newissuesorilluminatecommon

issuesinnewways.I lovebookswith

strongcharitytie-insandcelebri-

tiescomingtogethertopromotea

goodcauseona largescale.”DOES

NOTWANT:Genrefiction(sci-fi, fan-

tasy,Western,romance),satire,legal

thrillers,espionage,newage,picture

books,novellas,screenplays,col-

lectionsofessays,shortfiction,or

poetry(“unlessyoualsowritefull-

lengthworks”).RECENTSALES:Last

SummerbyKerryLonsdale(suspense,

LakeUnion);PowerButtonbyZack

Soto(middle-gradegraphicnovel,

GraphicUniverse);RageYogaby

LindsayIstace(health,Sourcebooks);

CarnivorebyMariNaomi(graphic

memoir,2DCloud);RavenLane

byAmberCowie(suspense,Lake

Union).HOWTOSUBMIT:Queryvia

emailat querygordon@fuseliterary.

com.Forfictionandmemoir,paste

inthefirstchapterbelowyourquery.

Forgraphicnovelsandgraphicnon-

fiction,attacha 10-pagesequential

PDFexcerptofthefinishedartwork,

nottoexceed 50 MB.Forallother

genres,emailyourqueryletteronly.

TIPSFORWRITERS:“Youaren’twriting

ina vacuum,sodon’tallowtunnel

visiontosetin.Makefriendswith

otherauthors,studytheotherbooks

inyourgenre,knowthekindofexpe-

rienceyourreadersexpect,andwrite

more than one manuscript. I don’t

want an author who just wants to

get their book published. I want an

author who is investing in their writ-

ing career every day.”

ALEXANDRAWEISS

THEJENNIFERDE

CHIARALITERARY

AGENCY

NEWYORKCITY

JDLIT.COM

@AKAWEISS

FICTIONINTERESTS:YAandmid-

dle-gradeacrossallgenres,par-

ticularlythosewithPOCandqueer

voices.Graphicnovelsforallages

witha diversecastofcharacters,

uniquesetting,andadventurous

plot.Picturebooks:“Ilovequirky,

silly,andunexpectedstories,as

wellasstrong,smart,andspunky

charactersthatmakemelaugh

orcry.”Also,storiesthatexplore

“familyrelationshipsorcomplex

friendships”aswellasstoriesthat

includemagic,folklore,orscience.

NONFICTIONINTERESTS:“Picture

booksandmiddle-gradenarrative

nonfictionthatcoversSTEMsub-

jectsorhighlightsunsungheroes

throughouthistory.”DOESNOT

WANT:Romance,heavymystery,

horror,thriller.RECENTSALES:Ice

BreakerbyRoseViña(nonfiction

picturebook,AlbertWhitman&

Company).HOWTOSUBMIT:Email

a queryletterwith“Query”inthe

subjectlinetoalexweiss.jdlit@gmail.

com.Sendthefirst 20 pagesinthe

bodyoftheemail,alongwitha one-

paragraphbioanda one-paragraph

synopsis.Establishedpicturebook

authorsshouldemailtheirquery

andbiowiththecompletemanu-

scriptpastedintothebodyofthe

email.TIPSFORWRITERS:“Readas

oftenaspossibleandfinda strong

writing community or partner

that will support you every step of

the way. Most importantly, always

remember to be kind and to never

give up.”

MARIETTA B.

ZACKER

GALLT & ZACKER

LITERARY AGENCY

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.

GALLTZACKER.COM

@AGENTZACKER

FICTION INTERESTS: All genres in

picture books, middle-grade, and

YA. Also, graphic novels and illus-

trators. NONFICTION INTERESTS: All

genres in picture books, middle-

grade, and YA. RECENT SALES: Fly by

Brittany J. Th urman (picture book

text, S&S/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books);

Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen

(YA, Macmillan/Roaring Book);

Heart String by Brooke Boynton-

Hughes (picture book text and

illustrations, Chronicle); Land of

the Cranes by Aida Salazar (middle-

grade, Scholastic); Twelve Dinging

Doorbells by Tameka Fryer Brown

(picture book text, Penguin/Kokila).

HOW TO SUBMIT: Send a query to

[email protected].

In the subject line include your last

name and manuscript title, add-

ing “illustrator” to your name if

you illustrate but don’t write. In the

query include who you are, what

your manuscript is about, how you

came to write it, why you’re querying

Marietta specifi cally, and a 2,000-

word sample of the work pasted

into the email. TIPS FOR WRITERS: “Be

authentic in everything you write

and illustrate.” WD

ZACKER HEADSHOT ©

ZACKER IMAGES

Kara Gebhart Uhl (pleiadesbee.com)

writes and edits from Fort Thomas, Ky.

WritersDigest.com I 31