12 Literary Agents Seeking Picture Books NOW
These twelve agents are seeking picture books. As long as people continue to have children, picture books will never go out of style. (They are even quite entertaining for adults.)
Note: You can find dozens of new and established agents seeking clients here: Agents Seeking Clients
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Jill Corcoran
NO LONGER AN AGENT
Jill Corcoran is President and Founder of Jill Corcoran Literary Agency and an Executive Partner, Branding & Licensing for EverWitt Productions, a film and television content developer. Jill opened the West Coast arm of Herman Agency in 2009, then launched JCLA in 2014. Jill represents many award-winning authors and illustrators, including New York Times Bestsellers, the former US Children’s Poet Laureate, and Famous Monsters of Filmland/American Gothic Press.
What she is seeking: Seeks submissions from author-illustrators only.
How to submit: query [at] jillcorcoranliteraryagency.com. Illustrators should query with a link to your portfolio and the entire PB manuscript in the e-mail body.
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Emily Van Beek (Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management)
“Representing an author or artist, whether aspiring or established, is an honor and a commitment I take very seriously. I am passionate about children’s and young adult books. I am passionate about negotiating the best deal possible. I am passionate about working together with our experienced and esteemed subsidiary rights and contracts teams to squeeze as much juice out of a single property as it will yield. I find it incredibly rewarding to work with new voices (and I’m thrilled to say that I’ve discovered several irresistible projects by debut authors and artists in the submissions pile). I’m also committed to helping established authors and artists continue to grow their careers. I am an “editorial” agent, in that I’ll work through as many drafts over the course of as many years as it takes to polish a manuscript I believe in to a high shine prior to submission. My goal is to build long-term relationships with authors and artists and to help them publish books that will stand the test of time.”
What she is looking for: Author-illustrator submissions only please. No submissions that are text-only.
How to submit: emily [at] foliolitmanagement.com. “To submit a picture book, please attach a PDF of your dummy. Links to online portfolios are always welcome. I would very much like to be able to respond to every query, but unfortunately time doesn’t allow for it. Please be sure to write ‘QUERY’ in the subject line as this will ensure I do not miss your letter. If you haven’t heard back from me within six weeks, I’m sorry to say I’ve decided I’m not the ideal match for your project.”
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Jennifer Flannery (Flannery Literary)
Jennifer Flannery founded Flannery Literary in 1992 in New York after working at a literary agency in her hometown of Minneapolis and then in the trade department at HarperCollins. Flannery moved her offices to the Chicago area in 1997.
What she is looking for: Flannery Literary is looking for strong writing, a unique viewpoint, a memorable story, an intriguing character, and a thought-provoking dilemma a young reader is eager to see resolved.
How to submit: flanneryliterary [at] icloud.com. “I request e-mail queries only with the entire picture book embedded in an e-mail.”
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John Rudolph (Dystel & Goderich)
“After twelve years as an editor, I’m excited to wear a new hat in the publishing industry and discover fresh voices and talent, both in children’s books and on the adult side as well. For middle-grade and YA fiction, I’m on the lookout for authentic kids’ voices and rousing, high concept stories — I love a good “what-if” scenario.”
What he is looking for: “I’m eager to find the next great author/illustrator.”
How to submit: E-query jrudolph [at] dystel.com.
Will not open attachments if they come with a blank e-mail.
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Victoria Selvaggio (Storm Literary Agency)
TEMPORARILY CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS
Business owner turned Associate Agent, Victoria A. Selvaggio came to The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as a prior Regional Advisor for SCBWI: Northern Ohio, with over 9 years of actively working on the executive board. Drawn to the publishing scene first as an author, with her most recent publication in the 2015 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market, Vicki’s passion for honing the craft carried over into reading manuscripts for the agency. Currently, she is excited to read compelling manuscripts that will resonate with her long after she’s done
What she is looking for: Lyrical picture books.
How to submit: TEMPORARILY CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS
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Mary Cummings (Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises)
Mary served for fourteen years as education director at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she organized an annual festival of children’s literature and selected judges for the prestigious McKnight Award in Children’s Literature. She represents both career writers and newcomers.
What she is looking for: Adorable, cute, sweet as well as contemporary, quirky books. Strong central character(s) preferred.”
How to submit: Queries for children’s and YA titles should be addressed to b.amster.kidsbooks [at] gmail.com. For picture books, please embed the entire text in the body of your e-mail. “We do not open attachments unless we have requested them. Nor do we respond to phone queries. Please understand that owing to the number of queries we receive, we are able to respond only to those that interest us.
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Wendi Gu (Janklow & Nesbit Associates)
What she is looking for: “I seek author-illustrators only.”
How to submit: Please send an informative cover letter, full outline, and include a picture book dummy and at least one full-color sample. If you are sending an email submission, please attach a picture book dummy as a PDF and the full-color samples as JPEGs or PDFs to submissions@janklow.com.
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Laura Biagi (Jean V. Naggar Literary)
NO LONGER AN AGENT
Laura Biagi joined JVNLA in 2009. She is actively building her own client list, seeking adult literary fiction and young readers books. She also handles the sale of UK and Australian/New Zealand rights, as well as audio rights. She has worked closely with Jean Naggar and Jennifer Weltz on their titles, as well as Jennifer Weltz on the submission of JVNLA’s titles internationally. Laura’s writing background has honed her editorial eye and has driven her enthusiasm for discovering and developing literary talent. She studied creative writing and anthropology at Northwestern University. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Emerging Artist Award for fiction writing. Laura grew up in a small town in Kentucky and maintains a fondness for Southern biscuits and unobstructed views of the stars.
What she is seeking: “I’m open to both author-illustrators and text only.”
How to submit: There is a submission guideline form on the Jean V. Naggar Literary website.
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Natalie Lakosil (Bradford Literary)
Natalie is an agent at the Bradford Literary Agency. An honors graduate of the University of San Diego, California, Natalie holds a B.A. in Literature/Writing. After nearly four years at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and a brief dabble in writing author profiles and book reviews for the San Diego Union Tribune, Natalie joined the Bradford Agency in February of 2011.
What she is seeking: Natalie is drawn to talented, hard-working new authors with a fresh, unique voice and hook.
How to submit: E-mail your query to queries [at] bradfordlit.com. To avoid falling into spam, the subject line must begin as follows: “Query for Natalie: (The title of the manuscript and any SHORT message you would like her to see should follow). “We do not open email attachments, unless specifically requested by an agent. Picture book submissions should be a short query along with entire manuscript in body of email.”
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Christa Heschke (McIntosh & Otis)
Christa graduated from Binghamton University with a major in English and a minor in Anthropology. She started in publishing as an intern at both Writers House and Sterling Lord Literistic, where she fell in love with the agency side of publishing. Christa has been at McIntosh and Otis, Inc. in the Children’s Literature Department since 2009 where she is actively acquiring for all age groups in children’s.
What she is seeking: “I am open to both text only and author/illustrators, though I am very selective. I am more drawn towards character driven stories that are cute and/or funny, not overly sweet. I love twists on familiar characters or storylines and unlikely friendship stories. I also enjoy nonfiction bios on strong women and people of color throughout history, especially. For all categories [of kidlit], I’d love to see more diverse books!”
How to submit: Query CHquery [at] mcintoshandotis.com.
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Erica Rand Silverman (Stimola Literary Studio)
Erica has worked with some of the most exciting new talent and treasured mainstays in the industry as well as the estates of our favorite classics. Erica represents picture books through young adult and the occasional adult nonfiction project in parenting, humor and wellness. She received her degree in Secondary English Education from the University of Wisconsin — Madison, and a Master of Arts degree in Theater from Hunter College. She was a NYC high school English teacherdean and senior literary agent at Sterling Lord Literistic before joining the studio in 2016. Erica is a tireless advocate for her clients and committed to keeping great books alive.
What she is seeking: Seeks submissions from author-illustrators only. Interested in “great read-aloud texts and ones that put a new spin on evergreen topics.”
How to submit: Do not e-query Erica. Instead go online and submit through her agency’s online form.
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Adriana Dominguez (Full Circle Literary)
Adriana Domínguez has 20 years of experience in publishing. Prior to becoming an agent, she was Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, where she managed the children’s division of the Rayo imprint. Before that, she was Children’s Reviews Editor at Críticas magazine, published by Library Journal. Adriana has performed editorial work for both children and adult publishers. She is also a professional translator, a member of the Brooklyn Literary Council that organizes the Brooklyn Book Festival, and one of the founders of the Comadres and Compadres Writers Conference in New York City. Adriana is based on the East Coast.
What she is seeking: Illustrators only.
Her wish list concerning text: She seeks “picture books that are funny or endearing, with an element of the unexpected. I love twists, strong concepts, and diverse points of view. Picture books that make you wonder, ‘How didn’t anyone ever think of this before?!’”
How to submit: Online submission form: http://www.fullcircleliterary.com/submissions/.
About the author: Erica Verrillo has published five books, four with major publishers and one on her own. She blogs about the publishing world, posts useful tips on how to get an agent, lists agents who are looking for clients as well as publishers accepting manuscripts directly from writers, explains how to market and promote your work, how to build your online platform, how to get reviews, how to self-publish, and where to find markets for your work on Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity.
