Thursday, August 27, 2015

Let me introduce you to my literary agent!

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I am now represented as an author by Danielle Barthel and Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. in New York.

New Leaf is a major force particularly in the Young Adult arena, representing lots of amazing authors including Veronica Roth, who wrote the Divergent Trilogy, and Victoria Aveyard whose debut novel, Red Queen, went straight to No. 1 on the New York Times YA bestsellers list the week it was published in February.

Danielle Barthel and Suzie Townsend

Every author has a story to tell about his or her own distinct path to representation and eventually to publication, and one of these days, I’ll tell you where I am on my path. But in the meantime, my enormous and heartfelt thanks go to Danielle and Suzie at New Leaf for responding almost immediately to my plaintive submission email, for reading my WW2 love story over a sunny weekend when they could have been out enjoying themselves, and then for welcoming me into the New Leaf Literary family with such open and encouraging arms.  

Every un-agented writer harbors a suspicion that agents are all mean people who get a thrill out of saying “No!” to hard-working writers who just want a break. Well, from Danielle and Suzie at New Leaf, I got a whole bunch of "Yes!”.

Nikki Loftin
photo by Rae Dollard
I must also send a huge thank you to the wonderful Nikki Loftin for being so generous in putting in a good word for me with Suzie at New Leaf, who also represents her.  Nikki is an active member of the Austin chapter of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She not only gave me my first ever SCBWI conference critique, back in 2012, later in the day when she also saw me standing alone at a reception, she immediately took my arm and started introducing me to other writers she knew. Some wonderful friendships began with that kind gesture and first introduction, but I could never have guessed that years later, Nikki would make yet another crucially important introduction for me. Thank you, Nikki – I still owe you that cocktail with the pink umbrella.

I can’t wait to tell you more about this roller-coaster journey towards publication, as it all plays out, but for the time being, I’ll try to contain my excitement at having Danielle and Suzie on my team, and try to work out how to round off this post without resorting to some clichéd comment about me turning over a New Leaf…

Darn it!



To see the other amazing authors and illustrators represented by New Leaf Literary & Media, visit www.newleafliterary.com.

Nikki Loftin is the author of three gorgeous middle grade novels, The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, Nightingale’s Nest and Wish Girl. You can find Nikki at www.nikkiloftin.com.

9 comments:

  1. This is such tremendous news! As they say: "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so glad you were recruited into such an excellent team! Best wishes to all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Vonna, for all the messages - I am excited about it!

      Delete
  3. Oh, happy day! It was my pleasure to hang out with you, and read your amazing writing. I can't wait to watch you shine!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are already showing me how the shining bit is done, Nikki!

      Delete
  4. Just stopping by to read the details and to congratulate you (again) on signing with the awesome Danielle and Suzie! They're a great team to have in your corner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Caryn, and thanks for all the useful reading on your blog - your interview with D&S had answered so many of my questions before I even needed to ask them! Let's stay in touch as we wander this merry path... Caroline

      Delete
  5. I'm so glad the interviews were helpful! Danielle and Suzie were such good sports about all my questions, too.

    And, yes, staying in touch would be fun. Feel free to email me at caryn AT caryncaldwell DOT com whenever. I'll send you my preferred email address, which I never like to post online because of spammers. :-)

    ReplyDelete

I'd love you to leave a comment, but please remember to be considerate of other people's feelings.