These agents are actively building client lists. As always, read the entire agency website before submitting. Check to see what other writers have said about the agency on Absolute Write, and do a google search on the both the agency and the agent. It’s always enlightening to see what pops up.

Note: For a complete list of agents seeking clients go here: Agents Seeking Clients

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Michelle Richter of Fuse Literary Agency

About Michelle: Michelle Richter was formerly an editor at St. Martin’s Press. Michelle has a degree in Economics with a minor in Russian from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and left a career in finance for publishing. She joined St. Martin’s Press’ editorial department in 2006 after obtaining a Masters in Publishing from Pace University. Find her on Twitter at @michrichter1.

What she is seeking: Michelle is primarily seeking fiction, especially book club reads, women’s fiction, contemporary romance, literary fiction, and mystery/suspense/thrillers. Her favorite authors include Ann Patchett, Emma Straub, Laura Lippman, Richard Russo, Tom Perrotta, and Gillian Flynn. She’s also open to YA fiction, particularly contemporary YA and YA mystery/thriller. For nonfiction, she’s interested in fashion, pop culture, science/medicine, sociology/social trends, and economics.

How to submit: To query Michelle, please send your query letter, a 1–2 page plot synopsis, and the first twenty pages of your manuscript to querymichelle@fuseliterary.com. Please allow 8–10 weeks for a response to your query.

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Rebecca Podos at Rees Literary Agency

About Rebecca: Rebecca Podos is a graduate of the MFA Writing, Literature and Publishing program at Emerson College, whose own fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train, Glyph, CAJE, Bellows American Review, Paper Darts, and SmokeLong Quarterly. She represents YA books by talented clients such as Rin Chupeco, Jen Anckorn, Ryan Bradford, Sarah Nicolas, Jen Estes, Kenny Logan, and more.

What she is looking for: Rebecca is interested exclusively in Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction; particularly books about complex female relationships, beautifully written contemporary, romance with more at stake than “will they/won’t they,” genre fiction with a strong focus on character, books featuring marginalized voices and cultures, and LGBTQIA stories across all genres. At the moment, she’d especially love a gender-swapped fairy tale or myth retelling, a STEM oriented MG, stories featuring multi-generational family relationships, a Gothic mystery, or a non-western inspired fantasy.

How to submit: Rebecca prefers email submissions consisting of a query letter and the first three chapters, and unfortunately is only able to respond to queries she is interested in pursuing. You can contact her at Rebecca@reesagency.com

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Laura Biagi at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency

About Laura: Laura Biagi joined JVNLA in 2009. 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. As a writer, she has participated in workshops at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Emerging Artist Award for fiction writing.

What she is seeking: She is actively building her own client list, seeking adult literary fiction and young readers books. In the adult fiction realm, she is particularly interested in literary fiction, magical realism, cultural themes, and debut authors. She is drawn to strong voices, complex narrative arcs, dynamic and well-developed characters, psychological twists, and dystopian/apocalyptic literary fiction.

In the young readers realm, she is seeking young adult novels, middle grade novels, and picture books. She loves young readers books that have a magical tinge to them and vivid writing. She also looks for titles that incorporate high concept, dark/edgy, and quirky elements, as well as titles that challenge the way we typically view the world.

How to submit: Please email your query to lbiagi at jvnla.com, or submit your query to her via the website at http://www.jvnla.com/submissions.php. Please include the first page of your manuscript when submitting your query.

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Maria Ribas of Stonesong

Maria Ribas began her career on the editorial side, first at Simon & Schuster and Harlequin Nonfiction, then at Adams Media, where she was an associate editor before moving to the agency side in 2014. As a former editor, she has a keen sense of what editors are really looking for, and she has years of experience building lasting relationships with authors. She prides herself on being very hands-on as an agent and enjoys working closely with authors on their entire career and platform, not just one book.

Maria is looking for both narrative and prescriptive nonfiction, specializing in cookbooks, home design, personal development, popular psychology, health and fitness, business, pop culture, and select memoir.

How to submit: Send your query to submissions@stonesong.com. Include the first chapter or first 10 pages of your work, pasted into the body of your email, so that we may get a sense of your writing. Please do not send attachments.

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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.