Agent Alert: Gail Fortune of The Talbot Fortune Agency
Literary agent alerts (this one with Gail Fortune of The Talbot Fortune Agency) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building their client list.
Gail Fortune is a literary agent with The Talbot Fortune Agency and a former book editor with over 25 years of publishing experience. Prior to becoming an agent, she spent 16 years at Putnam Berkley (now part of Penguin Random House), where she rose from Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief to Executive Editor.
Her authors won RITAs and Agatha's and were nominated for Edgar and Anthony Awards. She has edited and agented New York Times bestsellers and Publishers Weekly Books of the Year.
She is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
Currently Seeking
She is currently looking for upmarket commercial fiction in the following categories: domestic suspense, psychological suspense, thrillers, crime novels, espionage novels, mysteries of all types, historical thrillers, women's fiction, historical fiction with suspense elements. She's a big fan of dual narratives, different time periods, and multiple POV. Authors she loves to read include Ruth Ware, Elin Hilderbrand, Kate Morton, Harlan Coben, and Fiona Davis.
In nonfiction, she loves food and travel narratives, as well as history titles that would have a commercial readership.
How to Submit
Send a query letter via e-mail only to queries@talbotfortuneagency.com (use the word "Query" and specify in the subject line that your query is intended for Gail). Below your query, paste the first five pages of your manuscript (no attachments please). Queries are important, but sample text helps her get to know your writing and evaluate your work.
Learn more on her agency's submission page (https://www.talbotfortuneagency.com/submission-guidelines/).
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
