New Literary Agent Alert: Joanna MacKenzie of the Nelson Literary Agency
Literary agent alerts (like this one with Joanna MacKenzie of the Nelson Literary Agency) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building their client list.
About Joanna: Joanna joined the Nelson Literary Agency at the start of 2017 following a tenure at a Chicago-based literary agency where she successfully placed numerous manuscripts that have gone on to become critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling novels. She represents a wide-range of writers, from YA (Kristen Simmons) and romance (Shana Galen) to mysteries and thrillers (John Galligan). Joanna loves working with authors who embrace the full publishing process (read: love revisions) and is committed to the stories her clients want to tell both with the words they put on paper, as well as with the careers the build. At the Nelson Literary Agency, Joanna is looking to expand her list in both adult and YA.
She is Seeking: Joanna is looking for literary-leaning projects with commercial potential and epic reads that beat with a universal heart (think The Secret History or The Namesake or Geek Love). In particular, she's drawn to smart and timely women’s fiction as well as absorbing, character-driven mysteries and thrillers –Tana French is a particular favorite. She has a weird obsession with, what she calls, “child in jeopardy lit” and can’t get enough kick-ass mom heroines—she’d love to find the next Heather Gudenkauff. On the YA side, she’s interested in coming of age stories that possess a confident voice and characters she can’t stop thinking about (Morgan Matson is on her forever shelf).
How to Submit: Send a query via email to queryjoanna@nelsonagency.com. Please remember:
- In the subject line, write QUERY and the title of your project. This will help ensure that your query isn’t accidentally deleted or caught in our spam filter.
- In the body of your email, include a one-page query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript.
- No attachments Because of virus concerns, emails with attachments are deleted unread.
Cris Freese is a technical writer, professional book editor, literary intern, and the former managing editor of Writer's Digest Books. Cris also edited the annual guides Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market and Guide to Literary Agents, while also curating, editing, and writing all content for GLA's online companion. crisfreese.com
