Agency Profile: Diana Finch Literary Agency

Diana Finch Literary Agency

116 W. 23rd St., Suite 500, New York NY 10011. 

Phone: (646)375-2081. 

E-mail: diana.finch@verizon.net. 

Contact: Diana Finch. Seeking new and established writers. Prior to opening her agency, Ms. Finch worked at Ellen Levine Literary Agency for 18 years. 

Established: 2003. Member of AAR. Represents 45 clients. 20% of clients are new/unpublished writers. 

Currently Handles: 65% Nonfiction Books, 25% Novels, 5% Juvenile Books, 5% Multimedia.

Represents: Nonfiction Books, Novels, Scholarly Books. 

Nonfiction areas of interest: Biography, Business, Child Guidance/Parenting, Computers, Current Affairs, Ethnic/Cultural, Government/Politics/Law, Health/Medicine, History, How-to, Humor, Juvenile nonfiction, Memoirs, Military, Money, Music/Dance, Nature, Photography, Popular Culture, Psychology, Science, Self-Help/Personal Improvement, Sports, Theater/film, Translation, True Crime, Women's Issues. 

Fiction areas of interest: Action/Adventure, Detective/Police/Crime, Ethnic, Historical, Literary, Mainstream/Contemporary, Thriller, Young Adult.

How to Contact: Query with SASE or via e-mail (no attachments). Accepts e-mail queries. No phone or fax queries. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Returns materials only with SASE. 

Actively seeking: narrative nonfiction, popular science, and health topics. 

Does not want: romance, mysteries, or children's picture books.

Recent Sales:Armed Madhouse, by Greg Palast (Penguin US/UK); The Bush Agenda, by Antonia Juhasz; Journey of the Magi, by Tudor Parfitt (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); Radiant Days, by Michael FitzGerald (Shoemaker & Hoard); The Queen's Soprano, by Carol Dines (Harcourt Young Adult); Was the 2004 Election Stolen?, by Steven Freeman and Joel Bleifuss (Seven Stories); An Iranian Memoir, by Azadeh Moaveni (Random House); Great Customer Connections, by Rich Gallagher (Amacom). 

Terms: Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales.; 20% commission on foreign sales.
Offers written contract. "I charge for photocopying, overseas postage, galleys, and books purchased, and try to recap these costs from earnings received for a client, rather than charging outright." 

Tips: "Do as much research as you can on agents before you query. Have someone critique your query letter before you send it. It should be only 1 page and describe your book clearly—and why you are writing it—but also demonstrate creativity and a sense of your writing style."