5 Literary Agents Actively Seeking Thrillers, Memoir, Pop Culture, Cookbooks, Speculative Fiction and more

Updated 8/22/23

Here are five literary agents actively building their client lists. All work with reputable literary agencies with solid track records. These agents are seeking everything - from nonfiction, to children's literature, to adult fantasy and science fiction, to thrillers and much more.

Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists.

You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients

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Mr. Jon Michael Darga of Aevitas Creative Management

Jon Michael Darga has edited titles across a diverse range of genres, including Dianne Hales’ La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World; transgender activist Sarah McBride’s memoir Tomorrow Will Be Different; Nico Tortorella’s poetry collection all of it is you.; and the paperback edition of Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink’s Five Days at Memorial. Darga graduated from the University of Michigan with Honors with a BA in English and Creative Writing, and later attended the Columbia University publishing program. Before coming to Aevitas, he worked as an editor at Crown, a division within Penguin Random House.

What he is seeking: Darga represents both non-fiction and fiction as an Aevitas agent based in Michigan. He is most interested in voice-driven pop culture writing, non-fiction histories that re-cast the narrative by emphasizing unexpected or unheard voices, and both adult and young adult commercial fiction that features diverse casts and new stories. He is not looking for genre fiction like political/crime thrillers, fantasy/sci-fi, or non-fiction in the self-help/how-to/business categories.

How to submit: Use his querymanager HERE.

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Ms. Agnes Carlowicz of Arc Literary Management

Agnes Carlowicz joined Arc Literary Management in April 2022 as a full time agent. She began her publishing career in 2015 as assistant to Joy Tutela at the David Black Agency, while completing her English B.A. and Creative Writing concentration at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York. In 2017, she joined Carol Mann Agency as assistant to the president where she worked closely with renowned novelist and essayist Paul Auster. While there, she began growing her own list to include authors from varied perspectives interested in disrupting the status quo. Agnes wants to use her position in the publishing industry to help create a world where writers are liberated to unabashedly express themselves, and readers of all identities see themselves represented on the page.

What she is seeking: Her interests include both fiction and non-fiction, with a special passion for literature that amplifies underrepresented voices and subverts the status quo. Among others, she enjoys: intersectional feminism, millennial self-care, female-driven memoir,  true-crime, and humorous pop culture.

How to submit:  Use her querymanager HERE.

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Ms. Lindsey Smith of Speilburg Literary Agency

Lindsey Smith got her start in the publishing industry as an author. After her own publishing success, she started working with other writers to help launch their books and shape their careers. To date, Lindsey has worked with over 1,000 authors and negotiated book deals even before becoming an agent. Her unique perspective helps shape her passion for the industry and her role as an advocate for her clients. Formerly a publicist and hailing from the world of self-publishing, Lindsey understands the importance of branding, and she works with each client not only to sell a book but to build a career.

What she is seeking: Lindsey is interested in cookbooks, lifestyle, health, pop culture, gender issues, self-help, true crime, and current events. She is especially interested in podcast-to-book ideas, journalists who specialize in specific research, and cookbooks that have a niche and/or narrative voice. Please do not send diet books.

How to submit: Fill out the online form HERE: https://querymanager.com/query/lindsey

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Mr. Jonathan Cobb of Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency

Jon began working at HSG in the summer of 2016. After graduating from the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, he decided to follow his dream of joining the publishing industry by moving to New York. He gained valuable experience interning at NYU Press and Writers House, while also pursuing a Master’s degree in Publishing: Digital and Print Media at NYU.

​What he is seeking: Jon reads all genres of fiction but has a particular interest in contemporary middle grade and YA, adult science fiction and fantasy, African-American fiction, literary fiction, and mysteries and thrillers.

How to submit: Jon accepts unsolicited queries through querymanager.

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Ms. Alicia Brooks of Martin Literary Management

Alicia Brooks began her career over twenty years ago in book publishing as an editorial assistant at Penguin USA. She worked her way up to an assistant editor position at Nan A. Talese/Doubleday where she worked with noteworthy authors, including Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, and Ian McEwan. Alicia then made the transition to an editor position at Picador/St. Martin's Press. Alicia is a graduate of Wellesley College with a B.A. in English and Philosophy and has a Master's Degree in the Teaching of English from Columbia University.

What she is seeking: Narrative Nonfiction from writers with diverse voices, Memoir with big concepts, Self-Help, Pop Culture, Social Justice, Literary Fiction, Book Club Fiction, Jewish Fiction and Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, Horror, Romance, YA Fiction and Nonfiction, Thrillers.

How to submit: Use her form HERE.