best-selling historical mystery

The Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York City is a literary agency for professional novelists, representing more than 100 authors and selling more than 150 novels every year to major publishers in the U.S. and overseas.


All agents of the Donald Maass Literary Agency are members of the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR). In addition to being members of the AAR, the agency also holds memberships in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Romance Writers of America.

Shelley Bates, William Bernhardt, Anne Bishop, Jim Butcher, Joelle Charbonneau, Daniel Depp, Diane Duane, Jane Haddam, Nalo Hopkinson, Stuart Kaminsky, Richard Knaak, Jay Lake, Todd McCaffrey, Robert McCammon, Anne Perry, Cherie Priest, Ken Scholes, Karl Schroeder, Mike Shepherd, Brent Weeks

New York Times best selling Victorian mysteries by Anne Perry.
New York Times best selling "Dresden Files" novels by Jim Butcher.
USA Today best selling "Black Jewels" books by Anne Bishop.
Edgard Award winning biography "Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle" by Daniel Stashower.
Edgard Award winning "The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes" by Leslie S. Klinger.
25-years-in-print "Young Wizards" YA novels by Diane Duane.

*** Congratulations to Anne Perry! A Sunless Sea #10 - New York Times Hard Cover Best Seller List for 9/15/2012!

*** Congratulations to Brent Weeks! The Blinding Knife #11 - New York Times Hard Cover Best Seller List for 9/30/2012!

*** Congratulations to Jim Butcher! Cold Days #1 - New York Times Hard Cover Best Seller List for 12/16/2012!

Featured Books:

Bear, Elizabeth - Shattered Pillars (March 2013)
Bein, Steve - Daughter of the Sword (October 2012)
Bennett, Robert Jackson - American Elsewhere (February 2013)
Bishop, Anne - Written in Red (March 2013)
Butcher, Jim - Cold Days (November 2012)
Charbonneau, Joelle - Skating on the Edge (October 2012)
Harrison, Thea - Lord's Fall (November 2012)
Hopkinson, Nalo - The New Moon's Arms (November 2012)
Kowal, Mary Robinette - Without a Summer (April 2013)
Laukkanen, Owen - Criminal Enterprise (March 2013)
Perry, Anne - A Christmas Garland (October 2012)
Priest, Cherie - Inexplicables (October 2012)
Weeks, Brent - The Blinding Knife (September 2012)

Recent novel sales from Donald Maass: Monk #20 and Charlotte & Pitt #29 by Anne Perry; A Study in Sherlock II edited by Leslie Klinger (Pegasus Books); Anne McCaffrey Tribute Essays Anthology edited by Todd McCaffrey (Benbella Books); Nnedi Okorafor's Kabu Kabu (Prime Books); Tinker 4 by Wen Spencer (Baen); Lockstep by Karl Schroeder (Tor Books); Blue Moon Rising by Gina Holmes (Tyndale); Lightbringer 4 by Brent Weeks (Hachette/Orbit)

Recent sales by Jennifer Jackson include Elizabeth Bear's Karen Memory (Tor Books); Anne Bishop's Written in Red (Penguin/NAL); Craig Shaw Gardner's Temporary Magic (Penguin/Berkley); Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's 5 new Liaden novels (Baen); Cherie Priest's I Am Princess X (Scholastic); Mike Shepherd's Vicky Peterwald: Target (Penguin/Berkley); Martha Wells' Emilie and the Hollow World (Strange Chemistry/Angry Robot)

Recent domestic sales from Cameron McClure include Robert Bennett's Mr. Shivers, a dark literary fantasy set during the Dust Bowl, plus a second book (Orbit), Carolyn Crooke's urban fantasy, The Disillusionists, plus a sequel (Bantam), and Emily Winslow's debut literary crime novel, The Whole World, plus a second book (Bantam Dell). Forthcoming books include Elizabeth Sims' The Extra (St. Martin's), David Sundstrand's Shadows of Death (St. Martin's), and Keith Sterns' Queers in History (BenBella Books).

Recent domestic sales from Stacia Decker include The Testing Trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's) and The Heartland Trilogy by Chuck Wendig (Amazon Children's)

* Audio rights to Steve Bein's Daughter of the Sword (Audible)
* Audio rights to Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian 28 and 29 (Dreamscape)
* Audio rights to Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer, Valour and Vanity (Audible)
* Audio rights to METAtropolis 3: Green Space edited by Jay Lake and Ken Scholes (Audible)

* Polish rights to Anne Bishop's Bridge of Dreams (Initium)
* Spanish rights to Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon and Academ's Fury (RBA Libros)
* Turkish rights to Jim Butcher's Dresden 4: Summer Knight, Dresden 5: Death Masks (Ithaki)
* Turkish rights to Jeff Carlson's Plague trilogy (Arunas)
* Italian rights to Carolyn Crane's Mind Games (Asengard)
* French rights to Diane Duane's Wizard trilogy (Lumen / New Millennium)
* French rights to Thea Harrison's Dragon Bound (J'ai Lu)
* German rights to Jay Lake's Endurance (Bastei Lubbe)
* Korean rights to Robert McCammon's Speaks the Nightbird (Sigongsa)
* Czech rights to Cherie Priest's Clementine (Triton)
* Spanish rights to Cherie Priest's Clementine (La Factoria de Ideas)
* Chinese rights to Karl Schroeder's Sun of Suns, Queen of Candesence (Goukr)
* Portuguese rights to Ekaterina Sedia's Alchemy of Stone (Tarja Editorial)
* Japanese rights to Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife 4: Resolute (Hayakawa)
* Polish rights to Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife 1: Mutineer and Kris Longknife 2: Deserter (Fabryka Slow)
* German rights to Chuck Wendig's Blackbirds and Mockingbirds (Verlagsgruppe Lübbe)

* Film rights to Cherie Priest's Boneshaker to Crosscreek Pictures and Hammer Films

Donald Maass is president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, which he founded in 1980. He is himself the author of fourteen pseudonymous novels and of the books The Career Novelist (Heineman, 1996), Writing the Breakout Novel (Writers Digest Press, 2001) and the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (Writers Digest Press, 2004), Fire in Fiction (Writers Digest Press, 2009), Writing 21st Century Fiction (Writers Digest Press, 2012). His writing on fiction careers and advanced fiction technique have established DMLA as a leading agency for fiction writers. Donald Maass also teaches week-long intensive workshops based on his books:

http://www.free-expressions.com/site/default.htm

Read an interview with Donald Maass:

http://www.maassagency.com/lookfor.html

Read an informative two-part interview with Donald Maass on Writer Unboxed:

http://writerunboxed.com/2007/11/30/interview-donald-maass-part-1/

http://writerunboxed.com/2007/12/07/interview-donald-maass-part-2/#more-757

Jennifer Jackson joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 1993. Growing up reading science fiction and fantasy led naturally to a concentration in that genre, which she continues to champion. After pioneering the expansion of the agency into the areas of romance and women's fiction, she is also developing a select list in the mystery and suspense genres, and is actively acquiring YA fiction. Her current roster includes New York Times best-selling fantasy writer Jim Butcher, Hugo Award-winning science fiction author Elizabeth Bear, USA Today best-selling author Anne Bishop, and Nebula and Hugo finalist Cherie Priest. She is currently seeking new clients in all genres. She is interested in both new and established writers. Previously, she worked as a bookseller for Waldenbooks, and also for Forbidden Planet, the retail division of London's Titan Books. She maintains a personal website at http://www.jenniferjackson.org/ and blogs at http://arcaedia.wordpress.com/


Cameron McClure joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2004. She represents literary/fantasy writer Brian Francis Slattery, and mystery writers David Sundstrand and Elizabeth Sims (both published by St. Martin's Minotaur), and is looking to expand her list in these areas. She is particularly interested in books that combine genre plotting with literary writing, or otherwise blur the lines between categories. Prior to the Maass Agency she worked as an assistant agent for Curtis Brown Ltd., New York.


Stacia Decker joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2009. A former editor at Harcourt and Otto Penzler Books, she began her career at Farrar, Straus & Giroux after earning an MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia University. She represents noir, crime fiction, literary suspense, literary fiction, and cross-genre fiction with speculative elements and is looking for a strong voice, dark humor, fast-paced plotting, and unpredictable violence. She is currently not accepting submissions.


Amy Boggs joined the agency in 2009. She is looking for fantasy and science fiction, especially urban fantasy, paranormal romance, steampunk, YA/children's, and alternate history. Historical fiction, multi-cultural fiction, Westerns, and works that challenge their genre are also welcome. She worked previously for the Beth Vesel Literary Agency and is a graduate of Vassar College.


Katie Shea joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2011. She was previously an agent with the Johnson Literary Agency. She specializes in fiction and memoir, especially women’s fiction and commercial-scale literary fiction. She is also seeking memoir, narrative non-fiction, food, pop culture, health and lifestyle, and realistic YA. She is most interested in coming-of-age stories and stories of unique relationships.

CHINA AND TAIWAN
Gray Tan
The Grayhawk Agency
grayhawk@url.com.tw

EASTERN EUROPE
Ana Milenkovic, Milena Kaplarevic, Lidija Plisic
Prava i Prevodi
milena@pravaiprevodi.org

FRANCE
Anna Jarota
Anna Jarota Agency
ajarota@ajafr.com

GERMANY
Thomas Schlueck, Bastian Schlueck
Schlueck Literary Agency
b.schlueck@schlueckagent.com

ISRAEL
Dalia Ever-Hadani
Book Publishers Association of Israel
rights2@tbpai.co.il

ITALY
Elisabetta Romano, Stefania Fietta
Agenzia Letteraria Internazionale
fietta@aglettinternazionale.it

JAPAN
Seiichiro Shimono
Owls Agency
shimo@owlsagency.com

KOREA
Sue Yang, Jeannie Hwang
Eric Yang Agency
Jeannie@eyagency.com

RUSSIA
Alexander Korzhenevski
A. Korzhenevski Agency
alex.akagency@gmail.com

SCANDINAVIA
Lennart Sane, Lina Hammarling
Lennart Sane Agency, AB
lina.hammarling@lennartsaneagency.com

SOUTH AMERICA
Nicolas Costa, Flavia Sala
International Editors

SPAIN
Isabel Monteagudo, Maru du Monserrat
International Editors
ieco@internationaleditors.com

TURKEY
Hatice Gok
ONK Agency
hatice@onkagency.com

UNITED KINGDOM
Meg Davis
KI Agency
Meg@ki-agency.co.uk

Donald Maass, President
Jennifer Jackson, Vice President
Cameron McClure, Agent and Rights Director
Stacia Decker, Agent
Amy Boggs, Agent and Contracts Director
Katie Shea, Agent

E-mail query letter with first five pages and synopsis to info@maassagency.com (no attachments). Or mail to address above, a one-page query letter, the first five pages of your manuscript, a synopsis, and an SASE. For more information see the submission guidelines on our webpage:

http://www.maassagency.com/submissions.html

And for information on submitting to individual agents, please see the agent profiles:

http://maassagency.com/agents.html

MBA Literary Agents Ltd. (London)