After 17 years at the JCA Literary Agency I have gone out on my own as of January 2005, while affiliating with the Gina Maccoby Literary Agency which has been in business since 1986.

I am interested in commercial and literary fiction, as well as serious non-fiction and pop culture. My focus as an agent has always been on working with writers to shape their work for its greatest commercial potential. I provide lots of editorial advice in sharpening manuscripts and proposals before submission.

I've been a member of the Royalty Committee of the Association of Authors Representatives since its founding and am always keen to challenge publishers for their willfully obscure royalty reporting.

My publishing background includes working at the University of California Press so I am always intrigued by academic subjects which are given a commercial spin to reach an audience outside academia. I've also worked as a foreign scout for publishers like Hodder & Stoughton in England and Wilhelm Heyne in Germany, which gives me a good sense of how American books can be successfully translated overseas.

Fiction: Ernest J. Gaines, David Heinzmann, Gwen Hunter, Peter King, Nicholas Nicastro, William Rabkin, Fran Rizer, Elena Santangelo

Non-Fiction: Kenneth Ackerman, Mustafa Akyol, James Arnold, Paul Cobb, Fred Donner, Ussama Makdisi, Ted McClelland, National Society of Film Critics, Nicholas Nicastro, Mark Pegg, Tim Parsons, Paul Pillar, Philip Pomper, Else Poulsen, Harold Lee Wise

A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines (Oprah selection, #1 NYT best-seller, and Emmy Award-winning HBO movie)
LINE OF VISION by David Ellis (Edgar Award winner for Best First Novel)
BOSS TWEED by Kenneth Ackerman
PYRES by Derek Nikitas (Edgar Award nominee for Best First Novel)
SHADOW VALLEY by Gwen Hunter (Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee)
BY BLOOD POSSESSED by Elena Santangelo (Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel)

OBAMA: CHICAGO AND THE MAKING OF A BLACK PRESIDENT, Ted McClelland (Bloomsbury)
MUHAMMAD AND THE BELIEVERS, Fred Donner (Harvard UP)
UNTITLED ON DEMOCRACY AND ISLAM, Mustafa Akyol (Norton)
THE BEAUTY AND THE GEEK, Henry Lee (Berkley)
LENIN'S BROTHER, Philip Pomper (Norton)
WORD TO THE WISE, David Heinzmann (Five Star)
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY: The United States & the Arab World, 1820-2003 by Ussama Makdisi (Public Affairs)
A JUNGLE OF SNAKES by James Arnold (Bloomsbury)
ENEMIES OF GOD by Paul Cobb (Oxford UP)
A MOST HOLY WAR by Mark Gregory Pegg (Oxford UP)
YOUNG J. EDGAR by Kenneth Ackerman (Carroll & Graf)
CIRCUMFERENCE by Nicholas Nicastro (St. Martin's)
SLEEP SOFTLY by Gwen Hunter (Mira)
CASKET CASE by Fran Rizer (Berkley)
THE HOLLYWOOD GUIDE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S GREAT OUTDOORS by Harry Medved (St. Martin's)
THE B LIST by National Society of Film Critics (DaCapo)
FEAR ITSELF by Elena Santangelo (Llewellyn)
LESSONS OF EMPIRE by Tim Parsons (Oxford)
BEIRUT THUNDER by Harold Lee Wise (Naval Institute Press)
SMILING BEARS by Else Poulsen (Graystone)
100 THINGS DODGER FANS SHOULD KNOW AND DO BEFORE THEY DIE by Jon Weissman (Triumph)
PSYCH: MIND OVER MAGIC by William Rabkin (NAL)

Dutch rights to Gwen Hunter's BETRAYAL to Bruna, Japanese & Korean rights to Peter King's GOURMET DETECTIVE series, Turkish, Greek & Spanish rights to Nicastro's THE ISLE OF STONE & ANTIGONE'S WAKE, film rights to Ackerman's BOSS TWEED & THE GOLD RING and to Peter King's THE GOURMET DETECTIVE mystery series.

E-mail submissions preferred - attach sample chapters or proposal if you wish. Enter "QUERY" in the subject line of e-mails or on the envelope of snail mails. E-mail to: jeff.gerecke@verizon.net. NO screenplays, sci-fi/fantasy or romance. PLEASE NOTE: I am highly overloaded and cannot guarantee replies to every submission though I do try. E-mail gets priority and snail mail languishes. If you do not hear from me the first time, you may send me one reminder. I encourage all writers to submit to lots of agents simultaneously so don't sit around waiting for my reply!