International Bestseller; San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller, B & N Discover Great New Writers pick; Target Breakout Reads; PNBA Award - winner; Richard & Judy Bookclub selection (UK)

Located in Greenwich Village, Markson Thoma was founded by Elaine Markson in 1972 with the goal of creating a powerful, independent literary agency whose intentional small size would foster close relationships and careful management.

Today, close to forty years later, we continue to deliver on that goal. Our authors include celebrated novelists, historians and journalists, as well as writers of every genre and category.

Will Lavender; Naseem Rakha; Jim Beaver; Eve Brown-Waite; Ted Leonsis; Areva Martin; Alicia Bessette; Michelle Cove; David E. Hilton

Naseem Rakha's THE CRYING TREE (Broadway Books) [International bestseller; San Francisco Chronicle bestseller (#4); PNBA award winner; Emerging Voices selection; B & N Discover Great New Writers selection; Target Reads - Breakout; Richard & Judy Book Club selection(UK)]; bookclub fiction

Will Lavender's OBEDIENCE (Shaye Areheart Books)[New York Times and International Bestseller]; psychological thriller; and DOMINANCE (Simon & Schuster) in which a renowned literature professor -- and convicted murderer -- teaches a controversial night class from his prison cell, and years later aids a former student in her desperate attempt to solve the next generation of murders as the students from the infamous night class are picked off one by one.

Alicia Bessette's SIMPLY FROM SCRATCH (Dutton) [International Bestseller; Debutante Ball selection]; bookclub/upmarket women's fiction

Actor, author and playwright Jim Beaver's, LIFE'S THAT WAY (Amy Einhorn Books) [B & N Discover Great New Writers selection]; memoir about dealing with love, loss and learning to live again after the actor's wife dies

Eve Brown-Waite's FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MALARIA (Broadway Books) [Debutante Ball selection]; memoir about pampered college grad who joins the Peace Corps and gets much more than she's prepared to handle

Ted Leonsis's THE BUSINESS OF HAPPINESS (Regnery Publishing) [Washington Post bestseller (#4)]; entrepreneur who shares the secret to being happy in life -- and how that leads to success in business

Areva Martin's THE EVERYDAY ADVOCATE: Standing up for your autistic child (Penguin/NAL); how-to/self-help

National bestselling author, Michelle Cove's SEEKING HAPPILY EVER AFTER, based on her documentary of the same name; self-help for single women who are redefining the fairy tale.

David E. Hilton's KINGS OF COLORADO (S & S); bookclub fiction set on a boys reformatory ranch in Colorado. (B & N Discover Great New Writers selection)

Paul Jury's memoir STATES OF CONFUSION: My 48 State Detour to Find Direction, (Adams Media) about a young man, unable to get a job after college, who hits the road in an effort to find some direction in his life.

Traci Foust's NOWHERE NEAR NORMAL, a memoir about growing up with OCD, hypochondria and panic attacks, during which time the author knows she's not "right" but doesn't know why - or what to do about it - so she spends a lot of time licking locks, measuring throw rugs and making sure there's an even number of Dixie cups in the bathroom.(Marie Claire)

Journalist and former Larry King Live producer Carol Ross Joynt's INNOCENT SPOUSE, a story about marital secrets and financial infidelity that recounts the author's attempts to pick up the pieces of her shattered life when, after her husband's sudden death, she learns that he was under investigation by the IRS for tax fraud and, as his surviving spouse, she is responsible for repaying his debt of over $2.5 million. (First serial to Vogue; Today Show feature)

Thriller: David Bell's CEMETERY GIRL, in which a couple who seemingly has it all, loses almost everything when their twelve-year-old daughter disappears without a trace, and then, four years later, is found and returned to them, but refuses to talk about where she was, what happened to her -- and why, to Danielle Perez at NAL, in a two-book deal (World English).

Debut fiction: Historian and former college professor Lois Leveen's THE SECRETS OF MARY BOWSER, based on the true story of Mary Bowser, who was born into slavery in Richmond, VA, then freed by her mistress and sent North to be educated, but later returned to the South on the eve of the Civil war and wound up posing as a slave in the Confederate White House -- when, in fact, she was working as part of a spy ring, run by her former mistress, to Laurie Chittenden at William Morrow, at auction and to Suzie Doore at Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, in a pre-empt, for publication in May 2012, by Elizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK.

Memoir: Michael Cosgrove's CROSSING THE SLEEPING GIANT: One Man. One Boat. One Life Crisis and a Desire to do Something Grand (Like Sail Around the Word) Before it's Too Late, a humorous yet inspiring story about what happened when the author turned 60 and decided to prove he was still young and vital by attempting to sail solo around the globe, in spite of the fact that he'd never before sailed more than 26 miles from dry land - and the seasickness, homicidal first mate, leaky boat, hallucinations and navigational errors that didn't stop him - as he proved that you're never too old to "just do it", whatever "it" is, regardless of who you are or your stage/age in life, to Jason Katzman at Skyhorse(World)

Thriller: NYT bestselling author of OBEDIENCE, Will Lavender's THE DESCARTES CIRCLE, about identical twins, one of whom is a philosophy professor and the leader of a campus group devoted to puzzle-solving; when he is accused of murdering his wife, he disappears for a week and is found alive, but tortured and mute, leaving it to his brother to discover what happened during the lost week, and whether his brother is a murderer, again to Sarah Knight at Simon & Schuster, in a two-book deal, in a significant deal, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (World).
Marcella.berger@simonandschuster.com

Fiction: Joann Rose Leonard's THE HEALER, about a young girl who, after a horrible accident, is struck mute and begins to show signs that she possesses the gift of healing, causing locals and family members to seek her services, until after an event causes everyone to rethink what they know about doubt versus reality; faith versus fact, to Joseph Pittman at Vantage Point Books, for publication in September 2012, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (NA).

Memoir: Bree Housley's THE MOTH AND THE BUTTERFLY, a totally true story about best friends, sisters and learning NOT to always be yourself, a tribute to women's friendships in which the author's BFF since childhood -- a true social butterfly -- dies from Preeclampsia immediately after childbirth and the author struggles to enjoy all that life has to offer (an engagement, wedding, career changes) without her sidekick by her side and decides to embark on a crazy journey where she tries to live life more like her friend did -- bigger, louder, crazier -- in spite of the fact that the author herself is more of a moth than a butterfly, to Brooke Warner at Seal Press, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (NA).

Memoir: Suzanne Westover's MAKING WAVES: One Cruise Staff's Tale of Love, Adventure and (Really) Cramped Quarters on the High Seas, in which, shortly after graduating college a young woman lands a job on a cruise ship and encounters wacky passengers (and staff) as she struggles to get her sea legs in this behind-the-scenes look at what really goes on beyond the Lido deck and at the same time, gives armchair travelers a chance to experience some wonderful ports of call - including an African safari, to Joseph Pittman at Vantage Point Books, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (NA).

Parenting: Documentary filmmaker and co-author of "I'm Not Mad I Just Hate You" and author of "Seeking Happily Ever After," Michelle Cove's AM I A BAD MOM FOR LOVING MONDAYS?, a book that not only validates, but celebrates a woman's desire to have a career and family and gives working moms the tools they need to deal with the anxieties and challenges of constantly trying to tend to life in the office and on the home-front, including what to do when you're trying to get out the house to go to work and your two year old has attached herself to your leg and is begging you not to leave her, to Brooke Warner at Seal Press, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (NA).

Memoir: Jennifer Lynn Jones's ALL ROADS LEAD TO JERUSALEM, in which an American mom packs up her three children and heads off to the Holy Land to live in her husband's tiny West Bank village - without him - for 1 ½ years and there, in one of the most restrictive societies in the world, she struggles not only to make a home for herself and her children, but to regain a sense of independence, purpose, and self-worth, to Tracy Ertl at Titletown, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma.
Translation: julia@marksonthoma.com

Thriller: Author of THE SECRET KEEPER Paul Harris's THE CANDIDATE, pitched as a cross between "The West Wing" and Joe Klein's "Primary Colors," in which a woman tries (unsuccessfully) to assassinate a candidate during the presidential primary, and then refuses to speak or to answer any questions about who she is or why she wanted the candidate dead -- and it's up to the candidate's handlers to figure out who the woman is, her connection (if any) to the candidate, and to get this information before the opposition gets hold of it, in the event it could harm the candidate, his image, and his ability to win the primary, to Joseph Pittman at Vantage Point Books, for publication in Summer 2012, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (NA). Translation: Julia@MarksonThoma.com

Debut fiction: Priscille Marcille Sibley's THE PROMISE OF STARDUST, a love story in which family members must choose sides and make hard decisions over whether a woman should remain on life-support in order to give her fetus a (slim) chance at life, even though the woman stands no chance to recover, to Emily Krump at William Morrow, in a six-figure deal, in a pre-empt, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (World).

Prior to joining Markson Thoma, I was an agent at Folio Literary Management. Before becoming an agent, I was an award-winning advertising copywriter, journalist and author of both fiction (DEAR STRANGER, DEAREST FRIEND) and non-fiction (THREE TIMES CHAI). I am a native Ohioan, and a graduate of Northwestern University. I have been married for almost 30 years and my hubby and I have two grown children. We live in Westchester County, NY.

Query by email only. For fiction, please tell me what your project's about, and a bit about you/your writing background. Include the opening pages/chapter in the body of the email. For non-fiction, go for it. Send me your proposal as a Word attachment.