Founded by industry veteran Jill Grinberg, the agency’s tastes are wide ranging—born out of deep curiosity and a passion for great writing in all its forms and for all readerships. Our clients win major awards—including the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the Printz Award and Newbery Honor—and regularly appear on U.S. and international bestseller lists. Our select client list features 48 New York Times bestsellers and 28 IndieBound bestsellers.

Our authors include novelists and memoirists; historians and scientists; illustrators and musicians; cultural critics and humanitarians; entrepreneurs and innovators- united by the high quality of their writing, original and authentic voices, passion for their work, and brilliant storytelling.

Tyler Anbinder, Laurie Berkner, Estate of Ludwig Bemelmans, Barbara Dee, Andy Griffiths, Christopher Healy, Kevin Hearne, Jenni Holm, Matthew Holm, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Kirby Larson, , Margo Lanagan, Alison Goodman, S. Jae-Jones, Justine Larbalestier, John Bemelmans Marciano, Melina Marchetta, Jaclyn Moriarty, Marissa Meyer, Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Garth Nix, Tiffany Pham, Scott Westerfeld, Colin Woodard

Early Readers

WE ARE THE DINOSAURS, PILLOWLAND, MONSTER BOOGIE (Laurie Berkner)
MADELINE Series (Estate of Ludwig Bemelmans & John Bemelmans Marciano)

MG Fiction

STAR-CROSSED, HALFWAY NORMAL, MAYBE HE JUST LIKES YOU (Barbara Dee)
The Treehouse Series (Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton)
THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM (Christopher Healy)
OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, TURTLE IN PARADISE, FULL OF BEANS, THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH (Jennifer Holm) *Winner of three Newbery Honors*
BABYMOUSE, SQUISH, SUNNY SIDE UP, EVIL PRINCESS v BRAVE KNIGHT (Jennifer & Matthew Holm) *Winner of the Eisner Award*
HATTIE BIG SKY, HATTIE EVER AFTER, NUBS, TWO BOBBIES, DUKE, DASH, LIBERTY, CODE WORD COURAGE (Kirby Larson) *Winner of the Newbery Honor*
KLAWDE: EVIL ALIEN WARLORD CAT (Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth)
THE EXTREMELY INCONVENIENT ADVENTURES OF BRONTE METTLESTONE, THE WHISPERING WARS (Jaclyn Moriarty)
THE BOOK OF BOY (Catherine Gilbert Murdock) *Winner of the Newbery Honor*

YA Fiction

THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME (Nafiza Azad) *Finalist for the Morris Award*
EON, EONA, THE DARK DAYS CLUB (Alison Goodman)
WINTERSONG, SHADOWSONG (S. Jae-Jones)
THE SUMMER PRINCE (Alaya Dawn Johnson) *Long-listed for the National Book Award*
TENDER MORSELS, BLACK JUICE (Margo Lanagan) *Winner of two Printz Honors*
LIAR, MY SISTER ROSA (Justine Larbalestier)
JELLICOE ROAD, The Lumatere Chronicles (Melina Marchetta) *Winner of the Printz Medal*
The Lunar Chronicles Series (CINDER, SCARLET, CRESS, WINTER, FAIREST, STARS ABOVE, WIRES AND NERVE 1-2), HEARTLESS, The Renegades Trilogy (RENEGADES, ARCHENEMIES, SUPERNOVA), INSTANT KARMA (Marissa Meyer)
The Ashbury High Series, The Colors of Madeline Series (Jaclyn Moriarty)
DAIRY QUEEN Series (Catherine Gilbert Murdock)
THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON, ANGEL MAGE, The Old Kingdom Series (SABRIEL, LIRAEL, ABHORSEN, CLARIEL, GOLDENHAND), The Keys to the Kingdom Series, FROGKISSER! (Garth Nix)
UGLIES Series (UGLIES, PRETTIES, SPECIALS, EXTRAS, IMPOSTORS, SHATTER CITY), LEVIATHAN Trilogy, SPILL ZONE (Scott Westerfeld)
SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS, WILDLIFE, CLOUDWISH (Fiona Wood)

Adult Fiction

INTO THE WILDERNESS Series, THE GILDED HOUR, WHERE THE LIGHT ENTERS (Sara Donati)
The Iron Druid Chronicles, The Seven Kennings Series, Tales of Pell series, Pens and Devils series (Kevin Hearne)
TROUBLE THE SAINTS (Alaya Dawn Johnson)
THE PLACE ON DALHOUSIE, TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL (Melina Marchetta)
GRAVITY IS THE THING (Jaclyn Moriarty)

Adult Non-Fiction

FIVE POINTS, CITY OF DREAMS (Tyler Anbinder)
ADRIFT (Tami Oldham Ashcraft with Susea McGearhart) *Adapted into a feature film starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin*
MANIFESTA (Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards)
YOUNG QUEENS (Leah Redmond Chang)
PRIUS OR PICKUP (Marc Hetherington and Jonathan Weiler)
CONNECT FIRST (Melanie Katzman)
HOOD FEMINISM (Mikki Kendall)
YOU ARE A MOGUL (Tiffany Pham)
SQUEEZED, BOOTSTRAPPED (Alissa Quart)
THE FIRST TYCOON, CUSTER'S TRIALS (T.J. Stiles) *Winner of the National Book Award and two Pulitzer Prizes*
COCKPIT CONFIDENTIAL (Patrick Smith)
AMERICAN NATIONS, THE REPUBLIC OF PIRATES (Colin Woodard)

New and Upcoming Titles (Fall 2020)

THE HACKER'S KEY by Jon Skovron
SUNSHINE by Ludwig Bemelmans
SOURCES SAY by Lori Goldstein
MY LIFE IN THE FISH TANK by Barbara Dee
THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON by Garth Nix
WHAT ZOLA DID ON WEDNESDAY by Melina Marchetta
A HOPEFUL HEART by Deborah Noyes
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER by Kara McDowell
KLAWDE #5: EMPEROR OF THE UNIVERSE by Johnny Marciano & Emily Chenoweth
INSTANT KARMA by Marissa Meyer
RECONSTRUCTION: STORIES by Alaya Dawn Johnson
THE BOY, THE WOLF, AND THE STARS by Shivaun Plozza
THE FINAL GAMBIT by Christopher Healy

2020 Deals

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER author Kara McDowell's ANXIOUS GIRL SUMMER, pitched as a While You Were Sleeping-inspired YA romantic comedy, in which a teen girl with undiagnosed Social Anxiety Disorder rescues her longtime crush from drowning at a beach party, and when he ends up in a brief coma, she finds herself at the center of a misunderstanding about their relationship that quickly spirals out of her control, to Mallory Kass at Scholastic, for publication in spring 2022, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world English).

Newbery Honor winner Kirby Larson's SHAKE FOR THE SUMMER, in the Shermy and Shake series, illustrated by Shinji Fujioka, the first book in a new chapter book series, in which two boys, thrown together by circumstance, navigate their differences and forge an unlikely friendship, to Kaylan Adair at Candlewick, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2023, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management for the author, and by Lori Kilkelly at LK Literary Agency for the illustrator (world).

2019 Lambda Fellow J K Chukwu's THE UNFORTUNATES, pitched in the vein of Luster, Queenie, and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, about a queer, half-Nigerian college student enraged and exhausted by the racism, tokenism, and indifference to the Black experience at her elite college, who pens a no-holds barred thesis ("to my advisors: Mr. White Supremacy, Mr. Capitalism, Ms. Racism") documenting her search for the truth about The Unfortunates, an unlucky subset of her Black classmates who keep dying at the hands of white supremacy, to Millicent Bennett at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a pre-empt, for publication in spring 2022, by Larissa Melo Pienkowski at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world).

Science fiction and fantasy writer and media critic K. Tempest Bradford's RUBY VS. THE ROBO-BUG, in which an 11-year-old Black girl passionate about entomology finds an alien bug in her backyard and has to rely on her friends, the scientific method, and her instincts to help the alien get home safely, to Grace Kendall at Farrar, Straus Children's, in a very nice deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2022, by Larissa Melo Pienkowski at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world English).

Shauna Robinson's OUT OF PRINT, pitched as THE BOOKISH LIFE OF NINA HILL meets SUCH A FUN AGE in an #OwnVoices ode to the perils of the 20-something experience, featuring the last editorial assistant standing at an old-school publisher who begins moonlighting for a rival house to make ends meet and, in the process, starts falling for an author no one can afford to lose, to MJ Johnston at Sourcebooks, in a two-book deal, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

Nora Raleigh Baskin and Gae Polisner's THE GREAT PGP, an environmental farce that begins when a soon-to-be seventh grader, forced to join his mother aboard a research ship stationed near the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, mistakenly invites a 12-year-old newbie podcaster rather than a world-renowned marine biologist with the same name to an emergency global summit—and the podcaster, hoping to avoid summer camp, accepts, to Julia Sooy at Holt Children's, for publication in winter 2022, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management for Baskin, and by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret for Polisner (world English).

Jesse Sutanto's DIAL A FOR AUNTIES, in which a woman gets the help of her meddlesome mother and aunts to hide the body of her blind date while trying to pull off an opulent wedding for a billionaire client on the same day, to Katie Seaman at HQ, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in April 2021, by Sam Farkas at Jill Grinberg Literary Management on behalf of Katelyn Detweiler (UK/Commonwealth, excl. Canada).

Senior editor at Nature and author of ACROSS THE BRIDGE and THE ACCIDENTAL SPECIES Henry Gee's A (VERY) SHORT HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH: 4.6 BILLION YEARS IN 12 PITHY CHAPTERS, a tale of survival and persistence, illuminating the delicate balance within which life exists and drawing on the latest scientific understanding, to George Witte at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, for publication in fall 2021, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

Rabbi, activist, and author of SURPRISED BY GOD and NURTURE THE WOW Danya Ruttenberg's UNREPENTANT: MAKING AMENDS IN AN UNAPOLOGETIC WORLD, which shows how the steps in an ancient Jewish framework of repentance and repair can move our society away from an emphasis on forced forgiveness (which all too often puts the onus on the victim), and transform how we address harm in key areas of our lives, our institutions, and beyond, from #MeToo to genocide, from personal disputes to the criminal justice system, to Amy Caldwell at Beacon Press, for publication in 2022, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

Author of IMMACULATE and THE UNDOING OF THISTLE TATE Katelyn Detweiler's THE PEOPLE WE CHOOSE, about a girl who decides to find her sperm donor father the summer she turns 18, and the shocking, unfathomable truth that shatters her perfect world and forces her to redefine family in all its different forms, to Margaret Ferguson at Margaret Ferguson Books, for publication in summer 2021, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

Lyndall Clipstone's LAKESEDGE, pitched as a gothic fantasy for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer, in which a girl is sent to live at the haunted estate of a notorious monster, only to be pulled into an unexpected romance and an impossible bargain that will have her fighting to save the ones she loves—and her soul; also a sequel, FORESTFALL, to Cat Camacho at Titan Books, in a two-book deal, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management. Rights to Claire Craig at Pan Macmillan Australia (ANZ).

Six-time Pushcart Prize recipient Brenda Miller's A BRAIDED HEART: ESSAYS ON WRITING AND FORM, a collection of essays on writing and the writing life exploring a range of topics from more technical aspects of craft and form to the idiosyncratic writerly experience, all illustrated with personal anecdotes, to Elizabeth Demers at University of Michigan Press, by Sophia Seidner at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world English).

Jesse Sutanto's THEO TAN AND THE FOX SPIRIT, in which a Chinese-American boy tries to solve a mystery with the help (and hindrance) of a mystical fox, to John Morgan at Imprint, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in early 2022, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world).

Senior editor at Nature and author of ACROSS THE BRIDGE and THE ACCIDENTAL SPECIES Henry Gee's A (VERY) SHORT HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH: 4.6 BILLION YEARS IN 12 PITHY CHAPTERS, a tale of survival and persistence, illuminating the delicate balance within which life exists and drawing on the latest scientific understanding, to Ravi Mirchandani at Picador, for publication in spring 2022, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

Jesse Sutanto's DIAL A FOR AUNTIES, pitched as CRAZY RICH ASIANS meets Weekend at Bernie's, in which a woman gets the help of her meddlesome mother and aunts to hide the body of her blind date while trying to pull off an opulent wedding for a billionaire client on the same day, to Cindy Hwang at Berkley, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2021, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

2020 Morris Award finalist Nafiza Azad's THE WILD ONES: A BROKEN ANTHEM FOR A GIRL NATION, a multi-perspective feminist narrative about a fierce band of magic-wielding girls—the Wild Ones—who have collectively survived unspeakable things, and together are determined to save other girls from the cruelties and tragedies they've had to endure in their own past lives, to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2021, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world English).

Becca Andrews's NO CHOICE, based on her cover story in Mother Jones, on the past, present, and future of Roe v. Wade, offering testimonials of life before the pivotal Supreme Court decision, and reporting from the front lines of the current battle to protect a woman's right to choose before it's too late, to Colleen Lawrie at Public Affairs, in an exclusive submission, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world).

Jessica Ferri's SILENT CITIES: SAN FRANCISCO, the follow-up to SILENT CITIES: NEW YORK, chronicling the impact of cemeteries on American cities through the gold-rush development of San Francisco: the relocation of existing cemeteries and prohibition of burials within the city limits at the turn of the century, spawning America's first necropolis—the tiny town of Colma—and the culture of a place where death is exiled, to Amy Lyons at Globe Pequot, for publication in 2021, by Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

Author of The Empire of Storms trilogy and the forthcoming RANGER OF MARZANNA Jon Skovron's middle grade debut THE HACKER'S KEY, pitched as Alex Rider meets Ally Carter, about a girl raised by a criminal mastermind who must use her unique skill set to locate a dangerous weapon and keep it away from government agents and villainous syndicates alike, to Zack Clark at Scholastic, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world English).

Lyndall Clipstone's LAKESEDGE, a gothic romance pitched as Wintersong meets Naomi Novik's Uprooted in which a girl is sent to live at the haunted estate of the notorious "Monster of Lakesedge," only to be pulled into an unexpected romance and an impossible bargain that will have her fighting to save the ones she loves--and her soul, to Tiffany Liao at Holt Children's, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2021, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management on behalf of Lyndall Clipstone (NA).

Poet and memoirist Rachel Dewoskin's TWO MENUS, a debut poetry collection that explores the liminal spaces between youth and adulthood, safety and danger, familiarity and strangeness, humor and sorrow, to Randy Petilos at University of Chicago Press, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (world).

Subagents

Andrew Nurnberg Associates (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine)
Andrew Nurnberg Associates Sofia (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia)
The Grayhawk Agency (China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam)
Kristin Olson Literary Agency (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia)
La Nouvelle Agence (France)
Mohrbooks AG Literary Agency (Germany)
Read-n-Right Agency (Greece)
Lex Copyright Office (Hungary)
The Book Publishers Association of Israel
The Italian Literary Agency
Japan Uni Agency, Inc.
Korean Copyright Center
Mo Literary Services (The Netherlands)
Graal, Ltd. (Poland)
The Van Lear Agency (Russia)
Ia Atterholm Agency (Scandinavia)
Sandra Bruna Agencia Literaria (Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Brazil)

Jill Grinberg - President & Literary Agent
Denise Page - Head of Operations & Assistant to Jill Grinberg
Katelyn Detweiler - Literary Agent
Sophia Seidner - Head of Rights, Contracts, and Legal & Literary Agent
Sam Farkas - Foreign Rights Associate & Literary Agent
Larissa Melo Pienkowski - Literary Agent
Jessica Saint Jean - Literary Agent

We are accepting submissions in all categories for: adult fiction and nonfiction, and children's fiction and nonfiction (picture books, chapter books, middle grade, young adult). We are also accepting art and illustration-only submissions in all categories.

Please send your query letter to info [at] jillgrinbergliterary [dot] com and attach your materials as a .docx file. Address your submission directly to the agent you would like to consider it, and use the following format for your subject line: QUERY: Title of Project by Your Name / Age Group and Genre / ATTN: Name of Agent.

Please visit our website for art submission requirements, more detailed query guidelines, and information about what our acquiring agents are looking for.

We no longer accept hard copy submissions by mail, and any received will be discarded unread.

While we endeavor to respond to every query, due to the volume of submissions we receive and our commitments to our existing client list, it may not always be possible. If we decide to pursue your submission, we will be in touch with you. We appreciate your understanding, and we look forward to reading your work.

Curtis Brown Australia
Margaret Connolly and Associates (Australia)
Curtis Brown Ltd. (UK)
Rogers, Coleridge & White (UK)
Georgina Capel & Associates (UK)