THE NOCTURNAL JOURNAL by Lee Crutchley (TarcherPerigee)

It is not enough to be a great writer. If you want your book to stand the test of time, you must also be a great storyteller. Whether the subject is history or nature, parenting or pop culture, science or sports, Laurie Abkemeier looks for a distinctive voice and a natural talent for artfully conveying ideas or skillfully crafting a narrative.

A successful senior editor who became an agent in 2003, Laurie specializes in nonfiction, but also represents select children's picture books. She has placed more than 200 books with every major publisher, as well as mid-size publishers and small presses.

DeFiore and Company is a full service literary agency founded by Brian DeFiore and headquartered in New York's Flatiron District. Laurie is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Visit her Tumblr and follow her on Twitter.

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For a complete list of Laurie's authors and their books, CLICK HERE.

Narrative Nonfiction
SEINFELDIA by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Simon & Schuster) **A New York Times Hardcover and E-Book Best Seller
RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS by Nathalia Holt (Little, Brown) **A New York Times Hardcover Best Seller
STRIKING GRIDIRON by Greg Nichols (Thomas Dunne Books)
PIN ACTION by Gianmarc Manzione (Pegasus Books)
PIERO'S LIGHT by Larry Witham (Pegasus Books) **Finalist for the 2015 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
CHEER! Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders by Kate Torgovnick (Touchstone) **The basis for the drama series "Hellcats" on The CW.
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY by Kristen Green (Harper)
**A New York Times Race and Civil Rights Best Seller
**Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction

General Nonfiction
SO GOOD THEY CAN'T IGNORE YOU and DEEP WORK by Cal Newport (Grand Central) **A Wall Street Journal Business Best Seller
THE GIFT OF FAILURE by Jessica Lahey (Harper) **A New York Times Education Best Seller
WHAT A PLANT KNOWS by Daniel Chamovitz (Scientific American Books/FSG)
THE BOOK and SHADY CHARACTERS by Keith Houston (W.W. Norton)
MINIWEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION series by John Austin (Chicago Review Press) **More than 200,000 copies sold
GRAMMAR GIRL'S 101 WORDS Series by Mignon Fogarty (St. Martin's Griffin)
STORY GENIUS and WIRED FOR STORY by Lisa Cron (Ten Speed Press)
EXPERIMENTING WITH BABIES by Shaun Gallagher (Perigee)
SECRETS FROM THE EATING LAB by Traci Mann, PhD (HarperWave)
THE GOOD DEATH by Ann Neumann (Beacon Press)

Memoir
MARLEY & ME by John Grogan (William Morrow) **A #1 New York Times Hardcover Best Seller for 23 weeks. More than 19 months on the printed hardcover list
THE LONGEST TRIP HOME by John Grogan (William Morrow) **An instant NYT Hardcover Best Seller
THE $64 TOMATO by William Alexander (Algonquin)
LOST AMONG THE BIRDS by Neil Hayward (Bloomsbury)
THE NINE OF US by Jean Kennedy Smith (Harper)

Illustrated Gift
START WHERE YOU ARE by Meera Lee Patel (Perigee) **More than 200,000 copies sold
SOPPY by Philippa Rice (Andrews McMeel) **A #1 New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller
YOUR ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO BECOMING ONE WITH THE UNIVERSE by Yumi Sakugawa (Adams Media)
DON'T WORRY, EAT CAKE by Katie Vaz (Andrews McMeel)
EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOMENTS by Jorey Hurley (Potter Style)

Children's Picture Books
NEST; FETCH; and HOP by Jorey Hurley (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster Children's)
EDMUND UNRAVELS by Andrew Kolb (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin)
PLEASE SAY PLEASE! by Kyle T. Webster (Scholastic)
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU by Susan Farrington (Balzer+Bray)

Laurie has also overseen the bestselling series of children's picture books based on John Grogan's MARLEY & ME. They include the #1 New York Times bestsellers BAD DOG, MARLEY! and A VERY MARLEY CHRISTMAS, the top-5 New York Times bestsellers MARLEY GOES TO SCHOOL and MARLEY AND THE KITTENS, and an extension program that includes more than a dozen I Can Read's, Lift-the-Flap books, Touch-and-Feel books, a boxed set, a treasury, and a sticker book.

Published in 2017 (so far)
OUR SOPPY LOVE STORY by Philippa Rice (Andrews McMeel)
RIBBIT by Jorey Hurley (Paula Wiseman Books/S&S)
SPRING FOR SOPHIE written by Yael Werber (Paula Wiseman Books/S&S)
CHARLOTTE AND THE ROCK written by Stephen W. Martin (Dial Books for Young Readers)
RESURRECTING THE SHARK by Susan Ewing (Pegasus Books)
POPPY LOUISE IS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING written by Jenna McCarthy (Random House Children's)
AWKWARD by Ty Tashiro, PhD (William Morrow)
VACATION ON LOCATION by Joey Green (Chicago Review Press)
THE LITTLE BOOK OF LIFE HACKS by Yumi Sakugawa (St. Martin's Press)
THE ENDS OF THE WORLD by Peter Brannen (Ecco in US; Oneworld in UK)
MY ROTTEN STEPBROTHER RUINED FAIRY TALES chapter book series by Jerry Mahoney (Capstone)
THE NOCTURNAL JOURNAL by Lee Crutchley (TarcherPerigee)
LES AND RONNIE STEP OUT by Andrew Kolb (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin)

Narrative and General Nonfiction
JUST A SHOT AWAY by Saul Austerlitz (Sold to Thomas Dunne Books)
THE ONE WITH FRIENDS by Saul Austerlitz (Announcement Pending)
PINBALL WIZARDS by Adam Ruben (Sold to Chicago Review Press)
THE REBOUNDERS by Amanda Ottaway (Sold to University of Nebraska Press)
THE ADDRESS BOOK by Deirdre Mask (Sold to Picador USA)
UNTITLED ON SEX AND THE CITY by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Sold to Simon & Schuster)
THE QUEENS OF ANIMATION by Nathalia Holt (Sold to Little, Brown)
MRS. MORHARD AND THE BOYS by Ruth Hanford Morhard (Announcement Pending)
PLEASED TO MEET ME by Bill Sullivan, PhD (Announcement Pending)

Practical Nonfiction
CAN YOU LEARN TO BE LUCKY? by Karla Starr (Sold to Portfolio)
THE COMPASSIONATE CONNECTION by David Rakel, MD (Sold to W.W. Norton)
HOW TO BE A HAPPIER PARENT by KJ Dell'Antonia (Sold to Avery)
THE JOY OF SYNTAX by June Casagrande (Sold to Ten Speed Press)
DIGITAL MINIMALISM and A WORLD WITHOUT EMAIL by Cal Newport (Sold to Portfolio)
COURTING CORPORATE by Neil Soni (Announcement Pending)
EXPERIMENTS FOR NEWLYWEDS by Shaun Gallagher (Announcement Pending)
BRINGING CAMP HOME by Audrey Monke (Announcement Pending)

Illustrated Nonfiction
THE ELECTRIC PICKLE by Joey Green (Sold to Chicago Review Press)
GET LOST! by Lee Crutchley (Sold to TarcherPerigee)
QUIET GIRL IN A NOISY WORLD by Debbie Tung (Sold to Andrews McMeel)
MY FRIEND FEAR and MADE OUT OF STARS by Meera Lee Patel (Sold to TarcherPerigee)
SISTER BFFs by Philippa Rice (Sold to Andrews McMeel)
PEACE: A Card Game by Andrew Kolb (Sold to Chronicle)
MAKE YOURSELF COZY by Katie Vaz (Sold to Andrews McMeel)
THE ESCAPE MANUAL FOR INTROVERTS by Katie Vaz (Sold to Andrews McMeel)
BOOK LOVE by Debbie Tung (Announcement Pending)

Children's Books
LOLA'S RULES FOR FRIENDSHIP by Jenna McCarthy (Sold to HarperCollins Children's in a two-book deal)
STEWART'S BEST PEN by Stephen W. Martin (Sold to Clarion)
EVERY COLOR SOUP; SKYSCRAPER; and GO, BANANAS! by Jorey Hurley (Sold to Paula Wiseman Books/S&S)
I'M A GNOME! by Jessica Peill-Meininghaus (Announcement Pending)
A RACCOON AT THE WHITE HOUSE by Rachel Dougherty (Sold to Simon Spotlight)
EMILY AND THE GREAT BRIDGE by Rachel Dougherty (Sold to Roaring Brook Press)
BUTTHEADS FROM OUTER SPACE by Jerry Mahoney (Sold to Sky Pony)

Dramatic rights to MARLEY & ME to FOX 2000 in an outright purchase, in conjunction with Matthew Snyder at CAA. Film released on December 25, 2008, and starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson spent two weeks as the #1 movie in the country--surpassing the $100 million mark in its first ten days and grossing $243 million. Animated special in development with Fox.

Television rights to Kate Torgovnick's CHEER!: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders, optioned to Warner Bros Television and Tom Welling Productions for development as a drama series for the CW, with Kevin Murphy attached to write, in conjunction with CAA. Picked up by The CW as "Hellcats" for a full season run.

Dramatic rights to Gianmarc Manzione's PIN ACTION optioned by Gold Circle Films, in conjunction with CAA.

Recent Foreign Rights Sales
June Casagrande’s IT WAS THE BEST OF SENTENCES, IT WAS THE WORST OF SENTENCES: Chinese to Briefing Press
Lisa Cron’s WIRED FOR STORY: Japanese to Film Art Sha
Lisa Cron’s STORY GENIUS: Korean to Cheomnetworks; Chinese to Thinkingdom Media
John Grogan’s MARLEY & ME: Italian renewal to Sperling & Kupfer; Russian to EKSMO
John Grogan’s THE LONGEST TRIP HOME: Chinese renewal to China Pioneer
Nathalia Holt’s RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS: Japanese to Chijin Shokan; Spanish to Planeta Mexico; Czech to Dobrovský
Keith Houston’s THE BOOK: Chinese to SDX; Chinese (complex) rights to Rye Field; Greek to Editions Nepheli
Jessica Lahey’s THE GIFT OF FAILURE: Chinese to Beijing Zhengqing Culture
Traci Mann’s SECRETS FROM THE EATING LAB: Japanese to Daiwa Shobo
Ann Neumann’s THE GOOD DEATH: Chinese (complex) to SDX
Cal Newport’s HOW TO WIN AT COLLEGE: Chinese renewal to Grand China
Philippa Rice’s SOPPY: German to riva Verlag; Italian to Edizioni BD; Czech to Paseka; Portuguese (Brazil) to Rocco
Yumi Sakugawa’s I THINK I AM IN FRIEND LOVE WITH YOU: Spanish to Sapristi/Roca Editorial
Becky Simpson’s THE ROOMMATE BOOK: Chinese to United Sky
Ty Tashiro’s AWKWARD: Chinese to Beijing Standway Books

Originally from northern California, Laurie Abkemeier graduated from Wells College with a degree in communications and a background in broadcast and print journalism. She began her publishing career as an editorial assistant in the Touchstone/Fireside division at Simon & Schuster before moving to Hyperion, where she was responsible for five New York Times bestsellers and many national bestsellers. In 2003, she joined DeFiore and Company as a literary agent. She has represented multiple New York Times and national bestsellers, and she has overseen book-to-screen deals, including those that led to the #1 blockbuster movie Marley & Me and The CW drama Hellcats. She also invented a sandwich. You should try it. Read more about Laurie and learn how you can connect with her here.

DeFiore and Company actively markets its titles through an extensive network of sub-agents who specialize in dramatic and foreign rights.

UK/Australia/NZ: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff of DeFiore and Company.
Foreign: visit our agency website for a complete list of contacts.

Brian DeFiore, Founder and Principle
Agents: Matthew Elblonk, Lisa Gallagher, Caryn Karmatz Rudy, Adam Schear (also Director of Business Affairs), Meredith Kaffel Simonoff (also UK Rights Director), Rebecca Strauss, Ashley Collom, Nicole Tourtelot, Miriam Altshuler, and Reiko Davis.
Linda Kaplan, Director of Foreign Rights

Laurie Abkemeier accepts only email queries (attachments will not be read unless requested). Snail mail queries will be discarded.

At this time, Laurie is considering only new works of narrative nonfiction, except in the case of a referral. Please include the word "QUERY" and your book title in the subject line, and send your brief query to Laurie@defliterary.com. Submissions need not be exclusive, and response time is between two hours and two weeks. If you have not heard from me during this time, please check that the defliterary.com domain name is on your email server whitelist; my response might have been rejected by your server.