Writers House is one of the largest literary agencies in the world and prides itself on providing an extraordinary amount of individual client attention combined with the full service benefits of foreign and sub rights departments, as well as a full accounting and royalty staff.

I began my career at Writers House as an intern in September of 2008 and simply refused to leave, so I was given the wonderful job of Assistant to Jodi Reamer. I am now also in the process of actively building my own list and currently represent a fairly eclectic mix of Children's and Adult fiction and nonfiction. I'm eagerly looking for both.

On the fiction side, I love mysteries, thrillers (although I'm experiencing a bit of terrorist fatigue at the moment), bad-ass protagonists with a chip on their shoulders, beautifully told historical fiction (The Vietnam War, the Maccabees, and The American Revolution fascinate me in particular),well-researched adventure stories, and great horror - I haven't been scared to turn off the light in far too long and something needs to be done about it. In terms of children's books, getting boys to read again is especially important to me, and thus I'm particularly on the lookout for a fun middle-grade adventure series, ghost story, or anything else geared toward younger male readers.

On the nonfiction side, I'm attracted to odd, quirky histories, military history, biographies of people I didn't even know existed (but definitely should have), "guy" reads, humor, narrative nonfiction that sheds light on under-the-radar events and lifestyles, and all things sports. I'm also currently up in the air as to whether or not I believe in ghosts, hauntings, and the supernatural, so if you have something that can convince me one way or the other, I'd love to see it.

Mark Stein
Mike Thomas
Ronald Kidd
HP Newquist
Jack Murphy
Ray McPadden
The Horror Writers Association (HWA)
Mystery Writers of America (MWA)

SHARK WARS, EJ Altbacker
THE LAST PUNISHER, Kevin Lacz
NIGHT ON FIRE, Ronald Kidd
THE BOOK OF BLOOD, HP Newquist
HOW THE STATES GOT THEIR SHAPES, Mark Stein

YOU MIGHT REMEMBER ME: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PHIL HARTMAN, Mike Thomas

ULTRABALL X: LUNAR BLUTZ, Jeff Chen (HarperCollins, 2019)
TOWER OF SONGS, Casey Barrett (Kensington, 2019)
MURPHY'S LAW, Jack Murphy (S&S, 2019)
DUBLIN SEVEN, Frankie Gaffney (Zero Books 2019
AND THE WHOLE MOUNTAIN BURNED, Ray McPadden (Center Street, 2018)

Prior to working at Writers House, I held a number of different jobs, including a brief stint out in Los Angeles as a professional stuntman. And if you don't think knowing how to take a punch and getting thrown through a glass window are both essential tools in the book business, then you clearly don't know publishing.

I accept e-mail and snail-mail queries (although email is preferable), and will usually respond within 5-8 weeks. Please send the first 10 pages of your manuscript, along with your query letter, to ashane@writershouse.com with "Query for Alec Shane: TITLE" as your subject heading - no attachments please! If sending via regular mail, please include a SASE with proper postage.