Erica Bauman is a literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management.

Erica represents a wide variety of authors across middle grade, young adult, and commercial adult fiction, including acclaimed YA author Andrew Auseon and Broadway performer Tiffany Haas.

Erica is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and has worked in the publishing industry since 2012. Prior to Aevitas, she worked at Spectrum Literary Agency.

Based in New York, Erica is most interested in commercial novels that feature an exciting premise and lyrical, atmospheric writing; imaginative, genre-blending tales; speculative worlds filled with haunting, quietly wondrous magic; fresh retellings of mythology, ballet, opera, and classic literature; sharply funny rom-coms; graphic novels for all ages; fearless storytellers that tackle big ideas and contemporary issues; and working with and supporting marginalized authors and stories that represent the wide range of humanity.

Bonnie Swanson is a literary agent with The Purcell Agency.

Bonnie is 20+ year elementary teacher. She shares her love of literature with her students and even tests out her own books on them. (And everyone thinks agents are tough!) Using her experience as a teacher, she has been a mentor for many authors through the WriteMentor program started by author Stuart White. Some of her mentees have gone on to publishing and best-selling success with their titles.

A short sample of her favorite authors are Dean Koontz, J.K. Rowling, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, S.A. Stovall, Suzanne Collins, Jen Mann, Danielle Paige, Christopher Paolini, Neal Schusterman, and Ally Condi. She’ll try just about anything, but romance is her true jam and the HEA (happily ever after) is a must! 

She is an active member of SCBWI and a co-rep for her local chapter. When she’s not teaching, reading, or spending time with her three kids & husband, she’s busy creating her own stories. You can also find her covered in fur and playing with her three cats Milo, Winter and, Mira—when they tell her to. She is seeking:

PICTURE BOOKS: not looking for any PBs right now

Young adult & new adult: Issue driven, romance (anything but erotica), speculative fiction, magical realism, paranormal, rom-com, suspense, mystery. (If it’s not on this list and you think I’d like it, pitch it!)

ADULT: Romance, Speculative Fiction/Suspense (think Dean Koontz), Humor (combine all three and now we’re talking!)

Always accepting LGBTQ, #ownvoices, and BIPOC.

Brent Taylor is a literary agent with TriadaUS.

Brent’s tastes can best be described as upmarket: stories that are extremely well-written, robust with emotion, and appeal to a wide, commercial audience.

He is seeking smart, fun, and heartfelt books in the following categories: picture books, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels for kids and teens. His favorite books include: Charlotte’s Web, The Thing About Jellyfish, The Vast Fields of Ordinary, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, and The Westing Game.

Amanda Wooden is a literary agent with SBR Media.

“I am open to all sub-genres of Romance, Thrillers, Cozy Mystery, Young Adult, and more. I love all tropes!”

Amanda found her love for reading when her husband was deployed in 2013, and it has continued to grow over the years. She has been a book reviewer, blogger, Author PA, graphic designer, and more. She currently co-owns Enticing Journey Book Promotions and looks forward to helping more authors by being a literary agent.

When not reading or working, Amanda has four very busy kids at home in Kentucky. Her husband of almost 20 years has now retired from the military and they love to go to baseball games, camping, and of course follow their kids to all of their school and sporting events.

Alice Speilburg is a literary agent and founder of Speilburg Literary. Alice has worked in book publishing since 2008. She is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents and represents narrative nonfiction and commercial fiction. Her first editing gig was on the news desk of her college daily, and she is still drawn to compelling nonfiction stories, especially those written by journalists, that deepen our understanding of culture and society. In fiction, she loves a complete immersion read that takes her to another world through the eyes of unconventional characters. Alice previously worked at John Wiley & Sons, and Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. She has worked with bestselling and award-winning authors, literary and professional societies, and branded content. She spends her weekends hiking with her husband and two sons.

In fiction, she’s looking for genre novels — historical, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, horror, or adventure. Within that, she’s interested in historical novels from fresh and unique perspectives, women’s fiction that has thriller and/or horror elements, high-stakes mystery novels with female protagonists, fantasy that imagines fresh worlds with non-Western roots or fantasy that springs from newer American folk magic (especially Appalachian), sci-fi that explores the line between progress and corruption. “I like darker elements, especially when they’re woven deeply and subtly into the atmosphere of a novel.”

“In particular, I’d like to see unconventional narrators in overlooked settings, like a BIPOC woman who runs a car repair shop in northern Wisconsin, or trans man who sings in the church choir in the bible-belt South. Settings in the South or in so-called flyover country are rich with complex people and stories, and I’d love to represent more novels that showcase this.”

In nonfiction, she’s looking for cultural narratives, as well as paradigm-shifting books that explore how we live and think from a fresh perspective. Her favorite subgenres in nonfiction include microhistory, nature, and pop science written by journalists and academics. “I’m also interested in untold histories of incredible women, travel/adventure narratives, culturally-engaged history narratives that look at how we came to be where we are, music books that go beyond the basic biography narrative, environmental/conservation narratives, true crime.”

Across the board, she’s looking for an inclusive cast of characters, across gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and mental health spectrums.