Suzy Evans Literary Agency
SUZY EVANS LITERARY AGENCY is a premier boutique literary agency and management company that combines a passion for guiding writers’ careers with a deep love and understanding of how great writing and storytelling works. We offer our clients our expertise in developing concepts, manuscripts and proposals, negotiating contracts, building platforms, branding, licensing, and selling film/TV, foreign, audio, and dramatic rights.
I’m a literary agent, attorney, and author who holds a Ph.D. in history from UC Berkeley. My books include Machiavelli for Moms (Simon & Schuster) and Forgotten Crimes: The Holocaust and People with Disabilities. I’m also a former ghostwriter for a #1 New York Times bestselling author with 30 million copies sold and my work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications, including USA Today, Newsweek, Parade, McSweeneys, and The London Times.
In the adult market, I’m on the hunt for great serious nonfiction, especially by historians looking to make a transition from an academic to trade audience and journalists who have something unique and significant to say. I’m also on the lookout for smart parenting books with useful, original hooks (bonus points for humor!); food, health, and wellness titles, sports books with smart crossover appeal in other genres, especially history and philosophy (I’d LOVE to find the next Golf in the Kingdom or Zen and the Art of Archery); self-help by experts with established platforms and riveting, elegantly-rendered memoir (favorites include William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days and Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air), as well as science and nature, pop culture, “big idea” books about controversial issues, and small, quirky books that make me smile or think about the world in entirely new and surprising ways. I’d also love to find a great legal thriller and I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for timely and important books by and about smart, strong, badass women!
On the children’s front, I have a great love of middle grade and am on the hunt for lively, engaging nonfiction that pops off the page and makes kids excited about reading and learning; wacky/hilarious commercial MG fiction with series potential; and graphic novels that bring history, great works of literature, and fascinating historical figures (think Socrates! Machiavelli! Hamilton!) to life. I also have a soft spot for coming-of-age MG works, YA fiction that tackles difficult issues in bold, daring ways and with inventive formats that can be brought into the classroom to stimulate meaningful discussion and debate, and sweet, lyrical picture books that capture the imagination and call for multiple readings (classic and recent favorites include Stellaluna, Finding Winnie, Sarah and the Big Wave and The Cat Who Walked Across France). I’d also love to find contemporary MG/YA fiction that explores diversity in all its glorious manifestations and a smart, high-concept thriller that has “MOVIE!” written all over it.
Now for three random things about me: I don’t have a sense of smell, I have a serious fear of boredom, butterflies, and Great White Sharks, and I drive my kids crazy with my REALLY bad jokes, like my all-time favorite: Why don’t lobsters like to share? Because they’re shellfish!!! Ha!! And three of my favorite quotes include:
“Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Mark Twain
“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” – Henry James
And: “Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell
As an experienced agent, attorney, author, and editor, I know how each stage of the process feels, from querying, silence, rejections, and offers of representation to all aspects of the editorial and publishing process, from revisions, notes, submissions, marketing and promotion, and, at long last, publication day! In other words, I can connect with authors on a very deep and genuine level because I know, first-hand, what the process is like for writers, from the dizzying excitement and exhilaration of offers and acceptances to its disappointing lows and blows, and how to successfully navigate everything in between. Being a literary agent is the best job in the world and it allows me to help other writers achieve their own publishing dreams.
How to Submit: For fiction, please send your query and first 15 pages of your manuscript (quick, FRIENDLY tip: resist the temptation to hit “send” too quickly. Revise, revise, revise and THEN hit send). For nonfiction, send a query with concise author bio to suzy@evansliterary.com I read all queries personally and my request time varies from a few minutes to a few weeks. THANKS for sharing your work with me and I look forward to hearing from you!
For more information and EXCITING book news, visit me on Instagram at suzyevans.jd.phd and Twitter @thehistorychef. Oh, and be kind!
