Both Kristin Nelson and Sara Megibow are accepting submissions for representation. We do not look at submissions for nonfiction, screenplays, short-story collections, poetry, children’s picture books or chapter books, or material for the Christian/inspirational market.
Currently Seeking...
Kristin is looking for a good story well told. How you tell that story doesn't need to fit in a neat little category. For those looking for more specifics, the below might be helpful:
- Young-adult and upper-level middle-grade novels in all subgenres
- Big crossover novels with one foot squarely in genre
(Wool, The Night Circus, Gone Girl) - Literary commercial novels
(Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, The Art of Racing in the Rain) - Upmarket women's fiction
(Keepsake, My Sister's Keeper, Still Alice) - Single-title romance (historicals especially)
(Ravishing The Heiress, The Ugly Duchess, The Heir) - Lead title or hardcover science fiction and fantasy
(Soulless, Game of Thrones, Old Man's War)
For a list of Kristin's recent sales, please visit her page at Publishers Marketplace.
Sara is currently looking for superior writing and a great concept. Whether a book has vampires or butterflies, spaceships or school buses, it doesn't matter. Sara wants to be carried away by the story. If your book is fantasy, paranormal, science fiction, steampunk, contemporary, historical, short, long or a mashup of all the above, send it along! Boiled down to a list, here it is:
- Young-adult and middle-grade novels in all subgenres
- Super sexy romance with a solid dose of humor
- Complex fantasy of all types: epic fantasy, urban fantasy, quirky fantasy, historical fantasy
- All science fiction from very science-y to action-packed and commercial
- New Adult manuscripts that feature early 20-something protagonists and conflicts about identity and independence
Sara has posted submission notes, recent sales, and client information at Publishers Marketplace.
How to Send to Us
We only accept queries and sample pages electronically. We do not accept queries by snail mail, phone, in person, via Twitter, or through our Facebook pages.
The body of your email should contain a one-page query letter about your project, addressed to either Kristin or Sara. Write QUERY and the title of your project in the subject field of your email. Send your email to query@nelsonagency.com. We receive a lot of spam, and following these simple directions will ensure that your query isn’t accidentally deleted. No email attachments please. Attachments will not be opened, and emails containing attachments will be deleted unread.
If the email query captures our interest and we would like to request sample pages, we will send you a reply email with explicit directions for uploading your sample pages to our submission database.
Response Time
We here at NLA read and respond by email to each and every query sent to us. Expect a quick response to queries (5 to 10 days). Occasionally, it may take longer.
If you have not received a response after three weeks, then something might have gone astray in the cyber world. Is your email account still active? Are emails to you being spam-filtered? Our reply to you might have bounced or been deleted. You might want to resend your email query.
If you have submitted sample pages to our submission database per our request, please remember that a response can take up to two months. As with queries, we will email our response to sample pages electronically, so keep an eye on your spam folder.
Examples of Good Query Letters
Kristin has done a terrific blog workshop on query letters. You can check it out in the right side bar of Pub Rants. There are also several query letters from NLA clients posted there, as well as Kristin's submission pitch letters to editors for NLA titles that have sold.
Several times a year, we also present webinars on how to nail the query pitch paragraph. Definitely worth the entry fee if you struggle with mastering the art of the query pitch!