Recent Deals

RITA-nominated and bestselling author, Shana Galen's WILD IRISH BRIDE, a book in The Royal Saboteurs, a new series about a disparate group of men and women offered an opportunity of a lifetime: to become elite operatives for the Crown, to Sue Grimshaw at Loveswept, for publication in 2019.
SOLD!!! Brittney Morris's SLAY, following a black teen video game developer as she battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created, and the safe community it represents for black gamers, to Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse, in a significant deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2019 and fall 2020, by Quressa Robinson and Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (NA).
Author Brittney Morris featured in Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf. Check out the write up here!!!
SOLD!!! Roseanne A. Brown's A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN, the first book in a West and North African folklore inspired duology where a 17-year-old refugee disguises himself as a nobleman in order to win the hand of the Crown Princess who he must kill in order to release his captive sister from a vengeful spirit; meanwhile, the princess needs to kill him, as his heart is the final ingredient in a forbidden spell that will bring her assassinated mother back from the dead, to Kristin Daly Rens at Balzer & Bray, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2020 and 2021, by Quressa Robinson at Nelson Literary Agency (world English).
SOLD!!! John Galligan's THE BAD AXE, pitched as Mystic River meets Windigo Island, about the Silk Road running through America's heartland, a local sheriff on the hunt for a missing girl, and a trail of clues that lead her too close to home, along with a second Wisconsin-set thriller, to Peter Borland at Atria, in a two-book deal six-figure pre-empt by Joanna MacKenzie at Nelson Literary Agency.
SOLD!! From Publisher's Weekly: Kathy Dawson at Penguin bought at auction, two standalone YA fantasies by debut novelist Laura Brooke Robson. The first is an apocalyptic fantasy told in alternating POVs about the leader of a band of female elite royal aerialists whose plan for survival depends on marrying the prince—until she meets the alluring new recruit who secretly plans to kill him. Danielle Burby at Nelson Literary Agency brokered the six-figure deal.
SOLD!! Heather Alexander at Audible Originals took world English rights to a novella prequel to the bestselling Gallagher Girls series, by Ally Carter. The title will follow three characters from the books during their first week of seventh grade at their all-girls spy school; it’s set to debut as an audio original and was sold by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency.
SOLD!! Catherine Onder at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt bought North American rights, at auction, to Ally Carter’s first middle grade series. The first title in the two-book deal, The Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Virtue, is slated for fall 2019. HMH said the series was pitched as what would happen “if little orphan Annie went to live with Batman.” The book follows, HMH explained, a girl and her group of “ragtag” friends “as they teach a mysterious billionaire that he has a family worth fighting for.” Kristin Nelson represented Carter.
SOLD!!!! Valerie Valdes's CHILLING EFFECT, an #ownvoices space opera where a mercenary space captain risks her life and crew to save her sister from a secret galactic organization, and PRIME DECEPTION, the second book in the series, to Priyanka Krishnan at Voyager, at auction, for publication in 2019 and 2020, by Quressa Robinson in her first deal at Nelson Literary Agency (world English).
SOLD!! Emily Easton at Crown has preempted for six figures, in an exclusive submission, Scott Reintgen's debut middle grade novel, When in Fancy. Indira Story finally gets the call to audition at Protagonist Preparatory, only to botch her audition and end up being designated as a side character. When a darker plot threatens the school, Indira must find out if a side character like her can really save the day. Publication is set for spring 2020; Kristin Nelson brokered the two-book deal for North American rights.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions are accepted via email only.

Make sure NLA represents your genre. (See what our agents are looking for below.)
You may query only one agent at the agency. Our first-round readers and agents share and discuss query letters, so a response from one NLA agent is a response from all NLA agents.
Open a new email and address it to the appropriate agent. (See below.)
In the subject line, write QUERY and the title of your project. This will help ensure that your query isn’t accidentally deleted or caught in our spam filter.
In the body of your email, include a one-page query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript.
No attachments please. Because of virus concerns, emails with attachments are deleted unread.

Currently Seeking…

Kristin is seeking:

Voice and character driven stories well told. How you tell that story doesn’t have to fit into a neat little category.
Young adult & middle grade novels (all genres, #ownvoices, #WNDB, boy adventure, magical, STEM girls are my jam, characters who use brains over brawn.)
Big crossover novels (literary or upmarket level writing) w/one foot squarely in genre for the adult market (Wool, Station 11, Lexicon, Ready Player One)
Literary commercial novels (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, Where’d You Go Bernadette?, A Man Called Ove)
Voice & character-driven upmarket women’s fiction
Select passion projects in thrillers, science fiction & fantasy

Danielle is seeking:

Middle grade and young adult (all genres)
Select passion projects in women’s fiction
A strong voice, nuanced writing, plots with unexpected twists, high concept
Complex female characters, quirky adventures, complicated family dynamics, romantic plotlines that are an element of the narrative but don’t dominate it, seaside novels, girls with swords, stories that take place in the aftermath of disaster (whether personal such as the death of a loved one or bigger picture such as a revolution), magical realism, YA psychological thrillers, sister stories
Social justice themes, own voices authors, a special interest in LGBTQ+ stories
Recent reads I have loved include (in no particular order) The Thing About Jellyfish, It’s Not Like It’s a Secret, We Are Okay, Landline, The Sun Is Also a Star, Uprooted, Salt to the Sea, We Were Liars, A Spool of Blue Thread, When Dimple Met Rishi, Six of Crows, anything Liane Moriarty, anything Kristin Cashore, anything Sarah Dessen

Joanna is seeking:

Character-driven and atmospheric mysteries and thrillers—think Tana French, Blake Crouch, and Heather Gudenkauf.
Literary fiction—fish-out-of-water experiences, immigrant stories, complex families. I cried my way through The Namesake and couldn’t put down The Round House.
Upmarket women’s fiction featuring characters I can’t stop thinking about.
Literary and commercial young-adult fiction—I’ll Give You The Sun and Bone Gap and anything that reminds me of Veronica Mars.

Quressa is seeking:

Modern-day blue stockings, POC fangirls/fanboys, #blackgirlmagic, #carefreeblackgirls, #blackboyjoy, LGBTQ+, neuroatypical/neurodivergent, and disabled POCs as leads
Middle Grade (contemporary and SF/F). Cute, quirky, charming, and fun. Along the lines of Kiki’s Delivery Service and Spirited Away.
Young adult (contemporary, SF/F, historical)
Adult SF/F with strong genre-bending/crossover appeal. (Think the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I’m also a fan of Anne Bishop and Naomi Novik.)
Literary fiction that is thoughtful, evocative, page-turning (The Mothers, Behold the Dreamers, Tell The Wolves I’m Home, Station 11)
Upmarket and commercial fiction
Passion projects in narrative nonfiction with a strong literary voice and commercial appeal (Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance, Black Man in a White Coat by Damon Tweedy, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi). Would love to see non-whitewashed cowboy stories; pop science by women, specifically women of color; and literary, voice-driven memoir with commercial appeal.
#ownvoices and marginalized authors in all genres mentioned above. Inclusive narratives in all genres.

We do not represent:

Nonfiction (except Quressa, who considers select passion projects in narrative nonfiction—see above—but does not represent abuse narratives or political works)
Memoir
Screenplays
Short-story collections
Poetry
Material for the Christian/Inspirational market
Children’s picture books
Early-reader chapter books

How to Email Us…

Query Kristin: querykristin@nelsonagency.com

Query Danielle: querydanielle@nelsonagency.com

Query Joanna: queryjoanna@nelsonagency.com

Query Quressa: queryquressa@nelsonagency.com

Response Time

Queries: We read and respond to each and every query we receive. Expect a response to queries within three weeks, though please understand that, occasionally, it may take longer. If you have not received a response after three weeks, then something might have gone astray in 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.

Full manuscripts: If we have requested your full manuscript and you have uploaded it to our submission database, a response can take up to two months. As with queries, we will email a response, so keep an eye on your spam folder.

Examples of Good Query Letters

Check out Kristin’s blog workshop on query letters. You’ll find it in the right side bar of Pub Rants. You’ll also find several query letters from NLA clients posted there, as well as some of Kristin’s submission pitch letters to editors for various NLA titles. Also check out #NLAquerytip on Twitter for additional useful information.

Several times a year, Kristin and Angie present webinars on how to nail the query pitch paragraph. Definitely worth the enrollment fee if you’re looking to master the art of the query pitch!