Sundown at The Knight Agency Cafe
April 8, 2005
Friday evening. It’s been a busy week here at the agency. We just closed a deal for romance author Shelley Bradley, who will now be published in trade paperback at Berkley (with her editor, Louisa Edwards.) Here’s the deal as posted in http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/:
Fiction: Women's/Romance
Shelley Bradley's first two eroticas, one about a personal security specialist who lures his enemy's sister into a trap he's set for revenge -- only to find that his trap is a two-way street, and the second about the sexual lessons an idealistic ingenue seeks to learn at the hands of a brash ex-Special Forces soldier, to Louisa Edwards at Berkley, by Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency (NA). Deidre.Knight@knightagency.net
In other agency “action” this week, I signed African American inspirational author Jacquelin Thomas to headline a women’s fiction trade paperback anthology at Pocket (with Selena James editing.) Spring seems to be the season for anthologies in general, since last week I closed a deal for Gena Showalter to participate in an anthology with Mary Janice Davidson, Susan Grant, and P.C. Cast at Berkley (Christine Zika is editing), and I also have another offer in play. Busy, busy!
Turning our attention to other aspects here at The Knight Agency, I’m thrilled to report that I signed a new client this week, romance author Monica Burns. You can visit her world at http://www.monicaburns.com/. She is a Golden Heart Finalist this year and has written a romantic, unique historical called MIRAGE. Any synopsis that begins with the following paragraph has me from hello.
Opening of MIRAGE synopsis by Monica Burns:
Half Bedouin, half English, Viscount Blakeney is a man without a country. In his heart, he’s always been Sheikh Altair Mazir, but a deathbed oath to his grandfather forces him to divide his time between England and his beautiful Sahara. Despite his English title and holdings, prejudice is his constant companion. Betrayed by an old love because of his mixed blood, he believes his heritage prevents him from finding true happiness, simply because he can never trust a woman to love him for who he is—a half-breed. Even if he could find a woman who could see past his bloodline, his nomadic way of life is too difficult an existence. A woman accustomed to society’s benefits would find desert life harsh, while the sneers of English society would be equally devastating…
Yes, that opening had me at hello and hello and hello. Despite being a submission in a tough genre, it felt (and feels) fresh to me. So I kept reading, and ultimately decided to sign this new client on.
Speaking of new talent, many authors query our agency and wonder whether we’re signing on new clients, and if so, in what genres. Right now, I personally have perhaps two or three more slots open, and I am reserving these for general market authors of fiction (as opposed to nonfiction, or CBA fiction, for instance.) I’m being extremely selective, as is Pamela Harty, our V.P. of Sales and my fellow agent. She is looking for unique fiction and high-profile nonfiction (as an example, she recently placed THE CHICK’S GUIDE TO NASCAR by Liz Allison with Time Warner Books). Liz is a high-profile NASCAR insider. Pamela also agented Cherie Calbom’s THE COCONUT DIET (Warner Books) and Cherie brought to us a tremendous sales track record as well as a strong platform. These are the kinds of nonfiction projects Pamela is seeking, as well as original fiction in romance, women’s fiction, and general fiction.
Nephele Tempest is our newest agent, and she is the one who is reading most voraciously these days. She’s seeking quality fiction in the areas of women’s fiction, romance, literary fiction, and commercial fiction. No nonfiction. All queries, however, should be directed to submissions@knightagency.net, and we will determine which project best suits each agent. Plus, she’s cool and a great person to know, so if she expresses interest in your work, you’re very fortunate.
In terms of our agency team, we had a great visit from our editorial consultant, Angela Zoltners, this week as she made her way through Georgia from North Carolina to visit family. Angela brings a wonderful sense of humor to everything she touches here at the agency—and is as brilliant as you’d expect a Yale graduate to be!
Well, I’m all typed out after another week in the publishing trenches, but I’m sure I’ll return with more to say next week. It’s yet to be determined whether I can actually maintain a blog, but I’m hoping this will be an avenue for keeping people aware of our agency’s current happenings.
Take care, Deidre
Friday evening. It’s been a busy week here at the agency. We just closed a deal for romance author Shelley Bradley, who will now be published in trade paperback at Berkley (with her editor, Louisa Edwards.) Here’s the deal as posted in http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/:
Fiction: Women's/Romance
Shelley Bradley's first two eroticas, one about a personal security specialist who lures his enemy's sister into a trap he's set for revenge -- only to find that his trap is a two-way street, and the second about the sexual lessons an idealistic ingenue seeks to learn at the hands of a brash ex-Special Forces soldier, to Louisa Edwards at Berkley, by Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency (NA). Deidre.Knight@knightagency.net
In other agency “action” this week, I signed African American inspirational author Jacquelin Thomas to headline a women’s fiction trade paperback anthology at Pocket (with Selena James editing.) Spring seems to be the season for anthologies in general, since last week I closed a deal for Gena Showalter to participate in an anthology with Mary Janice Davidson, Susan Grant, and P.C. Cast at Berkley (Christine Zika is editing), and I also have another offer in play. Busy, busy!
Turning our attention to other aspects here at The Knight Agency, I’m thrilled to report that I signed a new client this week, romance author Monica Burns. You can visit her world at http://www.monicaburns.com/. She is a Golden Heart Finalist this year and has written a romantic, unique historical called MIRAGE. Any synopsis that begins with the following paragraph has me from hello.
Opening of MIRAGE synopsis by Monica Burns:
Half Bedouin, half English, Viscount Blakeney is a man without a country. In his heart, he’s always been Sheikh Altair Mazir, but a deathbed oath to his grandfather forces him to divide his time between England and his beautiful Sahara. Despite his English title and holdings, prejudice is his constant companion. Betrayed by an old love because of his mixed blood, he believes his heritage prevents him from finding true happiness, simply because he can never trust a woman to love him for who he is—a half-breed. Even if he could find a woman who could see past his bloodline, his nomadic way of life is too difficult an existence. A woman accustomed to society’s benefits would find desert life harsh, while the sneers of English society would be equally devastating…
Yes, that opening had me at hello and hello and hello. Despite being a submission in a tough genre, it felt (and feels) fresh to me. So I kept reading, and ultimately decided to sign this new client on.
Speaking of new talent, many authors query our agency and wonder whether we’re signing on new clients, and if so, in what genres. Right now, I personally have perhaps two or three more slots open, and I am reserving these for general market authors of fiction (as opposed to nonfiction, or CBA fiction, for instance.) I’m being extremely selective, as is Pamela Harty, our V.P. of Sales and my fellow agent. She is looking for unique fiction and high-profile nonfiction (as an example, she recently placed THE CHICK’S GUIDE TO NASCAR by Liz Allison with Time Warner Books). Liz is a high-profile NASCAR insider. Pamela also agented Cherie Calbom’s THE COCONUT DIET (Warner Books) and Cherie brought to us a tremendous sales track record as well as a strong platform. These are the kinds of nonfiction projects Pamela is seeking, as well as original fiction in romance, women’s fiction, and general fiction.
Nephele Tempest is our newest agent, and she is the one who is reading most voraciously these days. She’s seeking quality fiction in the areas of women’s fiction, romance, literary fiction, and commercial fiction. No nonfiction. All queries, however, should be directed to submissions@knightagency.net, and we will determine which project best suits each agent. Plus, she’s cool and a great person to know, so if she expresses interest in your work, you’re very fortunate.
In terms of our agency team, we had a great visit from our editorial consultant, Angela Zoltners, this week as she made her way through Georgia from North Carolina to visit family. Angela brings a wonderful sense of humor to everything she touches here at the agency—and is as brilliant as you’d expect a Yale graduate to be!
Well, I’m all typed out after another week in the publishing trenches, but I’m sure I’ll return with more to say next week. It’s yet to be determined whether I can actually maintain a blog, but I’m hoping this will be an avenue for keeping people aware of our agency’s current happenings.
Take care, Deidre
posted by Deidre Knight at 9:23 PM
2 Comments:
Liz Allison?!?! Oh, I think I might faint. Being a NASCAR girl, Davey Allison was my most favorite driver. I cannot wait to read Liz's book!
Thanks for setting up this blog. I will definitely pass your agency news on to the ChristianFiction community.
Dee
http://christianfiction.blogspot.com
Post a Comment
<< Home