New Literary Agent Alert: Beth Phelan of Bent Literary
Literary agent alerts (like this one with Beth Phelan of Bent Literary) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building their client list.
About Beth: "After graduating from New York University, I found my footing as an intern with the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. Since then, I've held positions at Waxman Leavell Literary and Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. As a literary agent with the Bent Agency, I am looking for complex fiction that pulls you in immediately, characters that you wish were your real friends and plot lines that drag you away from reality to a world you never want to leave. My favorite stories are told with humor and sprinkled with surprises. When I was a kid, my father told me: 'You're not going to have any friends left if you keep reading instead of returning their phone calls.' That's when I knew I wanted to work with books (although I like to think that I've managed to strike a better balance in my life now). I live in Brooklyn with a neurotic chihuahua, goofy beagle and always some form of cheese in the fridge."
She is seeking: Beth Phelan represents fiction for young adults and middle-grade readers, select commercial and literary adult fiction, and nonfiction by way of lifestyle, cooking/food writing, humor, pop culture, LGBT and pets/animals. For adult fiction, she leans toward new adult, suspense, thriller, and mystery.
How to submit: To query Beth, please review agency submissions guidelines, then email phelanqueries [at] thebentagency.com.
Chuck Sambuchino is a former editor with the Writer's Digest writing community and author of several books, including How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Create Your Writer Platform.