New Literary Agent Alert: Rachel Burkot of Holloway Literary
About Rachel: Rachel Burkot of Holloway Literary has been in the publishing industry since 2009. After completing an internship with two literary agencies, reading mostly young adult and thrillers, she then worked as an editor for Harlequin, acquiring category romance, contemporary romance, multicultural romance and women’s fiction. She has decided to transition her skills to the agenting world in order to be an advocate and champion for her authors because she loves finding new talent and helping authors’ dreams of publication come true. Rachel’s career highlights include helping her authors achieve prestigious romance book nominations and two selective awards, including the National Readers Choice Award, and several top reviews in Romantic Times magazine for her books. Follow Rachel on Twitter at @Rachel_Burkot.
She is seeking: Rachel is drawn to voice-driven fiction, particularly in young adult; quirky, three-dimensional, flawed characters, including and especially secondary characters; beautiful writing; books that explore good people in morally complicated situations; and complex, detailed plots. Rachel is interested in representing:
- Women’s fiction
- Upmarket/book club fiction, i.e., Emily Giffin, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain
- Young adult (no fantasy or paranormal unless it’s very light)
- Contemporary romance, i.e., Kristan Higgins
- Category romance with unique, memorable plots, i.e., Natalie Charles
- Southern fiction
- “Dark” women’s fiction/thrillers, i.e., Gillian Flynn or Mary Kubica
- Urban fiction
- Literary fiction
How to submit: Send your one-page query to submissions [at] hollowayliteraryagency.com. Email a brief query and the first five pages of your manuscript pasted in the body of your email. In the email subject header, write “Query: [Title/Genre].” If Rachel is interested, she’ll respond with a request for more material. If she’s not interested in your query but thinks it will be a good fit for others at the agency, she’ll share your submission. Due to the number of emails the agency receives, Rachel will only respond if she’s interested.
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