New Literary Agent Alert: Steve Kasdin of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Literary agent alerts (like this one with Steve Kasdin of Curtis Brown Ltd.) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building their client list.
About Steve: Steve Kasdin joined Curtis Brown in 2012. He has over twenty years’ experience in books and publishing, beginning his career as the Mystery buyer at Barnes & Noble. He has been a Marketing executive at St. Martin’s Press, Scholastic and Harcourt, an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Agency and worked on Content Acquisition in the Kindle group at Amazon.com. In addition to representing clients at Curtis Brown, he is also the agency’s Director of Digital Strategy, advising clients on all aspects of electronic publishing.
He is seeking: "The most important thing I’ve learned in over twenty years in publishing is also the simplest: plot sells. And the definition of what makes a great plot is also very simple: interesting, well-drawn characters thrown into unpredictable situations. I’m looking for: commercial fiction, including Mysteries/Thrillers, Romantic Suspense (emphasis on the suspense), and Historical Fiction); Narrative Nonfiction, including Biography, History and Current Affairs; and Young Adult Fiction, particularly if it has adult crossover appeal. I am NOT interested in SF/Fantasy, Memoirs, Vampires and writers trying to capitalize on trends."
How to submit: skasdin [at] cbltd.com. Responds in 4-6 weeks. Please send a query letter about what makes your book unique, a 1-3 page plot synopsis, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history, if you have one), and the first 40-50 pages of your manuscript as a Word attachment to the email. "Let me know in your query letter if I am reading your work exclusively, in which case, I shall give it priority. If the book has been self-published or previously published, please let me know all the details – publisher, date, etc."
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.
