Agent J.L. Stermer Seeks New Young Adult & Women’s Fiction Clients

Literary agent JL Stermer is actively seeking writers who have either a completed young adult novel or a completed women’s fiction (upmarket) novel.

Literary agent J.L. Stermer of N.S. Bienstock asked me to put out a call for some new queries for her. While J.L. represents a wide variety of subjects, she is specifically putting out this active call for queries in the genres of young adult novels as well as adult women's fiction. If you are have a completed, polished novel in either of those categories, J.L. wants to hear from you.

About J.L.: J.L. Stermer is an agent in the literary division of talent agency N.S. Bienstock. Prior to joining N.S. Bienstock, she was an agent at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Always looking for fresh and exciting projects, J.L. brings her enthusiasm to clients while helping them navigate the world of book publishing--she takes pride in being involved with her clients every step of the way. J.L. also teaches a class at the Gotham Writers Workshop: How to Get Published. Born and raised in New York City, and a graduate of Columbia University, she currently resides in Manhattan.

J.L. is currently seeking these 2 specific categories: she would love to see both YA and women's fiction (no paranormal romance, sci-fi, or fantasy please). She is intrigued by dark, edgy stories, as well as those with a wry sense of humor. On her wish list is a coming-of-age story from a male point-of-view in the vein of The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll or The Guide to Recognizing Your Saints by Dito Montiel. Some recent reads she has enjoyed are The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg , Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Submissions: Please send a query letter plus the first 5 pages via e-mail. Do not send attachments. If she is interested in seeing more, you will receive a response in 4-6 weeks. Send your query to general inbox of nsb [at] nsbtalent.com and put either "Young Adult Query for Ms. Stermer" or "Women's Fiction Query for Ms. Stermer" in the subject line.


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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.