Marcy Posner – Agent at Filio Literary Management. After fifteen years on the editorial side of the business, Marcy made the jump to agenting – spending twelve years as at the William Morris Agency as an agent and as Vice President and Director of Foreign Rights; five years as president of my own agency; five years at Sterling Lord Literistic as an agent and Director of Foreign Rights; and I’m now here – and very happy – at Folio.
Editorial skill and a deep knowledge of the publishing industry sets her apart from many of my colleagues. She works with her authors and focuses editorially on how to make the book as strong as it could be. During that process, I’m able to bring to bear all the institutional memory I possess, knowing which editors and which publishing houses have a penchant for a certain subject, or a different voice, or a particular kind of author.
She straddles the line between adult and children’s books (middle grade and young adult only).
In the adult world, I’m looking for: commercial women’s fiction, historical fiction, mystery, biography, history, health, and lifestyle – and, especially, thoughtfully written commercial novels, thrillers with international settings, and narrative non-fiction.
In the children’s world, I’m looking for: Smart, contemporary YA and middle-grade novels. A great new mystery series for boys would be fun. I will look at historical fiction and fantasy, but she is not taking on much in those areas.
Susan Hawk – Agent at The Bent Agency. She worked for over 15 yearsin marketing children’s books, most recently as the Marketing Director at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, and previous to that as the Library Marketing Director
at Penguin Young Readers Group. While at Penguin, she also worked for a time in Dutton Editorial, acquiring books for their list.
She handles books for children exclusively: picture books, chapter books, middle grade and YA, fiction and non-fiction. In middle-grade and YA, I’m looking for something that makes me laugh out loud, I’m a sucker for bittersweet, and I
can’t resist a character that comes to understand how perfectly imperfect the world is. I want a book to stay with me long after I finish reading, and I’m looking for powerful, original writing. I’m open to mystery, scifi, humor, boy books, historical, contemporary (really any genre). My favorite projects live at the intersection of literary and commercial. In non-fiction I’m looking for books that relate to kid’s daily lives and their concerns with the world. In picture books, I’m looking particularly for author-illustrators, succinct but expressive texts, and characters as indelible as my childhood favorites Ferdinand, Madeline, George and Martha.
Connie Hsu – Senior Editor Little, Brown and Co.
Connie has edited the whole spectrum, from board books to The A-List: Hollywood Royalty. She’s also the editor of The Devouring, a YA horror trilogy, Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles series, and Moonshadow, a middle grade ninja adventure. Her acquisitions include Happyface, a fully illustrated YA novel, The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, a laugh-out-loud middle grade novel about a nanny pig, and Fifty Cents and a Dream, a picture bo