Stories that explore themes of race, gender, and class in a nuanced way, with a focus on character development and representation. The agent is looking for fresh voices and exciting stories that are marketable but unique.
Amy Stern is a literary agent at Sheldon Fogelman Agency with a master's degree in children's literature. She is passionate about taking even light-hearted children's stories seriously and believes every story engages with themes of race, gender, and class. She represents a diverse range of genres and is particularly drawn to character-driven narratives with fresh voices.
Submissions should be emailed to [email protected] Send a single page cover letter that includes a brief synopsis of your work, your publication history, and how you were referred to us, if at all. This cover letter can be pasted into the body of your email. If you are querying several other agencies simultaneously, we ask that you mention this in your query letter. If you are a novelist, you may include the first three (3) chapters of the work and a synopsis. Please do not submit the entire work or include chapters from more than one work unless specifically requested. If you are a picture book writer, you may include two (2) manuscripts. Please do not submit any additional manuscripts unless specifically requested. If you are not an illustrator, please do not include images in your submission. If you are an illustrator, please include information regarding website portfolio links, if applicable. Otherwise, please attach a limited sampling of examples of your work to your submission. If you would like to send your work to a specific agent, address your query to that agent. Otherwise, simply put your work to the attention of the submissions coordinator. Please note, however, that a submission to one agent in our office is considered a submission to all. All work must be submitted electronically. Please make sure that all text attachments are accessible via Microsoft Word (.rtf and .doc preferred). We prefer illustrations in .jpg or .pdf format, and all files sent should not total more than 5 MB combined. While every submission will be read and considered, please understand that due to time constraints, we will only reply if we are interested in seeing more of your work. If additional work is requested following the cover letter, we prefer exclusive consideration of the requested work for at least one (1) month.