Thank you for your interest in working with me.

I represent nonfiction for adults and nonfiction and fiction for young adults (12 and up). There aren't any projects in these areas that I can swear I would never represent, though of course like everybody else I have strengths and interests.

Certainly one way to determine whether a book is likely to suit my interests is to scrutinize the books I've sold and see if your project falls into a similar category--without directly competing with any book already on my list.

I have a strong desire to represent books that explore a scientific or sociological issue by a credentialed author. Such books should be written for a popular audience. (Please interpret scientific and sociological broadly.) I'd love to have more than one book on my pop culture books page. Literary journalism is also very much of interest to me. For these authors, I wrote this.

I began accepting YA fiction in January 2010; sales will take a while. For more help on whether a YA book is a fit for me, look here. And don't forget to paste 1-3 sample pages into your query.

Memoir writers should certainly take a look at the memoirs I've sold. For more help on whether a memoir is a fit for me, look here.

For practical nonfiction writers, I've written this.

I am not looking at this time to represent fiction for adults, poetry, screenplays, juvenile fiction, or picture books. I may not respond to requests for representation of these kinds of projects.

I very much prefer email queries; I hope that if you send me a paper query you have a very good reason for making that choice. Submit by sending a query letter describing your project and your qualifications to:

Kate @ Epstein literary.com
(remove the spaces)

For fiction and memoir, please paste the first 1-3 pages of your manuscript below your query. A concept that sounds interesting tells me very little without sample material. For fiction, I'm especially interested in which books you feel are your book's most direct competitors.

Putting "Query" in your regarding line is the best way to avoid being mis-filed. Please send your initial query with no attachments; all text must be in the body of the email. Initial queries with attachments may be deleted unread.

Please keep in mind that there are no clients on my current list who came to me initially by post, and I'm conscious of that when I read paper submissions. Most people that took the time to determine whether I might be a fit for their project will approach me by email. The main reason I have not banned paper submissions outright is that I feel strongly that prisoners should have the right to seek book publication. If you need to use post, write to:

The Epstein Literary Agency
P.O. Box 392
Randolph, MA 02368

Include an email address for my response or an SASE if you don't have an email address. If you wish to have your material returned, include an SASE with sufficient postage--otherwise I will recycle the paper if the project isn't right for me.

The ideal format for your regarding line is Query: Book Title (your book title that is!).

Most of the time the queries that keep me interested to the end are no more than three paragraphs long. It's not a hard and fast rule, but something to keep in mind.

Nonfiction writers: Please have a book proposal available for my review when you send me a query; sometimes I respond quickly with a request to see it. I prefer, upon my request for it, that you submit your proposal via email attachment. Formats that work include MS Word (docx or doc), PDF, and rich text format--ask me if you need to do something else. Your proposal should generally include an overview of the project, an author bio, competitive/comparative titles, outline, projected manuscript length and delivery schedule, promotion plan, and sample material. Additional material that supports the project such as endorsement and market analysis would be welcome, too.

YA fiction writers: Please have a completed manuscript available as well as your author bio and other supporting information.

I normally respond to email queries within three months and hard copy queries within six. If you haven’t heard from me yet, it may mean one of the following:

• You sent an unsolicited attachment and I deleted your query unread.
• You have a spam blocker that requires me to register or jump through some other hoop to get my response through.
• Your return email address was rejected by my server.
• I never received your query. With e-queries, if your regarding line could somehow be misinterpreted as porn or spam, try using a different one. Don't embed links.
• Your paper query didn't have an SASE for my response and I wasn't interested.

If you haven't heard from me on an e-query after three months, assuming your project is in my areas of interest, it's fine to check in with me via email. If you haven't heard on a paper query in six months, it's also OK to inquire via email. Again, the best way to keep me from losing an email query is to put the word Query in your regarding line.

My For Writers section has more information for writers.