If you’re a Latin American author and you believe you have written a bestselling book, you’re going to need a publisher.
However, the biggest publishers rarely accept unsolicited manuscripts directly from authors, unlike these publishing houses.
Therefore, you’ll need a literary agent to represent you. Below is a list of 5 top literary Agencies in Latin America who might be interested in your manuscript.
The following literary agencies may also be of interest to any of you international publishers out there, who want to sell the foreign rights of your books into the Latin American market.
Literary agencies from around the world may also want to take at these Latin American agencies for possible co-agent collaborations.
1. Puentes Agency
Puentes Agency is a literary agency based in Santiago, Chile founded by Adrián Puentes. Adrián is an experienced professional in the publishing industry. He has edited books, has given lectures and delivered consultancy in the areas of rights management and eBooks, and is a professor in the School of Journalism at the Catholic University of Chile and at Diego Portales University. He graduated from the Catholic University of Chile with a degree in Journalism and holds a Master’s degree in Publishing: Digital and Print Media from New York University.
Adrián’s agency specializes in representing Latin American literary fiction, representing both authors and illustrators of books for adults and children. If you would like to make a submission to Puentes Agency, you can make complete the form at this page to enquire if it is currently accepting manuscripts for review.
2. VF Agencia Literaria
VF Agencia Literaria was started by Verónica Flores in 2015 and is based in Mexico City, Mexico. Verónica has a varied background including editing and reporting both for television and print media specialising in culture and literature. A published author herself, she also has experience in reading, selecting and editing books, which she gained while working at Tusquets Editores México, as Literary Director, a position she held until 2015.
Verónica’s VF Agencia Literaria is a full service agency that specializes in the representation of authors of Spanish origin for the Spanish market globally, and assisting them in creating strong author brands. If you’re a Mexican author and would like to make a submission, you can contact VF Agencia Literaria to find out if it is currently accepting submissions, and if so, how you can make yours. You can find a contact form, postal address and email address at this page.
3. Vikings of Brazil
A literary agency in Brazil, Pasi and Lilia Loman founded Vikings of Brazil. This organisation has a very specific remit; namely to expose the people of Brazil to Nordic literature, as well as to promote Brazilian books in the Nordic nations. Vikings of Brazil has made great strides since it started in 2012 with it selling 200 Nordic titles in Brazil in its first three years of operation. This literary agency works with all genres including fiction, nonfiction and children’s books.
Both Pasi and Lilia are educated to PhD standard. Pasi has a PhD in Classics from the University of Nottingham and Lilia has a doctorate in Critical Theory/Literature from the same university. They represent large publishers and literary agencies from the Nordic nations, either as agents or sub-agents. Vikings of Brazil has continued to grow, and it also represents a selection of non-Nordic publishing houses in countries such as the UK, the US and India.
If you’re a Nordic author who wants to break into the Brazilian market with your book, or you’re a publisher in a Nordic country who wants to sell the foreign rights of your books in the Brazilian sector, or wants to make Brazilian works available in your country, contact Vikings Brazil to find out how they might be able to help.
4. Villas-Boas & Moss Literary Agency and Consultancy
Villas-Boas & Moss Literary Agency and Consultancy (VB&M) was founded by Raymond Moss and Luciana Villas-Boas in 2012 with a client base of 12 authors. VB&M at present has 50 author clients spread across the nations of Brazil, Portugal and France. It also represents 22 global book publishers and literary agencies and works in partnership with co-agents for the selling of foreign rights of its authors into languages such as English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, among others.
In addition to acting as literary agents, VB&M also supports authors who wish to make a career from their literary works, and assists them in developing their brands and reaching even more readers. If you’re interested in making a submission, VB&M will read it. However, expect a response only if your submission is of interest.
If your submission is fiction, you need to send a query letter, along with a synopsis (1 page), a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history), and the first 10-15 pages of your manuscript. If your book is nonfiction, you need to send a query letter, a summary of your book including an outline of each chapter, a short bio which explains your publishing background, an explanation of competitor books already on the market and the first chapter’s first 10-15 pages. If VB&M in interested in your submission, they will request a full proposal from you. Do take a look at the full submission guidelines for fiction and nonfiction books at this page.
5. Riff Agency
Riff Agency was started in 1991 and represents Brazilian authors as agents, and represents international publishers and literary agencies as co-agents for Portuguese and Brazilian markets. If you would like to make a submission, you can send an e-mail to agenciariff@agenciariff.com.br and request information on how you can do so.
Are you a literary agent in Latin America? Please introduce yourself in the comments box below and tell us a bit about your work!
Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of Writing Tips Oasis.