If you’re an author based in the Southeastern part of the United States who has written a book for a relatively small audience, and are looking for a publisher close by, you may want to submit your manuscript to an independent press, such as some of these book publishing companies in North Carolina and South Carolina.
However, if you’ve penned a book with mass appeal with the potential to be a national or international bestseller, you’re going to need a book agent to approach large publishing houses on your behalf.
Below you’ll find 4 top literary agents in North Carolina.
1. Nikki Terpilowski
Nikki Terpilowski is founder and senior literary agent at Holloway Literary Agency, a full-service agency in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nikki has a BA in English and her career started by working as an editor and writer for government and civilian organizations. She then went onto to work as an intern in Washington, D.C. for Elaine English Agency and then transitioned over to literary representation, gaining experience in representing romance authors, women’s fiction authors, thriller and mystery authors, young adult, literary fiction, and southern; a number of works by her clients have become bestsellers.
If you would like to make a submission, Nikki is accepting queries for Southern fiction, young adult, historical fiction, cozies, literary fiction, science fiction, nonfiction, and African-American. The first thing you need to do is to email a query letter and the first 15 pages of your book pasted directly into the email. Your query email needs to include a subject header, correct salutation, word count, genre, 2-3 comparative books, your author bio, and the requested first 15 pages. Nonfiction submissions also need to include a book proposal as well. Do read the guidelines carefully at this page to ensure you send your submission in the correct way.
The email address to send your query to is submissions@hollowayliteraryagency.com. Nikki usually takes around 6-8 weeks to respond to queries she is interested in, and will ask for further material in such cases.
2. Tracey Adams
After working for nearly 10 years at two prestigious literary agencies; namely Writers House and McIntosh & Otis where she lead the children’s section, in 2004, Tracey Adams co-founded Adams Literary with Josh Adams. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Adams Literary represents children’s and young adult authors and illustrators. Tracey and her team have close connections with publishers and editors in NYC and also across the globe. Adams Literary is a full-service boutique agency, which means it offers far more than just representation, and runs on the ethos of managing its clients’ publishing careers. The agency works with both established authors and those who are just embarking on their careers as an author.
A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Tracey is a sought after speaker in the children’s book sector across the United States. As of writing this post, Tracey and Adams Agency is temporarily closed to submissions. You can make contact to enquire about when this agency might expect to open submission windows again.
3. Rachel Beck
Rachel Beck, a literary agent at Holloway Literary, has been working in the publishing industry since 2009. She started her career through working as an intern at two literary agencies and then being employed as an editor at a major publisher; namely Harlequin. With a real passion for finding talented authors and helping them to get published, Rachel has assisted her clients to receive nominations in prestigious book awards and gain first class reviews in the Romantic Times magazine.
Rachel is currently seeking contemporary romance, women’s fiction, young adult, women’s suspense/thrillers, Southern fiction and nonfiction. Do read this page carefully to get an idea of the types of stories Rachel is interested in, in these genres. If you feel your book would be a good fit for Rachel’s interests, proceed to ensure your query follows the exact requirements at the ‘Submissions’ page.
4. Lorin Oberweger
Lorin Oberweger is a literary agent at Adams Literary and before joining this organization, for more than 20 years, she worked as a self-employed book editor and ghostwriter. Also a trainer of writers in multiple fiction genres and creative nonfiction, Lorin is also an award-winning author. Some examples of her books include The Boomerang Trilogy, which she co-authored with Veronica Rossi using the pen name Noelle August.
Lorin is interested in young adult and middle grade with a particular liking for social issues, stories with a dark side and characters who have realized their true potential, or have the seed to do so from the beginning. It is well well-worth reading the questions found at this page under the section ‘About Querying Lorin’ and if your answer to most of these is “yes”, your book could very well be the type Lorin looks for. Submissions are only accepted through an online form, however, do note though that Lorin and Adams Agency are currently temporarily closed to new submissions.
Are you aware of any other literary agents in North Carolina? Please tell us about them in the comments box below!
Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of Writing Tips Oasis.