2016-10-17

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The post Top Children’s Literary Agents 2016-2017: Picture Books, Middle Grade and YA appeared first on Fiction Notes.

Each year or so, I do a post about the top literary agents and compare how many titles were sold. I use the Publishers Marketplace database to discover which agents are selling the best. However, their information comes with an important caveat: all information is self-reported. Many agents only report their top sales. That means some agents may be under-valued and some over-valued in this report. This should only be the first step in investigating the agents.

Upward Trend in Sales: 258% Increase in Picture Book Sales Reported

The total number of reported sales of picture books has grown to an all-time high. As mentioned, we have no way to know if this is truly an increase in the number of sales, or simply more sales reported on Publisher’s Marketplace. Still, it’s encouraging to see that the numbers have increased by 258%.

2010 – 119 sales

2013 – 171

2015 – 234

2016 – 308

Middle Grade Sales – Up and Down

Middle grade sales, however, have been up and down. The current rate is up 43% over 2012, but down 8% from last year.

2012 – 83 sales

2015 – 129

2016 – 119

YA Sales – Up and down

YA sales are also up and down. The current sales are up 59% from 2013, but down 14% from last year.

2013 – 72 sales

2015 – 142 sales

2016 – 122 sales


Top 5 Children’s Book Literary Agents

These rankings are based on sales reported to Publisher’s Marketplace within the past 12 months.

Picture Book

Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency

Steven Malk, Writer’s House

Ann Moore Armstrong, The Bright Group

Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary

Lori Nowicki, Painted Words

Middle Grade

Daniel Lazar, Writer’s House

Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency

Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency

The next three were tied:

Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Young Adult

Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties

Jim McCarthy, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

Jessica Regel, Foundry Literary + Media

Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary

Mandy Hubbard, Emerald City Literary Agency

Get the full list of 20 agents in each category, along with the number of sales they made in the last 12 months.

COMING TOMORROW: An interview with Literary Agent, Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media.

The post Top Children’s Literary Agents 2016-2017: Picture Books, Middle Grade and YA appeared first on Fiction Notes.

Join me at Highlights Foundation in 2017.

June 22-25, 2017,

PB&J: Picture Books and All That Jazz

June 19-22, 2017,

Self or Indie Publishing: Answering the Big Questions

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