After earning her Bachelors from the University of Pennsylvania, Alyssa Eisner Henkin fulfilled a childhood dream that she professed on a home video at the age of six: move to New York and work with books. Alyssa founded Birch Path Literary in 2021, following over 20 years in the publishing industry including 14 years as an agent at Trident Media Group and 7 years in editorial at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Alyssa is dedicated to strategic and impassioned representation carefully honed to suit each client’s career path. Ensuring each book’s longevity is her primary goal from selecting the perfect editor, title and jacket to overseeing successful subsidiary rights deals including foreign, merchandising, audio, film and theatrical. Birch Path’s emphasis is on children’s and young adult literature and illustration, but Alyssa does represent a select number of fiction and narrative nonfiction projects for adult readers.
From extensive editing and idea-honing, to devising lucrative marketing strategies, to shepherding lasting film, foreign and merchandising partnerships, Alyssa nurtures her books at every stage. “There’s no greater professional joy than championing a book that you believe in and watching the world delight in it.”
Alyssa is especially drawn to lyrical prose, tight plotting, school stories, period pieces, diverse regional and ethnic flavors, themes of social justice, intergenerational family sagas, incorrigible underdogs, and lots of humor and authenticity buoyed by a big heart. “I am also eager to find authors and author-illustrators who specialize in inventive nonfiction, especially for middle grade. And highly original picture books are always intriguing. It was Madeline and Frances, after all, who kindled my passion in the first place!”
