Little GOLDen Book members of 12 x 12 will be able to choose one of two agents to submit their manuscript to each month.

Laura Biagi of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency will be accepting picture book submissions from 12 x 12 GOLD members March 1-15. Melissa Nasson of Rubin Pfeffer Content will be accepting picture book submissions from 12 x 12 GOLD members March 16-31. Laura’s profile appears first, followed by Melissa’s. Please read BOTH and then decide who would be the best fit for your work.

GOLD members: Please check the Submission Station section of the forum for additional instructions from each agent.

Laura Biagi

A little bit about Laura from the JVNLA website:

“Laura Biagi joined JVNLA in 2009. She is actively building her client list, seeking adult literary fiction, young readers’ books, and nonfiction. She also handles the sale of UK and Australian/New Zealand rights, as well as audio rights. In the past, she has worked closely with Jean Naggar and Jennifer Weltz on their titles, as well as the submission of JVNLA’s titles internationally.

Laura’s writing background has honed her editorial eye and has driven her enthusiasm for discovering and developing literary talent. She studied creative writing and anthropology at Northwestern University. As a writer, she has participated in workshops at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Emerging Artist Award for fiction writing.

Laura grew up in a small town in Kentucky and maintains a fondness for Southern biscuits and unobstructed views of the stars.”

Here is what Laura is looking for in picture books today: “I’m interested in finding picture books with unique characters and story lines as well as heart and humor. High concept, quirky, laugh out loud picture books are wonderful, and I love big voices and magical tinges to stories. I’m drawn to lyrical story lines and concept books, though these are some of the trickiest to do well, and a freshness and boldness to the telling is key. By lyrical I should add that I don’t mean rhyming; I mean poetic, without rhyming. I do represent rhyming books, but I tend to be pickier with them. I am excited about anything STEM related and also very interested in picture book biographies or intriguing nonfiction. I’m seeking new author-illustrators as well as text-only writers.”

• Our own Hannah Holt is represented by Laura. Read the story of “the call” and their first book deal together HERE.
• Hannah also shared her How I Got My Agent story HERE
• Laura was part of a collective call from agents industry wide for stories from Muslim writers HERE
• Amy Newman Interview HERE
• Check out her Manuscript Wish List (#MSWL) HERE

Melissa Nasson

A little bit about Melissa from Writers Digest:

“Melissa Nasson has spent her life living in and around Boston, attending college at Boston University (Go Terriers!). While studying at Boston University School of Law, she realized that becoming a literary agent would combine her passion for books with her legal background, and she began interning at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth, and later at East-West Literary Agency and Rubin Pfeffer Content. After taking the bar exam in 2012, Melissa worked as a foreign rights intern at Perseus Books Group before starting as contracts director at Beacon Press. Now, she continues her work at Beacon Press while actively building her list as an associate agent at Rubin Pfeffer Content. Melissa loves dogs, craft beer, making pickles, tending to her tiny vegetable garden, and her pet tortoise, Norton.”

Here’s what Melissa is looking for in picture books:

“I am looking for humor (puns are welcome!), creative nonfiction, misfits, subversive themes, and unexpected twists. I’m not looking for bathroom humor, rhyming texts, didactic themes, or series.”

Only a couple days left become a 12 x 12 member! Registration closes February 28, 2017. To submit to our agents in 2018, you have to be a member in 2017. Join the challenge here.