New Literary Agency – Red Fox Literary

New West Coast-based Red Fox Literary has opened its doors to represent Authors and Illustrators in the Children’s Market. The boutique agency will offer a dazzling array of talents from among its roster of clients, including New York Times and Time magazine Best Book winners and some of the most promising up-and- coming talents working in the field today.

The duo behind Red Fox Literary is veteran agent Karen Grencik and seasoned editor Abigail Samoun. They hope to reproduce the success of their first agent/editor collaboration from nearly a decade ago, Sarah Wilson and Chad Cameron’s George Hogglesberry, Grade School Alien, which won the highly esteemed SCBWI Golden Kite Award.

Grencik is thrilled about the new agency. “I love everything about agenting: corresponding with clients and editors; watching ideas and books come to life; having that first cup of coffee and opening up my emails to see what surprises are in store for the day.” But what really drives Grencik are her authors. “I love them—they are my reason for getting up in the morning.” Grencik will be
representing authors writing for picture book, chapter book, middle grade, and young adult audiences. She’s currently looking for stories about real life and real people. “I love stories where character development is front and center.  I’m all about the people.”

As for the other half of the agency, Samoun will initially be focusing on the illustration division. “We have sixteen illustrators signed so far, most of whom I’ve worked with before as an editor,” she says. “They represent a wide range of styles—reflective and digital, figurative and stylized, humorous and whimsical, traditional and contemporary. Some of the illustrators have been in the business thirty years; some of them are just starting out.” In understanding the market, Samoun states, “An author’s voice is important in helping carve out an identity in the publishing world, but there’s an illustrator equivalent of voice too—each of Red Fox Literary’s artists has a distinctive style and point-of-view. I’m very excited about the talent we’re bringing to editors and art directors.”

Please note that they only accept email submissions. Do let them know if you are querying another agency simultaneously. If you should receive an offer from another agent while we are reviewing your submission, we appreciate your letting us know immediately.   Our agents’ individual guidelines are below. We ask that you do not query both agents at the same time.

Due to the volume of queries Karen has been receiving, submissions will only be accepted from the 1st through the 7th of each month.  Authors and their manuscripts are very important to her, and she doesn’t like to keep people waiting.  She will make every effort to complete all responses by the end of each month.  Thank you in advance for your compliance.

• Please submit queries/submissions by e-mailing karen@redfoxliterary.com
• Please type “QUERY” in the subject line.
• You will receive an automated response stating that your submission has been received. Please do not respond to this automated response.
• If you haven’t received a response from me within six (6) weeks, feel free to re-submit your work.

Please e-mail one query/submission at a time  and include all text within the body of the email.  No attachments will be opened.

• PICTURE BOOKS: Submit a query letter with the full manuscript.
• FICTION: Submit a query letter, synopsis, and the first ten pages.
• NON-FICTION: Submit a query letter, proposal, and one sample chapter.

Karen is not interested in:
Mass Market Board or Novelty Books
Activity Books/Workbooks
Self-Help
Science Fiction
High Fantasy
Dystopia
Memoir

• If you are an illustrator, Abigail Samoun is open to illustration submissions from the 1st to the 7th of each month. If you would like to submit your art for consideration, please send a query letter stating your background in illustration, your experience in children’s publishing, and why you would like to pursue a career in this field to abigail@redfoxliterary.com. Be sure to include a link to your website or blog where I can view at least twenty color samples of your work. She will respond within four to six weeks.  Abigail is not interested in seeing picture books unless written by the illustrator.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy