Literary Agents: How to Succeed and What to Expect

Agents play a key role in the path writers can follow toward traditional publishing. Hear from the experts on what it takes to find representation for your work and what comes after! The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) invites you to join us remotely for “Literary Agents: How to Succeed and What to Expect.” Writer Kyle Carrero Lopez will moderate a conversation with agents Danielle Bukowski, Ashley Lopez, and Angeline Rodriguez, followed by a Q&A.

This session will leave attendees with insider insights that will illuminate the business of agenting. Topics will include: what exactly the agent’s role is; getting an agent’s attention and finding the right match; what to do and what not to do while querying; what level of involvement agents have in the developing manuscript; and so on. Please register for the event here. 

This is an online Zoom conversation. Those who register will receive the Zoom link to participate soon after registration.

Event Breakdown

What: Literary Agents: How to Succeed and What to Expect

When: Thursday, November 30 from 6:00-7:30 PM ET

Where: Online via Zoom

Audience: All Literary Artists

Presenter: Kyle Carrero Lopez

Panelists: Danielle Bukowski, Ashley Lopez, and Angeline Rodriguez

Cost: Pay What You Wish 

Register: Register here

Questions: Email learning@nyfa.org

Moderator

Kyle Carrero Lopez was born to Cuban parents in northern New Jersey and is the author of MUSCLE MEMORY, the chapbook winner of the 2020 [PANK] Books Contest (sample poems here). Among other subjects, his work centers power, social life, and Afro-Cuban histories. He’s represented by—but not related to—Ashley Lopez of Waxman Literary. He co-founded LEGACY, a Brooklyn-based production collective by and for Black queer artists. His writing has been highlighted in Best New Poets, Best of the Net, W Magazine, The Atlantic, and episodes of Poetry Unbound and The Slowdown. Kyle is the recipient of fellowships from the CubaOne Foundation and NYU, where he was a Goldwater Writing Workshop Fellow, a Provost’s Global Research Initiative Fellow at NYU Berlin, and earned his M.F.A. in Poetry. He’s also a Cave Canem workshop alum and a 2022 Tin House Scholar.

Panelists

Danielle Bukowski has been an agent at Sterling Lord Literistic since 2014 and began her career in the foreign rights department. She represents critically acclaimed, award-winning fiction and nonfiction, including Bryan Washington, Edgar Gomez, Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, Gina Chung, Jinwoo Chong, Elizabeth Hand, and Andrew Boryga.

Ashley Lopez joined the Waxman Literary Agency in 2015. She received her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and is a founder of Pigeon Pages Literary Journal. She has worked on international and New York Times bestsellers and brings a global perspective to the team as the rights manager. Ashley is looking for literary and young adult fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and cultural criticism. Most importantly she seeks authors with a strong point of view and an eye for language.

Angeline Rodriguez is an agent at William Morris Endeavor, and formerly an editor at Penguin Random House and Hachette, where she was a 2021 PW StarWatch Honoree. She represents a variety of fiction in literary and genre categories, as well as select nonfiction. Her clients include Nnedi Okorafor, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, and Molly McGhee. She specializes in speculative fiction and loves high-concept stories that push the boundaries between genres. She is looking to work with writers that have a keen sense of worldbuilding in both real and surreal landscapes and is particularly passionate about highlighting underrepresented voices in new ways.