Agent Spotlight: Susan Cohen

This week's Agent Spotlight features Susan Cohen of Writers House.

About: Official bio unavailable.

Susan Cohen has been with Writers House over 25 years. “[She] started at an entry-level position, became an agent’s assistant, and after learning how to represent authors, started doing so.” She is now a senior agent. (Link)

Status: Accepting submissions, not actively seeking new clients.

What She's Looking For:

Interests: Children’s books; authors and illustrators, picture book through young adult; adult, select nonfiction, celebrity, cultural, social issues, narrative, parenting, religion & spirituality, women’s issues. (Link, Link)

What She Isn't Looking For:

Science fiction, fantasy, educational, inspirational, academic, financial, business, poetry, screenplays. (Link)

About the Agency:

"Writers House was founded in 1973 with a vision for a new kind of literary agency, one that would combine a passion for managing a writer's career with an integrated understanding of how storytelling works. With this two-pronged philosophy, Writers House has played a critical role in developing the careers of hundreds of novelists and non-fiction authors. We believe in offering our clients not only our expertise in negotiating contracts, but in contributing to all phases of the editorial and publishing processes. Our goal is to maximize the value of our clients' work by providing hands-on editorial and marketing advice, as well as leading the way in branding, licensing, and selling film/TV, foreign, audio, dramatic and serial rights." (Link)

"The Writers House children's book department, started by Amy Berkower in 1978, has grown to include seven agents representing many of our industry's most lauded and successful authors. Our list includes popular series like THE TWILIGHT SAGA, SWEET VALLEY HIGH, CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS and JUNIE B. JONES -- as well as eight Newbery and Newbery Honor award-winning clients: Sharon Creech, Cynthia Voigt, Cynthia Rylant, Robin McKinley, Susan Patron, Neil Gaiman, Ingrid Law and Grace Lin. Writers House is also proud to represent the first two American authors to win Britain's prestigious Carnegie Award - Creech and Jennifer Donnelly; Christopher Paolini, who, at 20, is one of the youngest authors to hit the New York Times bestseller list; and the late Joan Lowery Nixon, the only four-time Edgar Award Winner recipient." (Link)

Dislikes (Don'ts):

“Telling me they were referred by someone I’ve never heard of, sending photos of themselves, sending unprofessional illustrations with their stories.” (Link)

Editorial Agent?

Unknown.

Web Presence:

Writers House website.

AAR.

AgentQuery, QueryTracker, AuthorAdvance.

Clients:

Ellie Slott Fisher, Liza Gyllenhaal, Kathleen Krull, Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Bats Langley,  Joshua D. Schor, Jill Zimmerman Rutledge, among many others.

Sales:

Ms. Cohen does not report her deals to Publisher’s Marketplace.

Query Methods:

E-mail: No.

Snail-Mail: Yes.

Online-Form: No.

Submission Guidelines (always verify):

A few sources indicate she wants a snail-mail query and SASE only (Link, Link); however, the Writers House submission guidelines are as follows:

“Please send us a query letter of no more than two pages, which includes your credentials, an explanation of what makes your book unique and special, and a synopsis.”

Do not query more than one agent at Writers House at a time. For further details, see the agency website.

Response Times:

The Writers House agency has a stated response time of 6-8 weeks on queries. Ms. Cohen seems to respond within days to a month with occasional longer instances. Stats are very limited.

What's the Buzz?

Information on Susan Cohen is limited as she has a full list and is not actively seeking new clients. She certainly has the years of experience, sales, and reputation to recommend her. A 2005 guide has her listed as representing 80% children’s, 15% nonfiction, and 5% fiction (Link). If I receive more current information on her interests I’ll be sure to add it in.

Worth Your Time:

Interviews:

None that I could find online.

Around the Web:

There is information about several Writers House agents, including Susan Cohen, in this Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents (2005) on page 698.

Writers House thread on AbsoluteWrite.

Writers House on P&E ($ Highly Recommended). Susan Cohen on P&E ($, AAR).

Contact:

Please see the Writers House website or one of the query databases above for contact and query information.

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Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at agentspotlight(at)gmail(dot)com

Note: These agent profiles presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. They are not interviews. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found herein is subject to change.