Being an agent is really all I can imagine doing. Books, and the amazing people who write them, have been the focus of my life for more than two decades. I remember packing to move my house and needing a separate small truck just for all the books, and I had given away countless volumes to the libraries for fundraisers already! But so many of them were treasured friends I couldn’t bear to part with, no matter the effort required to maintain the relationship.
And this specific role I play, being given the chance to find and nurture new books, to work with some of the most creative and talented writers, scientists and psychologists, cooks and criminologists, experts from every field of study, makes what I do feel so different from work that my inbox feels like Santa’s magical Christmas bag. It’s always full, always overflowing, but brimming with the potential of something spectacular. All I’ve got to do is pull the little ribbon…
Perhaps that’s why I have such trouble limiting myself to just a few genres. I find it all fascinating! History, business, self-help, science, gardening, cookbooks, crafts, parenting, memoir, true crime and travel. Teach me something new, something I couldn’t find somewhere else, something based on original research and that’s the hook I’m looking for. With fiction, I love quirky, edgy characters. Send me women’s fiction, paranormal, urban fantasy, horror, science fiction, historical, mystery, thrillers and suspense.
Those rare moments I’m not reading or editing or talking about reading or editing or arguing about contracts, sleeping on the train, or tweeting about industry news, I adore classic films and old-time radio shows.
Gina’s Appearances:
October 10, 2020 Push to Publish 2020 – Philadelphia Stories https://philadelphiastories.org/
December 3-6, 2020 Writers Digest – Ten Pages Bootcamp Writers Digest Ten Pages Bootcamp
ONGOING Women’s Fiction Writers Association – Online Pitch Sessions https://www.womensfictionwriters.org/
January-March 2021 Winter Thrills – International Thriller Writers https://thrillerwriters.org/
As many writers know, agents and editors won’t give your work more than ten pages or so to make an impact. If you haven’t got them hooked by then, it’s a safe bet you won’t be asked for more material. Make sure you’ve got the kind of opening they’re looking for! In this invaluable event, you’ll get to work with an agent online to review and refine the first ten pages of your novel or non-fiction book. You’ll learn what keeps an agent reading, what are the most common mistakes that make them stop, and the steps you need to take to correct them.
NEXT BOOTCAMP DEC 3-6!!!!
Gina’s Recent Sales:
THE COLOR OF AUTHORITY, by Aaron Philip Clark
Digital: Fiction: Mystery/Crime Aaron Philip Clark’s THE COLOR OF AUTHORITY, an #OwnVoices crime novel inspired by the author’s experiences as a LAPD police recruit, introducing a detective who is wrestling with his identity as a Black man and a police officer while his department faces a reckoning with its past, to Liz Pearsons at Thomas & Mercer, in a six-figure deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in November 2021.
August 27, 2020 – HIGH YELLA by Steve Major
Non-fiction: Memoir
Former NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC anchor and producer Steve Majors’s HIGH YELLA: A MODERN FAMILY MEMOIR, exploring the question of what defines family, from the author’s perspective as the white-appearing gay son of a large, poor Black family, and as a father to two adopted Black sisters, to Beth Snead at University of Georgia Press, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2021,
Audio Rights: tmele@Talcottnotch.net International Rights: acollins@talcottnotch.net
March 23, 2020 – THE SHEPHERDS, by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson
Fiction: Thriller
Authors of the Tier One series Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson’s THE SHEPHERDS series, first in a new faith-based supernatural thriller series, featuring a covert unit of military characters with a mission to protect mankind from the dark ones by safeguarding and supporting the watchers, young people gifted with unusual intelligence and spiritual insight, to Karen Watson at Tyndale, in a good deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Fall 2021.
February 28, 2020 – THE HITMEN, by Scott Deitche
Non-fiction: True crime
Author of GARDEN STATE GANGLAND Scott Deitche’s THE HITMEN: THE MAFIA’S KILLING SQUAD, uncovering the history of The Purple Gang of New York City in the 1970s and ’80s, to Kathryn Knigge at Rowman & Littlefield, in a nice deal.
November 13, 2019 – Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson
Audio rights
Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson’s book six in the Tier One series, to Rick Bleiweiss at Blackstone Audio, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2020.
October 3, 2019 – SONS OF WAR, by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson
Fiction: Thriller
Authors of the thriller series Tier One Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson’s SONS OF WAR, a spin-off series featuring Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander Keith Redman (‘Chunk’) as he takes the helm of the rebuilt Tier One team, to Rick Bleiweiss at Blackstone Publishing, in a very nice deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Fall 2020.
January 23, 2019 – RED SPECTER, by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson
Digital: Fiction: Thriller
Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson’s RED SPECTER, book five in the Tier One thriller series, in which America’s lethal protector faces his most dangerous adversary yet, as a black ops Russian unit executes a bold Kremlin plan to reclaim the Baltics, destabilize NATO, and eliminate Task Force Ember once and for all, to Jessica Tribble at Thomas & Mercer, in a nice deal, for publication in November 2019.
January 22, 2019 – IS HE NUTS? WHY WOULD A GAY MAN BECOME A LATTER-DAY SAINT?, by Dennis Schleicher
Non-fiction: Memoir
Dennis Schleicher’s IS HE NUTS? WHY WOULD A GAY MAN BECOME A LATTER-DAY SAINT?, the story of an openly gay man’s journey to find his place in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, to Kathryn Watkins at Cedar Fort, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in fall 2019.
September 7, 2018 – AMERICAN OPERATOR, by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson
Digital: Fiction: Thriller
Authors of the WSJ-bestselling Tier One thriller series Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson’s AMERICAN OPERATOR, in which a shocking attack in Ankara leaves the U.S. Ambassador dead and his chief of staff in the hands of brutal terrorists, and a team must rescue her, not realizing that a new player has entered the game and they face their deadliest foe ever, to Jessica Tribble at Thomas & Mercer.
Film: Eddie Gamarra at Gotham Group
January 16, 2018 – LOVER’S PINCH, by Peter Tupper
Non-fiction: General/Other
Peter Tupper’s LOVER’S PINCH: A Cultural History of Sadomasochism, the cultural history of a practice long shrouded in secrecy, from its origins as a controversial religious practice through secretive sexuality branded a perversion to mainstream profitable exploitation in books, movies and fashions, to Suzanne Staszak-Silva at Rowman & Littlefield, in a nice deal, for publication in July 2018.