About this New Literary Agent Spotlight series: We love spotlighting and profiling new literary agents —such as Samantha  Fabien of Laura Dail Literary— because they are actively seeking new writers and constructing a client list.

Literary Agent Bio: Samantha graduated from Seton Hall University in 2015. After completing the Columbia Publishing Course, Samantha found her passion for foreign rights and editorial through her internships and part-time work at three literary agencies: Ayesha Pande Literary, Writers House, and Chalberg & Sussman. She joined the LDLA team in May 2018 as their International Rights Manager, and began her role as a literary agent in April 2019.

What to Submit to Samantha: Samantha’s truest passion—apart from reading and writing—is sharing inclusive, lasting, and impactful stories with the world. Commercial and high-concept adult fiction; Non-western historical fiction (specifically on the lookout for stories set in 1600s-1800s or 1920s-1970s); Psychological thrillers; Fresh, unique rom-coms; Contemporary MG and YA (especially re-imaginings of classic tales); Grounded YA fantasy with rich characters and world building; All things diverse and #ownvoices.

How to Query Samantha: LDLA accepts email submissions only, so please follow the directions below closely. We do our best to answer every query letter within 2-4 weeks. If you receive a manuscript request, response time is closer to 8-10 weeks.

• Send a concise email query letter to: QUERIES [at] LDLAINC [dot] COM
• Along with your book’s title, please include the NAME OF THE AGENT you are querying in the subject field. This helps guarantee that your submission ends up in the right person’s queue. (Example subject line: QUERY: TITLE for AGENT)
• Your query letter should include a short pitch, a short plot summary, and a short bio. Please also include publisher submission history and previous publishing credits, if applicable. If you are a debut author, do not worry.
• After your query letter, paste the FIRST 5-10 PAGES of your novel into the body of the email. Your writing sample MUST be pasted into the email, as we do not open unrequested attachments of any kind. You may also include a synopsis, but it’s not required.
• If you are an author/illustrator, we highly recommend creating an online portfolio, which you can link to in your query instead of attaching sample artwork to an email. http://www.ldlainc.com/submissions

ATTEND A WRITERS CONFERENCE IN 2019/2020. Here are some writers conferences WQP staffers are either speaking at or wholeheartedly endorse:

• June 29, 2019: Writing Workshop of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
• July 13, 2019: Chesapeake Writing Workshop (Washington, D.C.)
• July 27, 2019: Colorado Writing Workshop (Denver, CO)
• August 9, 2019: Sacramento Writing Workshop (Sacramento, CA)
• August 10, 2019: Writing Workshop of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)
• August 17, 2019: Toronto Writing Workshop (Toronto, Canada)
• Sept. 7, 2019: Boston Writing Workshop (Boston, MA)
• Oct. 25, 2019: Oklahoma Writing Workshop (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Oct. 26, 2019: Writers Conference of Dallas (Dallas, TX)
• Nov. 15, 2019: Writing Workshop of Austin (Austin, TX)
• Nov. 16, 2019: Houston Writing Workshop (Houston, TX)
• Nov. 23, 2019: Arizona Writing Workshop (Phoenix, AZ)
• Nov. 23, 2019: Philadelphia Writing Workshop (Philadelphia, PA)
• March 6, 2020: Alabama Writing Workshop (Birmingham, AL)
• March 7, 2020: Atlanta Writing Workshop (Atlanta, GA)
• March 7, 2020: Minnesota Writing Workshop (St. Paul, MN)
• March 28, 2020: Pittsburgh Writing Workshop (Pittsburgh, PA)
• March 28, 2020: Kansas City Writing Workshop (Kansas City, KS)
• April 25, 2020: Michigan Writing Workshop (outside Detroit MI)
• April 25, 2020: Seattle Writing Workshop (Seattle, WA)
• May 2, 2020: Writing Conference of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
• May 9, 2020: San Diego Writing Workshop (San Diego, CA)
• May 16, 2020: Cincinnati Writing Workshop (Cincinnati, OH)
  and click here for more 2019 / 2020 writers conference suggestions