 Brianna Summers is a literary agent with Holloway Literary.
Brianna received a BA in 21st-century literature and creative writing and an associate degree in Ancient Mediterranean Studies from the University of Missouri. After many hours interning with literary magazines, she ventured into the wide world of book publishing. Brianna joined Holloway Literary in 2022 as an intern. She continued with Holloway as a literary assistant before graduating to Associate Agent. Get your creative juices flowing with these fun writing prompts and story starters by Brian A. Klems of Writing Day Workshops. The only rules: sit down, start writing, aim for at least 500 words (no upper word limit), and have as much fun as you can with it. This week's prompt is: 20th Anniversary. Click "Read More" to get the prompt.   ABOUT THE AGENT:
Rita Veras is an Associate Agent at Rosecliff Literary. She started writing short stories and poetry at a young age, inspired by her upbringing in the Dominican Republic. Rita is passionately dedicated to uplifting BIPOC voices, enhancing representation, and championing diverse narratives. For nearly twenty years, Rita has empowered countless entrepreneurs to become successful business owners. Now, with her results-driven approach, she has returned to the literary world to inspire aspiring authors on their journey to publication.  FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS!
First Page Contest #8 of this year is for writers of Adult Literary / Mainstream / Commercial / Book Club / Upmarket Fiction. If you write in these categories, keep reading and submit your work! This free contest ends on April 20, 2026. Here’s how it works: We invite an awesome literary agent to judge the contest. The agent picks the genre(s) they want to judge. Writers in that genre are invited to send in their first page as part of the competition. Winners get a fabulous critique from your agent judge. It’s free to enter. Sound good? Then let’s get to some details and rules! PRIZES: The agent judge will pick three winners (in no particular order). All three winners are invited to send their first 5 double-spaced pages to the agent judge for a free critique. If you've ever wanted to know what an agent is thinking when they read your submission, this critique is a great way to learn just that.  FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS!
Welcome to a First Page Contest. Contest #9 is for writers of Romance and Women's Fiction. If you write in these categories, keep reading and submit your work! This free contest ends on April 20, 2026. Here’s how it works: We invite an awesome literary agent to judge the contest. The agent picks the genre(s) they want to judge. Writers in that genre are invited to send in their first page as part of the competition. Winners get a fabulous critique from your agent judge. It’s free to enter. Sound good? Then let’s get to some details and rules! PRIZES: The agent judge will pick three winners (in no particular order). All three winners are invited to send their first 5 double-spaced pages to the agent judge for a free critique. If you've ever wanted to know what an agent is thinking when they read your submission, this critique is a great way to learn just that.  FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS!
Welcome to a First Page Contest. Contest #10 is for writers of Young Adult Fiction in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative. If you write in this age category, keep reading and submit your work! This free contest ends on April 20, 2026. Here’s how it works: We invite an awesome literary agent to judge the contest. The agent picks the genre(s) they want to judge. Writers in that genre are invited to send in their first page as part of the competition. Winners get a fabulous critique from your agent judge. It’s free to enter. Sound good? Then let’s get to some details and rules! PRIZES: The agent judge will pick three winners (in no particular order). All three winners are invited to send their first 5 double-spaced pages to the agent judge for a free critique. If you've ever wanted to know what an agent is thinking when they read your submission, this critique is a great way to learn just that.  FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS!
Welcome to a First Page Contest. Contest #11 is for writers of Adult Suspense, Crime, Thriller, Cozy, and Crime. If you write in these categories, keep reading and submit your work! This free contest ends on April 20, 2026 Here’s how it works: We invite an awesome literary agent to judge the contest. The agent picks the genre(s) they want to judge. Writers in that genre are invited to send in their first page as part of the competition. Winners get a fabulous critique from your agent judge. It’s free to enter. Sound good? Then let’s get to some details and rules! PRIZES: The agent judge will pick three winners (in no particular order). All three winners are invited to send their first 5 double-spaced pages to the agent judge for a free critique. If you've ever wanted to know what an agent is thinking when they read your submission, this critique is a great way to learn just that.  When you wheel and deal with literary agents and editors, you’ll end up spending more time than you’d like discussing rights, contracts, advances, royalties and a whole lot of other boring important stuff. That said, I want to address the most common questions regarding how advances and royalties work. In other words, how does the payment process work when you sell a book? Here are some FAQs:
1. How do writers make money? You sign a contract with a publisher. In exchange for signing over the North American and English language print rights to your book and possibly other rights, as well, you are paid book money one of three ways:
2. Which of the three methods above is most desirable?  I love pickleball! I love pickleball so much that I’ve started writing about it to celebrate that love. Let me share some of my books with you.
As of fall 2025, my new Pickleball books are out (and they make great gifts)! One is a picture book from Running Press Kids, the other a calendar from Sellers Publishing. Thank you for considering getting a copy for yourself or friends. Every sale and review truly helps. They make great holiday gifts. GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL got a buy from Target and is a USA Today best-selling book. Find GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL on Amazon here. Find GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL at Barnes & Noble here. You can buy it online from B&N, or use the “Find in Stores” button to see if it’s at a physical store around you. Find GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL at Target here. You can buy it online from Target, or click the “Pickup” button to investigate if it’s at a store around you. As of fall 2025, it’s in about 1/3 of Targets nationwide. Find GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL through Bookshop here (formerly called IndieBound) to support local independent bookstores, which is always an amazing thing to do. If you're feeling gung-ho and motivated, consider one of our 2026 writers conferences. We are planning many around the country and also online (where anyone can join from anywhere). See the graphic in this post for our official list of events for 2026. Our events have over 170 success stories of writers who signed with agents following meeting them at an event. That's the best proof we can offer. Go to writingdayworkshops.com to sign up now.  |