ABOUT THE AGENT:
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Paula Weiman (they/them) joined the ASH Literary team in 2023 as an Agent after a career in literary scouting and educational publishing. Based in New York and with a background in foreign rights, they bring an international approach to selling their clients’ work. Their goal is to help as many children as possible to see their experiences represented on the page for the first time.

PAULA IS SEEKING:

ABOUT THE AGENT: Krista Van Dolzer is the newest literary agent at The Unter Agency, though she’s worked in and around the publishing industry for more than a decade. Her middle grade fiction has been published by Penguin Random House, Sourcebooks, Capstone, and Bloomsbury USA, and she’s hosted many query contests and pitch events for aspiring authors over the years. She currently lives in central Iowa with her husband and four kids and holds degrees in Mathematics Education and Economics from Brigham Young University.

KRISTA IS SEEKING:

ABOUT THE AGENT:
Aiden Siobhan (they/them) graduated from UNC School of the Arts in 2023 with a Filmmaking BFA specializing in Screenwriting and Animation. Before becoming an agent, they interned at LDLA and were an Author Mentor Match mentee in 2022. When they’re not binge reading an LGBTQ+ YA novel, they work as the Art Director for two alternative newspapers, attend film festivals for their documentary projects, and go on road trips with their fiancé and dog.

AIDEN IS SEEKING:

ABOUT THE AGENT:

Sara Shandler joined The Book Group in 2025 after twenty-six years in publishing, most recently as the Editor-in-Chief of Alloy Entertainment, where she collaborated with authors from the inception of their stories through publication. Sara’s introduction to publishing began around the dinner table with her can-do-anything hippie parents who encouraged her to write the bestselling book Ophelia Speaks, which gave voice to the experience of teenage girls and was published when she was just eighteen years old. 

Sara is proud to have worked on many New York Times best sellers, Book Club selections, and award winning novels, including two National Book Award finalists, a Printz Honor, Walter Dean Myers Award Honors, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal, the William C. Morris Award, the Stonewall Award for Teens, the Lambda Literary Award and the Coretta Scott King-Steptoe Award for New Talent. Many of the novels Sara developed and edited have been successfully adapted to TV and film. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, three children and dog, and spends summers in Fire Island.  

SARA IS SEEKING:​

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ABOUT THE AGENT:
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Jynastie Wilson (she/they) is an Assistant Literary Agent at The LCS Literary Agency where she started off as a Literary Intern. When she’s not agenting, you can find her playing video games with her partner, reading a queer novel, or journaling.

During a childhood that was spent devouring the pages of both fantasy and contemporary novels alike, Jynastie Wilson discovered that there was magic within these pages, one that was much more complex than the fact that they happened to offer a place of escape and distraction. Instead, she found that these novels had the magic to make people feel a little less alone — specifically those that came from various marginalized communities, such as she did. 

“Suddenly focused on this magic, Jynastie decided that she wanted to be someone that helped create and bring this magic to life. Something that she now hopes to achieve by working towards becoming a literary agent and supporting those who are underrepresented.”

JYNASTIE IS SEEKING:

ABOUT THE AGENT:

Lee O’Brien (he/they) is an associate agent at Looking Glass Literary.
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Lee started his career at Irene Goodman Literary Agency in 2019, where he first worked as an assistant to Victoria Marini and later began building his own list as a junior agent, after completing his MA in English literature at UC Davis and moving back to New York full time in 2020.
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When not working as an agent, Lee writes YA fantasy about trans kids, magic, and monsters of all kinds as Lee Paige O’Brien.

​LEE IS SEEKING:

ABOUT THE AGENT:
Carey Blankenship-Kramer is a literary agent with Belcastro Agency.

After growing up surrounded by books and people who loved to read them, Carey dreamed of bringing more books to the hands of avid readers like herself. She graduated from Berry College with a dual degree in English and Creative Writing. She later received her master’s in Writing and Digital Communications from Agnes Scott College. She has experience working with both publishing houses and literary agencies and loves her role as Junior Agent at Belcastro Agency. As an editorial agent, she loves working closely with her authors to ensure their stories come to life on the page.

Outside of work and writing, you can usually find Carey spending time with her small zoo and husband, getting way too competitive on the tennis court, gardening, playing video games, or eating candy.

CAREY IS SEEKING:

While her sweet spots are horror and middle grade, Carey’s tastes are wide and varied. From mystery to fantasy to science fiction, she loves anything that can draw her in and have her rooting for the main characters.

ABOUT THE AGENT:
Jazmia Young is an associate agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at the City College of New York and was a graduate of the Publishing Certificate Program at CCNY. Jazmia is also the Administrative Assistant of the Association of American Literary Agents.

JAZMIA IS SEEKING:
She is interested in representing children’s books, picture books through YA, focusing on middle-grade fiction/non-fiction with the goal of amplifying underrepresented voices and experiences...

ABOUT THE AGENT:

Marissa Brown is an associate agent with Pippin Properties, Inc.

Marissa has always been a reader. She is never without a book (or three, just in case). But it wasn’t until high school that she realized she could have a career in books. She studied English Literature at DePauw University in Indiana prior to attending the NYU Summer Publishing Institute. There she was introduced to the world of literary agencies and immediately knew she wanted to become an agent, which led her to Pippin. Marissa also assists in managing the licensing of Pippin titles for live stage and audio.
 
MARISSA IS SEEKING:

Marissa is open to a wide range of children’s book authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators.