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Pitching an Agent: Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises

A veteran editor is now a veteran agent

Number of Agents: One
Number of clients: 60
Notable clients: Maria Amparo Escandon (Esperanza's Book of Saints); Joy Nicholson (The Tribes of Palos Verdes); Phil Doran (The Reluctant Tuscan); and Steven Carter (I Was Howard Hughes).
Amount of unsolicited material accepted: "I pick up a handful of slush-pile people a year," Amster says.
Fiction v. Nonfiction: One-third fiction, two-thirds nonfiction.

Background: Before opening her own agency in 1992, Amster worked on the editorial side. She spent 10 years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage and was editorial director of Globe Pequot for two years. Her big-house background ...

The How to Pitch series is worth its weight in gold. In just the first month I'd already benefited enough to consider the cost of joining well worth it. -- Gaen Murphree