Pitching an Agent: The Maria Carvainis Agency

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Generalists with a serious interest in fiction of all kinds, and in their authors' careers.

Number of agents: Two, plus two associates at the beginning of their careers.
Number of clients: About 100
Notable clients: Mary Balogh, New York Times best-selling romance author of Slightly Sinful, Slightly Tempted, and Slightly Scandalous; mystery writer Phillip DePoy (Dead Easy, The Witches' Grave); and Sandra Brown, who has more than 70 million copies of her books in print worldwide.
Percentage of unsolicited material accepted: About 1 to 5 percent.
Fiction vs. nonfiction: 70 percent fiction, 30 percent nonfiction.

Background: Maria Carvainis was a senior editor at MacMillan, Basic, Avon, and Crown before starting her eponymous agency in 1977. Since then, she's represented ...

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