Emily Van Beek
Folio Literary Management
I moved to New York City from Toronto armed with dual citizenship, a dream to work in children’s publishing, and inspiration from my favorite (if clichéd) Zen magnet, “Leap and the net will appear”. I became an editor at Hyperion Books for Children before deciding to explore the view from the agent’s side of the desk, where I fell head over heels in love with my role as a literary agent. I spent the next six-and-a-half years as an agent and the rights director at Pippin Properties, Inc. before joining Folio Jr. where I'm a partner and literary agent. Some of the New York Times bestselling and award-winning clients I represent include Jenny Han, Morgan Matson, Adele Griffin, Amina Luqman-Dawson, Philip & Erin Stead, Matthew Reinhart, Christopher Denise, Julie Morstad, and Sydney Smith as well as striking debut and emerging voices. I am an editorial agent passionate about negotiating the best deal possible, working with our esteemed subsidiary and contracts teams to squeeze as much juice out of a property as it will yield, and helping my clients to publish books that will stand the test of time.
Subject Focus
Experience
Submission Requirements
How to successfully present your work
Please send along your query letter and first ten pages of your manuscript in the body of the email to emily@foliolitmanagement.com. If you'd like to submit a picture book, please attach a PDF of your dummy. Links to online portfolios are always welcome. I would very much like to be able to respond to every query, but unfortunately time doesn’t allow for it. Please be sure to write QUERY in the subject line as this will ensure I do not miss your letter. N.B.: This email address is for queries and submissions only. For all other inquiries, please call (212) 400-1494. If you haven’t heard back from me within six weeks, I'm sorry to say I've decided I'm not the ideal match for your project. Thanks again for the opportunity to consider your work. MIDDLE-GRADE: I’m currently on the look-out for unique and distinctive voices. I’m open to almost anything within this genre and I’m eagerly looking for something new. Please send me your diverse, epic, cinematic, action-packed, adventuresome, mysterious, and fast-paced novels! I always bear in mind that readers in this age group are looking for fun and mischief, to learn something about life, and to escape and romp. YOUNG ADULT: I'm eager to find novels that are high concept, diverse, fantasy or magical realism, and am open to anything conceptually unique. In the realm of paranormal, adventure, and dystopian, I'm looking for something entirely unexpected. Give me something bold and fresh with a voice that’s impossible to put aside. I’m probably not the best choice for super edgy, “message”, or hard science-fiction books. What I’m really looking for is the intersection between stellar writing and plot, something that leaves me puffy eyed or laughing out loud. I am looking for emotional connection, for drama, for hope. Oh! Something else--I would love, love, LOVE to discover a FUNNY manuscript, a novel to make me LOL as Louise Rennison's ANGUS, THONGS, AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING did. PICTURE BOOKS: At this time, I am exclusively interested in AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATORS. I’m especially looking for award-worthy artwork, character-driven series, and work by diverse creators featuring diverse stories.