Agent Spotlight: Lauren MacLeod

This week's Agent Spotlight features Lauren MacLeod of Aevitas Creative Management.
Status update on 12/30/2025: Lauren is open to submissions.

About: “Lauren E. MacLeod has represented Jodi Meadows, the co-author of the New York Times bestselling My Lady Jane series, actress and activist Nicole Maines, Chefs Kenny Gilbert, Nelson German, and Rogelio Garcia, Middle East Book Award-winner Aminah Mae Safi, and former Youth Poet Laureate of the Southern United States, Alora Young.

MacLeod is a former co-vice president of the Association of American Literary Agents, sitting on the board from 2020-2024. She currently serves on the copyright and contracts committees and co-chairs the communications committee. She is also a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier Nashville. Before joining ACM, she was named Vice President of The Strothman Agency. She graduated cum laude from Emerson College, receiving a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing.

Based in Nashville, TN, she concentrates on cookbooks, food writing and history, young-adult and middle-grade fiction, memoir, pop culture, true crime, and narrative nonfiction."(From the agency website)

About the Agency:
“Aevitas Creative is a full-service literary agency, home to more than forty agents in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Detroit, Nashville, London, and Barcelona, representing scores of award-winning authors, performers, thinkers, artists, and public figures.

Aevitas also provides high-level strategic communications consulting and original content development services to internationally renowned business, political, and cultural leaders, institutions, brands, and estates. (From the agency website)

Web Presence:
Aevitis Creative Management
Publisher’s Marketplace page.
JacketFlap.

Threads.   
AgentQuery, QueryTracker.
What She's Looking For:
Genres/Specialties:
Middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction (currently via referral only), literary fiction, and narrative nonfiction.
See Ms. MacLeod's Manuscript Wish List for detailed information on what she is looking for.
What She Isn't Looking For:
Picture books, chapter books, early readers,  or adult fiction, romance, science fiction, mysteries, and thrillers
Editorial Agent?
Yes.
Clients:
You can find a list of clients on the agency website. Ms. MacLeod’s clients include: Hélène Boudreau, The Barbara Cooney Estate, Aminah Mae Safi, Sashi Kaufman, Robert Lettrick, Jodi Meadows, Dr. Rachel Hez, Steven Hale, Helene Dunbar, American Girls podcast hosts Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney, Alan and Claire Linic, among others.
Query Methods:
E-mail: No
Snail-Mail: No.
Online-Form: Yes https://querytracker.net/query/Lmacleod/.
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
Send a query letter outlining your qualifications and experience, a synopsis, the genre and word count of your manuscript, and the first ten pages in the body of the online form. 
Please see the Aevitis Creative Management website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines.
Response Times:
Lauren will only respond if she's interested.
Worth Your Time:
Interviews and Guest Posts:
Lauren MacLeod and Holly Bodger Guest Post at Literary Rambles (05/2015).
Query.Sign.Submit with Lauren MacLeod at I Write for Apples (06/2014).
Contact:
Please see The Strothman Agency website for contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 12/24/2024.
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 5/19/2020.

***
Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7(at)gmail(dot)com

Note: These agent profiles presently focus on agents who accept children's and/or teen fiction. They are not interviews. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found herein is subject to change.

Guest Blogger Fiona Ingram: The Wonderful World of Words

Today I'd like to welcome guest blogger Fiona Ingram, author of The Secret of the Sacred Scarab. When she e-mailed me about guest blogging, I was really eager to post this story about her daughter Mabel. I thought it would be a nice change from all the informative posts around here, and the story really touched me.

The Wonderful World of Words and One Child’s Journey There

I don’t remember actually learning to read; it’s as if I always did. Although we grew up poor (five children to feed, clothe, and educate), my parents always had books in the house. And then of course, there were the books we inherited from my grandparents. My very old copy of The Wind in the Willows, with those simple yet beautiful illustrations, is still on my bookshelf. Ratty and Mole were my heroes (and still are!). Other old friends are The Secret Garden, with exquisite color plates, The Water Babies, Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series, my collection of the Lucy Fitch Perkins’ twin series, with her poignant stories of children of all eras and places around the world. I particularly loved Anne of Avonlea, The Little Princess, and many others.

The list of children’s classics is endless and not so long ago I read them all over again. I ‘inherited’ an African foster child from a disadvantaged background. This little girl came to me at age eleven, practically illiterate, scoring only 19% for English at school. Opening the doors into the wonderful world of books seemed insurmountable because she simply did not understand the connection between the written and spoken word. What to do? Begin at the beginning seemed a good idea.

I started off with my old favorites and Mabel loved them. Suddenly, the words were not frightening because she was hearing about places and people she’d never imagined. She’d lean over my shoulder, breathing down my neck as I read, my finger tracing the words as I sounded them out. The pages began to surrender the magical words, and she found them enchanting! Fired with success, we moved onto the rest of the library, slowly devouring my children’s classic book collection in very tiny bite-sized pieces. I was still doing most of the reading.

One day, Mabel decided she’d help out with the words, and began reading to me. It was still incredibly slow but I began to see the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. We got movies of books, watched them, and then read the books, just in case the moviemakers had left out some important bits. We expanded our repertoire book by book. I found other ways to sneak words into her day, not just when we were doing ‘serious’ reading. She read recipes with me when we baked; she read the instructions on the packaging to me while we prepared dinner; she read advertisements to me when we shopped. Suddenly words were a constant part of her life.

Mabel also began to show her imaginative side at school. Her poems and creative writing pieces began to change, reflecting more color, bigger words, more complex themes and emotions. What a breakthrough! The final moment of success came when just recently she turned to my mother and said, “Gran, will you buy me a book?”

My mother nearly fell off her chair and replied, “You can have as many as you like, darling.”

Mabel grinned. “Oh, then can you buy me all the Twilight books please?”

Thank you Stephenie Meyer for being the first author Mabel ‘owns.’ (Apparently vampires rock.)

Her latest ‘own’ books? Inkheart, and The Golden Compass.

Her latest marks for English? A magnificent 75%.

“I can do much better,” she said, frowning. “I’m going to have to improve on this if I want to be a writer.”

I have now adopted Mabel legally, not having my own children, and I can say the greatest compliment is that she has decided to become a journalist or a novelist (just like me).

Recently I called her and, hearing her voice coming from her bedroom, asked, “What are you doing?”

Reply: “I’m reading!”

Music to any parent’s ears!

About the Author: Fiona Ingram was born and educated in South Africa. Her interest in ancient history, mystery, and legends, and her enjoyment of travel has resulted in The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, the first in her exciting children’s adventure series—Chronicles of the Stone. The first book was inspired by an actual trip the author took to Egypt with her two young nephews (then aged 10 and 12).

Writing / Research Tip Tuesday #21

It's Tuesday! Again! That means I have another great tip to share. This one from aspiring author Lisa Nowak of The Tao of Webfoot. Please visit her blog after you've finished up here. Lisa's known for posting very genuine, inspiring posts that speak to me as a fellow writer.

Here she is:

"When I 'm writing I sometimes have trouble getting the words to flow, but I've found that a little physical activity will jog loose those ideas. I bought a digital recorder to capture my inspirations, and now I carry it with me whenever I take a walk or a drive. The model I use is a Panasonic RR-US450. It allows you to store up to 99 files in each of its folders, and you have to make a conscious effort to erase one, so you can't accidentally record over your old thoughts, the way you can with tapes. This machine comes with software that allows you to download your notes to a computer. The voice recognition feature isn't the greatest, but I understand that you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking once the files are on your computer. Even without that feature, keyboard commands allow you to stop and start the file so you don't have to interrupt your typing to pause the recording. In addition, the recording reverses by several words when you resume playing, so if you're a lousy typist like me, you can easily catch what you missed."

I love this tip, Lisa. Recording myself is something I never would have thought to do, but I'm loving the idea. I think I'll have to pick up one of these recorders and give it a shot!

Awards! Part 1

I've been meaning to acknowledge and dish out some awards for awhile now and apologize to the lovely ladies who gave them to me that I haven't done it sooner (I'm looking at you Emily, Shelli, Elana, and Hilary).  And yet, I've just had a heck of a day and wanted to do something fun, so I thought awards!  I'll give people awards and I'll feel way better.  So I'm sort of glad I held out.  But, I'm also short on time so I'm gonna do it in parts. Hey, it's probably more fair to the awards that way, anyway. 

So, today's award:  THE SILVER LINING AWARD given to me by Emily Cross at The Chronicles of Emily Cross. 

I feel honored to have been given this award because Emily created it, and I was one of the first five to receive it.  Here's the thought Emily put behind it, "So, in these bad economic times etc. its nice to be able to wander the blogosphere and see some really positive and optimistic posts. To honour these uplifting blogs i've made the silverlining award."

How cool is that?  Wowza!  Thanks Emily!

Here are the rules:

* Post the award on your blog.

* Let them know who gave it to you and link to them.

* Nominate five other blogs and link to them.

* Let your nominees know that they've received the award.

Okay, decisions, decisions.  I think I'll stick with Emily's purpose for the award and choose people who tend to be very positive in my eyes. I hate picking just five people, you all know that right?  Right?!?  Okay good.  Cause I love all my bloggy friends and don't get enough time to spend on all your blogs.  Here are the first five that came to mind.  Friends new and old:

Heather Kelly of Edited to Within an Inch of My Life.

Lisa Nowak of The Tao of Webfoot.

Tabitha Olson of Writers Musings.

Hillary Wagner of Hillary Wagner's blog.

Paul Michael Murphy of Murphblog.

Top 20 Spotlights

Now that Agent Spotlight has been going for almost a year (well, in March), I thought it would be interesting to see which agents have had the most visitors.  Given that some profiles have been up a lot longer than others, it's not a fair representation, exactly, but I think it's still interesting.  Here's the top 20 from March 2009 to Jan 2010 according to my stats:

Daniel Lazar

Nancy Gallt

Maya Rock

Jill Grinberg

Marietta Zacker

Alyssa Eisner Henkin

Stephen Barbara

Steven Malk

Ginger Knowlton

Faye Bender

Jennifer Rofe Jaeger

Stephen Fraser

Merrilee Heifetz

Jennie Dunham

Joe Veltre

Michael Bourret

Sara Crowe

Bill Contardi

Brenda Bowen

Jamie Weiss Chilton

 

See any trends?  I'm noticing agents with small web presence as well as some big names...

Agent Spotlight: Caryn Wiseman

This week's Agent Spotlight features Caryn Wiseman of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc.
Status: Open to submissions.
About: "Caryn has been an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency since 2003, and she has sold over 450 books. She handles children's books only: YA and middle grade fiction and nonfiction, graphic novels, chapter books, and fiction and nonfiction picture books. She represents NYT bestselling authors, award-winning authors, debut authors, and authors at every stage in between. No matter the genre, Caryn is looking for books with emotional depth and a strong voice; excellent writing in a tightly-plotted story; and characters that stick with her long after she has closed the book.
Caryn is drawn to contemporary YA and middle grade novels that have a strong voice, multifaceted characters, complex relationships, beautiful writing, and a well-developed hook. Great world-building is essential, whether it's a real time and place that becomes almost a character in a book, or a light fantasy element in a unique story that's grounded in reality. Zombies, horror, and high fantasy will, most likely, never appeal. Caryn is particularly interested in books for children and teens that explore social justice themes. She would be thrilled to see more books by underrepresented authors that deeply explore their culture, as well as books in which the ethnicity or culture of the character is not the issue. She adores a swoon-worthy, layered YA romantic comedy; a funny or poignant middle grade novel with a hook that makes it stand out from the crowd would also hold great appeal. Caryn is partial to graphic novels by author-illustrators; from sweet and funny for the youngest reader to coming of age stories for the middle-grade and young adult reader to informative, non-institutional nonfiction for readers of all ages. She also enjoys character-driven, not-too-sweet picture book fiction, particularly by diverse author-illustrators. The common denominator in Caryn's list, no matter the category, is "smart with heart." She is always open to terrific children's work that doesn't fit these categories as long as it makes her laugh, makes her cry, and keeps her awake at night, either reading the manuscript or thinking about it. She does not represent adult projects.
Caryn’s clients include: Tom Angleberger, author of the bestselling ORIGAMI YODA series (Abrams/Amulet), and the adapter and illustrator of the forthcoming GERONIMO STILTON graphic novel THE SEWER RAT STINK (Scholastic); Cece Bell, author-illustrator of the bestselling graphic novel memoir, EL DEAFO (Abrams), which won a Newbery Honor and an Eisner Award; Debbie Levy, author of the bestselling and award-winning I DISSENT, and the graphic novel biography, BECOMING RBG (both S&S), and the co-author, with JoAnn Allen Boyce, of THIS PROMISE OF CHANGE (Bloomsbury), which won the 2019 Horn Book Award, and the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Honor; Kelly Starling Lyons, author of the 2020 Caldecott Honor book, GOING DOWN HOME WITH DADDY (Peachtree); Tamara Ireland Stone, author of the NYT Bestseller, EVERY LAST WORD (Disney*Hyperion); Don Tate, award-winning illustrator and author-illustrator of many books, including POET(Peachtree), NO SMALL POTATOES (Knopf) and the forthcoming SWISH (Little, Brown); Riley Redgate, author of YA such as NOTEWORTHY (Abrams/Amulet) and the forthcoming ALONE OUT HERE (Disney); Jennifer Berne, author of award-winning, lyrical picture book biographies such as MANFISH, ON A BEAM OF LIGHT, and ON WINGS OF WORDS (all Chronicle); Sarah Albee, author of nonfiction such as POISON (Bloomsbury) and the forthcoming FAIRY TALE SCIENCE (OddDot/Macmillan) and ACCIDENTAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS (Scholastic); Cindy L. Otis, former CIA Analyst and author of the forthcoming topical nonfiction title TRUE OR FALSE (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan); Terry Lynn Johnson, author of critically-acclaimed survival stories for middle-grade readers, such as ICE DOGS and DOG DRIVEN (both HMH); Mike Cavallaro, author of the NICO BRAVO series of graphic novels; Tim McCanna, author of WATERSONG, DINOSAUR SONG, and IN A GARDEN (all Paula Wiseman/S&S); Amy Novesky, author of award-winning picture book biographies ME, FRIDA and CLOTH LULLABY (both Abrams); and Kristin L. Gray, author of middle-grade novels VILLONIA BEEBE TAKES CHARGE and THE AMELIA SIX (both Paula Wiseman/S&S).
Caryn holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, and a BS from the University of Virginia. You can find her on Facebook (caryn.wiseman) and Twitter (@carynwiseman)" (Via email)
About the Agency:
“The Andrea Brown Literary Agency was founded in August 1981 and has offices in the San Francisco Bay area, San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.
“Our agency works to bring to light the voices and perspectives of new writers as well as to nurture and develop the careers of experienced authors. Our goal, whether seeking to secure a publishing contract for a first book or a fiftieth book, is to make sure that clients are not only published, but published well.
“Our philosophy is to remain a ‘small’ agency at heart. We invest a great deal of personal care and attention in each project, and we are hands-on in all aspects of our interactions with clients. We work closely with clients in an editorial capacity and we devise a strategy at every stage of the writing process that will enable us to find the best publisher for each book. In doing so, we think about both short term and long term goals for our clients, always keeping the trajectory of a successful career in mind.
“Our agents have backgrounds in New York publishing, editing, academia, business, teaching, writing and film, and one of our strengths as an agency is that we work collaboratively. Our clients have the benefit not only of their individual agent's expertise but of the combined experience and vision of the group.
“As a West Coast based agency, we follow a tradition of West Coast innovation in our passion for discovering new voices, in our efforts to make New York publishing more inclusive of voices from other parts of the country, and in our attempt to see publishing trends that result from this broader perspective. We combine this approach with access, standing, and visibility in the publishing community at large. Our agents make regular trips to New York, attend industry conventions, and participate as faculty at writers' conferences all over the country. We ensure a high profile for our clients and actively keep our fingers on the pulse of publishing.” (Link)Web Presence:
Andrea Brown Agency website.
Publisher's Marketplace page.
Twitter @CarynWiseman.
Facebook.
AgentQuery.
QueryTracker.
What She's Looking For:
Genres/Specialties:
Picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult; fiction and nonfiction.
You can see more of what she is looking for in her bio above.
What She Isn't Looking For:
Adult fiction or nonfiction projects.
Agenting Philosophy:
“My personal agenting philosophy is to be honest and transparent with authors and with editors. I expect my authors to be honest in return. I only take on projects that I am passionate about. If I’m not passionate about your work, I’m not going to be able to sell it, even if it’s something commercial. I also hope that my authors will not be defensive, but will take time to think about editorial comments before responding negatively. This is a partnership, and it’s built on trust and mutual respect.” (Link defunct)
Editorial Agent?
"I knew that agenting would allow me to do the things that I love best - reading and editing - and that, as an agent, I could discover wonderful authors, and help them get their books published."  (Link defunct)
Clients:
There is a list of ABLA clients on the agency website. A number of Ms. Wiseman's clients are listed in her bio above and on her Publishers Marketplace page.
Query Methods:
E-mail: No.
Snail-Mail: No.
Online-Form: Yes via queryme.online/CarynWiseman.
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
“We accept email queries only. Please direct your e-query to ONE agent at our agency, and include the following:
“Fiction: query letter and first 10 pages.”
Please see the Andrea Brown Literary website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines as well as the agency's Submission Advice, Dos and Dont’s, and Tips.Response Times:
The agency tries to respond within 4-8 weeks but does not guarantee a response due to the large number of submissions they receive. If you have not heard back in 8 weeks, assume rejection. (Link)
What's the Buzz?
Like all of the Andrea Brown agents I've profiled, Ms. Wiseman is a wonderful literary agent. She is a senior agent and has a very strong list of sales to large publishers and her clients seem very happy with her representation.
You can find Ms. Wiseman at the twice annual Big Sur Writing Workshop and on Twitter @CarynWiseman.
Worth Your Time:
Interviews:
7 Questions for Literary Agent Caryn Wiseman at Middle Grade Ninja (06/2016)
Query Questions for Caryn Wiseman at Michelle Hauck (10/2013).
Exclusive interview with ABLA literary agent Caryn Wiseman at LiveJournal and NaNoWriMo (11/2011).
Author-Agent-Editor Three-in-One Notebook Special | OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy at The Whole Megillah (09/2011).
Caryn Wiseman - Andrea Brown Literary Agency at Tales From the Rushmore Kid (12/2010).
Interview with Caryn Wiseman at Tales From the Rushmore Kid (01/2010).
Contact:
Please see the Andrea Brown Literary website for contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 6/10/2020.
Agent Contacted for Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 6/11/2020.
***
Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7at)gmail(dot)com

Note: These agent profiles presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. They are not interviews. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found herein is subject to change.

The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

Suzanne was sweet enough to have me sent an ARC of The Naughty List and I wasn't at all surprised to gobble it up within a day. I've long loved her ongoing story blog, Going Green, and knew TNL wouldn't disappoint. It didn't! As one of my goals this year is to promote the authors and books I love, I'm going to attempt to review it for you.

Title: The Naughty List

Author: Suzanne Young

Reading Level: Young Adult

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: February 4th, 2010

First line: Sigh. A padlock? Who padlocked their gates in this neighborhood?

Summary:

"As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?"

Review:

The Naughty List is as cute as the pink cover is bears, but hey, if you're just not into cutesy pink covers please stay and let me convince you of its fun fabulosity!

Head cheerleader Tessa, along with the SOS or Society of Smitten Kittens, spends her days keeping things peppy at high school and her nights catching cheating boyfriends. Through an anonymous cell phone and top-secret correspondence, the SOS receives cheater reports and then susses out truth and proof by going on daring missions and employing spy tactics. When Tessa's boyfriend Aiden shows up on the list after the transfer of a meddlesome, attractive brother-and-sister pair, Tessa begins to lose control. After all, the SOS has a 100% proven-guilty rating. What are the chances of Aiden being an exception?

I loved so many things about this book. Tessa and her friends make it easy to get caught up the story. The voice is original and fun and Young brings depth, realism, and intrigue to the cheerleader stereotype. There’s a lot more going on here than your average high school drama, a subtle message I think a lot of teens will relate and respond to. And who doesn't want to read about a secret society?!

But it’s more than just a great cast of characters with a fun story to tell. Young used her tools as a writer and found ways to make the writing and story really memorable. By incorporating fun Cheater Incident Reports, alternative cuss words (“Mashed potatoes and gravy!”), and other secret (and oftentimes hilarious) correspondence, I feel she turned an already fun read into something unique and engaging. I can imagine myself as one of these cooperative cheerleader spies, dishing out pep and bad news in equal, saucy amounts for the betterment of my high school.

It’s a fast, well-paced read with an engaging plot and story line. I was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events and extremely satisfied by the ending. That’s a biggie for me. I have to give props to authors that can write a realistic, satisfying ending and Suzanne did. It’s not the perfect romantic ending we'd all wish for ourselves but it’s real and it’s hopeful. So, kudos Suzanne.

And guys? If I was in high school right now, I'd totally want start up an SOS after reading this. Cheating boys (and hey, girls too) across the nation, watch out!

The Naughty List is the first in a series of Naughty List books and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, So Many Boys, coming June 10, 2010.

Definitely check out Suzanne's blog, the SOS blog, and pre-order your copy today. And if you missed it, I interviewed Suzanne several months ago. You can read that here. Enjoy!