The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Celebrating 23 Years!  
New York *  Los Angeles

Tori Sharp joined The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an Associate Literary Agent in 2020 after a two-year internship. Tori has a BFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and her bestselling graphic memoir, JUST PRETEND, is out from Little, Brown. When she’s not reading, writing, or making comics, she can be found swing and blues dancing, playing tabletop games, or admiring her tiny poodle in beautiful Seattle, WA. Tori represents all manner of children’s literature. You can learn more about her at www.noveltori.com or on Twitter and Instagram @noveltori.

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What I'm looking for

 

CHILDREN’S GRAPHIC NOVELS

 

As a graphic novelist myself, I am eager to represent stunning, playful, diverse, and important comics for kids in elementary through high school. I love comics that are heartfelt and gestural, and I tend to like art styles that look animated and soft, but bright. I would jump at a raw but playful middle-grade graphic memoir, slice-of-life comic strip collections, or stories that feel like fairy tales. I also adore contemporary and historical fiction in comics. I love romcoms, action-adventures, and modern witchcraft. Some of my favorite comics are Catboy, Crush, Nimona, Fake Blood, The Prince and the Dressmaker, On a Sunbeam, Lore Olympus, and Check, Please!

 

See my #MSWL Pinterest board for examples of illustration styles I’d love to find in my inbox: https://www.pinterest.com/noveltori/mswl/comics-illustration/
 

MIDDLE-GRADE PROSE

 

I am currently looking for upbeat middle-grade manuscripts that make readers think about the world around them in a new way—especially fantasy, high-concept fiction, and memoirs. I gravitate toward stories that are simultaneously silly and sincere. I am looking for clearly defined magic, intimate stakes, and clever twists that I won’t be able to stop thinking about.

 

My favorite novels include Saffy’s Angel, The School Story, Ella Enchanted, Eliza and her Monsters, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spinning Silver, Blood Water Paint, and Chaotic Good.
 

ACROSS ALL GENRES

 

Currently, I am open to queries for children’s graphic novels and middle-grade prose only. I love to see silliness, silliness, silliness. I like prose that is strange and joyful, while also being grounded, smart, and evocative; I love a balance of humor and heartfelt moments. I have a soft spot for chaotic/trickster characters, proactive main characters, riddles and lateral thinking problems in the narrative, thoughtful neurodivergent representation, LGBTQ+ characters, and invisible disabilities. If your project features healthy, reciprocal friendships, creativity, geekery, saying “no,” or kids with big dreams, send it my way. 

Please do not send me any unsolicited queries for the picture book or adult markets. I’m not the right agent for horror or “grimdark” projects, stories about sexual assault, medical dramas, religious fiction, or “issue books.”

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How to submit

 

I am temporarily closed to unsolicited queries. However, if I have requested your query, or if you have been referred by a client or colleague, then please follow the instructions below:

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Please email a one-page query letter to querytori.jdlit@gmail.com. Include “Query” and the title of your project in the subject line. 

 

Prose authors: please paste the first five pages of your manuscript below your query letter. 

 

Graphic novelists: please paste a one- to two-page synopsis and five to ten finished sample comic pages in the body of the email, and include a full link to your online portfolio in your query. Please do not use link shorteners like bit.ly. Author/illustrators of graphic novels do not need a full script or thumbnail draft in order to query, but should have a thorough synopsis available upon request.

I accept only digital queries via email. DO NOT mail me hard copies or original artwork.