Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.

A Tradition of Literary Excellence for Over 60 Years

Phone 212-780-6050

A New York City-based literary agency, founded in 1952.

 

Philippa Brophy President

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Philippa is President of the agency, where, after graduating from Boston University, she began her career over 40 years ago as the receptionist. Philippa represents journalists, nonfiction writers, and novelists. Authors she represents include James McBride, author of The Color of Water, The Good Lord Bird, winner of the National Book Award, and Deacon King Kong; David Zucchino, author of Wilmington’s Lie, winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize; the late Richard Ben Cramer, author of What It Takes and Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life; the late Senator John McCain, author of The Restless Wave, Faith of My Fathers, Why Courage Matters and Character Is Destiny; Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name; and Barbara Demick, author of Eat The Buddha and Nothing to Envy. She represents several Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, distinguished politicians, and award-winning novelists. 

Laurie Liss Executive Vice President

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Executive Vice President and Managing Partner, Laurie has made it a point in her career to nurture young and unpublished authors, as well as self-published and ‘under-published’ writers. Laurie represents fiction and nonfiction whose perspectives are well developed and unique. Her list represents her broad-based tastes, but generally she looks for books with heart, which will positively impact society. Among her clients are journalists, academics, doctors, lawyers and athletes. Her clients include: Richard Paul Evans; Rachel Maddow; Matt Richtel; Gabor Mate; Hannah Gadsby; Shankar Vedantam; Esau McCaulley; Jessica Valenti; Janet Reitman; Spencer Ackerman; Molly O’Toole; Valter Longo; Jenna Evans Welch; Susanne Pari; Julie K. Brown; Elba Perez; Alia Dastagir; Mackenzi Lee; and Jewelle Gomez. 

Peter Matson Chairman

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Peter founded Literistic in 1979 and is Chairman of the agency. He has always had a diverse client list, reflecting his abiding interest in storytelling, whether in the service of history, fiction or the sciences. He is particularly sensitive to the language of the storyteller, the many ways to draw the reader fully into the narrative, and the essential nature of all storytelling to this, or any, culture. The books he has represented included Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano, and John Irving’s The World According to Garp. He has represented 17 books by Mary Gordon, 46 by Ruth Rendell, and 19 by William Trevor. His interest in historical narrative is shown by such clients as Barry Lopez, Max Hastings and Alan Brinkley.

 
 

Nadyne Pike Chief Operating Officer

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Nadyne joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2009, and oversees the financial, human resource and operational affairs of the company. In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Nadyne is responsible for the strategic planning, budgeting and supervision of the daily functions of the agency, as well as the training and guidance of staff and management of all vendor relationships. Before joining SLL, she worked across the entertainment field in television, theater and advertising. She brings knowledge from those industries to her position at Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc., where she gets to indulge in her favorite pastime – reading interesting, award-winning books by the exceptional authors this agency represents.

 
 

Doug Stewart Senior Vice President

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Doug has been an agent at Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. since 2003. His list consists of fiction and narrative nonfiction for all ages, from the innovatively literary to the unabashedly commercial, and includes multiple million-copy bestsellers and award-winners. Recent titles include Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak, We Are the Light by Matthew Quick, Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham, Feral City by Jeremiah Moss, Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin, Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell, and My Murder by Katie Williams.

Robert Guinsler Vice President

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Robert has been with Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. since 2000. His general curiosity in all things has allowed him the opportunity to represent a wide variety of prize-winning and New York Times bestselling nonfiction authors and projects. From the geopolitical mosaics of journalists Rania Abouzeid and Mikhail Zygar, to the impassioned memoirs of Alex Marzano-Lesnevich and legendary gay rights activist Cleve Jones, to the comedic collections of Sarah Colonna, Phoebe Robinson and Egypt's own Bassem Youssef, most every avenue of the nonfiction spectrum can be found on his list. As well, he has been a champion of LGBTQ+ voices his entire career and some of his authors include Hugh Ryan, Guy Branum, Peter Staley, The Estate of Gilbert Baker, and Evan Fallenberg, among many others.  Additionally, he represents the Estate of Anne Sexton.

Jim Rutman Vice President

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Jim represents formally adventurous and stylistically diverse authors of fiction including Sheila Heti, Alissa Nutting, Jesse Ball, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, Affinity Konar, Eleanor Henderson, Teddy Wayne, Caitlin Horrocks, Henry Hoke and Jessica Anthony, as well as a variety of journalists and critics whose non-fiction work probes and challenges an array of cultural and historical assumptions and subjects, including Jay Caspian Kang, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Manohla Dargis, Carvell Wallace, Robert Macfarlane, Jennifer Schaffer-Goddard, Kent Russell, David Hill, Mark Binelli, and Gary Greenberg. He has been with SLL since 1998.

 
 

senior agents

Neeti Madan

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Neeti represents a wide range of inspiring authors, among them #1 New York Times best sellers Jenny Lawson and Lisa Lillien, physician Dr. Uché Blackstock, biographer Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, journalist Pamela Newkirk, urban designer Jeff Speck, and artist Rajiv Surendra. Her books run the gamut from the commercial to the cerebral. A true generalist, she is drawn to thoughtful writing on intriguing and important subjects, including memoir, journalism, popular culture, lifestyle, and the occasional novel. Neeti is on the lookout for the types of books she loves as a reader—writing that breaks through barriers and elevates underrepresented voices, page-turners that keep her up until 3 AM, and irreverent books that make her laugh.

Sarah Landis

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Sarah Landis represents a wide range of fiction from middle grade to adult. Sarah is particularly drawn to high-concept plots, big hooks, speculative fiction, twisty thrillers, novels with a strong emotional core, and sweeping fantasy. She is always on the lookout for new talent and narrative risk-takers. Her clients’ novels have received a variety of accolades, including Barnes and Noble book club selections and Reese’s Book Club, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists as well as international bestseller lists around the globe. Before joining Sterling Lord Literistic in 2017, Sarah worked as an editor for fifteen years, holding roles at G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Hyperion Books, HarperCollins Children’s Books, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers. Sarah graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia.

 
 

agents

 

Elizabeth Bewley

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A graduate of Northwestern University, Elizabeth was an editor at various imprints including St. Martin’s Press, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers before she joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2017. She loves to read all sorts of books for kids and adults. On the children’s side of her list, she represents young adult and middle grade fiction, and the occasional picture book. On the adult side, she is eager to represent more upmarket commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. Elizabeth’s clients include Shana Youngdahl, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Alyson Noël, Dwayne Reed (aka: America’s Favorite Rapping Teacher), Dawnn Karen, Jenny Elder Moke, Elissa Sussman, Mercedes Helnwein, Joan Bauer, Roland Smith, Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, Chrystal Giles, and Yvette Clark, amongst others. In addition, she represents some literary estates, including those of Marguerite Henry and Lois Duncan.  

Elizabeth’s current submission wish list includes high-concept young adult novels, especially from underrepresented voices, accessible middle grade novels that will foster a love of reading (think: fun, funny, or both!), young adult romance, high-concept adult love stories similar to One Day by David Nicholls, and any upmarket commercial fiction with a witty voice and eye for detail. She also loves working with clients who are boldly creating positive change in our world.

Danielle Bukowski

 
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Danielle represents critically acclaimed, award-winning fiction and nonfiction. She is particularly looking for narratives from writers traditionally excluded from the publishing industry. For fiction, she likes books that balance plot with voice, have a strong sense of place, a unique hook, and are stylistically bold; for nonfiction, she’s looking for work grounded in the author’s personal interest, rigorously reported and researched, and will expand the reader’s view of the world. Recent and forthcoming books include Sea Change by Gina Chung (Vintage), A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand (Mulholland), Victim by Andrew Boryga (Doubleday), Loneliness & Company by Charlee Dyroff (Bloomsbury), People of Means by Nancy Johnson (William Morrow), Alligator Tears: A Memoir-in-Essays by Edgar Gomez (Crown 2025), I Leave it Up to You by Jinwoo Chong (Ballantine), and Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith (Bloomsbury).

Jessica Friedman

 
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Jessica joined Sterling Lord Literistic in 2020, having worked previously as an agent at The Wylie Agency. She represents literary fiction and nonfiction, and is interested in distinctive voices and writing that challenges the expected -- stylistically, formally, or otherwise. She is particularly drawn to incisive, voice-driven writing and underrepresented narratives. Jessica graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in English and an MA in the humanities.

 

Mary Krienke

 
 
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 Mary represents literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, and select memoir, prescriptive, and illustrated projects. Whether in fiction or nonfiction, Mary gravitates toward work that is fierce, sharp, nuanced, and uncompromising. In fiction, she is looking for work that is inventive and strange, brave and honest, with humor and heart. She especially loves fiction that employs genre elements—whether evocatively surreal or supernatural—to speak about a world that is always in flux and difficult to perceive and render. In nonfiction, Mary responds to work that explores our experience of being in relation: to ourselves, to one another, to the material world, and to all we cannot see but strive to comprehend. In both fiction and nonfiction, work that investigates culture, identity, sexuality, disability, and mental health is especially welcome. Some of Mary’s clients include Kavita Bedford, Betsy Bonner, Nandita Dinesh, Stacy Austin Egan, Kristine S. Ervin, Kimberly Olson Fakih, Shelby Lorman, Vyshali Manivannan, Ashlee Piper, Betty Shamieh, Yana Tallon-Hicks, Sharon Sochil Washington, and Ellen O’Connell Whittet, and she co-represents the Berenstain Bears franchise with Flip Brophy. Mary received her MFA in Fiction from Columbia University and has a deep appreciation for dark chocolate; her other interests include film, television, art, and design.

 

Jenny Stephens

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Jenny represents nonfiction in a variety of categories including cookbooks; practical lifestyle projects; prescriptive books particularly in the wellness and mindfulness spaces; and narrative writing on environmental, social, and economic justice; natural sciences; history; food; and cultural criticism. For both adults and kids, she is often drawn to visual books that inform and explore through both text and image. Her clients include Ariel Aberg-Riger, Andrea Bemis, Khiara Bridges, Paco de Leon, Mary L. Gray, Debbie Hines, John Holl, Alicia Kennedy, Gina Rae La Cerva, Chelsey Luger and Thosh Collins, Olivia McGiff and Sammi Katz, Desmond Patton, Nicole Stott, and Wei Tchou. In addition, Jenny is honored to represent select literary estates on behalf of the agency, including the estate of National Book Award winning author Gloria Naylor and the estate of novelist Ken Kesey. Jenny grew up in Maine and studied English and film at Colby College. She joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2012.

 
 

Foreign Rights

Szilvia Molnar Foreign Rights Director

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Szilvia joined Sterling Lord Literistic in 2011 as the Foreign Rights Director. Szilvia also represents the Angolan-Danish writer and artist Aaiún Nin (Broken Halves of a Milky Sun, Astra Books, 2022), the award-winning Arabic writer and poet Iman Mersal, and the Kathy Acker Estate. Previously she was a literary agent at Salomonsson Agency in Stockholm, working with a range of internationally prominent writers, including Sofi Oksanen, Karolina Ramqvist, and Antti Tuomainen. She graduated from University College London in 2007 with First Class Honors, studying Hungarian and Comparative Literature, and began her publishing career at ICM Books London as the assistant to the Foreign Rights Director. Originally from Budapest, Hungary but raised in Sweden, Szilvia splits her time between New York City and Austin, Texas.

 

Amanda Price Foreign Rights Assistant

Amanda joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2022 and works with Szilvia Molnar in the Foreign Rights Department. She is drawn to all kinds of Young Adult books, stories with strong female main characters and literature that focuses on family relationships. She previously worked for the University of Arizona Press as a Permissions Assistant and the University Press of Florida as an Acquisitions Assistant. Amanda graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in English and a focus in creative writing. She lives in Manhattan with her two cats, Oliver and Roo.

 
 

Associate agents

Maria Bell

Maria joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2019 and works with Doug Stewart and Neeti Madan. Maria is drawn to literary and speculative fiction that breaks conventions in form, voice and character. She’s partial to stories involving the natural world, queer identities, coming-of-age, and all those that grapple with conflicts and truths from which most of us instinctively distance ourselves. Maria graduated from Vassar College with a degree in English and sociology. She grew up in Minnesota with goats as pets, and now lives in Brooklyn with her grumpy turtle and a one-eyed cat.

Christopher Combemale

Christopher joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2019 and works with Peter Matson and Jim Rutman. He is looking for a broad range of literary fiction and upmarket commercial fiction with an unexpected hook. In non-fiction he is interested in narrative nonfiction, cultural criticism/essay, and expert-driven projects across subject areas with special attention to technology, food, pop-science, philosophy, and any book that asks big questions about forces of change. As a Singaporean/French/American born and raised in London, Christopher is drawn to international voices and writers in translation. His clients include Carnegie Medal winner Manon Steffan Ros, James Beard winner Shane Mitchell, Polish firebrand Agnieszka Szpila, among others. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar and now lives in Brooklyn.

Literary assistants

Pearl Cadigan

Pearl joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2023 and works with Laurie Liss and Nadyne Pike. She enjoys both fiction and nonfiction and gravitates toward stories that explore identity and culture, center underrepresented voices, and follow characters through periods of growth. In fiction, she looks for emotionally impactful books that possess a strong and distinct voice and don’t shy away from darkness or strangeness. In nonfiction, she is interested in books that question norms and seek new ways of understanding the world. These include works of narrative nonfiction, memoir, cultural criticism, essays, and — generally — books that explore gender, sexuality, wellness, media, and social justice. Pearl graduated with a BS in Magazine, News, and Digital Journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Tyler Monson

Tyler joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2023 and works with Robert Guinsler and Nadyne Pike. Tyler loves books about everyday life and the moments that rupture its routine to surprise, delight, frustrate, reroute, and renew our humanity and bend toward hope. He seeks out fiction and nonfiction that imagines otherwise and other ways of being in the world. In fiction, he enjoys writing about place, family, desire, and time in playful or inventive ways. Tyler values nonfiction that centers the voices and subjects of those who live in the margins of the social, political, and cultural mainstream, especially queer and trans folks. Also, he is interested in literary criticism and essays, data collection and its uses, and everything about tennis. Tyler has a Ph.D. in American Literature from Marquette University. He has held teaching positions at Dartmouth College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University, and Seton Hall University. He lives in Manhattan with his partner and their cat and dog.