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Philippa is President of the agency, where, after graduating from Boston University, she began her career over 50 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 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store; 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.
Executive Vice President and Managing Partner, Laurie has made it a point in her career to nurture young and unpublished authors, as well as self-published and ‘under-published’ writers.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.
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 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 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 represents adult literary fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, he is interested in audacious novels that test the form and prioritize language. His non-fiction interests are wide ranging, from history, journalism, music, film, sports, and biography, to traditional narrative approaches, criticism, and essays. He is often drawn to interdisciplinary and hybrid treatments, authorities seeking to complicate long held assumptions. He represents Sheila Heti, Alissa Nutting, Teddy Wayne, Manohla Dargis, Eleanor Henderson, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Jay Caspian Kang, Carvell Wallace, and others.
senior agents
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 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
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 joining Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2017. She represents books for kids, with a focus on middle-grade and young adult fiction, as well as books for adults, with an eye torwards upmarket women’s fiction. She loves books that explore romantic relationships, stories that have a very specific point of view, and characters that make a lasting impression. Elizabeth’s clients’ books have won various awards, including The Pura Belpré Award, ALA Notable, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, The New York Times Best Book of the Year, and have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists. Elizabeth loves realistic fiction (our world is a fascinating place!), and she is currently on the hunt for historical fiction.
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 represents literary and upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction, as well as literature in translation and select graphic novels. She is interested in distinctive voices and writing that challenges the expected–stylistically, formally, or otherwise. Jessica is particularly drawn to voice-driven prose, thoughtful criticism, genre-bending writing, and underrepresented narratives. Writers she represents include Anuj Chopra, Alfredo Corchado, Vinson Cunningham, Danielle Geller, Heather Hogan, Carole Hopson, Daniel Xin Huang, Oindrila Mukherjee, Sabina Murray, Norman Erikson Pasaribu, and Jeremy Tiang. Jessica graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in English and an MA in the humanities.
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 represents award-winning nonfiction in a variety of categories including practical lifestyle and thoughtful how-to projects, particularly in the wellness and mindfulness spaces; cookbooks; and narrative nonfiction about history, cultural criticism, ecology and the natural world, food, and social justice. For both adults and kids, she loves highly designed books that inform and inspire through both text and image. Her clients and their books have been named Kirkus Prize winners, MacArthur fellows, and finalists of the NBCC and YALSA awards. They include Ariel Aberg-Riger, Andrea Bemis, Khiara Bridges, Paco de Leon, Mary L. Gray, Debbie Hines, Ana Inciardi, Alicia Kennedy, Jillian Keenan, Chelsey Luger and Thosh Collins, Olivia McGiff and Sammi Katz, Jeffrey Miller, Cecily Parks, Desmond Patton, Nicole Stott, and Wei Tchou. In addition, Jenny represents select literary estates including National Book Award winning author Gloria Naylor and novelist Ken Kesey.
Foreign Rights
Szilvia oversees the Foreign Rights department at the agency. She 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.
She graduated from University College London 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. She has also worked at Salomonsson Agency in Stockholm as the literary agent to range of internationally prominent writers, including Sofi Oksanen, Karolina Ramqvist, and Antti Tuomainen. She is the author of The Nursery (Pantheon Books, 2023) which was a New York Times Notable Book.
Originally from Budapest, Hungary but raised in Sweden, Szilvia is based out of Austin, Texas.
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
Christopher joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2019 and works with Jim Rutman alongside his own list. He is looking for a broad range of literary fiction and voice driven upmarket fiction with an unexpected hook. He is on the hunt for a literary campus novel. In non-fiction he is interested in narrative nonfiction, cultural criticism/essay, and expert-driven projects. As a Singaporean-French-American born and raised in London, Christopher is drawn to international voices and writers in translation. Forthcoming books include work by Thomas Dai (Norton), Stuart Pennebaker (Little, Brown), Daniel Cox (Harmony), Alex Wright (Basic Books), Joe Ogilvy (Bloomsbury), Michelle Miller (Norton), and Agnieszka Szpila (Pantheon). Among his clients are Carnegie Medal winner Manon Steffan Ros, James Beard winner Shane Mitchell, Baillie Gifford winner Wade Davis, naturalist Scott Weidensaul, and the Estate of Barry Lopez. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar and now lives in Brooklyn.
Lily joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2025, after five years in the publishing department at United Talent Agency. She represents authors in both fiction and nonfiction, including YA, with books ranging from commercial to literary and everything in between. She is actively looking for novels with strong hooks, propulsive plots, dark and offbeat humor, and nuanced female perspectives. She especially loves sweeping family dramas, strange and unusual women in strange and unusual circumstances, and smart speculative bents. In nonfiction, she is looking for narrative nonfiction, memoirs, or essay collections that are funny, outrageous, shocking, emotional, or all of the above. She particularly loves food stories, true crime, pop culture, and untold history with a feminist angle.
Her list includes New York Times bestsellers, Barnes and Noble book club picks, Indie Next picks, among others. Lily graduated from NYU and is originally from coastal New England.
Literary assistants
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.
Tess joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2024 and works with Flip Brophy and Danielle Bukowski. In both fiction and nonfiction, Tess loves stories that explore the beauty, tragedy, and joy in everyday life. She believes that by focusing on ordinary people in ordinary situations, we’re able to better appreciate the style and distinctiveness of the writing. She is particularly interested in historical fiction, slice-of-life pieces and coming of age stories that delve into character and personhood and explore themes such as music and society as well as gender norms, sexuality, and race. A writer herself, Tess graduated from Skidmore College in 2024 with honors in English and minors in Black Studies and History.
Dani joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2024 and works with Sarah Landis and Robert Guinsler. Dani is drawn to stories that look at the mundane under the light, revealing something beautiful, unsettling, or urgent. She loves literary fiction that keeps her up at night, grounded fantasy that uncovers real emotion and truths, and books that sweep her off her feet with their atmosphere. Dani is also interested in essay collections that explore identity, place, or relationships, be that with another person, oneself, or the world around them. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Dani now enjoys watching the seasons change from her window in Brooklyn.
Tyler joined Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. in 2023 and assists Doug Stewart, Neeti Madan, 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.