Jennifer De Chiara is President of The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, which she founded in 2001. Before forming the agency, she was a literary agent with two established New York agencies, worked in the editorial departments of Simon & Schuster and Random House, and was a writing consultant for several major corporations. A New York City-based writer, she is a frequent guest judge for the WRITER’S DIGEST, WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING, and THAT FIRST LINE writing contests, among others, and is a frequent guest lecturer on publishing and the art of writing at universities and writers conferences throughout the country, which have included New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, the Penticton, Canada Writers Conference, the San Diego State University Writers Conference, Backspace, the International Women’s Writing Guild, and the Learning Annex.

 

What I'm looking for

 

Adult Fiction: I'm passionate about literary fiction with a unique, beautiful voice, but I also enjoy commercial fiction, women's fiction (no bodice-rippers, please), chick-lit, mysteries, suspense, thrillers - in general, I'm open to manuscripts in every category. I'm a sucker for underdog and outsider stories, manuscripts about the triumph of the human spirit. I want to read manuscripts that will keep me up at night, make me feel something, change the world in some way. Even if it's a fun, commercial story, at its heart should be a wonderful protagonist from whom I can learn.

 

Children's Fiction: I love all kinds of picture books - soft, quirky, funny - rhyming or non-rhyming. For middle-grade and YA fiction, I'm looking for beautiful, distinctive voices, above all, and character-driven stories. I'm open to every genre under the sun, but I'm not a huge science fiction fan.

 

Non-fiction: Being a former dancer/actress, I love anything and everything Hollywood, especially celebrity bios/autobiographies. I'm always looking for beautifully written memoirs about people who have overcome incredible odds, books about the arts and performing arts, behind-the-scenes-type books, and books about popular culture. I am passionate about books that empower people to live their best lives, whether it's a great health or exercise book or a spiritual-type (think Eckhart Tolle or Deepak Chopra) book, and self-help books of all kinds. I am particularly open to books for the GLBTQ audience and, in general, any underdog/outsider stories. I'd love to see just about any well-written book on any topic; if you're in doubt, just query me.

 

How to submit

 

For queries regarding children's and adult fiction, please send the first twenty pages in the body of your email to jenndec@aol.com, along with a one-paragraph bio and a one-paragraph synopsis. For queries regarding a non-fiction book, please attach the entire proposal as a Word document (the proposal should include a sample chapter), along with a one-paragraph bio and a one-paragraph synopsis of your book in the body of your email.

 

Screenwriters: If you'd like to submit a screenplay, please email a logline, a 150-word description, and your bio, with "Screenplay Query" in the subject line of your email.