The LA Literary Agency

a partial list of the books and authors we have represented

Autobiography

William J. Rehder, FBI retired (Where the Money Is, Norton); Stacy Allison (Beyond the Limits, Little Brown); Bobby DeLaughter (Never Too Late, Scribner); Bill White (Uppity, Grand Central); Norma McCorvey (I Am Roe, HarperCollins); Fritz Kohner (Hannah and Walter, Random House); Simon Goodman (The Orpheus Clock, Scribner); Cyndy Garvey with Andy Meisler (The Secret Life of Cyndy Garvey, Doubleday)

Biography

Gerard Depardieu (Paul Chutkow, Depardieu, Knopf); Georgia O’Keeffe (Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, Full Bloom, Norton, cover NYTBR); Patsy Cline (Margaret Jones, Patsy, HarperCollins); James Dean (Joe Hyams, Little Boy Lost, Warner); Elia Kazan (Jeff Young, Kazan, Newmarket); George H. W. Bush (Joe Hyams, Flight of the Avenger, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich); Pat Riley (Byron Laursen, The Winner Within, Putnam); Edith Head (Paddy Calistro, Edith Head's Hollywood, Dutton)

Actors|Musicians
Ray Manzarek, (Light My Fire, Putnam); Barry Manilow (Sweet Life, McGraw Hill); Kim Novak (My Name is Marilyn, Warner); Eddie, the Dog from Frazier (Brian Hargrove, My Life as a Dog, HarperCollins); Wolfman Jack with Byron Laursen (Have Mercy, Warner); Chuck Norris with Joe Hyams (The Secret of Inner Strength; The Secret Power Within, Zen Solutions to Real Problems, Little Brown); Suzanne Somers (Keeping Secrets, Warner)

Journalists|Writers
Michael Leahy (Hard Times: A Year at Beverly Hills High, Little Brown); Hunter Drohojowska-Philp (Rebels in Paradise, Henry Holt), Judy Muller, NPR, USC, formerly ABC News (Now This, Putnam); Susan Brink (A Change of Heart, Knopf; The Fourth Trimester, UC Press); Gordon Dillow, co-author (Where the Money Is, Norton; Uppity, Grand Central); Susan Littwin, (The Postponed Generation, William Morrow); Peter Hartz (Merger:The Bendix-Martin Marietta Takeover War, WIlliam Morrow); Carter Henderson (Winners, Henry Holt); Louse Farr (The Sunset Murders, Simon & Schuster)

Attorneys
Professor H. Mitchell Caldwell, Pepperdine School of Law, and Judge Michael Lief, (Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury; And the Walls Came Tumbling Down; The Devil’s Advocates, all Scribner); William Hodgman, Los Angeles Head Deputy District Attorney; George Kieffer (The Strategy of Meetings, Simon & Schuster)

Cookbooks|Chefs|Food Writers
Many of our cookbooks have won James Beard and IACP/Julia Child Awards.
California Pizza Kitchen (Wiley); Mark Peel (2 tiitles/Random House, Warner); Nancy Silverton (4 titles/HarperCollins, Random House, Warner); Wolfgang Puck (4 titles/Houghton Mifflin, Random House); Emeril Lagasse (HarperCollins); Viana LaPlace (6 titles/HarperCollins, William Morrow); Evan Kleiman (5 titles/HarperCollins, William Morrow); Faye Levy (6 titles/Warner, Macmillan); Nina Simonds (3 titles/HarperCollins, William Morrow); Jody Maroni (Rizzoli); The Palm Restaurant (Running Press); Lori DeMori, Locanda Veneta (Viking Penguin); Brigit Binns (6 titles), Jane Sigal (Macmillan); Sam, The Cooking Guy, (3 titles/Wiley); Michael Roberts (3 titles/ Bantam, William Morrow); Hans Rockenwagner (Ten Speed Press); Bradley Ogden (Random House); Marilyn Tausend (4 titles/Simon & Schuster, University of California Press); Neelam Batra (3 titles/Macmillan); Joyce Goldstein (8 titles/HarperCollins, William Morrow, Chronicle); Dede Wilson, PBS, Contributing Editor/Bon Appetit (11 titles/ Wiley, William Morrow, Macmillan, Harvard Common Press); Michael Roberts (Parisian Home Cooking, Morrow); Mary Bergin and Judy Gethers (Spago Desserts; Spago Chocolate; Random House)

Health|HowTo|Lifestyle
Al Siebert, Ph.D. (The Survivor Personality, Putnam); Mary Donkersloot, R.D. (Simply Gourmet Diabetes Cookbook, Clarkson Potter; How to Quit Smoking and Not Gain Weight, Three Rivers Press); David Niven, Ph.D. (100 Simple Secrets of Happy People, (HarperCollins); Food & Wine’s Official Guide to Wine, American Express; Evan Goldstein, Master Sommelier (Perfect Pairings; Daring Pairings; The Wines of South America; all University of California Press); Elizabeth Minchilli (Restoring a Home in Italy, Artisan; Carol Abrams (Teen Knitting Club, Artisan); Get 'em and Go Travel Guides, 22 titles (Houghton Mifflin, Morrow, HarperCollins)

Physicians
Dr. Daniel J. Levy, Director, National Institute of Health Framingham Heart Study (A Change of Heart, Knopf); Dr. Judith Reichman, former Woman’s Health Contributor, Today Show (I’m Too Young to Get Old, Random House; I’m Not in the Mood; Relax, This Won’t Hurt, HarperCollins); Dr. David Viscott (The Viscott Method; Taking Care of Business, Morrow)

Novelists
Melody Stevenson (Life Song of Singing Bird, Faber & Faber); Howard Fast (The Immigrants, Second Generation, The Legacy, The Establishment, all Houghton Mifflin and Dell); The X Files (Andy Meisler, The End and the Beginning; Resist or Serve; I Want to Believe; all HarperCollins); Lis Anna, William Faulkner Fiction Competition, Finalist; Thomas Wolfe Fiction Award, Second Place (Skinny Dipping in a Dirty Pond); E.V. Cunningham (The Case of the One-Penny Orange; The Case of the Russian Diplomat; The Case of the Poisoned Eclairs, all Henry Holt)

storytelling

Many of the books we have represented are narrative nonfiction, which is storytelling. The subjects are eclectic and it’s difficult to put them in one category. These titles, with brief backgrounds, offer a glimpse into our list.

Light My Fire, by Ray Manzarek (Putnam). With perfect recall, Ray reveals how he founded The Doors with Jim Morrison and takes us on their personal and musical trips, many of them fueled by drugs and alcohol. Reviewers called it “spellbinding,” “best rock bio of the year,” “striking personal memoir.” Ray wrote his first draft in pencil on yellow legal pads.
Beyond the Limits, by Stacy Allison with Peter Carlin (Little Brown). Stacy was the first American woman to crest Mt. Everest. After years of preparation and several failed attempts, Stacy and her two companion climbers were hours away from the top of Everest. Without warning, two of the Sherpas suddenly turned around and, without speaking, headed down the mountain. They left the remaining climbers in dangerous weather and with enough oxygen for only one person to attempt to reach the summit. This moment became our sample chapter.
Where the Money Is, by William Rehder with Gordon Dillow (W.W. Norton). CBS News described FBI Special Agent Rehder as “America’s secret weapon in the war against bank robbers.” The review from Booklist: “…unforgettable characters and unbelievable incidents more exciting than any movie or miniseries.” And the highest praise came from Publishers Weekly: “Should become a standard in the genre.”
Uppity, by Bill White with Gordon Dillow (Grand Central). Bill had three careers in baseball: Major League player, voice of the New York Yankees for 18 years, and President of the National League for five years (the first African-American to reach that level in any sport). Bill has seen the game and the business of baseball from three perspectives and in this book he holds nothing back. “Brutally frank…a truly controversial baseball memoir that will not be easily forgotten.” (PW) “A hard-hitting take-no-prisoners assessment of baseball over the past sixty years…entertains from cover to cover.” (NY Daily News)
Never Too Late, by Bobby DeLaughter (Scribners). A criminal prosecutor, DeLaughter solved the mystery of Medgar Evers’ murder thirty years after his slaying. By chance, he found the missing weapon in the closet of a judge-- his then father-in-law. The judge wasn’t hiding the gun; he didn’t know that he had the crucial lost piece of evidence in the case.
I Am Roe, by Norma McCorvey with Andy Meisler (HarperCollins). We never know where we will find a book. When our daughter was in college, she went to a lecture given by Norma McCorvey (aka Jane Roe of Roe v Wade). Nobody had ever asked Norma to tell her story. A small slice of history: Norma learned about the Supreme Court decision when she opened the Dallas daily newspaper lying on her doorstep and saw the front page article on Roe v Wade.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

We are always looking for talented writers and good books. As a boutique agency, we work closely with our clients from proposal through the publishing process. The Agency represents narrative nonfiction, history, memoirs, sports, biographies, cookbooks, lifestyle, health, psychology, science, parenting, business, literary and commercial fiction. Like all agencies, we receive a great number of submissions. Because of the volume, we cannot respond to all inquiries. However, we look at everything we receive and will call or email if we would like to see more material. Please send your submission to laliteraryagency@mac.com Nonfiction | Query letter and your book proposal as an attachment Fiction | Query letter and your manuscript as an attachment