Caren Johnson Literary Agency

The Caren Johnson Literary Agency is on the hunt for exciting new commercial fiction, women’s fiction, Young Adult fiction and narrative nonfiction. We are full up at the moment with wonderful romance and mystery writers, but continue to search for great contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and commercial/literary fiction.

We are looking for brilliant novels in the vein of Monica McInerney, Jodi Picoult, Alice Hoffman, Sue Monk Kidd, and Laura Moriarty, fiction in the vein of Lisa Lutz, Christopher Moore, Michel Faber, Kate Atkinson, Louisa Luna, Audrey Niffenegger, and Jeffrey Eugenides, and YA in the vein of Scott Westerfeld, Stephanie Meyer, Markus Zusack, Gabrielle Zevin, Libba Bray, and Kevin Brooks.

In nonfiction we are currently searching for nonfiction in a variety of subjects. Some of are favorite books at the moment are Fast Food Nation, by Eric Scholosser, The Wal-Mart Effect, by Charles Fishman, Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them, by David Anderegg, Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner, The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America, by David Hajdu, The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris, by Alicia Drake, Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers and Passionate Politics, by Eleanor Herman, and Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution, by Caroline Weber. Though these are very different books, they all hold in common a great thesis and great writing. We are looking for journalists and experts who can write in a way that illuminates the subject for the reader.

CJLA only accepts queries by email. Please send your query in the body of the email. Attachments won’t be opened unless the material was requested. Queries usually take 6-8 weeks to answer and requested partials take 8-10 weeks to answer. Send all queries to submissions@johnsonlitagency.com. Please check out our publisher’s marketplace page here.