Jeff Kleinman

I'm one of the founders of Folio Literary Management, LLC. I hold a B.A. with High Distinction from the University of Virginia (English), an M.A. from the University of Chicago (Italian Language & Literature), and a J.D. from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Before starting Folio, I was with the Graybill & English Literary Agency.

From personal experience, I know how frustrating it can be to work with literary agents: your manuscript disappears for months at a time, only to return to you with a polite little "sorry, not for us" scrawled on your original cover letter. Or an agent agrees to take you on, and a year goes by with no word - only to have your manuscript returned to you with "sorry, I'm just not enthusiastic enough about this one." Was it submitted to publishers? If not, just what was your agent doing for the past year? Who knows.

Don't expect that from me. My usual turnaround time is about two months for fiction solicited manuscripts, and about three weeks for nonfiction proposals - although a lot of times you might hear from me within the week (although, I confess, that since we've just started up the new agency I have quite a bit on my plate, so it may be a few more weeks, at the moment, than my usual quick turnaround time). If I have your manuscript on an exclusive basis, and if I return the manuscript to you, I do my best to write comments about the problems I found - I rarely resort to the "sorry, not for me" theme unless the only reason I decide not to take on a project is because it's simply not right for me, or if I'm just utterly buried in manuscripts.

Because I do not require exclusivity, please don't expect me to pencil in comments directly on your solicited manuscript - unless, after I ask for it, you do provide it to me on an exclusive basis (say, for six to eight weeks). If I have your manuscript exclusively, and if I am enthusiastic about it, I'll often line-edit as I go along, just to give you an idea of what your manuscript may need in order to work out some of the kinks.

Everyone will tell you that one of the most important criteria for a good agent is that s/he is enthusiastic about your work. Believe it. You must find someone who loves the project, and will fight to get it published. In my case, this means that I'll only read a manuscript twice: if I read it any more than that, I lose that edge of enthusiasm. So only send your material to me when you think it's as good as you can get it.

If you'd like to hear a podcast with me, click here.

Rather hear an interview? Try here.

What I'm Looking For:

Nonfiction: Do you have a nonfiction idea and/or proposal?

For nonfiction, my interests are divided into two areas: "narrative" (a nonfiction story) and "prescriptive" ("how-to"):

If it looks like your project may be the kind of material that I'd represent, you should have:

Fiction: Have you written a novel?

There's no doubt about it - fiction is definitely harder to sell. I love fiction, and do represent it. I'm looking for extremely well-written, character-driven books that make me absolutely fall in love with the characters and their world. Some of my recent novels include Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain (the latest Starbucks Pick), Jon Clinch's Finn, Robert Hicks's The Widow of the South and Ron McLarty's The Memory of Running.

For fiction, I represent the following areas: general, commercial, and literary; including thriller, suspense, legal, and historical.

Very infrequently, I'll take on short story collections, but it's very helpful if several of the short stories have been previously published, and/or if they have unifying themes, characters, and so forth.

Your novel should be between 70,000 and 120,000 words in length.

What I'm Not Looking For:

Here are some areas that I don't represent:

I do not represent Children's, Science Fiction and/or Fantasy, Young Adult, Christian, Westerns, Mysteries, Poetry, Romance, or Prescriptive ("How to") Travel books; nor do I represent original plays, teleplays, or screenplays.

Other agents in the firm do represent some of these areas, so be sure to check out their bio pages.

There are also some subject matter areas that I will also steer clear of. For example, I don't read books - published or not yet published - about serial killers, children in peril (kidnapped, murdered, victimized, and so forth), or those dealing with the events of September 11, 2001. I also avoid subjects like rape, suicide, and manic-depression; and thrillers in which there's some terrorist organization bent on destroying America or the world. You may have a super novel (or nonfiction subject) that deals with those kinds of issues, and that's great - but I can tell you now that I'll be the wrong guy to ask to represent it.

How to contact me:

There are three ways to contact me:

#1. VIA EMAIL:

I greatly prefer email queries, but please don't send an attachment unless I ask you for it. If you do, I'll probably just delete the attachment, unread.

In the subject line, try to make it clear this is a submission -- maybe include your name and the title of the work; or "Query," or something along those lines. Like everybody else these days, I'm besieged with spam and junk email - a lot of which I delete unopened. I don't want to delete your email by mistake, so try to make it clear that you're contacting me requesting that I review your project.

If you're interested in a quick turnaround, I'd suggest emailing me your cover letter, and maybe the first page or so of your material. Then, if it looks like something that might work for me, I'll ask you to send a hard copy in the mail - but at least you'll have a quick turnaround time.

I generally try to respond to all my email in a week or so, so if you haven't heard from me in a couple of weeks, you're welcome to send a follow-up email -- just in case your email got lost in cyberspace. But do wait at least two weeks to hear from me.

You may have a website, and think it would be easier if I just followed a link and looked at your material directly. I certainly understand the temptation for doing this, but in my case I know it's a lot easier for me if you'd just paste some of the material directly into the email. I tend to get a lot of mail, and often don't have the time to follow links.

Finally, be aware that I have a couple of email addresses -- including an "AOL" email address. You may be aware that AOL has been blocking email, so if your email gets bounced back to you, or disappears into cyberspace, that's probably what is happening. My apologies if it happens to you. I do try to respond in a timely fashion to all email.

My email address is: jkleinman(@)foliolit.com.

#2. VIA SNAIL MAIL:

Via Snail Mail: I'd really prefer email, but if for whatever reason email is not an option, I'm happy to review a hard copy of your submission. If you send me a letter via snail mail, though, ALWAYS include a self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage to return your material (if you want your materials back -- otherwise, be sure to include some envelope, so I can contact you). Materials sent without a SASE will be recycled immediately -- I'm afraid that I don't hold onto manuscripts.

As an additional way of discouraging you from sending snail mail, I can't promise a superfast turnaround time for hardcopies. If you haven't heard from me in a couple of months, though, drop me an email and ask me if I've gotten your submission.

If you're worried about the mail -- and these days I don't blame you -- I recommend spending the extra $0.40 and get a "delivery confirmation" label. I'd really appreciate your not calling or emailing to ask if your package has arrived -- but if several weeks have elapsed and you haven't heard from me, by all means be in touch and find out if your materials have been swept into the netherworld of the U.S. Postal Service. (And, again, I strongly suggest you submit your material via email, anyway - save those trees!)

Please send your materials, including that SASE, to:

Jeff Kleinman
Folio Literary Management, LLC
505 8th Avenue, Suite 603
New York, NY 10018

#3. VIA FAX:

If it's easier to fax, that's also a possibility, although it's by far my least preferred means of communication, and you sure won't win a friend if you decide to fax. Be sure you include your email address, though, so I can respond promptly to you. (If you don't include your email address, there's a good chance you won't hear from me.) The Folio fax number is:

212 967 0977
Attn: Jeff Kleinman

My response time

I typically respond to email queries within a couple of days or so. I usually respond to snail mail queries within a month. If you've sent me a query and haven't heard back, please contact me by the same means that you initially made contact. Include a copy of your original query.

If I've requested material from you, I typically respond within a couple of weeks for partials or non-fiction proposals, or a month for full manuscripts. If you haven't heard from me by then, by all means - please follow up.