Scott Hoffman

A refugee from the world of politics, Scott Hoffman is one of the founding partners of Folio Literary Management, LLC. Prior to starting Folio, Scott was at PMA Literary and Film Management, Inc.

He has served as Vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of SEARAC (the only nationwide advocacy agency for Southeast Asian-Americans), a Board Member of Fill Their Shelves, Inc. (a charitable foundation that provides books to children in sub-Saharan Africa) and a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Young Associates Steering Committee.

Before entering the world of publishing, he was one of the founding partners of Janus-Merritt Strategies, a Washington, DC strategic consulting firm. He holds an MBA from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and a BA from the College of William and Mary.

What I'm looking for (and what I'm not looking for.)

My tastes are extremely eclectic; about the only types of projects I won't consider are series romance, cozy mysteries, or Westerns. My current list is about half fiction and half nonfiction. My fiction is about half literary, and half commercial (chick lit? Sure - if it's smart and fresh, and has a strong voice.) My nonfiction is spread out among serious journalistic or academic nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, and quirkier pop-culture books.

If your project doesn't fit one of the "established" categories, I'm probably your guy - I love projects that can't be easily classified.

I'm always on the lookout for:

• Beautifully-written literary fiction, regardless of the subject;
• Spiritual or religious-themed fiction and nonfiction (it doesn't matter what religion);
• Books that can hook me on concept alone;
• Dark, dark novels. The darker the better;
• Any book about a time, place, or group of people that hasn't been extensively written about;
• Political, historical, or science-based nonfiction, particularly from academics;
• Excellent SF or Fantasy that crosses over into the world of literary fiction;
• Heartbreaking memoirs;
• Website or blog-based books;
• Drop-dead funny nonfiction;
• (I'll probably regret this, but...) First novels. There's nothing better than the feeling of telling an author you've just sold his or her first book.

How to submit to me

I only accept email queries. Whether you're submitting fiction or nonfiction, please send a one-page email query letter to shoffman at foliolit (dot) com with the word "Query" and the name of your book in the subject line.

I try to respond to all query letters as soon as possible. If your query piques my interest, I'll follow up with detailed instructions about what to send and how.

Scott Hoffman is temporarily not accepting unsolicited queries. Please try another agent at Folio in the short term.

My response time

I am not currently accepting unsolicited queries. If you send me any unsolicited material, I will not respond.

If I’ve asked to see something from you, you should hear back from me within six to eight weeks.