About the Agency
The Seymour Agency strives to offer aspiring and established authors the representation and resources they need to succeed in the ever-evolving publishing industry.
Our literary agents firmly believe in exploring every opportunity for our authors. From foreign and audio rights to film, television, and other multimedia and digital prospects such as gaming and apps, we strive to provide hands-on emotional, professional, promotional, and editorial counsel to each one of our authors.
Get to Know Our Founder
Mary Sue Seymour
Mary Sue Seymour was listed by Publishers Marketplace as one of the top dealmakers in the country. She was formerly a member of the Author's Guild, the AAR, ACFW, WGA, and RWA** and was named as ACFW's Agent of the Year in 2015.
After graduating from the State University of New York, Mary Sue taught in a public school system for almost 15 years. While teaching, she completed graduate work at The State University of New York. At the same time, she wrote for national publications such as Junior Scholastic, The Artist's Magazine, The American Artist, and teaching magazines.
Mary Sue believed in the Bible verse in Romans 10:12 that states, "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him..."
Always in our hearts, we carry on her legacy and vision.
President
Nicole Resciniti
Nicole Resciniti has been listed by Publishers Marketplace as a top dealmaker in the country and named as ACFW's Agent of the Year. She loves discovering new talent and helping established authors to take their career to the next level.
Nicole is a member of AAR, ACFW, RWA, and Mensa. She holds degrees in biology, psychology, and behavioral neuroscience. Like Mary Sue, Nicole taught in the public school system and has worn many hats before heeding her calling to become a literary agent—for which she will forever be indebted to Mary Sue Seymour.
Nicole is currently closed to submissions.
Email: Nicole@theseymouragency.com
Twitter: @NicLitAgent
Vice President and Agent
Julie Gwinn
Julie Gwinn has a background in editorial, launching the Pure Enjoyment line at B&H Publishing Group where she served as Fiction Publisher and was awarded Editor of the Year and Agent of the Year finalist by the American Christian Fiction Writers.
Julie also has more than 25 years of public relations and marketing experience and has worked in marketing for several Nashville nonprofit organizations, including the Tennessee Association for the Education of Young Children, the Nashville Area Red Cross, and the YWCA. She puts that marketing expertise to use in working with her authors.
Julie is actively looking for diverse voices in both fiction and non-fiction and is currently looking for romance, mystery/true crime, historical and speculative/fantasy novels. In non-fiction she is looking for self-help, lifestyle, motivational and sports related books.
As of January, Julie's query process has changed. She is no longer accepting email queries and has started using Query Manager to manage this part of the business. Please visit her Query Manager portal at the link below where you will find instructions on the process and how to upload your materials.
Query: https://querymanager.com/JulieGwinn
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/julie.gwinn.5
Twitter: @JulieGwinn
Executive Director and Agent
Marisa Cleveland, Ed.D.
Marisa Cleveland loves working with authors who write for a broad range of readers - children and adults - within the fiction and nonfiction genres. She's looking for manuscripts she can't put down until the last page and can't stop discussing with random strangers in bookstores. Voice is definitely key for her, and she wants to find her best friends and partners-in-crime protagonists long after the story ends, whether it's in this world or an alternate universe.
Email: marisa@theseymouragency.com
Instagram: @thereisnobox
Director of Kid Lit and Agent
Joyce Sweeney
Joyce Sweeney is the Director of Kidlit for The Seymour Agency.
They have a passion for all kinds of picture books and especially love non-fiction projects or lyrical, emotional texts. They will also take on tough subjects in PB’s. Board and novelty books also welcome. Author-illustrators are great but please no illustrator-onlies. In MG they prefer younger, shorter projects and chapter books. Actively looking for genre YA’s of all types, especially from under represented voices, particularly stories from queer perspectives. Graphic novels should be young, realistic and preferably illustrated.
Not excited to see a lot of rhyme, holiday books, potty humor or anything overtly traditionally religious.
Joyce is an editorial agent who loves helping debut authors break in. They previously worked as a writing coach and mentor. Agenting has been so rewarding because there’s nothing better than ‘making the call’ to someone who has sold their first book.
Instagram: @sweeney1217
Threads: @sweeney1217
Facebook: Joyce Sweeney
Media Rights Manager and Agent
Lesley Sabga
Lesley has been working for The Seymour Agency since 2014.
Starting out as an eager intern, she worked her way up to being a literary assistant and in the fall of 2017, Lesley became an agent. And in 2022, Lesley accepted the position handling media rights for the agency's catalog, helping to option and place titles with numerous production companies to date.
Lesley loves intricate and vivid world-building and character-driven plots with commercial pacing. She is currently acquiring young adult and adult fiction. She is always down to read a dark and twisty suspense/thriller featuring strong, female protagonists or mysteries where there is a large cast of characters and all the pieces slowly fall into place. She loves big, sweeping love stories that give you all the feels and she's particularly interested in voice-driven fiction for millennial women that focus on the real-life romantic, humorous, and professional experiences they go through. Always open to diversity, Lesley is actively looking for marginalized authors to bring into the literary world.
Email: lesley@theseymouragency.com
Instagram: @literarylesley
Agent
Tina Wainscott
Tina Wainscott has published over 30 novels with houses such as St. Martin’s Press, Harper Collins, Hachette, and Random House, so she understands the business from the author’s perspective. She's been an agent with The Seymour Agency since 2016 and also gets what it takes from this angle.
She’s looking to work with a select few authors who have ideas that fit into self-help/personal transformation/spiritual growth and health initiatives space with that special something to stand out in a crowded market. If you have a provocative idea, a great platform and/or credentials and/or other clear author hook, and a compelling title and hook, she’d love to see it. Diversity is welcome!
Platform is an essential part of a successful book sale and a book launch (which impacts the next book’s chances). If you have a small or unengaged one, please consider spending your query time building that up before sending your idea out into the world.
She will consider memoirs, but note that they’re particularly difficult to place unless you are “notable” or have a truly unique experience that aims to inspire. Many people go (and grow) through extraordinary experiences, but it takes something really special to grab an editor’s eye.
Please limit queries to self-help/non-fiction books. No poetry, fiction, or children’s books.
Note: Please send religious/Christian queries to Julie Gwinn.
She only takes queries through http://QueryMe.Online/TinaWainscottTSA (unless you are directly referred). This form makes it faster for her to hone in on the pertinent facts, and it includes information you can grab from your proposal (or that should be in there). She’s looking forward to seeing your query!
Agent
Jennifer Wills
Jennifer has 5 years’ experience in some of the publishing industry’s leading literary agencies. She worked with publishers around the world as an assistant in Trident Media Group’s huge foreign rights department and with domestic publishers as an assistant at Writers House (where, incidentally, she began her career as an intern).
She joined the Seymour Agency in April 2016, where she has quickly moved up the ranks to Literary Agent. Jennifer has always loved helping fledgling authors become NYT bestsellers, and she’s ready to be a relentless champion for her own clients’ work.
Jennifer is particularly interested in a wide range of picture books and cookbooks, with a soft spot for author/illustrators of sweet and wacky picture books, and cookbooks with mouth-watering recipes of the health-conscious, budget-friendly, or celebrity chef variety.
For fiction, she’s also interested in middle grade and YA with a sci-fi/fantasy, horror/suspense, or contemporary bent, and upmarket women’s fiction with a sense of humor.
On the non-fiction side, narrative non-fiction and memoir are also welcome. If your manuscript has a great hook, a distinct voice, and can make her laugh out loud or ugly cry (or even better, both), she’d love to see it.
Email: https://querymanager.com/query/JenniferWills
Twitter: @WillsWork4Books
Agent
Lynnette Novak
Prior to joining The Seymour Agency, Lynnette spent seventeen years freelance editing. She worked with new writers, advanced writers, as well as New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors.
Lynnette earned a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba, where she specialized in English and French. She excelled in Advanced Creative Writing in university and studied writing for children and teens through the Institute of Children’s Literature. She was a Pitch Wars mentor in 2015 and 2016.
Both her mentees acquired an agent. Lynnette has since closed her editing business and is excited to bring her passion for the written word to agenting.
Although Lynnette was born and raised Manitoba, Canada, she now lives in Minnesota with her husband, twin girls, and many pets. Her personal interests include reading, writing, exercising at the gym (okay, that’s a love/hate relationship), working on an assortment of crafts, all things having to do with animals (if she could own a farm, zoo, and animal shelter, she would), and enjoying time with family and friends.
Follow Lynnette:
Threads: @lynnette_novak
Blue Sky: @lynnettenovak.bsky.social
Currently looking for: (Always looking for BIPOC, diversity of all kinds, and LGBTQ+!!!)
Illustrators: Board book, picture book, illustrated MG, illustrated covers for kid lit and adult.
Picture books: fiction and nonfiction picture books (non-rhyming preferred).
MG genres: contemporary, mystery, magical realism, contemporary/grounded fantasy, horror
YA genres: rom-com, thriller, romantic fantasy, fantasy, magical realism, horror
Adult fiction genres: horror, contemporary romance, romcom, and mystery (traditional and amateur sleuth)
Adult nonfiction genres: memoirs, narrative, spirituality/New Age, self-help, health/fitness, parenting/family, motivational/inspirational, business, celebrity, lifestyle, pets, psychology, relationships & dating, and true crime. You must be an expert in the field and have a platform.
What kind of platform do you need for nonfiction? Are you a celebrity with a story to tell? An expert in the field (doctor, CEO, trainer, psychologist, etc.)? Do you have a direct route to the consumer? Are you a social influencer or public speaker?
She loves dark and suspenseful, mysterious twists, unique worlds, light and funny, a good love story, and lots of voice.
#MSWL: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/lynnette-novak/
Agent
Elisa Houot
Elisa Houot is a literary agent at The Seymour Agency and head of the French office. Elisa represents authors writing from Picture Books to Adult literature and is the French foreign rights agent for The Seymour Agency.
Enthusiastic about discovering new voices, Elisa lives in France with her adorable and barking companion, Muffin. Beyond anything, she thrives on helping authors build their careers. She is always on the lookout for new voices in kid-lit and in romance.
To query: https://QueryManager.com/ElisaHouot.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElisaHouot.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisahouot/
Agent
Cole Lanahan
As an agent, Cole Lanahan possesses a wide range of skills to offer her authors. Aside from being a published author of eight novels, Cole holds a degree in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State. Her past experiences include lobbying the United States congress for better mental health initiatives, leading a multimillion-dollar mental health nonprofit, creating strategic corporate partnerships, and implementing large-scale marketing campaigns.
When she’s not traveling, Cole lives in the Midwest with her husband, daughter, four dogs, and twenty chickens. Her personal interests include reading, quilting, and performing with her acoustic band.
Cole is actively looking for all genres of YA, all genres of adult romance, psychological suspense in the vein of The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, and thrillers in the vein of Verity by Colleen Hoover and I’m thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. In nonfiction she is looking for humor, business, self-help, lifestyle, and arts and crafts books.
To Query: https://querymanager.com/ColeLanahan
Twitter: @LanahanCole
Agent
Georgana (Nina) Grinstead
Georgana Grinstead began her career as a corporate and nonprofit media specialist. She studied at the University of Texas in Austin before earning a degree in public relations and advertising from Georgia College State & University. Romance books, although not on the official curriculum, were her favorite subject then and continue to be long after graduation.
Her professional and personal lives inevitably came together in 2012, when she began blogging as a new wave of romantic fiction swept the literary world. Her knowledge of social media and her passion for promoting authors led her to a boutique public relations firm as a publicist, where she learned the industry from the inside out. Now, Georgana heads her own firm, Valentine PR & Literary Management.
Georgana joined The Seymour Agency/Alliance Rights Agency in July of 2021 and is thrilled to utilize the full force of her knowledge and contacts to bring HEA’s to wider audiences everywhere. Georgana is particularly interested in Romance - Contemporary, Dark, New Adult and Mature YA. No historical or paranormal/fantasy please.
A true southern girl, Georgana grew up in Texas and is currently living her happily ever after in Georgia with her handsome husband Charlie, two beautiful adult children Grey and Valentine, an amazing daughter-in-law Emmy and three rescue dogs.
Agent
Gaby Cabezut
Gaby Cabezut is a bilingual literary agent at The Seymour Agency. She has an extensive background in Digital Publishing and tech and an MBA in Digital Marketing Strategies.
She’s passionate about diversity and uplifting LATINX authors through The Seymour Agency Mexico, where she currently represents authors in LATAM for the Spanish Market. Gaby is open to queries in Spanish for YA, NA, and through Query Manager.
She's looking for fantasy, action, romance, and suspense. She is not the right agent for high fantasy, horror, or rhymes.
In English, she's open to queries through referrals only and represents PB, MG, CB, NA, and YA.
Instagram: @gabycabezut
To Query: https://QueryManager.com/gabyc
Assistant Agent
Rosa Frazier
Rosa Frazier began her agenting journey as a summer 2023 mentee under Marisa Cleveland, Executive Director and Agent at The Seymour Agency. As a recovering attorney, she is drawn to underrepresented BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and disabled creatives, hoping to help them reach their authorial and artistic dreams. Caribbean and South American stories, folklore, and mythologies with representation of second languages and dialects are highly encouraged. Kidlit is her passion with an emphasis on picture book, middle-grade, and YA contemporary romance, mystery, and thrillers. Illustrators and Author-Illustrators are also welcome to query when she is closed to authors.
Instagram: @rosaisagenting
Assistant Agent
Lissa Woodson
Lissa Woodson has been an industry professional as a publishing and marketing consultant, developmental editor, and literary event planner for nearly 25 years. In addition to successfully cracking the code of landing a deal for herself and many others with traditional publishing houses, she continues to "pay it forward" by organizing the annual Cavalcade of Authors which gives readers intimate access to the most accomplished writing talent today.
She is looking for unique and engaging stories in domestic thrillers, romantic suspense, romantic comedies, and cozy mysteries. What she is not looking for is: traditional mysteries, romance (except suspense and comedies), paranormal, YA, children’s, contemporary, women’s, fantasy or Sci-Fi.
She is an advocate for diverse voices in fiction and is actively seeking stories from unique and dynamic perspectives.
Email: lissa@theseymouragency.com
Queries: https://querymanager.com/query/3031
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naleighnakai/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@naleighnakai
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naleighnak
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/naleighnakai.bsky.social
Assistant Agent
Valentine Grinstead
Valentine is a graduate from the University of Georgia, where she graduated Cum Laude. While working her first job in Nashville, Valentine discovered her love of reading. She was asked to be in a book club and from there has found her love amongst the pages of books. After getting bit by the reading bug, Valentine decided to become a publicist and work for the family company which is aptly named after her, Valentine PR and Literary Management.
Valentine now lives in Atlanta, GA, where you can find her discovering new restaurants, traveling to new places, and spending time with her rescue dog Millie. She loves working with authors and meeting influencers to discuss books.
Valentine is particularly interested in Romance - Contemporary, Dark, New Adult & Fantasy/Romantasy.
Administrative Assistant
Kat Rios
Kat is a Computer Engineer and communications, editorial, and content expert who fell in love with books when she was just a child. Her professional journey includes roles as an editorial assistant, editorial specialist, content expert, and sensitivity reader, as well as a significant four-year tenure at Wattpad Corp as the Spanish Editorial Specialist.
Books have opened a window to thousands of worlds and brought magic into her life. Besides reading, she loves the color pink, pizza, yoga, romantic comedies, and horror movies. She enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and her five dogs.
She joined The Seymour Agency team in 2024 and is brimming with excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead.
Instagram: @kathyriosdiaz
Administrative Assistant
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Alexa Díaz
Ale is a mexican Textile Designer graduate. She's passionate about illustration, Disney movies, Dinosaurs, and anything that her two kids do.
She has loved romantasy fiction ever since she read Twilight for the first time (#TeamEdward obvs).
She has experience in Social Media, and content creation and is ready to make all the authors, agents, and illustrators on The Seymour Agency shine!
If you want to connect with her you can follow her on Instagram or send her an email!
Instagram: @alexadzne
Email: ale@theseymouragency.com
**RWA
We believe that an organization such as Romance Writers of America must work for ALL of its constituents and do so honestly, positively, and proactively.
RWA proclaims a mission of inclusion and equality, yet that has not been evidenced in recent events. As such, we are withdrawing from the organization and will not participate in RWA Nationals or other events until such time as real and actionable changes are implemented.