Tina Wainscott has been an agent with The Seymour Agency since 2016 and understands the publishing business and the agent-author relationship from both sides. She's looking to work with authors who have projects in the self-help/personal transformation/spiritual growth and health space. A large, engaged platform and/or credentials are a must. If you have those, along with a provocative idea and compelling title and hook, she’d love to see it. Diversity is welcome!

She will consider memoirs, but note that they’re particularly difficult to place unless you are “notable” or have an extraordinary experience that aims to inspire. Many people admirably go (and grow) through life’s upheavals, but it takes something truly special to grab an editor’s eye.

She will also consider select true-crime projects, having worked on Bad to Blue: The True Story of a Chinatown Gangster Who Became an NYPD Detective by Mike Moy (Blackstone) In the Ghost Shadows: The Untold Story of Chinatown’s Most Powerful Crime Boss by Peter Chin and Everett De Morier (Kensington), and Dead in the Water: The Real Story of Nathan Carman by David J. Farrell, Jr. (Post Hill Press).

Tip: Platform is an essential part of a successful book sale and launch (which impacts the next book’s chances). If yours is small or unengaged, please consider spending query time building that before sending your idea out into the world. This illustrates the interest in your topic/story. It’s not about just getting the book published but getting it published well.