Wendy Strothman
Wendy Strothman has long been an advocate for authors and freedom of expression. Before starting the Strothman Agency, Wendy was the Publisher of Trade & Reference books at Houghton Mifflin (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and the Publisher at Beacon Press.
At Houghton Mifflin, Wendy acquired and edited books by key authors, including Philip Roth, John Kenneth Galbraith, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Paul Theroux, and James Carroll. She also vigorously pursued the defense in the lawsuit brought by the Margaret Mitchell estate to block publication of Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone, a parody of Gone with the Wind.
Wendy’s efforts to publish books at the highest standards led the company to receive more literary awards than at any time in its history--two Pulitzer Prizes, one National Book Award, three Caldecott Medals, and two Newbery Medals, among many other honors- and led to the company’s greatest period of growth and recognition.
From 1983 to 1995, Wendy headed Beacon Press, a Boston publisher founded in 1854. She published two New York Times bestsellers (Cornel West’s Race Matters and Marian Wright Edelman’s The Measure of Our Success) and one National Book Award winner.
Wendy began her career in 1972 at the University of Chicago Press where she launched the Critical Edition of the Works of Giuseppe Verdi.
Awards and Recognition: Publisher of the Year Award (New England Booksellers Association); Person of the Year Award for “permanent and significant contributions to the book industry” (Literary Market Place); “Friend to Writers” Award (PEN New England-never before given to a publisher); and two Doctor of Humane Letters (one from Brown University, and one from Meadville Lombard Theological School, affiliated with the University of Chicago).
Boards: Wendy currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Deerfield Academy where she chairs the Academic Affairs committee and on the board of 826 Boston, a branch of 826 Valencia, the nonprofit organization founded by Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills. Wendy has also served on the Board of Governors of Yale University Press and as a Trustee and Fellow of the Brown University Corporation where she was Secretary of the Corporation for ten years.
Looking for: Books that matter, books that change the way we think about things we take for granted, that tell stories that readers can’t forget, and advance scholarship and knowledge. High quality fiction, memoir and narrative nonfiction, particularly history, science and nature, and current affairs.
Lauren E. MacLeod
Lauren MacLeod joined the Strothman Agency after graduating cum laude from Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing.
Lauren’s primary interests are middle grade novels, young adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as highly polished literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. Some of her favorite (non-client) YA authors are Meg Rosoff, Maureen Johnson and John Green.
Looking for: Contemporary young adult & middle grade, narrative nonfiction for young adults, graphic novels, YA Dystopian with strong world-building, YA or MG contemporary romance or chick lit, and adult trade nonfiction on quirky subjects or people. She is currently especially drawn to YA & MG projects with humorous situations or funny characters.
Flooded with: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Historical Fiction, Tragedy Memoirs.
Lauren is not accepting queries for picture books or chapter books for early readers at this time. She does not represent adult romance or chick lit.
