Laura Rennert is a literary agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Laura Rennert has been with the agency since 1998. She specializes in all categories of children’s books, from picture books to YA. She also represents literary-commercial fiction, thrillers, and psychological suspense/horror on the adult side.
Laura gravitates toward books with a masterful voice and an unusual point of view. She’s captivated by conflicted, charismatic characters who invite empathy, whether we like them or not; strong, fresh idiosyncratic voices; and stories that make readers think and feel deeply. She’s category agnostic, but right now she’s particularly seeking middle grade fiction, YA fiction, author-illustrator picture books, and literary-commercial thrillers and psychological suspense/horror in the adult space.
She’d especially love to find a diverse, Own Voices fantasy or thriller that draws on an underrepresented history/culture for its mythology or world-building. SheÕs drawn to narrative risk-takers, and would like to find a middle grade, YA, or adult novel, or even unconventional narrative nonfiction, that tells an emotionally compelling story in an unexpected way (like Jay AsherÕs contemporary YA THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, which reads like a mystery). In thrillers and psychological suspense/horror, she gravitates toward unreliable narrators and morally ambiguous characters. She looks for street cred and authenticity (whether of tradecraft, investigative technique, historical/geographical setting, culture, or psychology). SheÕs fascinated with hidden worlds and secret knowledge.
Some of the YA books Laura represents include Maggie Stiefvater’s #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling series The Raven Cycle and Printz Honor Finalist THE SCORPIO RACES (both Scholastic); Jay Asher’s #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling THIRTEEN REASONS (Razorbill/PRH) on which the Netflix Thirteen Reasons Why series is based; #1 NYT and USA Today Bestseller Ellen Hopkins’s THE YOU IÕVE NEVER KNOWN (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S); and award-winning author Mitali Perkins’s forthcoming YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR (FSG/Macmillan). Middle grade titles include Shannon Messenger’s NYT and USA Today bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series (Aladdin/S&S).
Picture books include Lisa MantchevÕs STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS (Paula Wiseman/S&S), a 2016 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honorable Title; Tammi Sauer’s YOUR ALIEN, an NPR Best Book of 2015; and NYT bestselling author Nina Laden’s just released IF I HAD A LITTLE DREAM (Paula Wiseman/S&S) and her Peek-A-Who series (Chronicle).
Some adult titles include NYT bestselling and award-winning author Catherine Ryan Hyde’s forthcoming ALLIE AND BEA (Lake Union/Amazon), #1 NYT bestselling author Lauren KateÕs forthcoming DOVE (Putnam/PRH); Wall Street Journal bestselling author Joe HartÕs forthcoming OBSCURA (Thomas & Mercer/Amazon), and NYT bestselling and award-winning thriller writer Barry Eisler’s LIVIA LONE (Thomas & Mercer/Amazon).
Laura’s work as an agent is enhanced by her familiarity with what itÕs like on the author’s side of the table. SheÕs married to an author; sheÕs raising a young author; and Laura herself is the author of a picture book, BUYING, TRAINING, AND CARING FOR YOUR DINOSAUR (Knopf/PRH), illustrated by Marc Brown, creator of Arthur; and of an illustrated chapter book, ROYAL PRINCESS ACADEMY: DRAGON DREAMS, illustrated by Melanie Florian (Dial/PRH).
Laura has a Ph.D. in English Literature and was a faculty member in the English departments of the University of Virginia, Osaka University of Foreign Studies, and Santa Clara University. You can find the latest about Laura on Facebook.