Laura Yorke is a literary agent with and the founder of Laura York Literary Services. She is a veteran book editor, publisher, literary agent and writer who has worked in the publishing industry for over 30 years..

A native New Yorker, she graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 1985.

She says: “I began my career at Simon & Schuster, where I worked- and thrived- as an editor at three different imprints: Fireside Books, Summit Books and Simon & Schuster Trade. At that time ( in the late 1990Õs), I was the youngest editor to ever attend the Editorial Board and buy my own books ( as opposed to editing for other senior editors). Some of those books, including Michele Weiner-DavisÕ DIVORCE BUSTING became long- term bestsellers. After 8 years, I moved to G.P. Putnam where I was also profoundly happy for 4 years. CEO Phyllis Grann frequently announced that ÒI brought non-fiction to Putnam.Ó That was, needless to say, a gross exaggeration. And ironic given that one of my most celebrated authors at Putnam was novelist Jodi Picoult. From Putnam, I went on to co-found the Golden Books Adult Trade Division with a former colleague from Simon & Schuster. We published books for women and the family in every category- from Steven Covey to Maria Shriver, to a dozen books from the editors of Parents Magazine. I then moved on to become the editor-at-large of Regan Books/HarperCollins.

Some of the other numerous bestselling and prominent authors I published during my years as an editor include Mary Tyler Moore, Marilou Henner, Sylvia Earle, Barry Paris, Carol Felsenthal, Tracy Thompson, Daniel Coyle, Lionel Tiger, Maxine Chernoff and Nelson George.

I left Regan Books/HarperCollins because I wanted to experience other parts of the publishing industry. Having recently had a premature baby, I co-authored Why Motor Skills Matter (McGraw-Hill 2004) with my sonÕs sensory integration therapist. It is an extremely worthwhile book for parents on the relationship between sensory integration and motor development as they relate to overall intelligence. (DonÕt ask my why, but I still get royalty checks from its sales in Brazil!)

I subsequently became a contributing editor to ReaderÕs Digest, where I wrote cover stories on people such as Phil McGraw and Uma Thurman, and brought the magazineÕs editorial team to meet with all of the New York publishers and their Subsidiary Rights associates. It was a wonderful education to be Òon the other side of the fenceÓ so to speak; becoming an author of both a book and magazine pieces, as well as being part of the team of selling books for subsidiary rights, gave me a much broader landscape from which to understand the business.

Then one day within that first year of working for ReaderÕs Digest, the wonderful Carol Mann said to me, Ó Laura, you are one of the best editors of your generation. If you donÕt want to do that any more, then come be an agent with me. YouÕll still be doing a lot of editorial work.Ó And so it was- for almost 20 years. And yes, I still do a ton of editorial work- my truest passion. I also have my own literary agency.”