Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises is a full-service literary agency located in Los Angeles, California. We handle publishing rights and all ancillary rights (such as film, TV, audio, electronic, and foreign) for the authors we represent. We work with both first-time and established writers and are known for our expert attention to every aspect of the publishing process.
Before opening the agency, principal Betsy Amster spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage and two years as editorial director of the Globe Pequot Press. She has been described in the Los Angeles Times as “a dogged prospector of…literary talent” and celebrated in a profile in the American Society of Journalists and Authors newsletter for her “no-nonsense style and whimsical sense of humor.” She frequently teaches classes on publishing at UCLA Extension’s Writers Program and participates in panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
The agency’s areas of interest include: Literary fiction, upscale commercial women’s fiction, voice-driven mysteries and thrillers, narrative nonfiction (especially by journalists), travelogues, memoirs (including graphic memoirs), social issues and trends, psychology, self-help, popular culture, women’s issues, history & biography, lifestyle, careers, health and medicine, parenting, cooking and nutrition, gardening, and quirky gift books. We do not represent children’s books, romances, screenplays, poetry, westerns, fantasy, horror, science fiction, techno thrillers, spy capers, apocalyptic scenarios, self-published books, or political or religious arguments.
ABOUT
Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises is a full-service literary agency located in Los Angeles, California. We handle publishing rights and all ancillary rights (such as film, TV, audio, electronic, and foreign) for the authors we represent. We work with both first-time and established writers and are known for our expert attention to every aspect of the publishing process.
Before opening the agency, principal Betsy Amster spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage and two years as editorial director of the Globe Pequot Press. She has been described in the Los Angeles Times as “a dogged prospector of…literary talent” and celebrated in a profile in the American Society of Journalists and Authors newsletter for her “no-nonsense style and whimsical sense of humor.” She frequently teaches classes on publishing at UCLA Extension’s Writers Program and participates in panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
The agency’s areas of interest include: Literary fiction, upscale commercial women’s fiction, voice-driven mysteries and thrillers, narrative nonfiction (especially by journalists), travelogues, memoirs (including graphic memoirs), social issues and trends, psychology, self-help, popular culture, women’s issues, history & biography, lifestyle, careers, health and medicine, parenting, cooking and nutrition, gardening, and quirky gift books. We do not represent children’s books, romances, screenplays, poetry, westerns, fantasy, horror, science fiction, techno thrillers, spy capers, apocalyptic scenarios, self-published books, or political or religious arguments.
Please consult our submission requirements to learn where to direct your query.
If you would like to read more about Betsy Amster, please click on the links below:
Poets & Writers Agent Advice
Kirkus
Women on Writing Interview
Algonkian Workshops