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Ali Lake
O'Connor Literary Agency
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Currently Looking For
**Currently closed to queries** Ali Lake is a literary agent at O’Connor Literary Agency accepting submissions of nonfiction, fiction, and YA. She loves books that show her a new corner of the world or an unexpected facet of human experience through an original, surprising voice. Ali studied English and French Literature at Columbia University, during which time she interned selling English-language rights for French publisher Présence Africaine Éditions and as a manuscript editor for O’Connor Literary Agency. She graduated summa cum laude in 2017, winning the Barrat Brown Memorial Prize for excellence in critical writing. In 2018, she joined ICM Partners (now part of Creative Artists Agency) performing royalty, sales, and contract analysis to support agent negotiations and inform agency business decisions. In 2020, she joined Janklow & Nesbit Associates supporting senior literary agents Mel Flashman and Emma Parry, while building her own list of fiction, nonfiction, and young adult novels. In June 2023, she joined O’Connor Literary Agency as a literary agent. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Ali’s Manuscript Wishlist Nonfiction Memoir/narrative nonfiction that explores the nuances and quirky characters of a niche world through the author’s personal journey. (Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Private Equity, Uncanny Valley, H is for Hawk, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Liar’s Poker) Particularly looking for a project in the digital space that takes you down an internet wormhole into a thriving subculture you didn’t know existed–a reddit group, nouveau digital art frenzy, cult fandom, social media trend, etc. A sports or outdoor adventure narrative, particularly from a writer who is not the traditional group who gets to tell these kind of stories. (Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World; Into Thin Air; Wild; Alive; Turn to Stone) Memoir/narrative nonfiction of a struggle for justice/against the casual injustice of the world. (Know My Name, Three Women, I’m Glad My Mom Died) Serious reported nonfiction delving into the history, causes, and current repercussions of a problem we should know more about. (Empire of Pain, Hidden Valley Road) Pop science that is surprising, fascinating, and weird. (An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us; Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers; The Computer Always Wins) Evidence-based self-help with a strong voice and defined vision. (Never Split the Difference, How to Change Your Mind, Atomic Habits, The Power of Habit) Cookbooks with a unique voice and eye to teach beyond the recipes, ie. new skills, how to shop, how to intuit what ingredients work together, about culture or history… (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat; Big Night) Fiction Literary fiction that’s eerie or uncanny—explores some type of repressed trauma that bubbles to the surface/is quietly present in day-to-day life. (Liar, Dreamer, Thief; The School for Good Mothers; Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow; I Have Some
Submission Guidelines
Submissions guidelines: Query me at https://QueryTracker.net/query/alilake Include a pitch, author bio, and the first ten pages Vital Info Ali Lake @@lakeliterary Website
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