Dear Writers:

As you know, I always hope that one of you, who perhaps I do not yet know, may surprise me with a proposal, a project or even a finished manuscript, that is truly wonderful and just right for me. Regretfully, however, I cannot accept unsolicited submissions until after Labor Day.

Why, you may ask? The truth is that I have a full roster of clients at present and that I will not be able to do justice to yours. So unless you know me personally or come through a referral of a trusted editor or client, I’m afraid that I need to take the summer to work with my existing clients.  If you were already represented by me, you would want the quality of attention that I like to give to my clients, and at the end of the day, I have only a finite amount of time and energy.

But do not despair. You may submit to my colleagues Jacqueline Flynn and Carrie Cantor, both profiled on this site, or you may spend the summer polishing your project so that I won’t be able to resist it when the time comes.

Have a wonderful summer!

–Joelle Delbourgo

Soulful advice for studying, socializing and everything in between from the editors of Busted Halo, this is a values-based guide to navigating that critical first year of college.

Yesterday, TORN,  a collection of essays by 47 women on the dual pull of work and family, hit #1 on Amazon in the category of books on motherhood and ranked #337 of all books. Part of this spike in ratings resulted from the New York Times parenting columnist, Lisa Belkin’s choice of the book as the first in a “Motherlode” bookclub, launched yesterday.  Thank you, Lisa!  Yet, TORN was published by a small West-coast press that I, as an agent, had never heard of until six months ago.  The book had been shopped to some major publishers who loved the content but were wary about taking on another book on  work/life balance. Coffeetown did not hesitate. They embraced the book, and TORN’s amazing editor, Samantha Parent Walravens went to work.

Walravens’ efforts, first to solicit high quality, provocative pieces from excellent and motivated writers, and then to put it on the map, could offer a course to authors on how to be an engine for your book.  In effect, we don’t have one “author” on this book, but rather 47 motivated women from all around the country, who guided by Walravens’, are working hard to give the book a profile, set up events and signings in each of their respective areas.  The result is a truly national and dynamic campaign.  Not only has Samantha Parent Walravens’ been interviewed and featured by major press, but each of these women has taken ownership of a piece of the campaign.  On June 14, UBS will partner with Walravens to celebrate Torn in a major event in New York City, where Belkin will also be featured.  I’ll be sure to share some photos with you then.

Whatever side of the debate a woman is on–to work, to stay home, or to try to juggle both, TORN is a testament to the true heroines, the women who struggle to be the best they can be, all the while admitting how hard it is, the occasional humor and constant heartache of making tough choices, and the fact that you don’t always have to choose.

For more about TORN and its feisty editor and champion:

www.samanthawalravens.com Follow me www.Facebook.com/tornthebook

–Joelle Delbourgo

47 women explore the conflict between the need to nurture and the need to work, and reveal creative solutions for having the best of both worlds. Chosen by New York Times parenting columnist, Lisa Belkin, as the first selection of the “Motherlode” Book Club.  “A welcome addition to the…books about the work/life balance.”–The Los Angeles Times