On May 23, 2011, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency was established. Designed to navigate the changing world of 21st Century book publishing, HSG is devoted to representing its clients in both the most traditional ways and, as the industry continues to shift, in ways not even conceived of until a short time ago. I am one of the three principals in HSG, alongside my former Russell and Volkening colleagues Carrie Hannigan and Josh Getzler.

I represent adult fiction and non-fiction, and am moving into representation of YA and middle grade.

I look for any book that tells a great story, and reads like a good novel, whether the story is fiction or not. In fiction, I love a good family story and any type of story that evokes a particularly strong emotion, be it a positive or a negative one. I love "comedies" and characters who have a sense of humor. In non-fiction, I am particularly attracted to narrative non-fiction, in the topics of current affairs, science, history, linguistics, and anything having to do with education, food, or travel. Anything that will teach me something new while keeping me turning the pages is the right book for me.

My story: I got my start at Random House, where I worked in the Publicity Department of Ballantine Books. I was an agent at Russell & Volkening for seven years, where I built a list which includes the New York Times bestseller HOPE’S BOY by Andrew Bridge; FORBIDDEN LESSONS IN A KABUL GUESTHOUSE by Suraya Sadeed and Damien Lewis (Voice/Hyperion, June 2011) which Kirkus Reviews has hailed as “a moving message from a courageous humanitarian”; and DOMESTIC VIOLETS, the highly anticipated debut novel from Matthew Norman (Harper Perennial, September 2011). I received my J.D. from Fordham Law School on May 22, 2011 and have my B.A. from Northwestern University.

Anne Tyler; Matthew Norman; Andrew Halloran; Alexander Neubauer; William Loizeaux; Katie McCabe; Suraya Sadeed; Ben Schwartz; Scott Gamm

Anne Tyler, THE BEGINNER'S GOODBYE, Knopf, April 2012
Matthew Norman, DOMESTIC VIOLETS, "Required Reading," The New York Post, August 6, 2011
"Domestic Violets leaves the reader satisfied by the intriguing plot written in a comic spirit; it also endears the author and hero to the reader for maximum poignancy."--NY Journal of Books, August 12th, 2011

Non-fiction:
Business/Investing/Finance
19-year-old founder of www.helpsavemydollars.com, Scott Gamm's MORE MONEY, PLEASE, a personal finance guide for high school and college students that covers credit cards (how many do you really need?), managing debt, saving money, budgeting without compromising your college experience, career planning and all the other useful topics you never learned in school, to Nadia Kashper at Plume, in a nice deal, by Jesseca Salky at Hannigan Salky Getzler(World).

Fiction:
General/Other
Anne Tyler's THE BEGINNER'S GOODBYE, an exploration of loss and recovery in which a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances (in their house, on the roadway, in the market), Sonny Mehta at Knopf, with Judith Jones editing, and to Clara Farmer at Chatto & Windus, in a major deal, for publication in April 2012, by Jesseca Salky at Hannigan Salky Getzler (US & UK).
jsalky@hsgagency.com

Foreign rights to Guanda, in Italy, by Luigi Bernabo at Luigi Bernabo Associates; to Lumen in Spain, by Monica Martin at MB Agency; and to Mellon in Korea, by Yuni Lee at Shinwon Agency.

Matthew Norman's DOMESTIC VIOLETS, following a secret novelist and mediocre husband/father as he navigates an early midlife crisis, global financial hysteria, a handsy stepmother, the prospect of adultery, and the constant shadow of his famous (and fabulously narcissistic) father, to Emily Krump for Harper Perennial, in a nice deal, for publication in 2011, by Jesseca Salky at Russell & Volkening (World).

Andrew Halloran's KEEPER OF THE LEXICON, a look into chimpanzee language showing that while laboratories try in vain to teach human grammar to a chimpanzee, there is a living lexicon being passed down through the generations of each chimpanzee group in the wild, to Daniela Rapp at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by Jesseca Salky at Russell & Volkening (World).

Leora Skolkin-Smith's HYSTERA, taking place inside a New York City mental hospital in 1974, set against the backdrop of the social turmoil of the seventies era, the story of a young woman suffering from a sexual and physical delusion, following slow recovery, to Lou Aronica at The Fiction Studio Imprint, for publication in August 2011, by Tim Seldes and Jesseca Salky at Russell & Volkening (US).

September 7, 2011

Foreign rights to Anne Tyler's THE BEGINNER'S GOODBYE to Ugo Guanda, in Italy, by Luigi Bernabo at Luigi Bernabo Associates; to Lumen in Spain, by Monica Martin at MB Agency; and to Mellon in Korea, by Yuni Lee at Shin Won Agency.

June 29, 2011
Screenwriter of RV and Daddy Day Care Geoff Rodkey's debut THE CHRONICLES OF EGG, alternately pitched as The Princess Bride with 13 year-olds and Harry Potter with Pirates, to Jennifer Besser at Putnam Children's, in a major deal, in a three-book deal, for publication beginning in summer 2012, by Josh Getzler in his first deal since moving to Hannigan Salky Getzler (NA).
Film: Devra Lieb at the Gersh Agency ( dlieb@gershla.com )
Foreign Rights to Sarah Hughes at Penguin Children's UK, at auction, in a good deal, by Kate McClennan at Abner Stein; to Carlsen in Germany, at auction, in a significant deal, by Annelie Geissler at Mohrbooks; to Ediciones B for Spanish & Catalan rights, at auction, by Txell Torrent at MB Agency; to Giunti in Italy, at auction, by Luigi Bernabo Associates; all three-book deals on behalf of Jesseca Salky and Josh Getzler at HSG.

June 16, 2011
Finnish rights to Anne Tyler's BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWNUPS, to Otava, by Philip Sane at Lennart Sane Agency, on behalf of Jesseca Salky at Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency.

July 25, 2011
University of Alabama, Huntsville Professor Samuel Thomas's debut BLOODY NEWES FROM YORK, set in York during the English Civil War and introducing a gentlewoman and midwife and her badass assistant who race to save a friend from being burnt at the stake for treasonous murder, to Charlie Spicer at Minotaur, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Josh Getzler at Hannigan Salky Getzler (NA).
Foreign: jsalky@hsgagency.com

J.D. cum laude, Fordham University Law School; Poets & Writers "21 Literary Agents You Should Know", January/February 2008

Carrie Hannigan, principal, channigan@hsgagency.com
Josh Getzler, principal, jgetzler@hsgagency.com

Maddie Raffel, assistant, mraffel@hsgagency.com

E-mail queries are preferred. Please include the equivalent of a cover letter or synopsis along with the first 5 pages of the book.