Welcome to the June edition of Agentopia! This month we have Gabrielle Piraino from DeFiore and Company in the spotlight.
About Gabrielle
Gabrielle Piraino was raised a Navy brat but has always called the East Coast home. As a kid, she could either be found with her nose in a book or clambering around outdoors collecting freckles, though not much has changed. She graduated early from St. Bonaventure University with a dual-B.A. in Honors Classical Languages and English. Trading upstate for the five boroughs, Gabbie then earned her Masters of Science in Publishing at Pace University in Manhattan. She has previously worked for both major commercial publishing houses and literary agencies alike, including Farrar, Straus & Giroux and most recently, AGI Vigliano. Gabbie joined the team at DeFiore and Company in the summer of 2016. Outside of the office, her hobbies include baking, crafts, rugby—though she’s retired from the pitch—losing miserably at Mario Kart, and befriending strangers to pet their dogs.
When considering new projects, Gabbie is most drawn to strong narrative voices, unique world-building, and diverse casts of characters. Focused specifically on building long-term relationships with authors, she is currently accepting queries for sci-fi, fantasy, horror, thriller, and up-market chick lit (both Adult and YA). She’d also be happy to review queries from prospective author-illustrators for comics/graphic novels, as well as Children’s and Middle Grade stories with compelling characters.
Children’s/YA Authors she can’t get enough of (in no particular order) include: Lewis Carroll, Philip Pullman, Leigh Bardugo, Gennifer Albin, Laini Taylor, Marissa Meyer, Orson Scott Card, Ann Aguire, Caragh M. O’Brien, Emmy Laybourne, Paulo Bacigalupi, and Ursula Le Guin.
What is currently on your wish list?
At the top of my #MSWL right now is fast-paced horror. I’d love to represent a story that leaps off the page and forces me to sleep with the lights on. I’m continually on the look out for sci-fi/fantasy stories with strong character development and world-building. Own Voices projects, as applicable, are great too.
What's a personal turn-off in a query which is guaranteed to get the author rejected?
Please proofread your queries very carefully. Any egregious misspellings, letters addressed to different agents, or inability to follow my preferences/guidelines on our company website lose my attention very quickly. Personally, I also prefer to see the word count in the query letter. Bonus points if you spell my nickname correctly (but if you’re nervous, Gabrielle works just as well).
Do you google authors and if yes, what are you looking for?
I review links that the author has chosen to include with their query if I’m interested in requesting more material. Otherwise, I'll ask about the author’s internet platform after I’ve read the full manuscript. As I’m more active in fiction, the strength of the novel is my first priority.
To submit to Gabrielle, send all queries to gabrielle@defliterary.com with “QUERY” in the subject line, as well as a brief plot summary; a brief, relevant bio; the first 50 pages in the body of the email; and a link to a website/portfolio for prospective illustrators.
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