Month: September 2024

Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Paige Broadbent of The Purcell Agency

Paige Broadbent is a literary agent with The Purcell Agency.

At the Michigan event, Paige is taking pitches on behalf of not just herself but also her agency. She is seeking pitches for the following genres and categories:

  • Middle grade fiction (contemporary, coming of age, dystopian, romantic, #ownvoices, BIPOC, and LGBTQ​)
  • Young adult fiction (contemporary, coming of age, dystopian, romantic, #ownvoices, BIPOC, and LGBTQ​)
  • New adult fiction (contemporary, coming of age, dystopian, romantic, #ownvoices, BIPOC, and LGBTQ​)
  • Adult fiction — contemporary, upmarket, women’s, book club, mainstream, romance, dystopian, #ownvoices, BIPOC, and LGBTQ
  • Some memoir
  • Children’s picture books
  • Any fairy-tale retelling or re-imagining, especially if pulled into a contemporary setting

Paige is a storyteller and artist from southwestern Ontario, Canada, where she spent her childhood climbing trees and playing make-believe. As a nature enthusiast, Paige advocates for sustainable practices and the preservation and conservation of nature. As a creative, she champions the narrative merit of both traditional and unconventional and/or experimental storytelling techniques and is particularly interested in the narrative capabilities of environmental and non-linear storytelling in video games.

Described as a ‘professional student,’ Paige is a curious individual with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. She is currently working towards an Honours BA (and yes, she spells ‘honours’ with a U) in Creative Writing & Publishing from Sheridan College in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Get to Know a Literary Agent in Attendance: Erika Staiger of Spencerhill Associates

Erika Staiger is a literary agent with Spencerhill Associates.

On behalf of her agency, Erika is seeking commercial fiction — new women’s fiction, romance, historical fiction, thrillers and horror. She is seeking exciting new voices that utilize elements of different genres to tell their story.

Erika  re-joined Spencerhill as an assistant following a semester-long internship in 2018. She holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of South Florida, where she also taught creative writing and worked as a writing tutor. After graduation, she worked in higher education at the University of Central Florida and as a trivia writer for Rez Events. At Spencerhill, Erika is primarily responsible for reading and responding to query submissions. Her greatest ambition in life is to turn her house into the library from Beauty and the Beast. While she reads a wide variety of genres, some of her favorites are fantasy, romance, and historical fiction centered on the lives of women. She lives in Orlando with her husband and their three pets, a cat, a chihuahua, and a geriatric rabbit.