Sarah Burnes is an active literary agent at The Gernert Company. She is currently open to submissions.
About Sarah Burnes
Sarah Burnes is a literary agent at The Gernert Company, which she joined in 2005. She began her publishing career as an editor at Houghton Mifflin, followed by positions with the Knopf Group and Little, Brown. She became a literary agent in 2001 after acquiring and editing literary fiction and nonfiction on the editorial side of the business. Since becoming an agent, she has expanded her list to include children’s fiction.
Sarah Burnes — Literary Agent
Submitting Your Work to Sarah Burnes
Sarah Burnes is a literary agent at The Gernert Company, which she joined in 2005. She began her publishing career as an editor at Houghton Mifflin, followed by positions with the Knopf Group and Little, Brown. She became a literary agent in 2001 after acquiring and editing literary fiction and nonfiction on the editorial side of the business. Since becoming an agent, she has expanded her list to include children’s fiction.
Burnes represents fiction writers, journalists, critics, poets, and children’s authors. Her clients include Christopher Beha, Ruth Franklin, John Freeman, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Susanna Hoffs, Linda Holmes, Alice McDermott, Patricia Park, Caryl Phillips, and Robin Sloan. Writers she represents have received or been shortlisted for honors including the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, Whiting Award, and National Book Critics Circle Awards, and have been selected for major national book clubs.
Burnes also serves on the board of the nonprofit publisher The New Press and co-founded the school-visit nonprofit Writers and Artists Across the Country. She is currently open to queries through The Gernert Company’s general submissions address.
Before querying Sarah Burnes
The Market List recommends you verify this agent is still active and open to submissions before sending a query. Check the agency website, recent deal announcements, and any posted guidelines.
To be sure your project is a fit, we recommend you familiarize yourself with Sarah Burnes's list by reviewing recently represented titles and the agency's current submission guidelines before querying.
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Submission Guidelines for Sarah Burnes / The Gernert Company
The Gernert Company accepts queries by email at info@thegernertco.com. Writers should send a query letter describing the project, include relevant information about themselves, and provide a sample chapter when appropriate. The query should identify the specific agent being approached, and writers are encouraged to review the agency’s team page to determine the best fit. If they have previously corresponded with another Gernert Company agent, they should mention that history in the query.
Queries should not be sent directly to individual agents, even if personal email addresses are available elsewhere. The agency does not accept work in which AI has been used to generate any portion of the text, and writers should not call the office about unsolicited submissions. Mailed queries are not returned, so original materials should not be sent. Due to submission volume, the agency responds only when interested in seeing more material, usually within 4–6 weeks.