Sonali Chanchani is an active literary agent at Folio Literary Management, specializing in literary and upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction. She is currently open to submissions.
About Sonali Chanchani
Sonali Chanchani is a literary agent and Contracts & International Rights Manager at Folio Literary Management. She began her publishing career at Kaya, an independent press focused on authors from the Asian diaspora. Her clients include Maureen “Mo” Ryan, Curtis Chin, Dr. Mariel Buqué, Rebecca Little and Colleen Long, and Joél Leon.
Chanchani primarily represents narrative and idea-driven nonfiction, including investigative journalism, cultural criticism, history, social justice, memoir, and essays. She also represents select literary and upmarket fiction, particularly novels engaging with contemporary issues, identity, belonging, and community, as well as atmospheric stories with speculative or fabulist elements. She accepts email queries accompanied by the first 10 pages of a proposal or manuscript.
Sonali Chanchani — Literary Agent
Submitting Your Work to Sonali Chanchani
Before querying Sonali Chanchani
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 Sonali Chanchani's list by reviewing recently represented titles and the agency's current submission guidelines before querying.
If you have recently queried Sonali Chanchani or have experience with this agent, please submit a comment below. Recent response times are always welcome and helpful to other writers.
From the Sonali Chanchani Submission Guidelines:
Folio Literary Management asks writers to review its agents’ profiles and follow the chosen agent’s individual submission instructions. Query only one Folio agent at a time and present one project—the one most polished and ready for publication. Novels should be complete before querying; nonfiction projects require a complete proposal with a sample chapter. Submission materials should be double-spaced and carefully proofread. www.foliolit.com
Most Folio agents respond to queries, but a reply is not guaranteed. If one agent declines, the agency generally considers the project a poor fit for its other agents as well. Writers who subsequently query another Folio agent should disclose the earlier submission.
Submission Tips for Sonali Chanchani:
Current wishlist: Chanchani seeks deeply researched, idea-driven nonfiction that contributes to social and cultural conversations, especially work centered on historically underrepresented voices. In fiction, she is interested in contemporary social and cultural issues, atmospheric stories with speculative or fabulist elements, emotional insight paired with humor, and themes of identity, belonging, community, and inheritance.
Query and Submission Hints
Include the word QUERY and the title of your project in the subject line.