Agency Co-Founder Elizabeth Pomada worked at David McKay, Holt Rinehart & Winston, and the Dial Press in New York City before moving to San Francisco in 1970 with her partner and husband, Michael Larsen. Together, they started Michael Larsen – Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents in 1972. Since then, they have sold books from hundreds of authors to more than 100 publishers. Elizabeth is a member of the Association of Author’s Representatives, The Author’s Guild, ASJA, WNBA and co-founder with Michael of the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Writing for Change conference. She travels extensively, speaking at conferences, universities and in front of other groups of writers. She represents narrative non-fiction (memoir), adult commercial and literary fiction, women’s fiction, romance, thrillers and mysteries. She can be queried at larsenpoma@aol.com.
She loves to find promising new writers who are writing books that will interest New York publishers. The agency’s client list over the past 35 years has included bestselling authors such as:
* Cherie Carter-Scott, If Life is a Game, These are the rules, a #1 New York Times bestseller
* Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, the film version of which was recently released as The Peaceful Warrior.
* Cynthia Freeman, A World Full of Strangers
* Karen Lustgarten, The Complete Guide to Disco Dancing
* Katherine Kerr, author of the fifteen-volume Deverry series, who has been called “Tolkein’s heir”
They also represent Jay Conrad Levinson, author and co-author of the Guerrilla Marketing series which now numbers more than 40 books.
Between them, Mike and Elizabeth have written or coauthored fourteen books. Mike and Elizabeth coauthored the six books in the Painted Ladies series. Publishers Weekly chose the second book in the series, Daughters of Painted Ladies, as one of the best books of the year. Elizabeth is the author of the ninth, 30th-anniversary edition of Fun Places to Go with Children in Northern California. For more information, please visit www.paintedladies.com.
The San Francisco Writers Conference has been ongoing annually since 2004. Information on the upcoming conference, including dates and participants, can be found at www.sfwriters.org. The conference has breakout sessions on adult fiction and nonfiction, YA and children’s books, poetry, and screenwriting. Attendees have the chance to pitch their books, one on one, to a room full of agents. They also have the chance to pitch their books to editors and to get feedback on their work.
Elizabeth and Mike long to have enough time to read books between covers without the phone or doorbell ringing. But for a literary agent, enough time is an oxymoron.
Elizabeth’s Submission Guidelines
One of our favorite William Hamilton cartoons shows a young writer
confiding to a friend over a glass of wine:
“I haven’t actually been published or produced yet.
But I have had some things professionally typed.”
Elizabeth Pomada handles literary and commercial fiction, romance, thrillers, mysteries, narrative non-fiction and mainstream women’s fiction. If you have completed a novel, please email the first 10 pages and 2 page synopsis to larsenpoma@aol.com. Use 14-point typeface, double-spaced, as an email letter with no attachments.
Please note: Elizabeth cannot take the time to read a full manuscript if other agents are reading it. That’s why she asks for complete manuscripts, on an exclusive basis, when she is interested in a project. Always include a 2-page synopsis, SASE, bio and phone number with a requested manuscript.
ALL THE DETAILS TO SUBMIT A REQUESTED MANUSCRIPT TO ELIZABETH:
To receive the best treatment from an agent and editor, your manuscript should look like it’s worth the advance you want for it. Please don’t send disks of any type. Number pages consecutively. Present your manuscript in 12 or 14-point type, double-spaced, immaculately on 20-pound white bond paper.
Use a spellchecker. “Butt two bee ore knot too bee” is spelled correctly! Also proofread your work thoroughly, and get a second proofreader to go over it. Typos can be a fatal flaw. Your printer should be letter-quality and have fresh ink or toner. Use a serif typeface such as Courier or Times Roman. Limit each page to 25, double-spaced 60-character lines or about 250 words on a page. Do not justify the right margin. At the left margin of the page, half an inch from the top, place your last name/first key word from the title. On the same line, flush right, type the number of the page. Number pages consecutively from 1 to the end of the proposal or manuscript. Use one side of the paper only.
Submit material unbound, without paper clips or staples. Submit high-quality copies of text and illustrations. Include your name, your snail and e-mail addresses, and day and evening phone numbers in all correspondence on the title page. Include what you want us to know about you and your work in your one-page cover letter.
Do not send a complete manuscript unless it is asked for. If you want to do a multiple query letter submission, mention that it’s a multiple submission in a brief cover letter that includes what you want the reader to know about you and your work. If you’ve finished more than one novel, please choose your strongest work and tell us briefly about your other books. Like editors, agents aren’t looking for literary one-night stands. They want writers who can keep turning out books. If you have ideas for other books, very briefly mention them in your cover letter.
Agents and editors cannot assume responsibility for submissions so package your material carefully. For sample material, use a manila envelope or a #5 mailing bag. Enclose another stamped, self-addressed return mailer for its return. Don’t use metered postage which can only be used on the day printed. If you’re sending a complete manuscript, place it in a #6 mailing bag along with a stamped, self-addressed return mailer. If you want us to recycle your submission, say so, but enclose a stamped, self-addressed #10 envelope–not a small, personal correspondence envelope–with stamps affixed to the envelope, not loose, to ensure a response.
Packages weighing more than a pound must be brought to the post office which may delay their return, another reason to enclose just a #10 SASE. Because we receive a few thousand submissions a year and because we may be away when your submission arrives, please allow four weeks and mailing time for a response. We read submissions as quickly as we can in the order we receive them.
Please don’t call to see if your submission arrived because we don’t keep track of every submission we receive. If you want to be sure, send it registered or with delivery confirmation, use UPS or FedEx, or enclose a self-addressed postage-paid postcard (SASP) ready for us to return to you.
Since we can’t mix and match mail, please don’t send follow-up additions to a submission.
Many thanks for your patience. Hope we can help!