Submission Guidelines

We are always looking for the finest in commercial fiction and non-fiction. We have a strong background in women's voices, including mysteries, romance, women's fiction, thrillers, suspense, and chick lit. Historical fiction is one of Irene's particular passions and Miriam is fanatical about modern urban fantasies. We are also very interested in Young Adult fiction, both literary and those with an edgy, chick-litty voice.

In non-fiction, Irene is looking for topics on narrative history, social issues and trends, education, Judaica, Francophilia, Anglophilia, other cultures, animals, food, crafts, and memoir.

For Unpublished Authors

If you have a manuscript that you would like to send us, please first ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is this manuscript in the best possible shape? Do I believe it is ready to sell, or am I just testing the waters?
2. Have I completed the manuscript?
3. Does it fit the guidelines of the kinds of books this agency represents?

If you can answer yes to all of the above, then please do the following:

Send a query letter and the first ten pages, along with a detailed synopsis of the entire book, in the body of an email to queries@irenegoodman.com.

You will hear from us in one to two months. If we are interested in your work, we will contact you and ask to see the entire manuscript. If we are not interested, you will receive a form letter. We are genuinely sorry that we have to use a form letter, but we get far too many submissions to make personal responses possible. We are receiving an unprecedented amount of e-mail queries. If you find that the mailbox is full, please try again in two weeks. E-mail queries to our personal addresses will not be answered.

All submissions should be sent by e-mail. We do not consider snail mail queries. We expect a professional presentation that fits basic industry standards.

Please do not send anything other than the requested materials. If you send several chapters or a complete manuscript, we will have to delete it. Because we are receiving over 50 queries a day, the system is getting overloaded. If your e-mail bounces back, please do not call the office. Just try again in a day or two.