Ask An Agent Anything, Sponsored by AWP

Friday, March 6, 9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. ET
Ballroom I, Baltimore Convention Center, Level 400

Ever wonder what literary agents really look for in a query? Or how they decide which projects to take on? Join us for this candid conversation among a panel of literary agents answering your questions about everything from submissions and publishing trends to representation and more. Whether you’re seeking representation or are just curious about how the industry works, this is a rare opportunity to hear directly from the experts.
 
All questions must be submitted in advance via the #AWP26 Ask an Agent Anything form. The deadline to submit a question is Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Heather Carr is an agent at the Friedrich Agency, where she represents award-winning and bestselling fiction and nonfiction for adults. She’s seeking literary fiction and high-concept commercial fiction, including that which dabbles in the surreal and suspenseful. She particularly enjoys when genre elements are used to explore the places where language fails us. In nonfiction she’s looking for intersectional, voice-driven narrative projects, and her areas of interest include science, nature, social justice, and culture.
 
Photo credit: Hannah Tran




Nicole Cunningham is a literary agent at Trellis Literary Management, where she recently joined after nine years at the Book Group. She represents adult literary, upmarket, book club, and genre fiction, with a love of books with sharp teeth and soft insides, as well as select nonfiction.










Kayla Lightner is an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary. Her clients include award winners like Annabelle Tometich, Isabel Yap, and Minda Honey. A believer in fearless curiosity, Lightner loves adult fiction and nonfiction that straddles the line between storytelling and teaching readers something new.










Maeve MacLysaght is an agent at Aevitas Creative Management representing commercial genre fiction and graphic novels for all ages, with a focus on marginalized creators. She is drawn to stories with big, campy stakes, lovably immoral characters, and queer-coded villains.

Photo credit: Maeve MacLysaght




Regina Brooks is the founder and CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency in New York, the largest African American–owned agency in the US. She has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Currently the president of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA), Brooks is also coproducer of the U.S. Book Show and a founding member of Literary Agents of Change (LAOC) and the Black Book Accelerator. She is a board member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Women’s Media Group, New York Women in Film & Television, and the National Book Foundation’s Book Council. Brooks is the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Getting Published (Sourcebooks), You Should Really Write a Book: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir (St. Martin’s Press), and ESSENCE magazine’s quick-pick children’s book Never Finished, Never Done (Scholastic). Brooks is a copublisher with Open Lens, an imprint of Johnny Temple’s (founder of the Brooklyn Book Festival) Akashic Books. She also partnered with jessica Care moore and was instrumental in relaunching Moore Black Press as an Amistad/HarperCollins poetry imprint. Brooks has been highlighted in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, BK Reader, and the Los Angeles Times. Her awards and honors include a Stevie Award in Business and a Stevie Award for Women Entrepreneurs. The National Association of Professional Women named Brooks woman of the year, she received Digital Book World’s DEI award, and Writer’s Digest magazine named Serendipity Literary Agency as one of the top twenty-five literary agencies. Prior to her publishing career, Brooks worked as an aerospace engineer and made history as the first African American woman to receive a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the Ohio State University, and today she’s a pilot and cofounder of Brooklyn Aviation. When she’s not agenting, she’s gardening, fishing, and flying her own plane (always in a dress).