Natasha Kern, Agent, has 24 years of experience in the publishing industry. Before founding her own agency in 1986, she worked as an editor and publicist for New York publishers (Simon & Schuster, Bantam and Ballantine). Natasha has personally sold more than 700 books as an agent and worked on close to 1,000 books during her career in publishing. She represents several NYTimes best selling writers and many writers who have made the USA Today list as well as winners of many notable publishing awards, including: the Edgar Award, the RITA award, the Silver Dagger Award, the Christy Award, the Hurston/Wright Award, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She has taught workshops and been a speaker at writers conferences including The Golden Triangle Conference, The Emerald City Writers Conference, Romance Writers of America National Conference, The Santa Barbara Writers Conference, Willamette Writers Conference, The Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, and many others. She is a member of several writing organizations including Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, The Authors Guild, NAPRA, and American Society of Journalists and Authors. For two years, Natasha agreed to serve as an industry advisor for The Industry Advisory Committee of FHL (Faith, Hope, Love), affiliated with the Romance Writers of America
Natasha explains why she opened a literary agency ...
When I left New York, I knew that I wanted to stay in publishing. However, editorial work was not sufficiently satisfying by itself. I knew I could acquire and develop salable properties and that my background gave me expertise in sales and running a company. I wanted to work with people long term and not just on a single project or phase of one. Plus, I had an entrepreneurial temperament and experience negotiating big money deals from raising venture capital for high tech firms. When I developed literary projects for other agents that did not sell, I knew I could sell them myself, so I did. I've never regretted that decision. Agenting combined my love of books, my affinity for deal-making and my preference for trusting my own intuition. I sold 28 books the first year the agency was in business.
I did everything else I ever wanted to do before becoming an agent. Agenting is truly a calling for me and I would not be as happy doing anything else. It is a case of do what you love (and are good at) and the money follows. I also have a deep commitment to bringing new knowledge, new ideas and new writing into the world. I believe storytelling is powerful and a great book truly can change the world.
View Natasha's Garden in White Salmon, Washington ...
View pictures of the agency location in the Columbia River Gorge ...
The following feature about Natasha was in the Fall/Winter 2001 Columbia University's Owl Alumni Magazine ...
Natasha Kern graduated Phi Beta Kappa from General Studies m 1971. She worked for publishing houses in New York prior to founding her own literary agency in 1986. Since then, the agency has sold nearly 500 books for clients from more than 25 states.
Natasha says, "Editorial work was not sufficiently satisfying by itself. I wanted to work with people in the long term rather than in various phases of a single project. I knew I could acquire and develop salable properties, and I had an entrepreneurial temperament and experience raising venture capital. When I developed for other agents who couldn't sell them, I sold them myself. I've never regretted that decision. I sold 28 books the first year that the agency was in business. Agenting is truly a calling for me."
Her clients include best-selling authors Greg Iles, whose books Spandau Phoenix and Mortal Fear were both New York Times best-sellers. Recent notable books include: The Seventh Telling by Mitchell Chefitz (Los Angeles Times best-seller in 2001), Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl (a Pulitzer nominee), Hope Is The Thing With Feathers by Christopher Cokinos, and The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison (Edgar Award in 2000). Other accolades awarded her clients include the A.L.A. Best Book of the Year, and appearances on the USA Today best-seller and the Amazon top-ten lists.
Natasha has a strong commitment to acquiring and developing new
talent. "I also have a deep commitment to bringing new knowledge,
new ideas, and new writing into the world. I believe storytelling
is powerful, and that a great book can truly change the world.
The message I would most like to convey to writers of any age or
genre is, 'Believe in yourself and your own gifts. Have something
to say, and have the mastery of the craft to say it well."'
Linda Pimley, Office Manager, has
had a long and successful career as an office administrator working
directly with CEOs and managing two of her own businesses. She
runs the office for the agency including bookkeeping, project management
and tracking, liaision with clients and publishers, and executive
management as well as travel and scheduling. Linda
excels at organization and efficiency and helps us to stay consistently
on track and up to date. Linda lives with her husband and
several horses, dogs and cats on a ranch in the beautiful Columbia
Gorge town of Lyle. She loves nature: gardening, horseback
riding, fishing.
Jack Lauer - Jack
maintains the agency website and computer network; manages book
translation rights; and evaluates submissions to the agency.