Natasha Kern, 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 850 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 dozens of writers conferences including Romance Writers of America National Conference, The Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, Association of Christian Fiction Writers, as well as regularly attending Book Expo and ICRS 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, and American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Natasha explains why she opened a literary agency ...
When not in the office, Natasha is likely to be found in her garden.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 ...
The agency is fortunate enough to be located in a beautiful part of the country, and also near Portland, Oregon.
View pictures of the agency location in the Columbia River Gorge ...
Becky Demarino
Becky has been with the agency since March, 2008 and is the Office Manager and Assistant to Natasha Kern.
Previously she was in customer service with United Airlines
for 16 years, six of those as a Service Director in Portland,
OR. After retiring from UA, it was her passion for reading that
led her to the agency.
Among Becky's favorite authors and titles are: Sue Monk Kidd ( The Secret Lives of Bees ), Sherry Jones (The Jewel of Medina), Jane Kirkpatrick ( A Gathering of Finches) , Leanna Ellis, (Elvis Takes a Back Seat) , Tamera Alexander, (Revealed and Remembered), Robin Lee Hatcher, ( The Victory Club and Return To Me), Khaled Hosseini ( The Kite Runner) , Nadine Dajani (Cutting Loose), Jane Auel, (The Clan of the Cave Bear series), Eliot Pattison, (Water Touching Stone), and Anita Shreve (Fortune's Rocks, The Pilot's Wife, etc. – I love all of her books!)
Becky's lived in almost every corner of the US – her three daughters, Jennifer, Lisa and Kelly, were born in Florida, Alaska and Nebraska, respectively. Other favorite residences were in Texas, Virginia and California. She currently lives in White Salmon, Washington with the love of her life and husband, Tom.