Laura Dail Literary Agency

Carrie Pestritto worked at Writers House and Prospect Agency before becoming part of the LDLA team. She earned her BA in English, cum laude, from Amherst College in 2009, also spending a year studying abroad at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University.

As an agent, she loves the thrill of finding new authors with strong, unique voices and working closely with her clients.  Carrie always strives to help create books that will introduce readers to new worlds and is drawn in by relatable characters, meticulous world-building, and unusual, compelling premises.

Carrie is currently seeking narrative non-fiction; biography/memoir; commercial fiction with a literary twist; fresh chick-lit; romance; upmarket women’s fiction; near-historical fiction (from about the Gilded Age on); mystery/thrillers for a female audience, as well as cozies. High-concept YA fantasy, especially diverse fantasy; diverse YA and upper MG; MG with a quirky voice; biographical, educational, or cultural picture books. Read Carrie’s MSWL.

Submission Guidelines:

• Send a concise email query letter to: queries [at] ldlainc [dot] com
• Along with your book’s title, please include the name of the agent you are querying in the subject field. This helps guarantee that your submission ends up in the right person’s queue. (Example subject line: QUERY: TITLE for AGENT)
• Your query letter should include a short pitch, a short plot summary, and a short bio. Please also include publisher submission history and previous publishing credits, if applicable. If you are a debut author, do not worry.
• After your query letter, paste the FIRST 5-10 PAGES of your novel into the body of the email. Your writing sample MUST be pasted into the email, as we do not open unrequested attachments of any kind. You may also include a synopsis, but it’s not required.