Paige Wheeler

As a founding partner of Folio Literary Management, LLC., Paige Wheeler has artfully merged her creativity and business savvy to create an agency that is dedicated to maximizing author potential. Prior to forming Folio in 2006, Paige founded Creative Media Agency (CMA) in 1997 and served as its President for nine years. With an entrepreneurial spirit ignited by the thrill of discovery, Paige ventured to support her clients and their unique voices in an unprecedented way. Through Folio she is now able to provide the ability to manage intellectual property rights of authors by selling both domestic and foreign rights, co-agenting film and audio rights, as well as offering the services of a speakers bureau and licensing agency.

What I’d like to represent

I’m looking to represent a broad range of projects. In particular, I’ve been reading upscale commercial fiction and nonfiction books that tell a unique story or ones in which the author has a huge platform. I seem to be especially drawn to a story if it has a high concept and a fresh, unique voice.

Fiction: All commercial fiction and Upscale (think book club) fiction, as well as women’s fiction, romance (all types), mystery, thrillers, inspirational/Christian and psychological suspense. I enjoy both historical fiction as well as contemporary fiction, so do keep that in mind.

Nonfiction: I’m looking for both narrative nonfiction and prescriptive nonfiction. I’m looking for books where the author has a huge platform and something new to say in a particular area. Some of the areas that I like are lifestyle, relationship, parenting, business/entrepreneurship, food-subsistence-homesteading topics, popular/trendy reference projects and women’s issues. I’d like books that would be a good fit on the Today show.

What I’m not looking for

Fiction: children’s, science fiction, fantasy

Nonfiction: academic nonfiction

How to contact me

I am currently open to email queries only. You can query me at paige(@)foliolit.com (be sure to remove the parentheses first). Please include the first five pages cut and pasted to the bottom of the email. Non-fiction submissions should include a bio and competitive titles.

Some favorite (non-client) books

I love Victoria Holt, Pam Houston, Amy Tan, Patricia Cornwell, Lawrence Block, Helen Fielding, Kate White, Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes, Steven J. Gould, Chinua Achebe, Janet Evanovich, Laura Hillenbrand, Dava Sobel, Meg Cabot, Richard Ford, Tracy Chevalier, Philippa Gregory, to name a few.

What kind of writing inspires me

I’m motivated by projects that are commercially viable and that I’ve totally fallen for and can’t stop talking about. I need to be a cheerleader for a project so my enthusiasm level must be very high. However, sometimes I love books that aren’t commercially viable. That’s when I sadly have to turn away projects.

I like books that are well organized, smartly constructed and have a brilliant and unique voice. It’s even better if I learn something fascinating along the way. Don’t just write a story, write it intelligently. More specifically, for fiction I like plot lines that make sense (or are cleverly written); may give a fun twist to a tired storyline; have really engaging, believable characters that shine; are well written with thoughtful prose. In nonfiction, I like for the author to have the expertise to write the book and the platform to help sell it. The projects should cover a niche that has yet to be addressed and be timely and necessary, or at the very least, interesting.

What I love about my job

I love to be an author’s advocate. It’s a thrill to make a writer’s dream come true of selling their book. It’s even more exciting to help that person grow their career. As much as I’d love to shut myself off from the world and read, I’m also an extrovert and love meeting with people. This job really fits my personality. Also, the individuals that make up the publishing industry are simply wonderful: they’re smart, opinionated, well-read, and a bit quirky.

Where to find me:

Paige in the Press

“Interview with Paige Wheeler” on Much Cheaper Than Therapy posted by Kim Watters, May 9, 2008

“An Interview with Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management” Writers on the Rise, Lori Russell, September 7, 2007

“Interview with Agent Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management” on Suite101.com, Suzanne Pitner, June 16, 2010

“Lit Agent, Paige Wheeler: Think Strategically” on Galleycat, Jeff Rivera, March 25, 2010

“Looking For the High Concept: An Interview with Paige Wheeler” by Michael Neff on Web del Sol/Algonkian Workshops, Michael Neff

“Paige Wheeler on What’s Happening in Publishing” on Jungle Red Writers, Roberta Isleib, June 26, 2009

“Spotlighting agent: Paige Wheeler” on Examiner.com, Paige Crutcher, June 21, 2009

“Meet Paige Wheeler” on Killer Hobbies, posted by Deb Baker, April 14, 2007

“Interview with Paige Wheeler” on We Write Romance, March 2005

“Agent Advice: Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management” on Guide to Literary Agents, Ricki Schultz, May 18, 2010

“Agents Tell All in DC: Paige Wheeler, Shannon O’Neill and Suzie Townsend” on Guide to Literary Agents, Chuck Sambuchino, June 13, 2010