Literary Agents

Lucinda Halpern
President of Lucinda Literary 

With twenty years of experience in corporate and agency publishing, Lucinda serves both sides of the literary and business worlds. An editorially invested partner with a specialty in book marketing strategy, she has an “all in” dedication and work ethic when it comes to representing authors, and a track record of procuring top media placements, lecture engagements, and tv/film deals for her clients.

Lucinda began her publishing career in the Publicity Division of HarperCollins, assisting on campaigns for New York Times bestselling authors like Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt (Freakonomics).

She later joined Scholastic’s Marketing Partnerships Division, developing custom publishing programs to a variety of Fortune 500 companies and global nonprofits.

Her literary representation career at Fletcher & Company (now United Talent), where she also acted as a marketing consultant to Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project.

Today, she represents New York Times, Wall Street Journal and internationally bestselling authors writing in the categories of business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction, including New York Times bestselling authors Dan Martell (Buy Back Your Time), novelist Jayne Allen (Black Girls Must Die Exhausted)  Susan Peirce Thompson (Bright Line Eating), Jake Wood (Once a Warrior), Cait Flanders (The Year of Less), Paul Jarvis (Company of One), and as a collaborator, the bestselling author of The Nanny Diaries, Nicola Kraus. Client Chris Bailey (The Productivity Project; Hyperfocus) has said, “Never mind my books, I’d trust Lucinda, and the entire team at Lucinda Literary, with my life. Lucinda is the most resourceful person I’ve ever worked with—and she’s given me open, honest, and valuable feedback through each stage of the publishing process.”

Today, Lucinda enjoys speaking and coaching writers of all stages to understand and break through in book publishing. She is the author of Get Signed: Find An Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author, published with Hay House/Penguin Random House in February of 2024.

Learn more about Lucinda’s approach in our new company trailer, in this Forbes article, or listen to her most recent podcast interviews on The Writer Files and Authors Who Lead.

Lucinda studied at the Nightingale-Bamford School, The Lawrenceville School, McGill University, and the Sorbonne in Paris. She is originally from New York City, where her company is based.

To book Lucinda for an interview, speaking event, or conference, visit her speaking page. To coach with Lucinda on how to present your work to the publishing market, learn more here.

Craig Pyette
Agent at Lucinda Literary

Craig is a former senior editor at Knopf and Random House Canada, with over 20 years of experience in publishing. He has worked on bestselling and award-winning nonfiction while developing successful marketing and publicity strategies. At Penguin Random House, he collaborated with investigative journalists, scientists, political leaders, and professional athletes. His projects included nine number-one bestsellers. Among them was the Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller 12 Rules for Life. This book has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Books he edited have received over seventy award wins and nominations and have been successfully adapted for stage and screen.

Craig is particularly interested in investigative nonfiction, true crime, psychology, health, and popular science. He also focuses on economics, business, and big idea nonfiction. At Lucinda Literary, he is building a select list of thought leaders and innovators. These individuals bring unique and challenging perspectives to the world of books..

Kelly Bergh
Agent at Lucinda Literary

Kelly began her career as an editor in academic publishing before briefly working as a children’s librarian. She later joined Lucinda Literary, where she built a list in adult practical nonfiction. Her focus is on health and wellness, spirituality, and popular science. She also takes on children’s and gift books or decks in these same areas.

As a certified yoga teacher, Kelly represents authors who educate and empower others to live in alignment with their values. She seeks PhDs and journalists who want to share their research with a general audience. Additionally, she works with thought leaders and influencers looking for a new medium to connect with their audiences.

Kelly holds a master’s degree in publishing from Drexel University and splits her time between Philadelphia and Seattle.

Julia Collucci
Project & Program Manager at Lucinda Literary

As a former private English teacher, Julia combines her passion for organization and project management with her love for reading and editorial work. She graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s degree in English and minors in Psychology and Creative Writing. During her senior year, she was honored as a Paul Robeson Scholar for her Undergraduate Honors Thesis, which explored identity issues in three fin de siècle fiction novels.

Julia helps develop editorial projects and serves as a program manager and liaison for participants in Lucinda Literary’s courses and workshops.

In nonfiction, she seeks works supported by psychology-based research. She is particularly drawn to engaging stories that inspire readers to think differently and change their perspectives.

Elizabeth Guthrie
Talent Director at Lucinda Literary

As an author and editor in the complementary medicine space, Elizabeth became interested in publishing after going through the querying and submission process herself, landing a book deal for Earth’s Embrace, which explores post-traumatic growth through the lens of plant medicine. Elizabeth was drawn to Lucinda Literary because of the agency’s commitment to fostering quality relationships with its authors.

As talent director, she is committed to supporting writers in finding the most effective way to develop their manuscripts into impactful books that shine.

Viviana Freyer
Editorial Assistant at Lucinda Literary

Viviana Freyer is an Editorial Assistant at Lucinda Literary. In fiction, she particularly enjoys voice-y narrators who muse (or kvetch) about everyday life. Additionally, she is drawn to stories where a big city becomes almost another character, such as in A Gentleman in Moscow or the works of Fiona Davis. She loves nonfiction that engages critically with the female experience. In the children’s categories, she especially enjoys both fiction and nonfiction that teach young readers about the world they have inherited. Furthermore, she is drawn to stories that encourage them to make it a better place.

Viviana graduated magna cum laude and with honors from Bryn Mawr College, where she double-majored in English and French and minored in History of Art

Emma Hong
Agency Intern at Lucinda Literary

Emma began working as Kelly Bergh’s editorial assistant while attending the University of Washington, where she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s in English and minor in Informatics. During that time, she also worked as an editorial intern for Epicenter-Coffeetown Press. Emma assists Kelly with acquiring works of practical nonfiction and reviews queries in self-help, health and wellness, and literary fiction genres.
Emma’s interests lie in the fantasy, mystery, short story, narrative nonfiction, and literary fiction genres, as well as in stories that examine the subjectivity of marginalized perspectives. As an aspiring editor, her passion is to help writers develop their understanding of the craft and bring out the unique idea, voice, and style of their projects. In addition to interning, Emma is a freelance editor and writing tutor at the Literacy Source, an adult literacy center based in Seattle.

Ruth Daniels
Marketing Coordinator at Lucinda Literary

Ruth assists the Lucinda Literary team with Marketing and Customer Support.

Kate Rizzo
Rights

Kate Rizzo handles the foreign rights for Lucinda Literary, and has been the Rights Director at Greene & Heaton since 2013. She began working in publishing at The Robbins Office, Inc. in New York before moving to London in 2009 and continuing to work in translation rights at AM Heath, Ltd. and Mulcahy Conway Associates.

Kate works closely with sub-agents in some territories and directly with publishers in Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scandinavia, and Spain with the aim of selling an authors’ works into as many languages as possible, and help their writing careers extend beyond the UK and the English language.

To contact Kate directly, click here.

Deirdre Smerillo
Contracts

Deirdre oversees contracts for Lucinda Literary. She is the principal partner of Smerillo Associates, a consulting firm founded in 2006 which specializes in contract and royalty management for independent publishers, literary agencies, and other industry professionals. Her 35 years of experience in the book publishing industry includes in-house positions as Director of Contracts for the Hyperion Books division of the Walt Disney Company and Director of Contracts for Random House, Inc. Deirdre holds a BA from Rutgers College and an MBA from Monmouth University.

Ashley Bernardi
Affiliate

Lucinda Literary selectively partners with creator of Nardi Media, LLC, Ashley Bernardi, who brings over a decade of booking and producing experience in the television broadcast industry, including CBS News, Washington Post Live, and Bloomberg. She has helped countless clients achieve their broadcast outreach goals by securing interviews and placements on NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, NPR, Business Insider, and hundreds of other national and local television and radio outlets across the world. Ashley manages the full production of satellite media tours, including television and radio bookings, media strategy, media training, producing and logistics. Throughout her career, she has booked and interviewed Heads of State, celebrities, lawmakers, Presidential candidates, guests for breaking news stories, and more. She is based in Washington, D.C.