Nina Ryan
Nina Ryan is an agent and freelance editor who knows that good books are successful because of good writing and good ideas. “I’ve always been a reader, and for those of us who are readers, writers translate the world. When a story or idea speaks to you, you naturally want to share the experience. This is what working with writers is all about for me.”
Most serious non-fiction and literary fiction is going to sell because of the quality of the writing and the ideas. “My background is editorial, and I find it’s a great strength I bring to authors. Thinking like an editor; anticipating the challenges that will face an editor in publishing a book—all of this tremendously increases the likelihood that the right editor will not only fall in love with a book, but be able to publish it well.”
In working with non-fiction, Nina brings substantial editorial and publishing experience to bear in transforming an author’s specific expertise or experience into a strong book proposal aimed at the widest possible audience. To Touch a Wild Dolphin by Rachel Smolker is a good example. “Rachel is a biologist who did the first long-term study of dolphins in the wild. She knew she had a great subject but she had never written a book or book proposal. We went back and forth intensively and she worked very hard on the proposal. Five publishers bid on the book, which we sold to Doubleday.
Nina began her career at Random House as a publicist. She went on to become an editor working primarily on nonfiction including books by Miami Herald crime reporter Edna Buchanan, Russian novelist Vassily Aksyonov, and political activist Tom Hayden. In 1990 she joined the Palmer & Dodge Agency (now Kneerim & Williams) where she helped develop a list of non-fiction and fiction drawn from Boston’s rich academic, medical and literary communities. She also started the agency’s foreign rights program. Subsequent years in New York, and Berlin took her to the Frankfurt Book Fair and put her in touch with many foreign publishers. During these years she represented her own list of general non-fiction and literary fiction as an independent agent, eventually joining forces with Katherine Cowles. Authors she has represented include Louisa Gilder, Jim Paul, Aryeh Stollman, Baron Wormser, Ted Levin, Rachel Smolker, Caroline Fraser and Claudia Shear.
Nina is particularly interested in natural history, writing that explores a “sense of place,” as well as anything about the ocean. She is also interested in memoir, science, art & literature, spirituality, psychology and history, as well as literary fiction and mysteries. Nina lives in Western Massachusetts. In addition to her work as an agent and freelance editor, she teaches writing workshops and writes poetry.
For more information about editorial services offered by Nina Ryan and Michelle Gillett, please check their website at www.gillettandryan.com.