close

Read Full Write Up

Jean Naggar

Jean established JVNLA in 1978 in New York City, where she had previously worked as an editor and translator. Her broad-ranging taste in fiction and nonfiction has led to many award-winning titles and numerous bestsellers. She is considered an ace strategist by her clients and has sold a wide range of fiction and nonfiction.

She is also an author, whose poetry has been featured in The Listener and Athanor, and who has been published in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Publishers Weekly, and Writer's Digest. Her memoir of an unusual childhood, Sipping from the Nile: My Exodus from Egypt, was published by Stony Creek Press in 2008.

Jean's client list, vibrant and eclectic, includes the Earth's Children® series by Jean M. Auel; the novels of Mary McGarry Morris, Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, Sarah Waters, Nancy Willard, Lily Prior, Ellis Avery, and Teri Coyne; the thrillers of Phillip Margolin; the mysteries of Ingrid Parker, Christopher Sansom, Gillian Roberts, and Morag Joss; the historical novels of Karleen Koen, Jay Schauer, Donna Cross, David Ball, and Judith Merkle Riley; the literary narrative nonfiction of Carl Safina; the science and philosophy writings of Robert Pollack and Ed Regis; the poetry of Linda Pastan and Nancy Willard; and the sophisticated self-help of Carol Lindquist and Joe Luciani.

Jean is a member of the International Women's Forum, the Women's Media Group, PEN, and the AAR (Association of Authors' Representatives). A former president of the AAR, she served on its board for many years and continues to be active in its various committees.

Jean manages a full list of clients. She is not taking on any new authors.

Links
Back to Our Team

For Agent Shelf Talkers, click on the covers

Jennifer Weltz

As Vice President of JVNLA, Jennifer Weltz has sold books domestically, internationally, and for film for nearly two decades. Coming from a mediation background, Jennifer sees herself as a liaison between her author and the editor and publishing house that acquire her author's work. This role takes on a myriad of forms — business manager, confidant, task master, preliminary editor, and matchmaker — to name a few. Since Jennifer takes up an author's career and not just a project, she is very careful and selective about signing on new authors.

Links
Back to Our Team

For Agent Shelf Talkers, click on the covers

Alice Tasman

Alice Tasman has been a literary agent at JVNLA since 1995. Her list comprises award winning writers, both literary and commercial. She is committed to working with authors over the long term and is very hands on in every stage of the publishing process—from editing manuscripts and refining proposals, to amassing the perfect list of editors for the project and negotiating contracts, to actively working with publishers on the publicity and marketing of the books.

She earned her BA from Brown University and her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Links
Back to Our Team

For Agent Shelf Talkers, click on the covers

Elizabeth Evans

Elizabeth Evans joined JVNLA in January 2010. Previously, she worked for six years in the San Francisco Bay Area with Kimberley Cameron & Associates. She represents a robust nonfiction list and a small but dynamic list of novelists. Elizabeth graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College with a degree in English literature and received an MFA in writing from the University of San Francisco. She credits her parents with inspiring her love of books from an early age. Elizabeth especially loves launching new authors' careers and works closely with her clients to fine-tune their proposals and manuscripts. She is the founder of Room to Write, a volunteer group of over forty New York City publishing professionals, and she teaches a weekly creative writing workshop to high school students in the Bronx.

Links
Back to Our Team

For Agent Shelf Talkers, click on the covers

Jessica Regel

Jessica Regel has been with JVNLA since 2002. She maintains her own list of talented writers while also handling Film, Audio, and UK rights for the agency. Originally from Iowa, she was working at her local library when she was offered an internship at JVNLA and she promptly moved to New York City. After receiving her B.A. in English Literature from Hunter College, she became a full agent at JVNLA, representing both children's and adult writers. With energy and persistence, Jessica works closely with her writers to develop and sell their work to publishing houses.

Links
Back to Our Team

For Agent Shelf Talkers, click on the covers

Our Team

Meet our team, representing fiction, nonfiction, and young readers. While each agent represents her own list, our team works collaboratively to ensure the best representation conceivable for our authors.

Roll over the photos for each agent's quick bio or click on the photo for a more detailed bio and contact information.