MAR 20 | 6:30pm at McNally Jackson Seaport
Literary Agent 101
with Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Alia Hanna Habib, and Kate Dwyer
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Join McNally Jackson for the launch of our Publishing 101 series! This series aims to demystify the publishing process through conversations with industry professionals who have done it all, and seen it all. For our inaugural event, we welcome Meredith Kaffel Simonoff and Alia Hanna Habib to discuss all things agenting — from finding a literary agent and navigating the agent-client relationship to becoming an agent yourself.
The publishing world is tough to maneuver and for first-time authors, finding a literary agent may be the most daunting part of the process. Which agents will understand your vision? When is it time to follow up? How do you write an eye-catching query letter? What even is a query letter?? And once you have an agent, what should you expect out of your working relationship?
Moderated by Kate Dwyer, Kaffel Simonoff and Habib will discuss the ups and downs of seeking representation. They'll also share their own career paths to agenting, as well as the agent-client relationship — because Habib happens to be Kaffel Simonoff's client, too.
We want to answer your agenting questions! Please email questions ahead of time at events@mcnallyjackson.com. There will be an audience Q&A, followed by mingling in the wine bar.
Meredith Kaffel Simonoff is a literary agent at The Gernert Company, which she joined in 2022 after ten years at DeFiore and Company, preceded by six years at the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency. She represents primarily literary and upmarket fiction, and select nonfiction. Her clients have been awarded or named as finalists for The National Book Award, The Booker Prize, The Story Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Hugo Award, the NBCC John Leonard Prize, the Stonewall Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Whiting Award, the Arab American Book Award, the Lambda Literary Prize for Transgender Fiction, and the NYPL Young Lions Award, among other honors. Across her list, Meredith seeks a ferocity of language, intellect, purpose, and heart.
Alia Hanna Habib is a literary agent and Vice President at The Gernert Company, which she joined in 2017 after starting her publishing career as a publicist at HMH and working as an agent at McCormick Literary. She is the author of Take It From Me: An Agent’s Guide to Building a Nonfiction Career from Scratch, forthcoming from Pantheon in January 2026 and the Substack Delivery & Acceptance. Among the New York Times-bestselling and prize-winning clients she represents are Clint Smith, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Lauren Oyler, Merve Emre, Adam Serwer, and Hanif Abdurraqib. She is on the board of n+1 literary magazine and on the creative council of Aspen Words. She lives in Brooklyn.
Kate Dwyer has reported on books, authors, and the publishing industry for the New York Times, the New Yorker, Esquire, the Wall Street Journal, and many other outlets. Her writing has appeared in National Magazine Award-winning packages and in anthologies such as The Best American Magazine Writing. She holds a B.A. in The Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University, and is working on two book projects.