Don Congdon Associates

What Don Congdon Associates does

Don Congdon Associates, Inc. is an independently held literary agency founded in 1983 by Don Congdon and Michael Congdon, headquartered at 88 Pine Street in New York City. The agency represents a roster of more than 100 fiction, nonfiction, children's/YA, and estate clients, including David Sedaris, Judith Viorst, the Ray Bradbury Estate, the William Manchester Estate, the Richard Matheson Estate, Thomas Berger, and Alessandra Torre. All five agents are members of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA), and the firm has operated continuously for over four decades following the 2009 death of co-founder Don Congdon, with Michael Congdon continuing as President and now closed to new clients.

The business operates on a standard literary agency commission model with no upfront fees or reading fees charged to authors. Revenue is generated through commissions on domestic publishing rights, foreign rights sold via a co-agent network spanning more than 20 territories (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Korea, China, Russia, Brazil, the Baltics, Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Middle East, and others), film and TV rights (handled via specialized partners such as Theseus Agency and Alan Gasmer), and permissions licensing. The agency takes submissions through its website, QueryTracker, and QueryManager platforms, with individual agents maintaining distinct acquisition preferences.

The firm runs no proprietary technology systems, offers no API surface, and has no AI/ML capabilities evident in the input data. It is a pure professional services business whose assets are the agents' personal relationships, the prestige of its client roster (Pulitzer, National Book Award, Edgar, O. Henry, Bram Stoker, and other recognition across its authors), and the curated international co-agent infrastructure that converts a domestic book deal into a multi-territory royalty stream.

Name

Don Congdon Associates

Legal name

Don Congdon Associates, Inc.

Website

https://doncongdon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Don Congdon Associates is a privately held New York literary agency founded in 1983 that represents 100+ fiction, nonfiction, children's/YA authors and literary estates through five agents, earning commissions on domestic publishing, international rights in 20+ territories, and film/TV deals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Agency Services

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

General Trade Publishing (Adult Fiction & Nonfiction) (MPAJAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Genre & Category Publishing (Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Sci‑Fi/Fantasy, etc.) (MPAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Literary representation services
• Author representation
• Foreign rights sales
• Film TV rights management
• Permissions licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Literary Representation and Rights Management: Standard literary agency commission model. Represents authors and their estates for publishing rights, handling domestic and international book sales, film/TV rights, and permissions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Don Congdon Associates is a literary agency that represents fiction and nonfiction authors and literary estates, providing literary representation services including domestic rights sales, international rights sales through a global co-agent network, film/TV rights management, permissions and licensing, and ongoing career development. The firm serves a roster of more than 100 authors and estates, including high-profile figures and named literary estates.

Product overview

Don Congdon Associates, Inc. is an independent literary agency established in 1983 that provides author representation services. The agency offers a unified suite of literary representation services encompassing author submissions, domestic and international rights management, film and TV rights handling, permissions/licensing, and co-agent coordination. The agency represents a distinguished roster of fiction and nonfiction authors, both debut and established, as well as literary estates including those of Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, and William Manchester. All agents are members of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Literary Representation Services Full-service literary agent representation for fiction and nonfiction authors and literary estates, including submissions handling, deal negotiation, and ongoing career development.
• Foreign Rights Management International rights placement for authors' titles via a global co-agent network spanning more than 20 territories.
• Film/TV Rights Management Representation of authors' film/TV, media, and dramatic rights through agents and sub-agents.
• Permissions and Licensing Clearing and licensing of permissions for excerpt, reprint, and adaptation uses of represented works.
• Submissions Handling Submission and query management service for authors and book proposals, tracked through QueryTracker and QueryManager platforms.

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mira Droumeva - Andrew Nurnberg Associates SofiacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent representing Bulgarian, Serbian, and Romanian territories for foreign rights sales.
• Marta Soukopova - Andrew Nurnberg Associates PraguecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia foreign rights.
• Lily Chen, Maggie Han, Erica Zhou, Wendy King - Big Apple Agency ChinacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agents for China mainland, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
• Chris Lin - Big Apple Agency TaiwancoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Taiwan foreign rights.
• Catherine Lapautre - Michelle Lapautre AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for France.
• Sabine Pfannenstiel - Andrew Nurnberg Associates InternationalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Germany.
• Nike Davarinou - Read n' Right AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Greece.
• Judit Hermann - Andrew Nurnberg Associates BudapestcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Hungary and Croatia.
• Amelie CherlincoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Iran and Middle East (except Turkey and Israel).
• Vicki Satlow - The Agency srlcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Italy.
• Asako Kawachi, Ken Mori, Misa Morikawa - Tuttle-Mori AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agents for Japan.
• Henry Shin - Eric Yang AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Korea.
• Tatjana Zoldnere - Eastern European and Asian Rights AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
• Ylva Monsen - Andrew Nurnberg AssociatescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland.
• Marcin Biegaj, Anna Jedrzejczyk - Andrew Nurnberg Associates WarsawcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agents for Poland.
• Olga Lutova, Anastasia Falcon - Andrew Nurnberg Literary Agency MoscowcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agents for Russia.
• Marina Penalva - Casanovas & Lynch Agencia LiterariacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agent for Spain, Portugal, and South America.
• Amy Spangler, Ozlem Oztemel - AnatoliaLit AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agents for Turkey.
• Caspian Dennis, Anna Carmichael, Rachel Clements, Imogen Bovill - Abner Stein AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-agents for United Kingdom.
• Theseus AgencyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHandles film and TV rights for Ray Bradbury's estate.
• Alan GasmerminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFilm agent handling Richard Matheson's film/TV rights.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Wylie Agency: Independent literary agency representing bestselling and award-winning authors across literary and commercial fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. Direct peer due to similar boutique size, trade publishing focus, and representation of estates and high-profile authors.
• Sterling Lord Literistic: Long-established independent literary agency founded in 1952 with comparable roster of literary and commercial authors, including estates. Comparable because it similarly serves trade publishing clients with a multi-agent boutique model.
• Trident Media Group: Independent literary agency handling both fiction and nonfiction, with strong foreign rights and subsidiary rights operations. Directly comparable to Don Congdon in scope, foreign co-agent network, and multi-agent structure.
• Writer's House: One of the largest U.S. literary agencies representing trade fiction and nonfiction across all major categories. Comparable as a direct competitor pursuing the same authors and publishers with similar commission-based rights representation.
• Foundry Literary + Media: Mid-size independent literary agency with a broad roster across fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. Comparable due to similar boutique multi-agent model, AALA membership, and submissions-via-query platform model.
• Ink Well Management: Independent literary agency founded by a former agent, representing literary and commercial fiction and nonfiction with strong international co-agent relationships. Directly comparable to Don Congdon in author types served and rights representation model.
• Janklow & Nesbit: Prestigious independent literary agency with a long-running roster of award-winning literary and commercial authors. Comparable due to similar boutique prestige positioning and emphasis on estates and deep author relationships.
• Curtis Brown Group: Major UK literary agency representing literary and commercial authors with international co-agent reach. Comparable as a similarly-sized transatlantic peer agency with overlapping author pool and rights representation model.

Broad incumbents

• William Morris Endeavor (WME): Global talent agency with a substantial book publishing division handling literary and commercial authors. Comparable as a competitor pursuing the same authors, but much larger and offering broader entertainment rights across film, TV, and digital.
• Creative Artists Agency (CAA): Mega-talent agency with a major literary and publishing division following the ICM Partners merger. Comparable as a competitor in author representation, but operates at far greater scale with broader entertainment and publishing capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/don-congdon-assoc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Don Congdon Associates