Frances Goldin Literary Agency
Privately held New York literary agency founded in 1977, employing 11 agents who represent progressive authors across literary fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, memoir, and journalism, selling domestic, foreign, and film/TV rights globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1977
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Frances Goldin Literary Agency does
Frances Goldin Literary Agency is a privately held literary agency founded in 1977 and headquartered at 47 E 19th Street in Manhattan, New York. The firm employs 11 agents who represent emerging and established authors across literary and speculative fiction, investigative journalism, graphic novels, essays, history, sociology, memoir, and biography, with a stated editorial focus on progressive and social-justice-oriented work. Its represented roster has produced winners and shortlisted authors for the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Humanities Medal, MacArthur 'Genius Grant,' Women's Prize for Fiction, PEN/Faulkner Award, Edgar Award, Eisner Award, and numerous other literary honors and foundation grants.
The agency operates on a commission-based business model, earning fees on book sales and on the sale of underlying rights across domestic publishing, foreign translation, film and television adaptation, and licensed permissions. Domestically, agents pitch manuscripts directly to US publishers; internationally, the firm maintains a documented network of 19+ specialized sub-agents covering 20+ territories (Arabic, Brazil/Portugal/Spain, China/Taiwan, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, Russia, and others) and attends international book fairs to develop direct relationships with foreign editors and scouts. A dedicated Rights Director oversees foreign and translation rights sales, and a formal Film & TV practice sells adaptation rights to major and independent producers, studios, and networks; permissions are also handled in-house, with certain estates (e.g., Goodnight Moon) coordinated through Harper Collins. Marketing channels are limited to a Squarespace-hosted informational website, social accounts on X and Bluesky, QueryTracker-based submission intake, and downloadable rights guides for industry buyers.
There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML capability, no funding rounds, no parent company, and no disclosed M&A activity. Operations are conducted from a single Manhattan office, with no app, no SDK, no public APIs, and no integrations. The business is therefore best understood as a relationship-driven, agent-led services firm whose principal growth levers are agent hiring, roster expansion, and rights monetization, rather than technology or capital deployment.
Frances Goldin Literary Agency firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Frances Goldin Literary Agency
- Legal name
- Frances Goldin Literary Agency
- Website
- https://goldinlit.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1977
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Privately held New York literary agency founded in 1977, employing 11 agents who represent progressive authors across literary fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, memoir, and journalism, selling domestic, foreign, and film/TV rights globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Frances Goldin Literary Agency industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Literary Agency Services
- NAICS
- Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (711410)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro industry
- Literary & Classics PublishingMedia, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Book Publishing (Trade & Consumer)Publishing & Submission Prep Workshops (Query Letters, Agents, Journals)
Keywords
Where Frances Goldin Literary Agency is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Frances Goldin Literary Agency business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Commission on Book Sales: The agency earns commissions from book sales and rights transactions on behalf of their represented authors. They handle concept development, proposal preparation, manuscript editing, contract negotiation, publicity, and marketing, with revenue derived from the commercial success of authors' works.
- Foreign Rights Sales: The agency aggressively markets translation rights throughout the world, working with foreign agents and selling directly where necessary. Revenue comes from commissions on international book sales and translation rights.
- Film & TV Rights: The agency works with major and independent film and television producers, studios, and networks in the sale of underlying rights for feature, documentary, series, graphic, and stage adaptations, earning commissions on successful rights sales.
- Permissions: The agency handles permissions requests for licensed use of content, working with the Director of Licensing at Harper Collins for specific titles like Good Night Moon.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Frances Goldin Literary Agency product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Frances Goldin Literary Agency is a full-service literary representation agency that represents authors across literary fiction, speculative fiction, investigative journalism, graphic novels, essays, history, sociology, memoir, and biography. The agency provides concept development, proposal preparation, manuscript editing, contract negotiation, publicity, and marketing, and sells rights across US publishing, foreign translation rights, film/TV adaptations, and permissions/licensing. Revenue is earned through commissions on authors' book sales and rights transactions, with a stated focus on progressive and social-justice-oriented authors.
Product overview
Frances Goldin Literary Agency operates as a single, unified service offering centered on literary representation. The agency provides comprehensive author representation across multiple genres (literary fiction, speculative fiction, nonfiction, memoir, graphic novels, and poetry), supplemented by specialized rights management services including foreign rights sales, film and TV adaptations, and permissions licensing. The core offering combines manuscript development, contract negotiation, publicity, and marketing support with rights sales across global media markets and territories.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Literary Representation Services
- Foreign Rights Services
Quantifiable outcome
- Authors have won or been shortlisted for Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Humanities Medal, Women's Prize for Fiction, and many other major awards
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Frances Goldin Literary Agency
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Frances Goldin Literary Agency technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Frances Goldin Literary Agency partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
20 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Bears FactorcoreSub-agent for Arabic language translation rights representation
- The Foreign OfficecoreSub-agent for Brazil, Portugal, and Spanish market translation rights
- ANTHEA AgencycoreSub-agent for Bulgaria translation rights
- The Grayhawk AgencycoreSub-agent for China and Taiwan translation rights
- Kristin Olson Literary AgencycoreSub-agent for Czech Republic translation rights
- Eliane Benisti AgencycoreSub-agent for France translation rights
- Liepman AGcoreSub-agent for Germany translation rights
- JLM Literary AgencycoreSub-agent for Greece translation rights
- Sebes & Bisseling Literary AgencycoreSub-agent for Holland, Scandinavia, Iceland, and Ukraine translation rights
- Lex Copyright OfficecoreSub-agent for Hungary translation rights
- The Deborah Harris AgencycoreSub-agent for Israel translation rights
- Berla & Griffini Rights AgencycoreSub-agent for Italy translation rights
- Japan Uni Agency, Inc.coreSub-agent for Japan translation rights
- Graal Ltd.coreSub-agent for Poland translation rights
- Simona Kessler InternationalcoreSub-agent for Romania translation rights
- Synopsis Literary AgencycoreSub-agent for Russia translation rights
- Corto Literary AgencycoreSub-agent for Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Macedonia translation rights
- Maxima Creative AgencycoreSub-agent for Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam translation rights
- Asli KarasuilcoreSub-agent for Turkey translation rights
- Harper Collins (for Good Night Moon)coreDirector of Licensing at Harper Collins handles Good Night Moon licensing and permissions
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Frances Goldin Literary Agency competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Creative Artists Agency (CAA): Global entertainment and talent agency that has expanded into literary representation. Provides comparable author representation services at significantly larger scale and competes for the same award-winning literary talent.
- William Morris Endeavor (WME): Largest global talent and literary agency with full book-to-screen representation. Overlaps in literary author representation and film/TV rights services but operates at much greater scale across entertainment verticals.
- United Talent Agency (UTA): Major talent agency with a robust literary division and integrated publishing-to-screen pipeline. Competes for the same high-prestige literary authors but offers far broader infrastructure across entertainment, brand, and speaking deals.
Direct peers
- Trident Media Group: Mid-sized literary agency offering domestic and foreign rights representation for a broad author base. Comparable business model and service offering; Tess Weitzner, current Rights Director at Frances Goldin, previously worked at Trident Media Group.
- Sterling Lord Literistic: Long-established New York literary agency with a deep roster across literary fiction and nonfiction. Directly comparable in longevity, scale, and full-service rights model.
- Janklow & Nesbit Associates: Highly regarded New York literary agency representing literary fiction, nonfiction, and memoir authors. Comparable in prestige and editorial positioning to Frances Goldin's award-winning roster.
- The Wylie Agency: Prestigious New York-based literary agency representing high-profile literary fiction and nonfiction authors. Closely comparable to Frances Goldin in size, prestige, and editorial positioning, with overlapping rights services including foreign and film/TV sales.
- Kneerim & Williams: Boutique Boston/NY literary agency representing award-winning literary fiction and nonfiction authors. Directly comparable in scale and editorial profile; Lucy Cleland, now VP at Frances Goldin, previously worked at this agency.
- The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency: Boutique New York literary agency representing nonfiction and select literary fiction. Directly comparable boutique scale and editorial focus; Alison Lewis, current VP at Frances Goldin, previously worked here for six years.
- Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency: West Coast-based literary agency representing literary nonfiction, journalism, and select fiction. Directly comparable in mission and scale; Roz Foster, current Senior Agent at Frances Goldin, previously worked at this agency.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Frances Goldin Literary Agency social profiles
Digital presenceFrances Goldin Literary Agency financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Frances Goldin Literary Agency leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Frances Goldin Literary Agency funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frances Goldin Literary Agency M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Frances Goldin Literary Agency
What does Frances Goldin Literary Agency do?
The Frances Goldin Literary Agency is a full-service literary representation agency that represents authors across literary fiction, speculative fiction, investigative journalism, graphic novels, essays, history, sociology, memoir, and biography. The agency provides concept development, proposal preparation, manuscript editing, contract negotiation, publicity, and marketing, and sells rights across US publishing, foreign translation rights, film/TV adaptations, and permissions/licensing. Revenue is earned through commissions on authors' book sales and rights transactions, with a stated focus on progressive and social-justice-oriented authors.
Is Frances Goldin Literary Agency a public or private company?
Frances Goldin Literary Agency is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Frances Goldin Literary Agency founded?
Frances Goldin Literary Agency was founded in 1977. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Frances Goldin Literary Agency based?
Frances Goldin Literary Agency is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Frances Goldin Literary Agency make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Commission on Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are foreign Rights Sales, film & TV Rights and permissions.
Who are Frances Goldin Literary Agency's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Creative Artists Agency (CAA), William Morris Endeavor (WME) and United Talent Agency (UTA). Direct peers are Trident Media Group, Sterling Lord Literistic, Janklow & Nesbit Associates, The Wylie Agency, Kneerim & Williams, The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency and Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Does Frances Goldin Literary Agency have an API?
No public API is recorded for Frances Goldin Literary Agency.
What industry is Frances Goldin Literary Agency in?
Frances Goldin Literary Agency's product category is Literary Agency Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAAAC, Literary & Classics Publishing, with a secondary code of EDAMAMAI, Publishing & Submission Prep Workshops (Query Letters, Agents, Journals). Its NAICS code is 711410 and its SIC code is 2741.