Harvey Klinger

What Harvey Klinger does

Harvey Klinger Literary Agency is a privately held, founder-owned literary agency founded in October 1977 by Harvey Klinger and headquartered at 300 W 55th St in Manhattan. The firm represents authors and illustrators of adult fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and middle grade books, with a stated focus on strong editorial skills, 'unparalleled relations' with major publishers, and aggressive sales of film, TV, and foreign rights on behalf of clients. The current roster of agents comprises founder Harvey Klinger, David Dunton (joined 1996 from Simon & Schuster editorial), Andrea Somberg, Wendy Levinson, Rachel Ridout (joined 2009), Cate Hart (joined 2019), and Associate Agent Grace Demyan (joined 2025), giving the firm roughly seven agents plus supporting staff. Genres covered include commercial and literary fiction, women's fiction, thrillers, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, YA, and middle grade on the fiction side, and psychology, science, history, biography, memoir, music, true crime, narrative nonfiction, and self-help on the nonfiction side.

There is no underlying technology product. The agency's service is delivered entirely through human agents using email-based queries (with two agents using third-party query platforms QueryManager and QueryTracker) and direct relationship work with acquisition editors. The firm monetizes through commissions on domestic book deals, foreign rights sales, and film/TV option and adaptation deals. Distribution is executed indirectly: publishers acquire rights directly, while a co-agent network across more than fifteen countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain/Latin America/Portugal/Brazil, Eastern Europe/Russia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China) handles foreign rights, and CAA, IPG, WME, and Paradigm handle film and TV. Marketing is essentially referral- and reputation-driven via book fairs, industry relationships, and individual agent social media presence (primarily Twitter/X); the agency has no paid acquisition channels.

The business is founder-owned with no external equity, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed funding rounds. Marquee outcomes include NYT and USA Today Bestsellers, ALA Alex Award, Nebula Award, Edgar Award, and Lambda Award winners and nominees among client works, plus option sales to HBO Max and Amazon Studios. Operationally the firm is small, mature, and run as an independent lifestyle-services business rather than a venture-scale enterprise.

Name

Harvey Klinger

Legal name

Harvey Klinger, Inc.

Website

https://harveyklinger.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Harvey Klinger Literary Agency is a privately held, founder-owned New York literary agency founded in 1977 that represents writers and illustrators of adult fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and middle grade books, earning commissions on domestic book deals, foreign rights, and film and TV adaptations through a global co-agent network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Agency Services

NAICS

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (71141)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

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 agency services
• Author representation
• Book rights sales
• Foreign rights agency
• Film TV rights

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Author Representation and Rights Sales: The agency represents authors and sells their literary works to publishers, earning commission on successful deals. Revenue is generated through commission fees on book deals, film/TV rights, and foreign rights sales. Harvey Klinger aggressively sells film, TV and foreign rights for clients, working with top film and sub agents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Harvey Klinger Literary Agency represents writers of adult fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and middle grade books, providing agent-client representation, manuscript submission to publishers, contract negotiation, and career development. The agency also sells foreign rights through a global co-agent network and film/TV rights through partnerships with major Hollywood agencies, charging commission only on successful deals.

Product overview

Harvey Klinger Literary Agency is a literary representation agency that provides author representation services. The agency operates as a single, unified service offering centered on connecting authors with publishers through agent-client relationships. The agency handles adult fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and middle grade book representation, with specialized agents focusing on different genres. The agency also offers subsidiary rights services including foreign rights sales and film/TV rights marketing through co-agents. Submission management is handled through email for most agents, with some agents (Cate Hart and Grace Demyan) using third-party query management platforms QueryManager and QueryTracker respectively.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Literary Representation Services Author representation services connecting individual writers with publishers through agent-client relationships, handling manuscript submission, contract negotiation, editorial guidance, and career development for adult fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and middle grade books.
• Foreign Rights Sales International rights sales services working with co-agents across multiple regions including UK, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, Eastern Europe, Russia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China to sell foreign translation rights for client books.
• Film/TV Rights Marketing Film and television rights marketing services working with co-agents including CAA, IPG, WME, and Paradigm to sell client literary works for screen adaptation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients' books have been translated into many different languages worldwide
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• David Grossman Literary Agency (UK)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUK co-agent for foreign rights representation. Contact: David Grossman at [email protected]
• Eliane Benisti (France - Adult)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFrance co-agent for adult foreign rights. Contact: [email protected]
• Marotte et Compagnie (France - Children's)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFrance co-agent for children's books. Contact: Corinne Marotte at [email protected]
• Thomas Schlueck GmbH (Germany)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGermany co-agent for foreign rights. Contact: [email protected]
• Daniela Micura (Italy)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorItaly co-agent for foreign rights. Contact: [email protected]
• Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency (Scandinavia/Holland)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorScandinavia and Holland co-agent. Contact: Paul Sebes at [email protected]
• Sandra Bruna (Spain/Latin America/Portugal/Brazil)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpanish-speaking territories and Brazil co-agent. Contact: [email protected]
• Prava I Prevodi (Eastern Europe/Russia)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEastern Europe and Russia co-agent. Contact: Ana Milenkovic at [email protected]
• Tuttle-Mori Agency (Japan)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJapan co-agent for foreign rights. Contact: Ken Mori at [email protected]
• Eric Yang Agency (Korea)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKorea co-agent for foreign rights. Contact: Sue Yang at [email protected]
• Big Apple Agency (Taiwan)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTaiwan co-agent for foreign rights. Contact: Vinelle Pan at [email protected]
• Big Apple Agency (Mainland China)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMainland China co-agent for foreign rights. Contact: Lily Chen at [email protected]
• CAA (Film/TV)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFilm and TV co-agent for client rights sales
• IPG (Film/TV)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFilm and TV co-agent for client rights sales
• WME (Film/TV)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFilm and TV co-agent for client rights sales
• Paradigm (Film/TV)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFilm and TV co-agent for client rights sales

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Folio Literary Management: New York literary agency representing fiction and nonfiction authors with active subsidiary rights sales. Comparable in boutique scale and full-service representation model.
• Trident Media Group: Literary agency representing a broad range of fiction and nonfiction authors with global co-agent partnerships for foreign rights sales. Closely comparable in services and target author segments.
• Foundry Literary + Media: Boutique-to-mid-size literary agency representing authors across commercial and literary fiction, nonfiction, and YA/children's. Direct comparable in author segments served and rights services offered.
• Sterling Lord Literistic: Long-established, founder-named boutique literary agency representing authors across fiction and nonfiction. Most direct comparable to Harvey Klinger in size, model, and longevity (founded 1952, similarly small agent roster).
• Writers House: One of the largest US literary agencies, representing authors of adult and children's fiction/nonfiction with full subsidiary rights services. A larger-scale direct peer operating the same commission-based representation model.
• Inkwell Management: New York–based literary agency with a strong nonfiction and fiction roster and active film/TV rights sales. Operates the same author-representation business model with overlapping genre coverage.

Regional players

• Andrew Nurnberg Associates: International literary agency specializing in foreign rights representation with offices across Eastern Europe and Asia. Comparable as a rights-sales intermediary, though focused on international markets rather than US domestic representation.
• Curtis Brown Ltd. Long-established UK literary agency with both UK and US offices. Represents a comparable author base and operates the same commission-based model, though primarily focused on UK and Commonwealth authors.

Broad incumbents

• William Morris Entertainment (WME) — Literary Division: Hollywood talent giant that has expanded into literary representation, offering authors integrated book-plus-screen careers. A broad incumbent that competes for the same authors Harvey Klinger represents, particularly for projects with film/TV potential.
• Creative Artists Agency (CAA) — Literary Division: Global entertainment agency that acquired ICM Partners and now offers literary representation alongside film/TV talent services. Broad incumbent operating in adjacent literary agency territory with cross-media synergy advantages.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/harveyklinger
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/harvey-klinger-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Harvey Klinger