Next Steps Literary Services is here to help equip you with the best tools to get started on your pitching and publishing journey.
“Janell Agyeman’s expert knowledge, keen business acumen and thoughtful approach helped me to successfully navigate from self-published author to securing multi-book deals with a traditional publisher. Not only has my literary career benefitted from Janell’s firm grasp of publishing trends and industry best practices, her mentorship, kindness and generosity of spirit have personally served me in immeasurable ways. In this tough and changing business…[I]f you are fortunate to work with Janell, I know, without a doubt, you will be better after your experience.”
—Trice Hickman, bestselling author of The Other Side, and the Unexpected Love and Dangerous Love series www.tricehickman.com
About Next Steps Literary Services
Janell Walden Agyeman, President
Next Steps Literary Services exists to help writers get published. It was born when Janell Walden Agyeman, founder and president of Next Steps Literary Services LLC, decided to step out of her role as dealmaker and center herself squarely in the advisory lane.
Through her many and varied experiences, Janell understands how editors and publishers think and grow their operations. Her professional experience includes editorial posts at Doubleday Publishing Company and Howard University Press, where she also administered the Howard University Press Book Publishing Institute. Janell has broad experience in acquisition, editing and guiding book projects through the publishing process.
Janell joined Marie Brown Associates as an agent in 1992. In this role she helped launch the literary careers of critically acclaimed authors Sharon M. Draper, Tananarive Due, Nnedi Okorafor, Leonard Pitts, Jr., and Trice Hickman, among others. She has worked with Vanessa Siddle Walker, Carlos Moore, the late William Loren Katz, and other authors of fiction and nonfiction for children and adults.
Her literary experiences include freelance editing and project management assignments. She also was a contributing writer to a pioneering research project, Contributions of Black Women to America, 1776-1977.
Credits:
Member: Independent Book Publishers Association and The Author’s Guild
Past-presenter & critique team member for:
Atlanta Writers Conference, Atlanta Writing Workshop, SpringMingle Conference (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators); South Florida Writers Association, Florida Writers Conference, Missouri Writers Guild Conference, ClarkAtlanta University Writers Workshop Conference, Multicultural Women’s Development Conference, and the 10th National Conference of African American LibrariansRecipient: 2013 Literary Excellence Award, “Agent of the Year,” from Black Pearls Magazine
Janell Walden Agyeman
Stay in touch —
Janell Walden Agyeman
President, Next Steps Literary Services, LLC
Atlanta, Georgia
janell@nextstepsliterary.com
www.linkedin.com/in/janellwaldenagyeman