Sitting Down with Serendipity Literary Agency Founder and CEO, Regina Brooks
In this week's episode we are joined by Regina Brooks! Ms. Regina Brooks is the founder and CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency in New York, New York. Her agency is the largest African American owned agency in the country and has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Her authors have appeared in USA Today , the New York Times , and the Washington Post as well as on Oprah, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSBNC, TV One, BET, and a host of others. In 2015, Publishers Weekly nominated Regina Brooks as a PW Star Watch Finalist, and she was honored with a Stevie Award in Business. Writer’s Digest Magazine named Serendipity Literary Agency as one of the top 25 literary agencies. She is currently the President of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and co-chair of its Communications Committee, co-producer of the U.S. Book Show, a founding member and board member of Literary Agents of Change (LAOC) , and a board member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) . Formerly, she held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons (where she was not only the youngest but also the first African American editor in their college division) and McGraw-Hill. Prior to her publishing career, she worked as an aerospace engineer and made history as the first African American woman to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Ohio State University. She is a graduate of The School of the Arts High School in Rochester, NY. She is the author of Essence Magazine’s quick pick children’s book, Never Finished, Never Done (Scholastic), Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Getting Published , 2e (Sourcebooks), and You Should Really Write a Book: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir and is a well-received blogger for the Huffington Post . Brooks is also on the faculty of the Harvard University publishing program, Western Connecticut MFA low residency programs, and Writer’s Digest University and teaches annually at more than twenty worldwide conferences. She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Publishers Weekly, Forbes, Media Bistro, Writers and Poets, Essence Magazine, Ebony, Jet, Women on Writing, Writer’s Digest Magazine, The Writer, The Network Journal , and Rolling Out . She was named Woman of the Year by The National Association of Professional Women, A New York Urban League Rising Star Award winner, and a finalist for the StevieTM Award for Women Entrepreneurs. Regina Brooks is featured in books such as Guide to Literary Agents and the NAACP-nominated Down to Business: The First 10 Steps for Women Entrepreneurs, How to Build a Platform, and Bill Duke’s Dark Girls . She is also listed in International Who’s Who under the categories of Professional Management, Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Engineering. In 2010, Brooks partnered with Marie Brown of Marie Brown and Associates and Marva Allen of Hue Man Bookstore to launch a new publishing imprint with Johnny Temple’s Akashic Books called Open Lens . Further, Possibiliteas is the brainchild of the literary agent and tea enthusiast, Regina Brooks, who believed that tea—the world’s oldest performance-enhancing beverage—could have a beneficial effect on her clients—writers, artists, and other creative professionals who were looking for fuel for their creative fire. She is a pilot and cofounder of Brooklyn Aviation as well as a member of New York Women in Film and Television . Ms. Brooks is the founder and Co-Executive Director of Y.B. Literary Foundation, Inc. , a not-for-profit organization designed to kindle a passion for literature within high school students and an appreciation for the possibilities and opportunities that reading can provide. When Regina’s not agenting, she’s gardening, fishing, and flying her own plane (always in a dress). Buy her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781402293528 Check out her website here: www.serendipitylit.com Follow Serendipity Lit on IG here: www.instagram.com/serendipitylit/ Support the show
