Now Available: RTA Episode 4
Book agents Stephanie Delman & Allison Hunter on how discovery happens
(top, left to right: Randy Winston, Allison Hunter, Stephanie Delman)
Episode 4 Guests: Stephanie Delman & Allison Hunter
Stephanie Delman spent 10 years building her list at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates before co-founding Trellis Literary Management in the fall of 2021. Stephanie is focused on adult fiction: stylish writing, high-stakes and high-concept literary thrillers, upmarket fiction, socially conscious fiction, untold or underrepresented historical fiction, psychologically propulsive suspense, maximalist storytelling, and literary novels that play with genre. She enjoys fiction that’s grounded in reality but tinged with something else: a bit of surrealism, a touch of horror. A very small part of Stephanie’s list is nonfiction: specifically, braided/speculative memoir projects by authors with established platforms and diverse perspectives. Stephanie studied Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and considers herself a “hands-on” agent, both editorially and as an advocate. She was raised in Northern California and now lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Allison Hunter began her publishing career in 2005 working for the Los Angeles-based literary publicity firm Kim-from-L.A, and was an agent at InkWell Management, the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, and Janklow & Nesbit before co-founding Trellis Literary Management in the fall of 2021. Allison is actively acquiring literary and commercial adult fiction, especially focusing on upmarket book club and women’s fiction, romance and rom coms, thrillers and domestic suspense. She is always looking for female friendship stories, campus novels, great love stories, family epics, and books about class and cultural identity. In the non-fiction space, Allison is acquiring select memoirs, narrative nonfiction, and the occasional prescriptive project. Allison now lives in Austin, Texas, after over a decade in New York City.
About the host
Randy Winston is the Creative Director of Fiction at The Black List, and former Director of Writing Programs at The Center for Fiction, where he managed, curated, and directed the production of all writing courses, the illustrious First Novel Prize, the famed Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship, and the highly-sought Writers Studio membership. Prior to his work at The Center, Winston served as Fiction Editor of Slice Literary Magazine for 6 years and has over 10 years of executive admin experience in higher education. Before his MFA, Randy served as editor-in-chief of, formerly Southern Polytechnic State University, now Kennesaw State University’s, online and print student publication in Marietta, Georgia. He is a 2016 graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing (Fiction) at The New School and sits on the board for Orion Magazine and WriteOn NYC.
About the series
A pillar of our Fiction educational resources, Read The Acknowledgements is a live visual podcast designed for book and writing professionals to share their industry experiences and help give writers a clear picture of the ecosystem that is publishing.
This podcast series exists, in part, to fundraise for writers and literary nonprofits in need. Attendance is free, and we encourage viewers and listeners to make donations to writer support funds such as the Authors League Fund, Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, and Lampblack's Direct Aid Fund.
Read the Acknowledgments is a subsidiary of The Black List, LLC.
Books mentioned this episode (all forthcoming in 2025)
Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch
A Promise to Arlette by Serena Burdick