Josh left Harcourt in 1993 to get an MBA from Columbia Business School. After Business School, Josh spent 11 years owning and operating a minor league baseball team (the Staten Island Yankees). He left baseball in late 2006 and rejoined the book world on the agent side. Josh worked at Writers House until November 2009, building a list of adult novelists, YA and middle grade authors, and the occasional nonfiction writer; then joined Russell and Volkening. In May 2011 he partnered with Carrie Hannigan, and has been actively and happily running his list.
Josh represents more than 60 authors, including Worldwide Best Seller S.A. Cosby (ALL THE SINNERS BLEED, RAZORBLADE TEARS), Rob Hart (ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS and THE WAREHOUSE), Alex Segura (SECRET IDENTITY, POE DAMERON), Rev Al Sharpton (RISE UP), Mita Mallick (USA TODAY/WSJ Best-selling REIMAGINE INCLUSION), Geoff Rodkey (NYT Best Selling THE TAPPER TWINS series) EJ Copperman/Jeff Cohen (The best-selling HAUNTED GUEST HOUSE series from Berkley Prime Crime among others), EM Powell (The FIFTH KNIGHT and STANTON & BARLING series from Thomas & Mercer with more than 500,000 sales), Jessica Burkhart (Best Selling CANTERWOOD CREST and SADDLEHILL ACADEMY series), Eli Cranor (Edgar Award Winning DON’T KNOW TOUGH, MISSISSIPPI BLUE 42), and Delia Pitts (TROUBLE IN QUEENSTOWN).
Josh is particularly into foreign and historical fiction; both women’s fiction (your Downton Abbey/Philippa Gregory Mashups), straight ahead historical fiction (think Wolf Hall or The Road to Wellville); and thrillers and mysteries (The Alienist, say; or Donna Leon or Arianna Franklin). He’d LOVE a strong French Revolution novel. He loves ruthless doges and impious cardinals…and your farmhouse cozies! (He does love cozies…) Give him atmosphere, let him learn something about another time or another place (or both), and kill off nasty Uncle Mortimer in the process—Josh will be yours!
Josh does some middle grade fiction, though less than in previous years as his crime/upmarket fiction list has grown. Settings that are just a little off seem to be a real favorite, along with contemporary/funny books about kids. Not so much high fantasy, and definitely not picture books. (There are many others who specialize in these books, including Carrie Hannigan at HG.) Please don’t send religious fiction–he doesn’t have contacts in the Christian book market.
In nonfiction, he’s very interested in increasing his list in history (including micro-histories), business, and political thought–but not screeds.
NOTE: Josh is currently closed to queries.
For more information on Josh’s most recent sales, please see his Publishers Marketplace profile.