This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification . The reason given is: new employer, client list may have dramatically changed.(September 2017) |
Byrd Leavell | |
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Born | Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. [1] |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Virginia |
Occupation | Literary agent |
Known for | representing Tiffany Haddish, [2] Justin Halpern, Cat Marnell and "Weird Al" Yankovic [3] [4] |
Byrd Leavell is a literary agent at United Talent Agency. [5] [6] Previously he was known as a named partner at the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency. [7] [8]
Leavell graduated from the University of Virginia and the Radcliffe Publishing Program. [3] [9] In 2012, he partnered with Scott Waxman to form the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency. [8]
As a partner at the Waxman Leavell agency, he has overseen multiple New York Times bestsellers including #1 bestselling books Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Leavell also represents Rob Elliott, whose LOL series has sold more than 2.5 million copies. [17] He also represented the anonymous Dutch novel Diary of an Oxygen Thief . [18] [19] Leavell also represents Cat Marnell, a former Lucky , XoJane and Vice blogger. [20]
In September 2017 he began his employment at UTA. [5] One of the first clients Leavell represented at UTA was comedian and actor Tiffany Haddish. [2] Haddish's memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, was a debut New York Times bestseller, spending each of its first six weeks in print on the list and, as of January 2018, reaching #5 overall. [2] [21] [22] [23]
According to Publishers Weekly . [3] [9]
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. Since October 12, 1931, The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic.
Simon & Schuster LLC is an American publishing company owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. As of 2017 Simon & Schuster was the third largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints.
Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, was a book publishing house which specialized in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of LGBT literature" and "the home of award-winning books in the areas of memoir, history, humor, commercial fiction, mystery, and erotica, among many others".
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under six imprints.
United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. As of 2021, the company has more than 1,400 global employees. UTA has divisions focused on film, television, music, sports, digital, books, video games, branding and licensing, speaking, marketing, fine arts, news, and broadcasting, among others. The agency also operates the non-profit UTA Foundation.
Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. is an American independent book publishing company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, with a satellite office in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Tiffany Cornilia Haddish is an American stand-up comedienne and actress. Her breakthrough came in with a leading role in the comedy film Girls Trip (2017), which earned her several accolades and was included on The New Yorker's list of the best film performances of the 21st century. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2018, and The Hollywood Reporter listed her among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment in both 2018 and 2019.
Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it as the result of a bet in 2000.
Rob Kirkpatrick is an American literary agent, editor, and author. He has published the books of many well-known authors, primarily in the field of nonfiction. He is the author of the narrative history 1969: The Year Everything Changed.
Sy Montgomery is an American naturalist, author, and scriptwriter who writes for children as well as adults.
Scott Waxman is the founder of both the Waxman Literary Agency and Diversion Books.
Caitlin Elizabeth Marnell is an American writer and media commentator based in New York City. She was a beauty editor at Lucky and XoJane, wrote a column for Vice, and has also written for Self, Nylon, and Glamour. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir How to Murder Your Life, which was published in 2017.
Caroline Gotschall Calloway is an American social media celebrity and author who initially developed a following while she was a student at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of the 2023 memoir Scammer, the title of which references accusations of scamming she has received from fans and critics.
Riverdale Avenue Books, located in Riverdale, Bronx, New York, is a publisher of e-books, print books on demand and audiobooks founded in 2012 by Lori Perkins. Riverdale is a member of the American Association of Publishers and publishes between 50 and 75 books a year.
Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press.
What Happened is a 2017 memoir by Hillary Clinton about her experiences as the Democratic Party's nominee and general election candidate for president of the United States in the 2016 election. Published on September 1, 2017, it is her seventh book with her publisher, Simon & Schuster.
How to Murder Your Life is a memoir by fashion and beauty journalist Cat Marnell. It was released in 2017 by Simon & Schuster and became a bestseller.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014) is a memoir by American attorney Bryan Stevenson that documents his career defending disadvantaged clients. The book, focusing on injustices in the United States judicial system, alternates chapters between documenting Stevenson's efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian and his work on other cases, including children who receive life sentences, and other poor or marginalized clients.
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir is a 2021 memoir by Michelle Zauner, singer and guitarist of the musical project Japanese Breakfast. It is her debut book, published on April 20, 2021, by Alfred A. Knopf. It is an expansion of Zauner's essay of the same name which was published in The New Yorker on August 20, 2018. The title mentions H Mart, a North American supermarket chain that specializes in Korean and Asian products.
Punch Me Up to the Gods is a memoir, written by Brian Broome and published May 18, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The book won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction (2021), as well as the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography (2022).