Byrd Leavell

Last updated
Byrd Leavell
Born
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Virginia
Occupation Literary agent
Known forrepresenting 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]

Contents

Career

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]

Selected clients

According to Publishers Weekly . [3] [9]

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References

  1. Alanna Stack, Byrd Leavell III The New York Times. June 22, 2016
  2. 1 2 3 Gallery Books to Publish Tiffany Haddish. Simon & Schuster. January 25, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Profile: Byrd Leavell". Publishers Weekly.
  4. Haskell, Will This 23-year-old ditched her blog and started writing her memoir on Instagram — now 300,000 people are reading it Business Insider. June 22, 2016
  5. 1 2 "People, Etc. - Publishers Lunch". Publishers Lunch. 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  6. People Round-Up, Early October 2017. Publishing Trends. January 25, 2018.
  7. Newman, Andrew Adam (March 1, 2007). "Authors Find Their Voice, and Audience, in Podcasts". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 "Waxman, Leavell Form New Agency". Publishers Weekly. May 30, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "UTA Literary Agent Byrd Leavell On Publishing Industry Trends". WritingRoutines.com.
  10. Deahl, Rachel Tucker Max Is Back—With Dating Advice Publishers Weekly. June 24, 2016
  11. Witt, Emily (December 13, 2011). "Sh*t My Agent Sells: The Art of Turning Instafads Into Tome-blrs". The New York Observer.
  12. "Best sellers: Paperback Nonfiction". The New York Times. November 8, 2009.
  13. "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. June 11, 2010.
  14. Kleeman, Sophie This 23-Year-Old Is Writing Her Fairy Tale Memoir Entirely on Instagram Mic. June 22, 2016
  15. Dishman, Lydia (November 16, 2009). "Will Tweet for a Book Deal". Fast Company.
  16. Sambuchino, Sam (October 16, 2009). "Agent Advice: Byrd Leavell of Waxman Literary Agency". Writer's Digest.
  17. Lodge, Need a Laugh? Rob Elliott and HarperCollins Have You Covered Publishers Weekly. June 22, 2016
  18. Unknown "Oxygen Thief" author becomes self-published success CBS News. June 22, 2016
  19. Fleming, Jr., Mike ‘Diary Of An Oxygen Thief’ Sells To S&S Imprint Gallery After Gotham Group Buys Screen Rights Deadline. June 22, 2016
  20. Hoby, Hermoine (October 6, 2012). "Cat Marnell interview: shooting star". Guardian.
  21. Greene, David. Tiffany Haddish: 'I Know What I'm Supposed To Do Here On This Earth'. NPR. January 25, 2018.
  22. Gardner, Chris. Groupon Books Superfan Tiffany Haddish for Super Bowl Ad. Hollywood Reporter. January 25, 2018.
  23. Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. New York Times. January 25, 2018.
  24. EXCLUSIVE: How Comedian Daniel O'Brien Turned One Joke Into A Major Book Deal Forbes. June 22, 2016