About me
Cole Hildebrand
I began my publishing career in 2016 at YesYes Books, where I started as an intern and went on to become Managing Editor, working with manuscript acquisitions, event planning, website design and publicity for YesYes Books’ list of authors including Justin Phillip Reed, Danez Smith, and Shelley Wong, among many others. I joined JVNLA in 2021, assisting Agency President Jennifer Weltz and working with authors such as Carl Safina, Emily Ruth Verona, and Antonia Murphy while building a list in adult literary and upmarket fiction, narrative non-fiction, essays, and poetry. I approach agenting with a love for language and voice, and a sensitive editorial eye. I like to dive deep into an author’s work, offering comprehensive editorial guidance that centers the author’s unique, personal vision, ushering that vision into the world with close support through submission, publication, and beyond. Originally from Austin, TX, I got my B.A. in English at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, and received an M.A. from New York University in English and American Literature.
What I’m Looking For
I represent both fiction and non-fiction for my list. For fiction, I look for character and voice driven literary or upmarket work that offers new perspectives on contemporary issues, while telling rich, original stories. I love a deep character study, a messy social novel, or a book incorporating grounded genre elements such as surrealism, horror, some sci-fi, and queer erotica/romance. Emotionally charged novels are absolutely welcome, as are novels exploring subversive territories through unreliable, off-kilter, or abject narrators. I’m also very fond of books told from multiple narrators and perspectives, and am a big fan of experimentation that draws the reader into the novel’s unique world. Of course, fiction is such an expansive form, and I’m always open to being surprised.
On the non-fiction side, I’m looking for outward-focused memoirs, essay collections, history, journalism, cultural criticism, and left-wing political writing. I look for books that engage with radical thought, anti-capitalist and anti-imperial movements, understudied queer history, art and pop culture, music criticism, environmental studies, science and technology, and mental health, among other topics. With memoirs, I prefer projects that move beyond immediate personal experience and look towards broader social and political concerns, blending personal narrative with cultural criticism and deep research.
