Abigail Frank is an associate agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates who champions boundary-pushing books for young readers — especially weird, hilarious, or swoon-worthy ones — alongside select adult projects with a high-concept or visually distinctive edge.
In brief
Her submission guidelines confirm she is open to queries as of mid-April 2026; email is the channel and she aims to respond within four to six weeks if interested.
Picture books are a nuanced category for her: she is selective about text-only submissions but actively welcomes illustrator-only portfolios and author-illustrators — a meaningful distinction writers often miss.
Her stated taste skews strongly toward children's and YA, but her adult wishlist has quietly expanded to include lightly speculative fiction and work examining labor and capitalism — angles not widely promoted in older profiles.
She joined Greenburger in 2017 and works alongside Faith Hamlin, which means her list benefits from one of the agency's most eclectic and long-established rosters — a useful signal about the institutional taste she operates within.
Voice is her single most consistent filter across every category: she is drawn to writing that feels entirely itself, that surprises, and that never condescends to its audience.
Lately
Her current agency page emphasizes that she has expanded her adult interests to include lightly speculative fiction and work exploring the relationship between people and capital/labor — a newer angle not foregrounded in earlier public profiles.
What Abigail is looking for
Abigail is most enthusiastic about picture books that feel genuinely original — lyrical, inventive texts that are a joy to read aloud and that carry a distinct, unexpected visual point of view, especially in use of color. She prioritizes author-illustrators and is very open to illustrator-only portfolio submissions. She is notably selective about text-only picture book manuscripts, so writer-only submitters should understand the bar is especially high here.
She has a strong appetite for voice-driven chapter books with outsized personality. The writing needs to feel lived-in and distinctive from the first page — characters with a big presence matter as much as plot.
Clever, genuinely funny MG is a clear priority. She wants humor that feels earned and specific rather than broadly silly, and she responds to stories that are heartbreaking in quiet ways alongside the laughs. MG with a thread of magic or set in the near future also fits her sensibility.
YA rom-coms are a top priority — she wants swoon and emotional payoff. She is also drawn to YA that grapples with ideas of masculinity, stories grounded in a drop of magic or light speculative premise, and narratives featuring unforgettable teens. High-concept, voice-first execution is the throughline.
Stories centering fashion or clothing as a meaningful subject interest her across formats, with illustrated work especially welcome. This is a cross-category interest rather than a standalone genre.
She actively seeks commercial adult rom-coms — the same appetite she has in YA extends to grown-up love stories with wit and heart.
On the nonfiction side, she looks for projects that are highly visual, make distinctive gift books, or resist easy categorization — cultural criticism, pop-culture deep dives, and work that examines fashion or contemporary life all fit. She is also interested in nonfiction that interrogates our relationship to work and capital.
Her adult fiction interest extends to lightly speculative work — stories set in the not-so-distant future or threaded with a drop of magic. This is a newer and narrower lane; the speculative element should feel like texture rather than world-building-first genre fiction.
Across all ages, she is drawn to books that make readers think 'I didn't know books could do that' — work that is structurally unexpected, zany, or genuinely weird in ways that serve the story. This is a sensibility filter, not a standalone category; it can apply to any of the above.
Not the right fit
On Abigail's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Abigail
Email afrank@sjga.com with the subject line formatted exactly as: QUERY – [Your Book's Title]. She specifies this format on her agency page — follow it precisely.
Attach your manuscript or proposal as a file rather than pasting it into the body of the email. She explicitly asks for the manuscript or proposal as an attachment.
Include a brief author bio in the cover letter. Keep it relevant: publishing credits, background that informs the book, and any own-voices connection to the material.
If you are a visual artist or author-illustrator, include a link to your portfolio in the query — this is a specific request on her page and signals that the work is ready to be seen.
Lead with voice. Her single most repeated filter is writing that feels entirely itself and never condescends to its audience. Your query letter should model the same quality of voice you are promising in the manuscript.
For picture books: be honest about your submission type. If you are a writer-only (not an illustrator), acknowledge it — she is openly selective in this lane and will notice if you obscure it.
If your adult project is nonfiction, emphasize what makes it visually compelling or genre-defying in the first paragraph. Her adult nonfiction interest is specific; generic narrative pitches are less likely to land.
She does not require a strictly formatted query letter and describes herself as not a stickler for guidelines — but clarity, concision, and a strong hook matter more because of that latitude, not less.
She responds within four to six weeks if interested, and does not send rejections to every query. If you have not heard back after six weeks, it is reasonable to consider it a pass and move on.