Kimberly Peticolas is a broadly-acquisitive agent at The Rudy Agency who bridges the commercial nonfiction world — business, leadership, and expert-driven projects — with illustrated children's books, YA, and a wide range of adult fiction genres.
In brief
The deal record skews heavily toward nonfiction, particularly business, leadership, sales, and DEI-focused titles — this is where Kimberly Peticolas's commercial relationships appear strongest, and it's the category to emphasize if your work fits.
Several clients are credential-first experts (wealth advisors, McKinsey leaders, sales executives, chefs) rather than career authors — Peticolas clearly values platform and expertise as much as prose, especially on the nonfiction side.
Fiction is genuinely on the table: children's illustrated books, YA, and general adult fiction all appear in the stated wishlist, though the current deal record shows less volume there — approach fiction queries with extra attention to craft and commercial hook.
Peticolas has invested in formal editorial training (University of Chicago editing certificate, NYU Summer Publishing Institute) and participates in writer conferences — signals that they engage seriously with the craft side of publishing, not just deal-making.
Query status is unverified — always check the live submission form before sending.
Lately
Peticolas was announced as a guest agent at a major southeastern writers conference in 2024, indicating active engagement with the writing community and willingness to meet querying authors in person.
What Kimberly is looking for
This is Peticolas's most active and evidenced category. The agency specifically seeks nonfiction from credentialed experts, and the project record includes multiple titles in sales leadership, startup culture, and professional performance. Authors need demonstrable expertise and ideally an existing platform or audience.
Multiple clients are leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion at major organizations. Peticolas is clearly comfortable placing books about organizational culture, leadership identity, and workplace dynamics with publishers. Expert credentials and real-world authority are essential.
Cookbooks, food-adjacent narratives, and health titles are part of the stated wishlist and reflected in the client roster. Authors should bring genuine expertise — a chef background, medical credentials, or a distinct culinary or wellness perspective.
The agency's broader mandate calls out history, science, investigative journalism, law, and politics as fields of interest. Works in this space should be driven by original research or on-the-ground reporting, not general-interest overviews.
Titles addressing modern learning environments and distributed work appear more than once in the project record, suggesting genuine familiarity with this space. Educators, edtech voices, and thought leaders on the future of work are a natural fit.
Peticolas is open to illustrated children's books in both fiction and nonfiction formats. Note that picture book author-illustrators or author-illustrator teams are typically the relevant entry point for illustrated formats; the wishlist does not appear to close that door, but writers-only should clarify their project's illustration status in the query.
YA is explicitly named as a welcome category. The deal record doesn't surface heavy YA volume, so approach with a strong commercial hook and clear genre positioning. Fantasy, contemporary, and literary YA all appear to fall within scope.
The stated genre list for fiction is broad — mystery, romance, suspense/thriller, fantasy, science fiction, literary, historical, magical realism, and more are all listed. However, the confirmed deal record is light on adult fiction, suggesting Peticolas takes this selectively. Projects need to be genuinely compelling and commercially positioned; don't assume a wide genre list means low standards.
The project record includes at least one military-themed nonfiction title, signaling some openness here. Works should be grounded in lived experience, rigorous research, or both.
Travel appears in the genre list, but no travel titles are prominent in the current deal record. Approach with a distinct angle — expert authority, cultural immersion, or a strong narrative hook — rather than a general journey memoir.
Not the right fit
On Kimberly's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Kimberly
Submit through the dedicated query portal at rudyagency.com/query-kim — do not cold-email; the agency routes all queries through this form.
For nonfiction, lead with your credentials and platform before the book concept. Peticolas's clients are consistently credentialed experts — a wealth advisor, a McKinsey DEI leader, a chef-founder. If you don't establish your authority in the first paragraph, the query loses traction fast.
For fiction, open with a crisp, commercial pitch that names genre, word count, and a two-sentence hook. The stated genre list is wide, but the deal record is lighter here — your craft and market awareness need to do extra work.
If querying a children's illustrated book, clarify upfront whether you are the author-illustrator or author-only, and note the illustration status of your manuscript.
Reference the agency's stated interest in expert-driven fields (business, DEI, leadership, history, science) if your nonfiction project falls in those lanes — this framing aligns with how the agency describes its own priorities.
Peticolas has participated in at least one major writers conference as a guest agent — if you received feedback from Peticolas at a conference, note that briefly in your query to establish a connection.
Verify that the query portal is currently accepting submissions before sending — status was unconfirmed at the time of this profile.