Tanya McKinnon is the founder of McKinnon Literary and a career-focused agent whose deal record skews heavily toward serious, idea-driven nonfiction centered on Black American life, history, and culture — paired with a genuine passion for graphic novels and children's books that many nonfiction-first agents lack.
In brief
The sales record tells the clearest story: McKinnon Literary's deepest groove is serious nonfiction by Black scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals — Brittney Cooper, Imani Perry, Blair Kelley, Michael Harriot, Bettina Love, Damon Young, Cole Arthur Riley. This is the agency's center of commercial gravity, whatever else they say they want.
The award shelf is exceptional: Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Lambda Literary Award, L.A. Times Book Prize, and Frederick Douglass Book Prize winners are among the agency's credits, signaling real prestige-press relationships alongside commercial muscle (multiple NYT bestsellers).
Tanya McKinnon explicitly caps new-client intake — they describe the agent-author relationship as a long-term career partnership and run a rigorous in-house editorial process. Writers should expect depth of engagement, but also that the bar for new clients is meaningfully higher than at larger, volume-driven agencies.
Graphic novels are a genuine specialty, not a wishlist footnote — the agency maintains a dedicated graphic novel client roster and lists the category prominently alongside adult trade and children's books on the agency's own navigation structure.
McKinnon's background spans editing, literary scouting for foreign publishers and film producers, and an MA in cultural anthropology — this shapes a taste for accessible, idea-driven work with cross-media and international potential, and the agency uses The Marsh Agency for translation rights.
Lately
McKinnon's agency page emphasizes that the number of new clients is deliberately capped, reflecting a philosophy of deep, long-term career investment over volume. Writers should treat any open-query window as genuinely limited.
What Tanya is looking for
This is where McKinnon Literary does its heaviest lifting. McKinnon gravitates toward accessible, intellectually rigorous nonfiction with real cultural stakes — history, sociology, cultural criticism, journalism, anthropology, medicine, psychology, and popular culture all fall within scope. The through-line across the sales record is work that illuminates the American experience, particularly Black American history and politics, in ways that shift how readers understand the world. First-time writers with a strong platform and fresh argument are welcome alongside established voices.
McKinnon seeks fiction that is story- and character-driven with a strong, distinctive voice — engrossing rather than experimental for its own sake. They have a particular interest in multicultural and African American fiction. The sales record is nonfiction-dominant, so literary fiction queries face a higher bar; writers with a genuinely compelling narrative and a culturally resonant perspective are the best fit.
McKinnon describes graphic novels as a passion and maintains a dedicated client roster in this category, spanning adult and younger-reader formats. The agency treats this as a full specialty, not an occasional add-on. Both literary and genre-inflected projects appear to be in scope; strong visual storytelling paired with substantive narrative is the common thread. Author-illustrators and creative teams are both represented.
McKinnon represents the full children's spectrum from picture books through chapter books and middle grade. They teach a course on Writing for Children at City College, reflecting genuine investment in this space. Multicultural and African American voices are a priority here as they are across the list.
Young adult is within scope as an extension of the children's books practice. Voice-driven, character-centered YA with cultural depth aligns best with the agency's overall sensibility.
Deeply researched narrative nonfiction and biography sit at the heart of the deal record. Projects that blend scholarly rigor with accessible, story-driven prose — particularly those centered on underrepresented histories — have the strongest track record at this agency.
Not the right fit
On Tanya's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Tanya
Send to the agency's dedicated submissions email address with a cover letter of no more than one page — this is a firm structural requirement, not a suggestion.
Structure the cover letter in exactly three parts: (1) the project name and a single strong paragraph pitching what it is and why it matters now; (2) a closing paragraph about you and your relevant credentials or platform.
For nonfiction — which is the agency's core strength — paste the introduction or overview directly into the body of the email. Do not attach it as a separate file unless instructed otherwise.
Lead with cultural stakes and intellectual argument, not plot summary or personal story. McKinnon responds to work that changes how readers see the world — make that transformation explicit in your pitch paragraph.
If your project sits at the intersection of Black American history, culture, or social justice, name that directly and early. The sales record confirms this is the agency's deepest area of engagement and the place where your comp titles will land hardest.
Because new-client intake is explicitly capped, treat your query as a high-stakes submission: polish the cover letter to publishable quality before sending. A rushed query is more likely to be passed on here than at a higher-volume agency.
If you are querying with a graphic novel or children's book, the same email submission process applies — there is no separate portal for those categories.
Do not query McKinnon if you want a hands-off agent. Their editorial involvement is a defining feature of the agency; queries that position the manuscript as finished and requiring no development may land poorly.