Tia Ikemoto is a CAA literary agent with a sharp eye for commercially savvy, socially aware fiction and platform-driven nonfiction — hunting for books that speak to broad audiences while grappling with real cultural questions.
In brief
Tia Ikemoto was promoted to full literary agent at CAA in 2024 after several years as an assistant — still early in building an independent list, which means there is real room for the right debut.
The confirmed client roster already spans a BookTok bestseller, a New York Times–bestselling cookbook author, and a commercial fiction writer with multiple titles — signaling range across fiction, nonfiction, and food/lifestyle.
Deal patterns skew heavily toward commercial and upmarket fiction with strong hooks, plus platform-driven nonfiction from authors who already have an audience; writers without platform in nonfiction face a higher bar.
Ikemoto's stated wish for books set outside New York City — especially California — is a meaningful differentiator: settings that feel fresh, not default, are a genuine priority, not boilerplate.
The current top priority areas — internet culture, parasocial relationships, workplace futures, and campus coming-of-age — are not just wishlist filler; they reflect a coherent worldview about what mass-market readers are wrestling with right now.
Lately
Ikemoto publicly flagged a strong desire for fiction and nonfiction centered on internet culture, parasocial relationships, and fandoms — particularly work that goes beyond cataloguing social media's harms and instead maps a constructive way forward for how society navigates digital life.
What Tia is looking for
Ikemoto wants fiction that bridges the book-club world and mainstream commercial appeal — propulsive plots with genuine emotional and social weight. Psychological thrillers with fresh premises are especially welcome. A strong preference for settings outside New York City, with California singled out as underrepresented and exciting. Reese Witherspoon Book Club energy is an explicit target.
Updated, contemporary rom-coms and women's fiction with a strong sense of voice and cultural relevance. Not looking for formulaic genre product — the humor and romance need to carry something emotionally real beneath them.
Historical fiction that actively transports readers to a time and place that feels genuinely new, or that illuminates something readers didn't already know. Mere period atmosphere is not enough — there should be discovery or revelation built into the premise.
Contemporary YA that captures the specific emotional texture of adolescence with cinematic energy. Also open to YA thrillers and high-concept grounded YA fantasy. College coming-of-age campus novels — straddling YA and adult — are a current priority.
Ikemoto's confirmed sales record includes both a BookTok-powered debut novelist and a New York Times–bestselling cookbook author, making this the most demonstrably active corner of the list. Authors need an existing platform or a clear, sizable audience. Memoir, essay collections, self-help, and cookbooks are all fair game when the author brings reach.
Pop culture deep-dives, cultural criticism, investigative journalism, and narrative nonfiction are all of interest. A particular current priority: nonfiction about internet culture and social media that moves beyond diagnosis and actually proposes a path forward for society — prescriptive rather than purely critical.
Explicitly flagged as top-priority wishlist material: books — fiction or nonfiction — reckoning with who we are on and offline, fandoms, fame, parasocial dynamics, and the future of work. Ikemoto is a self-described reality TV and YouTube devotee, and this is not casual interest — these topics reflect a genuine worldview about what audiences want to read right now.
Not the right fit
On Tia's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Tia
Send a query letter and the first 10 pages of the manuscript pasted directly into the body of the email — no attachments for the sample pages.
Address the email to tia.ikemoto@caa.com, as confirmed by the agency's own current submission guidance.
Lead with what makes your hook fresh: if your book has an unconventional setting (especially California or elsewhere outside the New York default), name it early — this is a stated differentiator Ikemoto actively looks for.
If your fiction or nonfiction touches internet culture, parasocial relationships, fandoms, or the future of work, foreground that angle in the first paragraph — these are Ikemoto's most explicitly flagged current priorities.
For nonfiction, establish your platform credentials clearly in the query: Ikemoto's confirmed sales skew toward authors who already have an audience, and a vague mention of a social following is less compelling than a specific number or proof of community.
Comp to the Reese Witherspoon Book Club sensibility if your upmarket fiction genuinely fits that mold — Ikemoto names it explicitly and it signals the commercial-but-substantive sweet spot being targeted.
Avoid submitting work that only diagnoses a social problem; for nonfiction especially, show that your book offers a constructive lens or actionable perspective, not just critique.
Confirm the submission form remains open immediately before querying — status can shift without announcement.