Literary agent Maria Whelan
Show notes
Maria Whelan is an agent at Mushens Entertainment, in London. Prior to that, for more than 8 years she worked as an assistant and agent at InkWell Management in New York. She began her career in publishing as a Foreign Rights Assistant at Janklow & Nesbit in New York. Maria graduated from University College Dublin with a BA in English and Drama, then obtained her Master’s in Literature and Modernity from the University of Edinburgh. Maria represents both fiction and nonfiction writers, including USA TODAY bestsellers, a Lammy Finalist, a Discoveries Women’s Prize shortlist winner, a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Finalist, a Simon & Schuster Books Like Us first novel winner, NPR’s Best Books of The Year authors, a James Beard Award winner, Barnes & Noble picks authors, and MacDowell Fellows.
Maria joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about how she finds her clients, query letters, hands on agenting, comparison titles, submitting to editors, ageism in publishing, the difference in agents in NY vs the UK, selling memoirs, and more.
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(Recorded on 7, 2026)
Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)