About Jennifer
Jennifer Jackson is Vice President at the Donald Maass Literary Agency, which she joined in 1993. Once upon a time, she worked as a bookseller for Waldenbooks, and also did a stint at Forbidden Planet, the retail division of London’s Titan Books.
Growing up reading science fiction and fantasy led naturally to a concentration in that genre, which she continues to champion. She initiated the expansion of the agency into the area of women’s fiction, and has also expanded her genre reach into the thriller and suspense categories.
Her current roster includes, among others, New York Times best-selling fantasy writer Jim Butcher, Hugo Award winning science fiction author Elizabeth Bear, USA Today best-selling author Anne Bishop, New York Times best-seller Kim Harrison, evil genius Seth Dickinson, Nebula Award winner Martha Wells, Compton Crook Award winner Nicky Drayden, Nebula finalist Saladin Ahmed, Hugo finalist and dreadpunk author Cherie Priest, New York Times best-selling author Yoon Ha Lee, Icelandic novelist Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson, and Shirley Jackson Award nominee and debut novelist Tamsyn Muir.
She is interested in both new and established writers and is drawn to storytelling that bends or transcends its genre and explores diverse characters, cultures, and subcultures.
Actively seeking:
- science fiction and fantasy, all sorts — for either adult or YA readers
- upmarket women’s fiction and thrillers that mine popular and controversial issues
- novels in the tradition of regional fiction including and expanding beyond its Western roots and with a modern sensibility — either period or contemporary settings
- dark psychological fiction with gothic/neogothic elements – either adult or YA, contemporary or historical, Southern or otherwise
- character-driven contemporary YA that has something mindful at its core or that challenges traditional thinking
She is not currently taking on nonfiction, memoirs, screenplays, poetry, picture books, or children’s chapter books.
