The Short Version
As a children’s literary agent with Mansion Street Literary Management, Michelle Witte brings with her a wealth of experience within publishing industry, from the idea and writing stages to editing, design and production, and to bookselling and publicity.
Previously, she worked as an editor with nonfiction publisher Gibbs Smith and as a copy editor and reporter with the Deseret Morning News. She is the author of The Craptastic Guide to Pseudo-Swearing (Running Press, 2012) and the forthcoming The Faker’s Guide to the Classics (Lyons Press, 2013). She lives in Utah.
The Long Version
As a children’s literary agent with Mansion Street Literary Management, Michelle Witte brings with her a wealth of experience, not only with juvenile fiction, but with publishing industry as a whole. Over the past eight years, she has worked in a variety of positions that encapsulate the various stages of a book’s publication, from the idea and writing stages, to editing, design and production, and bookselling and publicity.
She began her career as a journalist, first reporting and then later copy editing for the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City, Utah. From there, she transitioned with her editing skills to nonfiction publisher Gibbs Smith, where she oversaw creation, editing, and production of more than thirty titles, including children’s activity, humor, gift, cookbooks, and a smattering of other topics from blacksmithing to green living.
She presently offers her services to writers and publishers as a freelance writer and editor. In her spare time—when she has any—she writes on a variety of topics, though her great love is young adult fiction. Her first book, The Craptastic Guide to Pseudo-Swearing (Running Press, 2012) will soon be followed by the forthcoming The Faker’s Guide to the Classics (Lyons Press, 2013).
As a literary agent, she utilizes her knowledge of publishing and books to benefit authors both established and new. With her background in editing, she has a keen eye for quality prose and and storytelling. But it is her overall experience as a reader, writer, editor, and bookseller that guides her as she searches for enthralling new writers and manuscripts.
