Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts.

#135 Query Letters, Persuasive Proposals, and Publishing Secrets Featuring Literary Agent Joëlle Delbourgo

Apr 17, 2025

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Joëlle Delbourgo is President of Joëlle Delbourgo Associates, a boutique literary agency founded in 1999. She represents a broad range of adult nonfiction and fiction. Her authors include NYT bestselling and award-winning novelist Ben H. Winters; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Debbie Cenziper and Dale Russakoff; award-winning educator Michele Borba, the late Dr. Susan Forward, memoirists Ariel Burger, Rachel Stolzman, Grace Jung and Sara Sherbill; historians Philip Freeman, Joanna Sliwa and Elizabeth White; true crime writer James Renner; and novelists Marilyn Simon Rothstein, Lindsey J. Palmer, Roy Hoffman and Rosa Kwon Easton, and Tommy Hays. A former senior executive at HarperCollins and Ballantine Books, she has a Masters in Literature from Columbia University and graduated from Williams College.

Joëlle shares what she looks for in nonfiction and fiction submissions [6:50]
Her background in both sides of the publishing wall [6:50]
Why she considers herself a "Renaissance Agent" [7:10]
The excellence advantage that writers need to get on her radar [14:24]
How to craft a compelling proposal that gets attention from agents and publishers [14:49]
Joëlle's tips for memoirists [18:05]
Why your query letter matters and what red flags agents look for [19:59]
Why obsession can help get a writer a book deal [26:54]
Can a writer jump genres? [27:26]
Some of her authors success stories [31:16]

Connect with Joëlle

Website: https://www.delbourgo.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joelledelbourgoassoc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelledelbourgo/

Episodes Mentioned

Georgia Hughes formerly Editorial Director of New World Library

https://estelleserasmus.com/69-a-chat-with-the-editorial-director-of-new-world-library/

Michele Borba

Writing a Bestselling Book and Making Mistakes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY0JTzbnFrY

Estelle Erasmus: an award-winning journalist, is the author of WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED (named a "Best Book for Writers" by Poets & Writers Magazine), a Contributing Editor for Writer's Digest, and host of the podcast Freelance Writing Direct. She is an adjunct instructor for NYU's School of Professional Studies/Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts, has written for over 150 publications, including The New York Times, Next Avenue/PBS, WIRED, The Independent,The Washington Post, and AARP: The Magazine, and was the editor-in-chief of five national publications. Find out more at estelleserasmus.com

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https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/why-taping-my-podcast-reminds-me

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