After working at independent bookstores, a book warehouse, a literary magazine, and in book publishing, Brianne started as a starry-eyed intern at Writer’s House in 2007. She worked her way up to Senior Agent before moving to HG Literary in 2021.
Brianne represents children’s books of all stripes, with a particular focus on character-driven middle grade and young adult fiction. She also selectively represents picture books and adult fiction.
Some of her clients include: winner of the Edgar Award and #1 New York Times bestselling author Wesley King, authors of the recent HBO Max film UNPREGNANT Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, Edgar nominated author Greg Howard, award winning playwright and author Kate Scelsa, Joya Goffney, Heather Fawcett, Laura Sibson, Cheryl Klein, Camilla Bruce, and others.
Brianne is particularly passionate about social justice stories, amplifying under-represented voices and perspectives, sex positivity, alternative lifestyles, quirky romances, well-researched historical fiction, and witchy/mythy genre benders. She loves pushing the envelope on balancing big, universally important themes with hope and humor in unexpected ways.
The one link Brianne has throughout the genres she focuses on is humor and whimsy, particularly in darker settings. She loves stories that can illuminate something about humanity in a fresh and quirky way, AND make her laugh. Life is serious enough. Reading should be a joy.
NOTE: Brianne now exclusively accepts queries via Query Manager. Please send a query letter, synopsis, and the first fifty pages of the manuscript directly through the personal link https://QueryManager.com/briannejohnson.