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Abby Walters
Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Walters earned her B.A. at Miami University of Ohio where she majored in English Literature and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, she attended the Columbia Publishing Course and worked briefly in editorial at MORE magazine, before beginning her career in book publishing at Random House in 2016. While there, she worked on publicity campaigns and event strategy for the imprint's top authors including Paul Kalanithi, Trevor Noah, Lee Child, Jodi Picoult, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and more. Walters joined CAA in 2017 as an assistant to Kate Childs, working on book launches for clients like President Joe Biden, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush. After working for agents in both the TV/Film Rights and Publishing department, Walters was promoted to literary agent in 2020. She represents writers in all areas of fiction and nonfiction, with a focus on literary and upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction and memoir.
Walters' list includes NYT, WSJ, and USA Today bestsellers, as well as book club picks including Read with Jenna, B&N Discover, and Indie Next. Some of her clients include Thao Thai, Honor Levy, Christina McDowell, Zoe Eisenberg, Lidija Hilje, Nadine Jolie Courtney, Cole Brown, Barbara “Brunch with Babs" Costello, Reductress, Cazzie David, Samantha Leach, and Jazmine Hughes.
Abby is looking for:
Walters is most interested in literary fiction but is also actively looking to acquire upmarket commercial fiction. She is especially drawn to coming of age, intense, complicated relationships, the nuances of parenthood and how it informs identity, stories that explore the intersection of culture and technology (including speculative fiction) and culture and art, and the quest for self-optimization. She gravitates toward stories that hinge on an outsized relationship with another person like On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong or an obsession with remedying oneself like The Answers by Catherine Lacey. She's also fond of works that rely on group dynamics and dependencies to create conflict and drive plot like A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. She tends to want an element of romantic love or exploration of intimacy especially if it creates a challenge to cultural heritage and/or self-identity like that seen in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and Elif Batuman's The Idiot. In the more commercial books she considers, she appreciates a level of humor and voice that offers commentary on unfolding antics and behavior.
Nonfiction: Walters is most interested in narrative non-fiction and memoir. On the narrative side, she tends to read and acquire from writers with a background in journalism. She loves to journey through an unknown world or subculture and is especially drawn to books that shed new light on the natural world. Additionally, Walters loves to learn about new ideas in science and technology especially as they relate to mind body connection and personal and/or societal well-being. Recent favorites in this category include Outlive by Peter Attia and Breath by James Nestor.
Walters also loves a good memoir and gravitates toward late coming-of-age stories centered around identity exploration that employ a lyrical style like Ariel Levy’s The Rules Do Not Apply, Saeed Jones’ How We Fight for Our Lives, and Bill Hayes’ Insomniac City. She’s also fascinated with personal stories that explore our relationship with work and work culture as well as narratives that explore mental and physical health.
She is not looking for:
YA, Middle Grade, picture books, fantasy, anything related to AI, or formulaic thrillers.
Examples of books Abby currently represents:
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje
My First Book by Honor Levy
Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Walters earned her B.A. at Miami University of Ohio where she majored in English Literature and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, she attended the Columbia Publishing Course and worked briefly in editorial at MORE magazine, before beginning her career in book publishing at Random House in 2016. While there, she worked on publicity campaigns and event strategy for the imprint's top authors including Paul Kalanithi, Trevor Noah, Lee Child, Jodi Picoult, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and more. Walters joined CAA in 2017 as an assistant to Kate Childs, working on book launches for clients like President Joe Biden, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush. After working for agents in both the TV/Film Rights and Publishing department, Walters was promoted to literary agent in 2020. She represents writers in all areas of fiction and nonfiction, with a focus on literary and upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction and memoir.
Walters' list includes NYT, WSJ, and USA Today bestsellers, as well as book club picks including Read with Jenna, B&N Discover, and Indie Next. Some of her clients include Thao Thai, Honor Levy, Christina McDowell, Zoe Eisenberg, Lidija Hilje, Nadine Jolie Courtney, Cole Brown, Barbara “Brunch with Babs" Costello, Reductress, Cazzie David, Samantha Leach, and Jazmine Hughes.
Abby is looking for:
Walters is most interested in literary fiction but is also actively looking to acquire upmarket commercial fiction. She is especially drawn to coming of age, intense, complicated relationships, the nuances of parenthood and how it informs identity, stories that explore the intersection of culture and technology (including speculative fiction) and culture and art, and the quest for self-optimization. She gravitates toward stories that hinge on an outsized relationship with another person like On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong or an obsession with remedying oneself like The Answers by Catherine Lacey. She's also fond of works that rely on group dynamics and dependencies to create conflict and drive plot like A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. She tends to want an element of romantic love or exploration of intimacy especially if it creates a challenge to cultural heritage and/or self-identity like that seen in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and Elif Batuman's The Idiot. In the more commercial books she considers, she appreciates a level of humor and voice that offers commentary on unfolding antics and behavior.
Nonfiction: Walters is most interested in narrative non-fiction and memoir. On the narrative side, she tends to read and acquire from writers with a background in journalism. She loves to journey through an unknown world or subculture and is especially drawn to books that shed new light on the natural world. Additionally, Walters loves to learn about new ideas in science and technology especially as they relate to mind body connection and personal and/or societal well-being. Recent favorites in this category include Outlive by Peter Attia and Breath by James Nestor.
Walters also loves a good memoir and gravitates toward late coming-of-age stories centered around identity exploration that employ a lyrical style like Ariel Levy’s The Rules Do Not Apply, Saeed Jones’ How We Fight for Our Lives, and Bill Hayes’ Insomniac City. She’s also fascinated with personal stories that explore our relationship with work and work culture as well as narratives that explore mental and physical health.
She is not looking for:
YA, Middle Grade, picture books, fantasy, anything related to AI, or formulaic thrillers.
Examples of books Abby currently represents:
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje
My First Book by Honor Levy