Andy Ross [SOLD OUT OF PITCH APPOINTMENTS] is a literary agent and founder of Andy Ross Agency.
“I represent authors who write books in a wide range of subjects including: narrative non-fiction, science, journalism, history, current affairs, contemporary culture, religion, children’s books and commercial and literary fiction.
“Authors I represent include: Daniel Ellsberg, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Fritjof Capra, Susan Griffin, Erik Tarloff, Daniel Boyarin, Mary Jo McConahay, Mark Goldblatt, David Dayen, Linda Watanabe McFerrin,Daniel Boyarin, and Peter Richardson.
“I am eager to work with projects in most genres as long as the subject or its treatment is smart, original, and will appeal to a wide readership. In narrative non-fiction I look for writing with a strong voice and robust narrative arc. I like books that tell a big story about culture and society by authors with the authority to write about their subject.
“For literary, commercial, and children’s fiction, I have only one requirement–a simple one–that the writing reveal the terrain of that vast and unexplored country, the human heart.
“I started my literary agency in February, 2008.
“Prior to becoming an agent, I was the owner of Cody’s Books in Berkeley, California for 30 years.
“I bought most of the new titles for the bookstore. Some of them worked, and some of them didn’t. The largest selling book we ever had at Cody’s was the autobiography of Bill Clinton. It sold over 2500 copies in one day, the day he came to the store to sign books.
“In the sixties, Cody’s played a major role in the anti-war movement, much of it taking place right outside our front door. Once the police lobbed a tear gas canister into the store. It gave a new meaning to those books we call “tear jerkers.”
“The most exciting experience I had at Cody’s was when somebody threw a pipe bomb through the window in 1989. It was believed to be associated with Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses. Fortunately it didn’t explode. After the bomb was removed, the staff at Cody’s voted unanimously to continue carrying Rushdie’s book. That was my proudest moment in bookselling.
“Over the years, Cody’s hosted thousands of writers including: Norman Mailer, Gary Snyder, Alan Ginsberg, Kurt Vonnegut, Salman Rushdie, Joseph Heller, and Alice Walker. We also hosted events for major public and cultural figures such as: Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Mohammed Ali, Mickey Mantle, Gloria Steinem,and Buckminster Fuller.
“Cody’s closed its doors for the last time in 2008, the victim of changing buying habits. But people everywhere come up to me and tell me how much Cody’s meant to them and how it enriched their lives. I feel pretty good about that.”
Maeve MacLysaght [SOLD OUT OF PITCH APPOINTMENTS] is a literary agent with 
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