This event is virtual-only (via Zoom) and is open to Helen Zell Writers' Program MFA students and Zell Fellows, as well as U-M graduate and undergraduate students. It is not open to the general public. Please email Julie Cadman-Kim (kimjulie@umich.edu) for login instructions.

"What Does an Agent Do and When Are You Ready For One" will cover the basics: What does it look like to work with an agent, how do you find one, and how do you know it’s time to start looking for one?

Born and raised in New York City, Julie Barer began her career as a bookseller at Shakespeare & Company, where she discovered the joy of putting books into people’s hands. After working for several years at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates and a decade of running her own agency, Barer Literary, she founded The Book Group with her colleagues Faye Bender, Brettne Bloom and Elisabeth Weed in 2015. Julie represents a variety of writers across a literary spectrum, with a special emphasis on fiction.

Julie’s clients have been finalists and winners of numerous grants and prizes, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics' Circle Award, the Man Booker Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Los Angeles Times First Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award, among others. Works by several of her clients have graced the cover of The New York Times Book Review and have appeared on national and international bestseller lists. Recent titles include HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano, THE GREAT RECLAMATION by Rachel Heng, OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO PANIC by Kevin Wilson, INTERIOR CHINATOWN by Charles Yu and LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam.

Julie is particularly interested in representing a diversity of voices from around the world and from a wide range of backgrounds. Julie feels strongly about bringing under-represented stories to light, across race, class and sexuality, and relishes the opportunity to be challenged and educated by fiction, to learn more about herself and the world around her: one of the greatest things literature can offer us.