Ayla Zuraw-Friedland (Agent)
REGISTER FOR AYLA ZURAW-FRIEDLAND (Registration open now for members; 9/22 for everyone)
Ayla Zuraw-Friedland joined the Frances Goldin Literary Agency in 2022 after starting her agenting career at The David Black Agency in 2019. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant and assistant editor at Beacon Press in Boston, and as a development editor for encyclopedias at Oxford University Press. Her writing can be found or is forthcoming in The Drift, Excerpts Magazine, GAY the Magazine, Publishers Weekly, and The Cape Cod Poetry Review. She is interested in literary fiction and nonfiction that inspect big questions about queer identity, class, community, and art & technology through a personal lens. Please note that she does not represent Young Adult, Middle Grade, or Picture Books.
Her current clients include J. Halberstam, Haley Jakobson (OLD ENOUGH, Dutton 2023), James Frankie Thomas (IDLEWILD, Abrams 2023), Jamie Hood (TRAUMA PLOT, Pantheon 2025; how to be a good girl, Grieveland 2020; 2nd edition, Pantheon 2025), Shelly Jay Shore (RULES FOR GHOSTING, Ballantine 2024).
Ayla Zuraw-Friedland's Availability During Manuscript Mart Fall 2025:
- Friday, November 14: 10:00–5:00
- Saturday, November 15: 10:00–1:00
Please register with Ayla Zuraw-Friedland ONLY if you can be available within the time windows above.
Zoom Meetings with Ayla will be scheduled within these time periods (all EDT), but are subject to change. If Ayla must make a change to this schedule, we will arrange a mutually agreeable Zoom time outside of Manuscript Mart Week.
What I'm Looking For
I want to have FUN. I want books about people doing things instead of just thinking about doing things (think THE MINISTRY OF TIME or THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI); I want something funny without being cringe or being overly-reliant on flash-in-the-pan memes. I want things that play with mythology and structure without being literal retellings. I want good sex scenes where neither party to the sex is a mythical creature (I am not the girl for your romantasy novel, sorry!)
Sample Titles or Authors
IDLEWILD by James Frankie Thomas
OLD ENOUGH by Haley Jakobson
RULES FOR GHOSTING by Shelly Jay Shore
Specializes In / Will Consider
Specializes In/Will Consider:
FICTION: LGBTQIA+, Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Humor/Satire, Literary Fiction, Multi-Cultural/Global Fiction
WILL CONSIDER: Short Story Collections, Graphic Novels
Ayla also represents NONFICTION.