Stephanie Delman

Founding Partner, Literary Agent

Stephanie Delman spent 10 years building her list at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates before co-founding Trellis Literary Management in the fall of 2021. Stephanie is focused on adult fiction: stylish writing, high-stakes and high-concept literary thrillers, upmarket fiction, socially conscious fiction, untold or underrepresented historical fiction, psychologically propulsive suspense, maximalist storytelling (in ambition, not in word count), and literary novels that play with genre. She enjoys fiction that’s grounded in reality, but tinged with something else: a bit of surrealism, a touch of horror. A very small part of Stephanie’s list is nonfiction: specifically, braided/speculative memoir projects by authors with established platforms and diverse perspectives. Her clients include New York Times and international bestsellers, GMA Book Club and Book of the Month picks, National Endowment for the Arts, Tin House, and Kundiman fellows, Rona Jaffe and Harper Lee award winners, Barnes & Noble Discover authors, and more.

Stephanie loves books that are “many things at once”—books that span genres and take risks. She is also seeking projects that use gothic traditions or speculative elements to illuminate contemporary fears and societal injustice. For projects that reach beyond the darkness, Stephanie is drawn to tenderness, vulnerability, and humor.

For a more detailed manuscript wish list, please click here.

Stephanie studied Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and considers herself a “hands-on” agent, both editorially and as an advocate. She was raised in Northern California and has lived in Brooklyn, NY for the past thirteen years. Before building her own list, Stephanie worked in foreign rights at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates and as an assistant to the president, where she helped broker international deals across 50+ foreign languages.

Stephanie's favorite non-client authors (if your work is similar, please get in touch!): Alexander Chee, Maggie Shipstead, Liz Moore, Carmen Maria Machado, Rebecca Makkai, Lauren Groff, Brit Bennett, Emily St. John Mandel.

Please note: Stephanie does not represent children’s books, YA, fantasy, sci-fi, prescriptive, academic, or religious nonfiction. Stephanie is not the right fit for books in which a young child is harmed or imperiled.