ABOUT US
A Romance Writers of
Kelly Mortimer started Mortimer Literary Agency with one thought in mind: there were too many great writers who couldn't get their foot in the door. She's only 5'4”, but she wears a size 8-1/2 shoe, so she thought she could help. And she did, selling manuscripts for her first two clients in the same week.
Kelly is a two-time nominee and past winner of the American Christian Fiction Writers "Agent of the Year" award. Kelly first made the Top-10, then the Top-Five on the Publisher’s Marketplace list of “Top 100 Dealmakers” – Romance Category, and with a fraction of the clients most agents represent. She’s also a recipient of the Orange County Chapter RWA’s “Volunteer of the Year” award.
Kelly has a background in business (she's always
giving everyone the business) and has a secret government clearance (really),
so your dirty laundry is safe with her.
She has a degree in contract law and has many character
witnesses (at least 100 people will attest to the fact she's a character).
Being Italian (100%), she loves to chat with editors, booksellers, and writers; unless, of course, her hands are full.
Kelly knows the literary business and will use her maniacal type-A personality to work her heart out (yes, some agents DO have hearts) for her intimate family of clients. In order to be accessible to her authors, her client list will remain short. As more clients need less of her time (sniffle, sniffle), she'll be open to adding new writers.
Mortimer Literary only signs PRE-PUBLISHED writers (those who have yet to snag a contract with a traditional pub house), or haven’t had a book pubbed within the last three years. (Sorry, Nora—still no dice.) Kelly wants to ferret out those pre-published writers whose manuscripts are great as is, but no one will give them a chance, or those whose manuscripts are close, but need some work to catch an editor's eye. (She provides every client with a mitt.)
Her hobbies include: movies, politics, shoe shopping, firearms (her hubby [he’s such a sweet man] bought her a new sidearm for Christmas: a Smith & Wesson scandium-alloy-J-frame .357 Magnum M&P 360), gardening, wielding knives (never leaves home without one), taking bubble baths, hand-to-hand combat, Ann Taylor clothing, swinging nunchucks [No, she doesn't chuck swings at nuns! Her mom is Catholic.], making people laugh, killing rattlesnakes, designing handbags (check out www.4galsdesigns.com), riding motorcycles, playing with makeup, riding horses, writing Welcome to My Worlds: A Bipolar Christian Tells All stories, driving tractors, and helping people.*
*Disclaimer: Do not try any of these activities at home, especially the most dangerous, like ‘bubble baths.’ Kelly will not be held responsible for drowning incidents, nor for brain damage caused from inhaling rogue bubbles.
Kelly’s personal service includes:
Kelly can't promise publication. The book-buying
business is subjective. She might think the writing is the next best thing to a
heaping bowl of pasta, but 100 editors might not. (Some editors have no taste.)
Still, she'll travel far and wide, search every
newsletter, read every blog, scour every avenue (including Boardwalk and
Having a big-name agent from a large agency representing you might be great. Kelly feels sometimes it’s better to be a big fish in her small pond.*
*No fish were harmed
during the writing of that statement.