Danielle Chiotti, Upstart Crow Literary Agency

Danielle Chiotti, Upstart Crow Literary

Danielle has worked in publishing for sixteen years. Formerly an editor, she joined Upstart Crow when it was founded in 2009, specializing in young adult and middle grade fiction, as well as cookbooks, select nonfiction, and literary and upmarket fiction for adults. Thanks to her extensive editorial background, she enjoys working closely with authors to develop projects. She welcomes first-time authors with a unique voice and point of view.

For Young Adult and Middle Grade: She is drawn toward gorgeous writing and strong, flawed characters. Her dream project for young readers is one that challenges and inspires, with a compelling voice that will make her stay up all night reading. Good examples of this are Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, Chime by Franny Billingsley, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Still Life With Tornado by A.S.King, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo, and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

Work with Danielle

LIVE Meetings: Meet face-to-face, from home. Choose Zoom, Google Meet, or phone, and speak for the appointed time about your query, first page, and/or first ten pages (for longer meetings). Does not include written notes, but is a chance to have an honest discussion about your work, and to ask follow-up questions. International meetings welcomed.

WRITTEN Critiques: Get detailed, thoughtful notes on your work. Comes with large-scale edits (character, world, plot, tension, concept, conflict, and similar as needed) in an editorial letter and small-scale, line-by-line notes as needed (for longer critiques, an average of three per page). Work arrives in your inbox by the date on the calendar.

HYBRID is a live meeting at the appointment time, with written notes.

Member Reviews of Danielle

Concrete feedback ready for me

My meeting with Danielle was absolutely lovely. She had clearly spent time with my work and had concrete feedback ready for me, which is incredibly helpful because sometimes it’s hard to form the right questions to ask! And she’s also such a bright, warm human, which made the experience delightful as well as helpful. Highly recommend her as someone to consult!

Natasha Prokopchuk

Danielle was very helpful.

Danielle was very helpful. I had a tricky problem with my query and she talked me through the fixes I needed in order to add a lot of new information without going into a flood of detail. This is my third consultation and each one has helped me in a meaningful way.

Clare

Natasha Prokopchuk

Danielle gave wonderful advice and I felt like she truly cared.

The meeting went fantastic. Danielle gave wonderful advice and I felt like she truly cared about the time we spent together. Her recommendations were relevant and highly personalized. Definitely happy with the meeting!

Thank you for your work in setting all this up. I am happy I found out about the Academy!

Timothy Mousseau

She was thoughtful, kind and clear.

I had a great conversation with Danielle. She had read through all the pages I sent and had concrete suggestions for making them better. She was also able to discuss more general questions about how best to describe my project and overall how to make it better. She was thoughtful, kind and clear.

John Franz

What more could a writer ask for?

My talk with Danielle Chiotti was nothing short of inspirational–and it was absolutely motivational! She was cheerful, inquisitive and well-prepared. I got several very concrete pieces of advice that transformed the query I had been struggling with. I now feel confident about sending the revised one out. What more could a writer ask for?

Jane Hammons

I learned more in 15 minutes about my manuscript than in any writer's workshop I've attended.

I did the 10 page + 15 minute consultation with Danielle Chiotti. It was one of the most informative and constructive critiques I've ever received. In 15 minutes, Danielle showed me how to strengthen my first 10 pages. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and most important made me feel good about my writing and story. I'm so glad I did an E-consultation with Danielle, I learned more in 15 minutes about my manuscript than in any writer's workshop I've attended.

Ariana Fae

I think my first chapter is going to be much better as a result of this meeting. I would absolutely recommend doing this.

Danielle was fantastic! I got so much out of our talk. She was really insightful, and I felt like she both understood what I was trying to do, and the ways in which I needed help achieving it. She had actionable suggestions that made sense, she recommended some excellent articles to read, and just overall I felt like I learned a ton. I think my first chapter is going to be much better as a result of this meeting. I would absolutely recommend doing this.

Elizabeth Holden

Danielle Chiotti was personable and made me feel comfortable.

Danielle Chiotti was personable and made me feel comfortable. She critiqued the first page of my MG, giving me some valuable feedback. Danielle was thorough as we went over every paragraph, what worked and what didn't, and suggested enhancing foreshadowing using bread crumbs. I love that! It was a positive consultation and I'm eager to send her my query.

Laurie Smith Murphy