Larissa Melo Pienkowski is a literary agent at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, the assistant publisher of Dottir Press, and a freelance editor and sensitivity reader. As a Latinx, mixed-race bookworm, she’s passionate about #OwnVoices stories, uplifting marginalized voices, and reading voraciously across genres, with a soft spot for YA, MG, literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and books that stretch the boundaries of genre altogether. A Massachusetts native, she earned her BSW from Simmons College and her MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College, and can be found in her ceramics studio in her free time (when she doesn’t have a book in hand).
Improves Query with Character Arcs
It was AMAZING! i was able to get redirected and encouraged to share more detail. We discussed character arcs and how things become relevant to readers in a query. I love her energy. This session will definately make my query letter stronger
Thalia
Thalia Elie
My call with Larissa was the jolt I needed for my honestly kinda drained writer battery ?? Her comments were insightful and encouraging, and she was super willing to get in the weeds and talk through different revision ideas with me. Highly recommend!!!
Maria Linn
Thrilled to Find This Community
I had a wonderful conversation with Larissa, and am so thrilled to have found this online community!
cathy philhower
Larissa was very insightful, full of good suggestions and supportive, too. Very glad we did the call.
Ilana Sparrow
Amazing
It was AMAZING! I was able to get redirected and encouraged to share more detail. We discussed character arcs and how things become relevant to readers in a query. I love her energy. This session will definitely make my query letter stronger.
Thalia Elie
Encourages Writers with Helpful Feedback
Larissa was very encouraging and kind, and she also gave me great advice to improve my query letter. She also took time to answer my questions. This consultation was very helpful.
Charlene Smith
Offers Clear Steps for Improvement
I had a 10 minute query letter consultation with Larissa. I’ll admit, I wondered how much could be done in 10 minutes. Well, at the end of the meeting I had made so many notes on the letter and had great, clear, actionable steps I could take to improve it. I don’t even think Larissa represents books like mine, but she was able to hone in on the issues that she’d look for in any query letter. I HIGHLY recommend her for anyone looking for feedback on their letter.
L. H.
Explains Craft and Business Clearly
Larissa Melo Pienkowski is not only one of the best agents at Manuscript Academy. She has to be one of the best agents, ever! I call her the manuscript/book whisperer. She is like a teacher. She will explain everything from the craft of writing to the business side of writing. She is so kind, warm, and delightful. She has a wonderful personality that makes you feel at ease in her presence. She is professional and believes that your time is valuable. She helps the author extract the voice of their character or characters. She provided me with a book recommendation that was so inspiring that I ended up writing another book because of it. Her written critiques are detailed, thought provoking, and she always leaves you with something positive. Her belief in the author and their characters emboldens the author to take more risks in their manuscript. I have had her for both an in person meeting and a written critique. Because of her intelligence and industry knowledge, I will continue going back to Larissa. As you can see, I highly recommend Larissa Melo Pienkowski for your in person meeting and written critique.
Lynn Snarr
Larissa was nice and helpful. She’s my dream agent!
James Arlington
Refining Genre and Title Choices
I had a lovely time with Larissa! She was kind and patient, and very good at listening to what I had to say.
As a result of just one ten-minute call, I refined my genre description, and changed the name of my book. Not bad!
Japhy Ryder
Balances Encouragement with Clear Critique
Larissa was so friendly and helpful! She had the perfect combination of encouragement and constructive feedback on my query. She was able to get right to the heart of what I suspected was not working, and offer suggestions on how to fix it. And she answered every question I had. I only wish I could have talked to her longer, it felt like talking to a friend!
Jennifer Dupuis
A wonderful conversation
I had a wonderful conversation with Larissa, and am so thrilled to have found this online community!
Cathy Philhower
Sharp Logline Editing Suggestions
Larissa was so helpful and brilliant with my loglines, choosing phrases that worked best and explaining why. Loglines are really hard and it was great how she was able to focus in and suggests edits.
Wendy Brandts
Larissa was friendly, professional and helpful. She suggested I make a substantial change to the plot of my story which would make it more appealing to agents. I havenít decided yet whether I will follow her advice but I understood her reasoning and it gave me a lot to think about. She also pointed out other issues that I hadnít considered previously. Not to say that her feedback was all negative ó I felt that she appreciated and understood what I had presented in my query letter and that she basically liked my ideas. It was an incredibly productive fifteen minutes! No matter which direction I go in Iím sure both the query and the manuscript will be stronger because of the consultation. Iím very grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with Larissa. Thank you, Manuscript Academy.
Valerie Cole
Work with Larissa
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.
HYBRID is a live meeting at the appointment time, with written notes.
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 within 24 hours of thedate on the calendar.