about the agency

Heather Jackson decided to vault over the desk to the agent side in 2016 after a highly successful career as a trade editor.  In her 20+ years as an editor she acted as the creative midwife to multiple dozens of New York Times bestselling authors and titles, including: Tim Ferriss, Dr. Steven Gundry, Ron Fournier, Joy Bauer, Rick Hanson, Dr. Robert C. Atkins, Dr. Arthur Agatston, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Dr. Susan Love, Dr. Alice D. Domar, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, Mallika Chopra, Barbara Sher, Martina Navratilova, Joe and Teresa Graedon, B. Smith and Dan Gasby, Howard Dully...among many others.

Irene Kaster started at HJLit as an intern in 2022. She studied at Emerson College in Boston and holds a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing, and an MA in Writing and Publishing. She has worn various hats in publishing including intern, freelance editor, literary assistant, social media coordinator, bookseller, and ghostwriter—but above all, she is a bookworm. Irene is based in Colorado and spends her free time enjoying the outdoors and searching for the best coffee shops. 

The selective client list we are cultivating has one unifying theme: to represent authors and books that entertain, elevate, inform, or make some type of positive difference to the individual reader or our larger society. Works that make you want to press the pause button on everything else--ditch the screens, the duties, the worries--to sit down and read for hours. Books that can ignite or shift a conversation and that might unite us rather than divide us further.  And, most importantly, books that can connect deeply and widely with masses of readers.

We specialize in commercial non-fiction, both narrative and prescriptive, and in contemporary fiction. We represent top-tier authors in health and well-being, psychology/self-help, politics and current affairs, as well as memoir and personal finance. We are always on the hunt for brilliant writing and deeply moving journalistic narratives that share insights into unseen aspects of our culture, subcultures, and the function or workings of our world. We love big ideas and groundbreaking big think books. We love historical and contemporary fiction penned with propulsive storylines, sharp and textured writing, and peopled with vivid characters. Lastly, we are steadfastly looking for a reliable narrator who isn't a psychopath, a multi-generational family saga that surprises, and, well, something that is just pure magic…reminding us that a creative hand can take us places we didn’t even know we wanted to go.