What We Believe
It used to be that writers had editors to watch their backs, but over the past century the literary agent has risen to stand by the writer, to help them birth their literary works, to polish them until they are ready for submission, and to help authors find the best publishing homes – eventually leading their works to widespread markets and audiences.
This is what we do at TRF. Whether you are a debut author just finishing your first novel, an expert, teacher or journalist working on a narrative non-fiction or prescriptive work, someone with a memoir or great life story to tell, or a graphic novelist, we’re interested in hearing from you – if you haven’t heard from us first.
Every agent at TRF is looking for work they can get excited about, in every genre and category. If you’re in the market, we encourage you to look at the agents here and see if one of them seems like the perfect business partner for you.
Film & TV
A strong story in book form is the perfect – and most common – raw material for film and TV adaptation. Selling great stories into other media is something we explore actively, with close ties to film and TV agents across the entertainment landscape, locally and internationally.
Origins
The Rights Factory was founded in 2004 with a handful of clients and a massive search for new talent in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. We now have nine different agents and represent hundreds of clients from around the world.
Editorial Feedback
We are an editorial agency and we will be tough on your work, because we are committed to developing your project until it is absolutely ready to take to market. Along the way, we will champion you across the industry and media and make sure what you wrote is seen by the best editors, and we will provide you with professional insight to help your project become the best book it can be, for the audience that will love it.
Staff
About Us
Sam Hiyate
Since 1990 Sam has worked at literary magazines, small presses and with New York Times bestselling authors, editing and representing everything from debut fiction, memoir and narrative non-fiction to graphic novels. He has taught writing and publishing privately since 2000 and also at various universities. His most recent project is an online magazine, Don’t Talk to Me About Love, exploring love in literary and artistic works.
Liza Demaison
Interim Rights Manager, Children’s & YA
Liza holds a B.A. in English language, a B.A. in French Modern Literature and a Bachelor in Law. At first, Liza wanted to become a lawyer but after an exchange program in Thessaloniki, Greece, she realized that she had to pursue her dream job, which was working with books. She started a M.A. in Publishing at the University of Strasburg, France, where she had the chance to learn about all the existing jobs in the publishing industry. She worked for independant French publishing house Rodéo d'âme in Strasbourg for almost a year. Liza wrote her Master's thesis about the success of YA in France and in the United States. She is now finishing her master's degree at the Rights Factory.
Liza grew up surounded by books and her favorite of all time is Le Petit Prince. She likes to read almost everything from fiction to poetry. At the moment, she is reading Harry Potter in French, English and Spanish because she likes to compare translations.
Emily Hamilton
Emily has a degree in French Studies from Queen's University and is currently finishing her publishing certificate from Centennial College. Although she’ll read almost anything, her favourite books tend to be translated fiction and thrillers. One of her biggest goals in publishing is to work with translators to be able to share stories from different countries with English readers. She talks about her bulldog Balthazar as much as you think she does.
Michaela Stephen
Michaela Stephen is a writer and editor living in Toronto, Ontario. She is originally from Kamloops, British Columbia. Currently, she is completing the publishing program at Centennial College. She previously graduated with her MA in English Literature from the University of Calgary and her BA in English and Creative Writing from Dalhousie University. Her writing has been published by This Magazine, antilang., and Awkward Mermaid magazine, among others. Although she enjoys reading almost anything, her favourite books are usually literary fiction, magic realism, or dystopian novels.
Miranda Winters-Sayle
Miranda Winters-Sayle is an aspiring fiction editor currently attending Sheridan College for Creative Writing & Publishing. She is the founder and managing editor of Savant-Garde, a literary magazine focused on amplifying the voices of emerging writers. She loves reading genres from YA to literary fiction and is incredibly passionate about work set in the GTA, where she was born and raised. Currently she is trying to work her way through Stephen King’s bibliography in publication order.
Christina McCallum
Christina is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto, where she completed her B.A. in English and French Literature, and Semiotics and Communication Studies. Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Christina enjoys reading books set across Canada from a variety of perspectives. However, she actively seeks out a wide array of stories, and her favourite genres tend to be speculative fiction and literary fiction. Her writing will be published in the upcoming volume of U of T’s English undergraduate academic journal, IDIOM.
Tasneem Motala
If there's literally anything to do as a kid growing up in rural Niagara, it's read, and Tasneem did so much of it that she turned it into her career with a degree in English and Classical Civilizations and a post-grad in Publishing. Her experience includes writing beauty articles for Elevate Magazine, promoting Sonia Faruqi’s book, The Oyster Thief, to the book-blogging sphere as a marketing manager, and building her very own #ownvoices literary zine, KROS Magazine, from scratch.
Sometimes she doesn't know what she's looking for until it's in her inbox, but some things are timeless. Retellings of well-known myths and classics, the enemies-to-lovers trope, and anything with mechas or androids are just a few of Tasneem's favourite things when it comes to fiction. She also adores anything with something important to say hidden within all the action.
Tasneem is currently looking for character-driven MG and YA fiction, with or without a touch of magic, written by BIPOC authors.
Mahavir Chaudhary
Mahavir is a content strategist and blogger living in Toronto, Ontario. He has a degree in communications and is recently pursuing content strategy at Humber College. He previously graduated with Bachelors in commerce from Ahmedabad University. Joining as a social media assistant, he is extremely passionate and motivated with the work.
His favorite hobbies include trekking, cooking, and gaming. He loves to cook and is always upbeat with life.
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