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.
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.
Sam Hiyate
emmy is a PhD student at McMaster University, a bookseller at Another Story book shop, and a blogger at BooksBeyondBinaries.blog. They are a trans non-binary colonizer originally from Newfoundland, now based in Toronto, Ontario. emmy keeps busy with research projects, spending time with their adopted dogs and cats, film photography, snail mail, roller skating, embroidery, vegan cooking, and… obviously, reading.
emmy grew up on fantasy novels and 90’s kidlit horror like Bunnicula and Goosebumps. Currently, they have expertise in LGBTQIA2S+ lit, academic work, and left leaning non-fiction. emmy’s favourite things to read are dark fantasy, paranormal horror, magical realism, mystery, paranoid fiction, true crime, memoir, feminist thrillers, and literary fiction. emmy loves diverse authors and characters, morally ambiguous feminine protagonists, spooky spec fic, and dramatic friendship stories. Murder is their comfort read.
Emmy Nordstrom Higdon
Zoé Duhaime is a writer, illustrator and publishing student currently living in Montréal. Previously, she was the Youth Poet Laureate (2015) for Victoria, B.C. and a speechwriter. Highlights include a permanent exhibition in the B.C. Hall of Honours, a degree in Religious Studies & Women's Studies from the University of Victoria, and the occasional stint as a political cartoonist.
Zoé Duhaime
Molly is a Film Studies and Creative Writing major at Ohio Wesleyan University. Originally from North Canton, she is now working in New York as an intern for Nat Kimber. She likes to read high fantasy books like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and watch everything from the MCU to The Good Place. Her favorite movie is currently Fantastic Mr. Fox by Wes Anderson. She spends her time handwriting letters, brutally analyzing new films and tv shows, and eating every new food that comes her way. Molly is most interested in how the human narrative is reshaped and reflected between everyday life and literature and hopes to make her own impact someday.
Assistant to Natalie Kimber
Molly Berrey
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.
Interim Rights Manager, Children’s & YA
Liza Demaison
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