wendi gu, agent

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Wendi is privileged to represent a talented range of award-winning and bestselling children's books authors and illustrators. For all children's books categories, from picture books to young adult, Wendi values emotional stories filled with lyricism and heart. She is drawn toward books that help dismantle stereotypes about mental health, ability, and race. As the daughter of immigrants, she sees special importance in stories about migration and displacement, especially as they relate to friendship and family. For middle grade and young adult novels, she enjoys voice-driven stories with contemplative characters. Occasionally, she enjoys truly absurd humor. But above all, Wendi is looking for authors and illustrators who value inclusivity and intersectionality, whose writing and art encourages love and care. Bonus points go to stories from different parts of the globe.

She grew up in the Chicago suburbs and spent many of her summers with her grandparents in China. She attended Northwestern University where she studied Creative Writing. She lives in Brooklyn with her spouse and dog named Beanie Gu.

Wendi is now reopen to queries and looking mostly for novels, illustrators, and author-illustrators! For novels, please include the query and first ten pages in the body of the email. For picture book illustrators and author/illustrators, please attach your dummy or portfolio as a PDF or link. Even though her list is full of them, Wendi sometimes can’t resist a gorgeous picture book text. So if you have one of those, please include the query and full pb ms in the body of the email as well. Please write her at wgu@sjga.com.