Byrd Leavell

Byrd Leavell
Born
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.[1]
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
OccupationLiterary agent
Known forrepresenting Tiffany Haddish,[2] Justin Halpern, Cat Marnell and "Weird Al" Yankovic[3][4]

Byrd Leavell is a literary agent and the co-head of the publishing department at United Talent Agency.[5][6][7] Previously he was known as a named partner at the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.[8][9]

Career

Leavell graduated from the University of Virginia and the Radcliffe Publishing Program.[3][10] In 2012, he partnered with Scott Waxman to form the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.[9]

As a partner at the Waxman Leavell agency, he oversaw multiple New York Times bestsellers including #1 bestselling books Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Leavell also represents Rob Elliott, whose LOL series has sold more than 2.5 million copies.[18] He also represented the anonymous Dutch novel Diary of an Oxygen Thief.[19][20] Leavell also represents Cat Marnell, a former Lucky, XoJane and Vice blogger.[21]

In September 2017 he began his employment at UTA.[5] One of the first clients Leavell represented at UTA was comedian and actor Tiffany Haddish.[2] Haddish's memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, was a debut New York Times bestseller, spending each of its first six weeks in print on the list and, as of January 2018, reaching #5 overall.[2][22][23][24]

Over his career, Leavell has frequently been interviewed about publishing trends.[10][12][17][25]

In 2024, Leavell was promoted to Partner at UTA.[26]

Selected clients

According to Publishers Weekly.[3][10]

References

  1. ^ Alanna Stack, Byrd Leavell III The New York Times. June 22, 2016
  2. ^ a b c Gallery Books to Publish Tiffany Haddish. Simon & Schuster. January 25, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Profile: Byrd Leavell". Publishers Weekly.
  4. ^ Haskell, Will This 23-year-old ditched her blog and started writing her memoir on Instagram — now 300,000 people are reading it Business Insider. June 22, 2016
  5. ^ a b "People, Etc. - Publishers Lunch". Publishers Lunch. 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  6. ^ People Round-Up, Early October 2017. Publishing Trends. January 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Hayes, Dade UTA Acquires Lit Agency Fletcher & Company. Deadline. January 4, 2023.
  8. ^ Newman, Andrew Adam (March 1, 2007). "Authors Find Their Voice, and Audience, in Podcasts". The New York Times.
  9. ^ a b "Waxman, Leavell Form New Agency". Publishers Weekly. May 30, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c "UTA Literary Agent Byrd Leavell On Publishing Industry Trends". WritingRoutines.com.
  11. ^ Deahl, Rachel Tucker Max Is Back—With Dating Advice Publishers Weekly. June 24, 2016
  12. ^ a b Witt, Emily (December 13, 2011). "Sh*t My Agent Sells: The Art of Turning Instafads Into Tome-blrs". The New York Observer.
  13. ^ "Best sellers: Paperback Nonfiction". The New York Times. November 8, 2009.
  14. ^ "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. June 11, 2010.
  15. ^ Kleeman, Sophie This 23-Year-Old Is Writing Her Fairy Tale Memoir Entirely on Instagram Mic. June 22, 2016
  16. ^ Dishman, Lydia (November 16, 2009). "Will Tweet for a Book Deal". Fast Company.
  17. ^ a b Sambuchino, Sam (October 16, 2009). "Agent Advice: Byrd Leavell of Waxman Literary Agency". Writer's Digest.
  18. ^ Lodge, Need a Laugh? Rob Elliott and HarperCollins Have You Covered Publishers Weekly. June 22, 2016
  19. ^ Unknown "Oxygen Thief" author becomes self-published success CBS News. June 22, 2016
  20. ^ Fleming, Jr., Mike ‘Diary Of An Oxygen Thief’ Sells To S&S Imprint Gallery After Gotham Group Buys Screen Rights Deadline. June 22, 2016
  21. ^ Hoby, Hermoine (October 6, 2012). "Cat Marnell interview: shooting star". Guardian.
  22. ^ Greene, David. Tiffany Haddish: 'I Know What I'm Supposed To Do Here On This Earth'. NPR. January 25, 2018.
  23. ^ Gardner, Chris. Groupon Books Superfan Tiffany Haddish for Super Bowl Ad. Hollywood Reporter. January 25, 2018.
  24. ^ Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. New York Times. January 25, 2018.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference TheTimes001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Kuznikov, Selena UTA Promotes 24 Employees to Partner. Variety. May 16, 2024.
  27. ^ Men Don't Read Anymore. Can MrBeast Change That? The Times. January 22, 2026
  28. ^ EXCLUSIVE: How Comedian Daniel O'Brien Turned One Joke Into A Major Book Deal Forbes. June 22, 2016
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