I'm Erik. Nice to meet you.

I'm a literary agent, editor, and writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and my preferred pronouns are he/him/his. I'm Founder and Agent at Headwater Literary Management, a boutique agency based here in the Twin Cities.

Since graduating from the Knox College Writing Program and the Denver Publishing Institute in 2012, I've served as a book editor for Oxford University Press as well as The Overlook Press, and as an agent at Red Sofa Literary before founding Headwater Literary Management with Laura Zats in 2019. I've worked on books of many different genres and profiles, a range that includes everything from commercial and literary novels to upmarket and even academic nonfiction. This variety is now represented in my client list at HLM, as well as in who hires me as a freelance editor.

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If you're looking for me in my capacity as a literary agent with Headwater, check out the Agent tab for some detailed thoughts on what I'm looking for in projects. You can also find the agency's submission guidelines and other information here. I'm open to queries right now and would love to hear about your book.

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I now edit for many presses around the country, as well as for individual authors looking to get a manuscript ready to submit to agents or publishers. I'd love to talk about editing or ghostwriting a project for you or your company; head over to my Freelance Services page for more details about the types of editorial work I can do for you.

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I co-host a weekly publishing podcast called "Print Run," available in all the usual places you find your podcasts. The show won Digital Book World's 2019 award for Best Use of Podcasting in Publishing, and led to Laura and me being named one of Publishers Weekly's reader's choices for "Industry MVPs" lin 2019. Check us out here. 

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I teach writing and publishing-related courses; this is usually through the The Loft Literary Center here in Minneapolis, but I speak at conferences and events too.

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I also write and publish my own fiction and commentary; to see where my writing has appeared or the recognition it's earned, check out the My Writing page.

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And of course, I'm on social media. Come say hi on Twitter; I'm @erikhane.

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