Meet Our Agents

DEAN KRYSTEK - Managing Director /Agent

Email: d.krystek@wordlink.us, dean.wordlink@gmail.com

Twitter: @dean_wordlink

Query Status: CLOSED - to reopen in the spring

Dean, a Pittsburgh native, holds a BA in English from the University of South Carolina. After a successful career in the Army that took him from the sizzling heat of Vietnam to the cool interior of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, he held numerous positions in the private sector and state & federal government. He participated in Operation Enduring Freedom as a DOD mentor to the Afghanistan national army for several years. When he finally turned his attention from wars to words, he brought WordLink, an agency begun in New Zealand by a college friend, to Pennsylvania.

Dean is looking for authors with distinctive voices whose narratives invoke a strong sense of time and place and whose stories create a memorable reading experience. He’d like to see mysteries (whodunit, cozy, locked room); sci-fi (space opera, dystopian, alternate history, time travel); psychological suspense; thrillers; military fiction (character-driven pieces favoring post-WWII). In YA he would like to see mysteries, paranormal, coming-of-age, and suspense with writing that stirs the imagination and caters to the young reader’s sense of wonder and adventure.

MIRA PERRIZO - Literary Agent

Email: WordLinkAgent@gmail.com

Twitter: @P23Mira

Query Status: CLOSED

Mira has spent over thirty-five years in the publishing world, including twenty-one years as publisher at Johnson Books/Big Earth Publishing in Boulder, Colorado, where she was involved in all facets of book publishing, from design to manuscript development and more. Her love of books has led her to continue working with authors. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Mira is looking for literary fiction, historical fiction, thrillers, mysteries, and most anything that has a unique storyline with incredible writing.

ZEYNEP SEN - Literary Agent / US and Foreign Rights

Email: zeynep.wordlink@gmail.com

Twitter: @zeynep20sen

Query Status: OPEN

Zeynep is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing, and she has worked as a foreign rights agent at the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency in New York. Her own writings have appeared in publications such as the United Nations accredited The Society and Diplomatic Review, Culture Limited, the New York Journal of Books, and other literary journals. Fluent in English, Turkish, and Spanish, she is an experienced translator of fiction and nonfiction. She is based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Zeynep is looking for literary and historical fiction, literature in translation, and narrative nonfiction.

CHIP RICE - Literary Agent

Email: c.rice@wordlink.us

Twitter: @WCRice3D

Query Status: CLOSED - Opening March 2025

Chip joined WordLink in 2019 after a stint in freelance editing and manuscript assessment. When not reading or busy with agenting, Chip enjoys exercise, sports, and spending time with family.

Across all genres, Chip gravitates to fiction that delivers exceptional voice with commercial appeal, brisk pace, and a clear and compelling hook. He values emotion, authenticity, humor, and memorable characters.

Chip has interest in representing rom-com and contemporary romance for adults and teens. He is seeking fresh approaches to familiar tropes, clean or spicy (provided the spice complements a heartfelt story). He will also consider lighthearted contemporary women’s fiction. Chip is not a good fit for erotica or romantasy.

Chip is also in the market for YA contemporary, YA suspense, and YA horror (psychological or paranormal), and he would love to take on an adult cozy mystery. He can sometimes fall in love with dark, twisty, suspenseful tales and the occasional historical novel. Chip is not a good fit for fantasy/sci-fi, but speculative elements are fine in any genre.

A “heart” from Chip on your X pitch (any event, at any time) is an invitation to query per agency guidelines, even if he is closed to queries.

MACEY HOWELL - Literary Agent

Email: m.howell@wordlink.us

Query Status: CLOSED

Macey is looking for literary fiction, romance, fantasy, psychological suspense and horror, narrative nonfiction, and cross-genre works that encompass any mix of these elements. She especially loves stylistically unconventional writing that uses language in an unexpected way and makes it feel unfamiliar and then familiar again, like moving into a new house and making it your home.

In YA and middle grade, she would like to see contemporary and fantasy projects that are imaginative and have coming-of-age themes that speak to a young reader’s perspective and concerns. She also considers whimsical and charming picture books that have a strong emotional center and deeply understand the specific context of the audience.

ANNA CLARK - Associate Literary Agent

Email: anna.wordlink@gmail.com

Twitter: @Anna___Clarky

Query Status: OPEN

Anna’s passion for a good story started as a child on the theatre camp stage and was nurtured throughout her life by a love of reading and performance. She is a proud Filipino-American born and raised in southern Georgia by her first generation mother and southern grown father. She attended Belmont University, earning a degree in English, Theatre, and Education. She now resides in Nashville where she has worked as a high school teacher and Teaching Artist for a local theater.

Anna is looking for dark fiction such as psychological, gothic, southern gothic, paranormal, and literary horror, as well as new adult fiction about immigrant diaspora, interracial identity, and multi-generational conflict. As a lover of the stage and all things dramatic, she appreciates cinematic writing that paints clear pictures of complex worlds and characters in the reader’s mind. She celebrates own voices, particularly those that are usually overlooked or ignored in traditional spaces.

SYDNEY QUEEN DETELLIS - Assistant Literary Agent

Email: s.queen@wordlink.us

Twitter: @queendetellis

Query Status: CLOSED

Sydney is a graduate of Belmont University with a BA in English and has been obsessed with books ever since a librarian tried to ban her from the YA section in elementary school. Her own writing has received the Alfred Leland Crabb Award, the Ruby Treadway Award, and the Corinne Dale Award for Writing about Gender. She resides in Myrtle Beach with her husband and what some people say is too many cats.

Sydney is looking for beautiful prose and unrepeatable characters in many genres, including literary fiction, historical fiction, psychological thrillers, mysteries, speculative fiction, and books of the fantasy/sci-fi/slipstream variety. She is interested in adult novels and has a long-standing love for YA. Sydney is also seeking memoirs or essay collections that address overcoming trauma.