Our Agents

Rubin Pfeffer

Founded by Rubin Pfeffer in 2014, RPC is the natural extension of Rubin’s 40-year career in the publishing industry. Starting as a designer at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich directly out of college, Rubin has traversed the seas of the children’s book industry. In his 30 years at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Rubin served in many positions, including art director, editor-in-chief, and president. In 2001, Rubin transitioned from Harcourt to become Pearson’s chief creative officer. Wishing to return to trade publishing, Pfeffer transitioned to Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, working as a vice president and publisher in 2003. After several years at Simon & Schuster, sensing a changing tide in the industry, Rubin became an independent agent at East West Literary Agency in 2009. Rubin has found his passion for working closely with authors and illustrators, strengthening and nurturing their work, and helping writers and illustrators demonstrate their potential to publishers.

Melissa Nasson

Please note: Melissa Nasson is currently closed to submissions. Melissa Nasson has spent her life living in and around Boston, attending college and law school at Boston University (Go Terriers!). While studying at BU Law, she realized that becoming a literary agent would combine her passion for books with her legal background. She interned at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth (now Aevitas Creative Management), East-West Literary Agency, Rubin Pfeffer Content, and Perseus Books Group before starting as contracts director at Beacon Press in 2013. Now, she continues her work at Beacon Press while actively building her picture book, middle-grade, and YA list as a literary agent at Rubin Pfeffer Content. Melissa also launched Literary Lawyer in early 2019, a solo law practice dedicated to assisting authors, agents, and publishers with a variety of legal issues. In spring 2020, Melissa joined the affiliated faculty at Emerson College, teaching Publishing Law in the Department of Writing, Literature & Publishing. Melissa loves dogs, craft beer, playing acoustic guitar, making pickles, tending to her tiny vegetable garden, and her tortoise, Norton. She lives with her husband in Brighton, MA.

Melissa is seeking picture books, middle-grade, and young adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as graphic novels. She is open to all genres, but has a special love for fantasy and science fiction. She enjoys unexpected settings and loves to see manuscripts that bring to light untold stories from history, particularly featuring individuals from marginalized groups. Above all, she wants to see strong, polished writing, fully developed and multifaceted characters, and fresh concepts.   Connect with Melissa at https://twitter.com/melissabnasson

Amy Thrall Flynn

Amy Thrall Flynn joined Rubin Pfeffer Content in 2019. A former Editor with Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, she believes in the power of books to connect, inspire, and affirm the lives of young people. In addition to her experience acquiring and shepherding dozens of books to publication while an editor, Amy holds a BA in American Literature from Middlebury College in Vermont; an MA in English from Simmons University, Boston; and an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons University/The Center for the Study of Children’s Literature. Amy has two grown children, and lives with her husband and a pair of lovable scruffy dogs on a farm in Connecticut.

Amy is looking for unforgettable voices and fresh perspectives in all genres, with a focus on picture books, innovative nonfiction for ages 2 - 12, and character-driven middle grade novels. She especially loves writing that captures the imagination with humor, flashes of insight, and an authentic emotional core. When reviewing submissions, she wonders, “How does this piece connect with the lives of children?” Will it spark their curiosity, sustain their interest, and explore their experiences and concerns? Does it provide a mirror or open a window to new perspectives? Does this writer have something to say? Most importantly, Amy hopes to see the writer’s passion and commitment to craft.

When a client signs with me, they can expect respect, care, diligence, and integrity. I work with a small list of creators and offer a high level of support and communication. Clients include Robyn McGrath, Mk Smith Despres, Dan Paley, Tommy Greenwald, Federico Gastaldi, Dana VanderLugt, Zoraida Rivera Morales, and Lina Maslo.

Melanie Kroupa

Melanie Kroupa has had the pleasure of working with wonderfully creative authors and illustrators for many years, creating books for children and YA at publishers such as Houghton Mifflin, Joy Street Books/Little Brown, the Atlantic Monthly Press and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, often under her Melanie Kroupa Books imprint. She also developed and taught the course “Editing Books for Children and YA” in the Simmons Children’s Literature Program.

Among the books, she has edited are Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose (winner of the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor Book, and a Sibert Honor Book), Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian (a first novel and National Book Award finalist); My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson (a National Book Award finalist) and Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, a first book/memoir by Ibtisam Barakat (a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year).

Picture books she’s edited include many best-selling Arthur books by Marc Brown, as well as Hush! by Minfong Ho, illustrated by Holly Meade (A Caldecott Honor Book), Janice Harrington’s The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County illustrated by Shelley Jackson (four starred reviews), and Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best, illustrated by Christine Davenier, (a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year).

Melanie is now happily representing a small select group of authors including Lynne Bertrand, whose first novel, City of the Uncommon Thief, was recently hailed as “a literary Rubik’s cube…genre-defying fiction at its finest” by Bookpage (Starred Review). She looks for a distinctive, compelling voice, strong characterization, and fiction and non-fiction that create a strong emotional response. Most of all, she loves discovering new voices – and nurturing them. Accepting submissions by referral only: info@RPContent.com