Adriann Ranta Zurhellen

Senior Editor
New York Times-bestselling former agent

Adriann Ranta Zurhellen is an accomplished editor and former literary agent. She has worked with authors all her professional life, beginning at The Editorial Department, a freelance editorial firm, before moving to Anderson Literary Management, Wolf Literary Services, Foundry Literary + Media, and Folio Literary Management. 

She specializes in bestselling, award-winning fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books, including Kendare Blake’s #1 New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns series. As a literary agent, she has represented New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors, journalists, illustrators, and graphic novelists, as well as many other pioneering creative thinkers and leaders in their fields. 

Her recent nonfiction titles include Jennifer Pastiloff’s inspirational memoir On Being Human: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real, and Listening Hard, Carrie Goldberg’s legal memoir Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs, and Trolls, and Amanda Yates Garcia’s luminous memoir Initiated: Memoir of a Witch. Her recent fiction titles include Sarah Gerard’s darkly comic True Love, Jan Eliasberg’s historical fiction Hannah’s War, and Kali Wallace’s Philip K. Dick Award winning sci-fi thriller Dead Space. In addition to Kendare Blake, recent children’s titles include Mindy McGinnis’ feminist page-turner The Female of the Species and Ronald L. Smith’s Black Panther: The Young Prince.

Adriann is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where she graduated magna cum laude, majoring in creative writing. Guiding and nurturing authors through the editing and coaching process has become the focal point of her life’s work. She lives in New York with her husband and children.

  • Agent, Dead Space by Kali Wallace (Berkely, 2021)
    • Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award
  •  Agent, Shark Summer by Ira Marcks (Little, Brown Ink, 2021)
  • Agent, Root Magic by Eden Royce (Walden Pond Press, 2021)
    • Walter Dean Myers Honor Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature
    • Mythopoeic Fantasy Award winner
  • Agent, Picture Us In the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert (Little, Brown BFYR, 2019)
    • Kirkus starred review
  • Agent, Hannah’s War by Jan Eliasberg (Little, Brown, 2020)
  • Agent, How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship by Eva Hagberg (Ecco, 2020)
    • Publishers Weekly starred review
  • Agent, Tomboyland: Essays by Melissa Faliveno (TOPPLE Books/Little A, 2020)
    • Best Books of 2020, according to NPR, Electric Literature, the New York Public Library, and Debutiful
    • Publishers Weekly starred review
  • Agent, True Love: A Novel by Sarah Gerard (Harper, 2020)
    • Best Book of 2020 by Glamour, Bustle, Entertainment Weekly, LitHub, Chicago Review of Books, and Shondaland
  • Agent, In the Shadow of the Valley by Bobi Conn (Little A, 2020)
    • Amazon Best Book of the Month: Biographies & Memoirs
  • Agent, On Being Human: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real, and Listening Hard (Dutton, 2019)
    • National Bestseller
  • Agent, Initiated: Memoir of a Witch by Amanda Yates Garcia (Grand Central, 2019)
    • Publishers Weekly starred review
  • Agent, Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs, and Trolls by Carrie Goldberg (Plume, 2019)
    • Esquire’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2019
  • Agent, The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk (Scholastic, 2018)
    • Kirkus starred review
  • Agent, Sunshine State: Essays (Harper, 2017)
    • Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
    • Finalist for the Southern Book Prize
    • Best Book of the Year by New York Times Critics, NPR, Nylon, and Buzzfeed
  • Agent, Too Shattered for Mending by Peter Brown Hoffmeister (Knopf BFYR, 2017)
  • Agent, Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis (Katherine Tegen Books, 2017)
  • Agent, Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers by Taisia Kitaiskaia, illustrated by Katy Horan (Seal Press, 2017)
  • Agent, Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake (HarperTeen, 2016)
    • #1 New York Times bestseller
    • New York Public Library Best Book of 2016
    • Kirkus Best Book of the Year
  • Agent, A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (Katherine Tegen Books, 2016)
    • Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery
  • Agent, Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith (Clarion, 2015)
    • Winner of the 2016 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award
  • Agent, How to Write a Novel (a novel) by Melanie Sumner (Vintage, 2015)
  • Agent, Zen Pencils: Cartoon Quotes from Inspirational Folks by Gavin Aung Than (Andrews McMeel, 2014)
  • Agent, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (Tor, 2011)
    • Hundreds of thousands of copies sold