Karen Grencik became a literary agent because of a man she admired. She wanted the world to know his story, so she set out to make that happen. In 2001 she accomplished her goal when Double Luck, Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan, written by Lu Chi Fa with Becky White, was published by Holiday House. Double Luck received many awards, including The Parents’ Choice Gold Award for Best Nonfiction. Karen’s next sale, George Hogglesberry, Grade School Alien, written by Sarah Wilson, was acquired by a brand-new editor, Abigail Samoun, at Tricycle Press. George Hogglesberry went on to win the coveted Golden Kite Award for Best Picture Book Text. Many other award-winning titles followed.
In June 2011 Karen joined forces with Abigail Samoun to open Red Fox Literary, LLC, a boutique agency that specializes in children’s books for all ages and genres. Karen focuses primarily on narrative nonfiction and substantive picture books, and she loves matchmaking authors and their manuscripts with just the right editors. Among the awards garnered by her authors are the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Award, the National Jewish Book Award, Cybils Award, South Asia Book Award, California Book Award, Golden Kite Award, Orbis Pictus Award, CELI Read Aloud Book Award, EUREKA! Gold Awards, Northern Lights Book Award, Riverby Awards, Florida Book Award, NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Award, Parents’ Choice Gold Award, Benjamin Franklin Award for Best First Fiction, Sibert Honor, Coretta Scott King Honor, Sydney Taylor Honor, Sydney Taylor Notables, among others. She has been ranked by Publishers Marketplace as one of the Top 10 agents for children’s book sales for over a decade.
Karen’s philosopy is simple: “When you choose to write children’s books, it’s just that—it’s a choice. You do it because you love it. You do it because it fills you with passion. You do it because it brings you joy. You are among the lucky ones who live life with purpose. But you also must do everything you can possibly think of to achieve your goals.
“And you must be nice.”
