Kathryn Willms

Literary agent at The Rights Factory

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Congratulations to the amazing @DrZedZha! This is a beautiful celebration of family, Chinese culture, and fried peanuts!

[Zed Zha, MD, FAAFP @DrZedZha]

I have a book deal! My children's book, Why We Eat Fried Peanuts (1/2025), is based on my great-grandmother: a family legend who sacrificed her dignity to save a life. What does it have to do with peanuts? Subscribe to find out (or get a signed copy)! https://t.co/LnqCZxiGpC

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Excited to be taking online pitches and providing advance manuscript critiques at this year's @wilwrite conference (July 31-Aug 4). Early bird registration is open until Memorial Day. Hope to see you there!

Check out the details here: https://t.co/aIfwY2MiZU
#wilwrite24

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Calling all writers! Are you interested in learning more about book publishing and how to make your project stand out? Join me and a fabulous group of fellow agents for this free webinar: https://t.co/TgTUPoZ0OK

[Zed Zha, MD, FAAFP @DrZedZha]

You don't need a newsletter to tell you that you are NOT to blame for your ill health. But it's still nice to hear it from a doctor! Please enjoy my latest newsletter and share/subscribe for more! (for free)

https://t.co/QIk2df5RbR

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Excited to announce I'm offering writing coaching sessions this spring. Visit https://t.co/AUdefC64md to learn more! Limited spots available! #WritingCoaching #LiteraryAgents #AuthorsWanted #AgentsHelpingWriters

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

How wonderful!

[International Agatha Christie Festival @AgathaFestival]

We have a brand new closing event for the festival. Karen Pierce will be joining us from Canada to chat about her new cookbook, Recipes for Murder, celebrating Agatha Christie with 66 thematic dishes inspired by her stories.

Find out more:

https://t.co/L3ES4D9D5H

[Zed Zha, MD, FAAFP @DrZedZha]

97 years ago, my great grandmother walked by a new mother’s open window in a cold winter morning and saw that she was trying to freeze her baby to death.

Turned out, the pregnant woman came to Beijing from far away to look for her husband. But he was already sent to war, and she couldn’t afford to raise a baby on her own.

My great grandma kneeled down and begged her to spare the baby. “Give the baby to my family. We will treat him like our own.” The two mothers shed tears, and exchanged information.

7 years later, the soldier came back from war and made a name for himself. The couple came to our family bearing gifts and asked to see the child. They saw my great grandmother upheld her promise to treat their baby well, and they were grateful.

“We are indebted to you. We won’t take your son away. But please tell him he has a father with another surname, who will leave him a good inheritance.” Everyone stayed true to their words.

Today, almost a century later, no one remembers my great grandmother’s name, as women didn’t carry their own names back then. But everyone talks about her kindness. And her 97-year-old son (my great uncle) is living proof.

She was Benevolence. And we are all her legacy.

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Recipes for Murder (Karen Pierce's fabulous Agatha Christie cookbook) launched last week! Take a peek here.
https://t.co/tQHvSCk7x9

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Gorgeous and transportive read by @CuriousLana

[Lana Hall @CuriousLana]

For the weekend crowd! #longreads

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Haha, exactly!

[Jane Friedman @JaneFriedman]

Absolutely loving a panel w/publishers commenting on how they advise authors on marketing. "I've authors who want to get on TikTok and I’m like yeah but you’re a stodgy professor of history books and hate being on camera. You can’t do a video worth your life."

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Authors: free workshop on book promotion and publicity!
For those not published yet: yup, you'll need a plan to promote your books. My take: there's no right answer and no guarantees, but effort is key. Find what feels authentic to you and do that.
https://t.co/A67SCMqQr7

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

“The bigness of a book is not about its extent but its offering.” Recommend any opportunity to see a @maxjohnporter literary experience.

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

This is fascinating.

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

“Words had never come easy for me,” @JRMoehringer, the ghostwriter of Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” writes, “but, when I wrote as someone else, the words, the jokes, the patter—it didn’t stop.”
https://t.co/VSABgW5yjL

[Rachel Kryshak @RachelKryshak]

You cannot miss eleven obvious penalties and then have a meeting over a maybe puck over glass penalty. That is an unserious way to do things.

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

🫣😬🤮

[Meghan Chayka @MeghanChayka]

I wonder where my *anxiety* came from then I realize I'm a hockey fan..

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

😍Woot, @LauraPratt33!

[Laura Pratt @LauraPratt33]

Thrilled to be included on this incredible list of springtime reads.https://t.co/SLmBE3KzRL

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Congrats, @NatalieMacLean!

[The Rights Factory @TRFNews]

Happy Book Birthday to @NatalieMacLean and her book WINE WITCH ON FIRE!

In this memoir, Natalie, a bestselling wine writer, is shocked when her husband of 20 years, a CEO, demands a divorce. After, an online mob comes for her career.

Available now.

@samhiyate
@dundurnpress

[McSweeney's @mcsweeneys]

Q: Should I use the Oxford comma?

A: Of course, you maniac! Who do you think we are, those freewheeling hippies at the Associated Press?
https://t.co/IkaCp9pTfx

[Kathryn Willms @knwillms]

Upmarket is a word that gets thrown around a lot in publishing, sometimes haphazardly, so this was super interesting.

[Carly Watters || Literary Agent (she/her) @carlywatters]

It’s live!

Thanks ⁦@JaneFriedman⁩ for publishing my piece trying to define upmarket fiction. Let me know what you think.

We have a long definition, a case study, cover examples and much more: https://t.co/RJmKzKUcSp