Exciting changes at Jacinta di Mase Management - Danielle Binks joins as "Agent at Large"

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Writer and reviewer Danielle Binks has joined Jacinta Dimase Management as “Agent at Large”. Danielle’s role within the literary agency will be to source and sign new clients for JDM, with a particular focus on children’s authors of Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) fiction works.

JDM and Danielle have already signed their first author in Fiona Hardy, and her Middle Grade manuscript ‘Rosebud’ – which was shortlisted in the 2016 Text Prize. Hardy is a committee member of the Australian Crime Writers’ Association and is a bookseller at Readings. ‘Rosebud’ tells the story of an eleven-year-old girl who spends her school holidays making a horror movie with her friends. Text described the shortlisted manuscript as; ‘a sweet, funny, smart story for readers on the cusp of adolescence.’

Jacinta and Danielle are in love with ‘Rosebud’ and excited about the innovative “Agent at Large” role, helping to shape Australia’s vibrant youth literature scene. Danielle is particularly interested in contemporary and progressive MG and YA literature, subversive speculative-fiction for both readerships, and she has dreams of seeing the Australian children’s and YA graphic novel sector grow. Danielle is also a supporter of the ‘We Need Diverse Books’ movement, and would love to elevate “Own Voices” – a term coined by American YA author Corinne Duyvis, to identify books about marginalised protagonists written by authors who share that same identity.

Danielle studied writing and editing at RMIT and established her book review blog, Alpha Reader, in 2009. Her creative writing has been published in Voiceworks, and Yen magazine and she has been an online columnist for both Kill Your Darlings and the Stella Prize Schools Blog. Danielle is currently working as both editor and contributor to an anthology of short stories written by Australian YA authors, due to be released by Harper Collins in May 2017. She is also an elected member to the official LoveOzYA committee, and currently acting as interim chair. Her involvement with the grassroots “Read Local” initiative is what prompted Dimase to reach out and offer her a place with JDM literary agency; ‘It’s because of her commitment to finding and championing Australian talent that convinced me that I needed her by my side.’