The David Black Agency (Black Inc.) advocates for its authors at every level of their development. We offer them conceptual and editorial guidance; domestic and international sales of their projects; as well as facilitating performance, multimedia and merchandising deals. Our agents offer support throughout the publication process and beyond, including long term career management. And we work collaboratively, enabling every author to benefit from the team’s expertise. Since its founding in 1989 by David Black, our mission has been to help talented writers realize their creative vision and achieve their publishing goals. We welcome both first-time writers and well-established authors. Over the years, our client list has grown to include prize winners and New York Times best-sellers in a range of categories: from narrative nonfiction to fiction, from history to sports, from science to cooking and lifestyle. It is our belief that as publishing and media companies merge and change, agents are the most important and consistent relationship an author can have. Black Inc takes pride in advocating for and supporting our authors at every stage of their creative development.
MEET OUR TEAM
David Black
David Black is the president of the David Black Agency, specializing in representing a wide array of narrative non-fiction in subjects ranging from sports, business, history, politics, fitness
Rica Allannic
A graduate of the New York City public school system and Yale University, Rica worked in professional kitchens before being lured into book publishing by Scribner. In 2005, she joined Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, where she became Vice President and Executive Editor.
Jennifer Herrera
Jennifer joined the David Black Agency in 2015 after working at Fletcher & Company and Europa Editions, where she was an early advocate of Elena Ferrante.
Gary Morris
Gary Morris started working as a literary agent in 1996 after a brief period in graduate school studying literature. Since then he has represented New York Times and national best sellers, award-winning non-fiction and fiction.
Susan Raihofer
Susan Raihofer has been an agent at the David Black Agency since 1993 and focuses on commercial fiction and non-fiction, including memoir, pop-culture, music, inspirational; as well as thrillers and a selective amount of literary fiction.
Sarah Smith
Sarah joined David Black Agency in 2012 after beginning her career in book publishing at Trident Media Group. She grew up in Georgia and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated with highest honors in English and Creative Writing.
Joy Tutela
A member of AAR, Joy Tutela has been with the David Black Literary Agency since 1998. Joy represents various genres of books, including projects in the following categories: narrative non-fiction, memoir, history, politics, self-help
Ayla Zuraw-Friedland
Ayla joined the David Black Agency in 2019. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant and assistant editor at Beacon Press in Boston, and as a development editor for encyclopedias at Oxford University Press.