Hello! I’m Chad Luibl — literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates, hockey dad, guitarist, and coffee enthusiast.

I grew up in Virginia and developed an early love for the written word. As a kid, every weekend began with a trip to the Pohick Library in Burke, where my parents would let my brothers and I run wild between the stacks and pick any book we wanted. Didn’t matter if it was The Boxcar Children or The Silence of the Lambs — so long that we were excited about reading, it was considered a win. Books became everything. Soon I was skipping recess to devour the latest Stephen King or Michael Crichton novel. In high school, I discovered Vonnegut and Dostoevsky. Later, I fell hard for the works of Raymond Carver, Toni Morrison, Donna Tartt, Sándor Márai, David Mitchell, Jennifer Egan….

My academic years, which included a Bachelor's in Literature and an MA in European Studies, were punctuated by brief periods of teaching English in Poland and Hungary, and also touring as a guitarist in several metal bands. Later, I returned to Virginia for an MFA in Creative Writing at VCU, where I also edited for Blackbird and Broad Street literary journals.

In 2014, I moved to New York and joined Janklow & Nesbit Associates. As a literary agent, I champion compelling narratives while building a diverse list of original voices, including USA Today Bestsellers; National Jewish Book Award winners; Shirley Jackson Award and Golden Poppy Award winners; Eisner and Ignatz winners; Pen Faulkner Award and Bram Stoker finalists; and several Indie Next and Book Club selections.

I’m particularly drawn to:

Literary and book club fiction: Novels that delve into the complexities of the human condition. I tend to lean into character-driven or plotty novels with brisk pacing and a strong emotional core. (Recent favorites include Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore; Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain….)

Speculative and historical fiction: Works that offer a fresh perspective on a setting or time period, while also feeling relevant to contemporary issues and themes. (Recent favorites include Daniel Mason’s North Woods, Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad…)

Inventive horror and thrillers: Page-turners that are as gripping as they are smart and original The best are still devastatingly emotional (horror with heart), and if you can sneak a romance thread in there, even better. (Loved John Langan’s The Fisherman; David Mitchell’s Slade House; Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter…)

Narrative nonfiction and journalism: Compelling storytelling that couldn’t be better summarized in an essay or article. Most nonfiction I go for reads like a novel. I’m particularly interested in memoir, untold histories, sports and adventure stories. (Educated by Tara Westover; Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal by Jeannette Winterson…)

Graphic novels: That push the boundaries of visual narrative. (In Waves by AJ Dungo; Fun Home by Alison Bechdel…)

Readers and writers, I’d love to hear from you. For submissions, please refer to J&N's guidelines, or feel free to email me directly at cluibl@janklow.com.

*PLEASE NOTE that I do not accept submissions that are written with artificial intelligence.