Byrd Leavell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Byrd Leavell is a literary agent and the co-head of the publishing department at United Talent Agency.[5][6][7] Previously he was known as a named partner at the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.[8][9]
Byrd Leavell | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Education | University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Literary agent |
| Known for | representing Tiffany Haddish,[2] Justin Halpern, Cat Marnell and "Weird Al" Yankovic[3][4] |
Career
Leavell graduated from the University of Virginia and the Radcliffe Publishing Program.[3][10] In 2012, he partnered with Scott Waxman to form the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.[9]
As a partner at the Waxman Leavell agency, he oversaw multiple New York Times bestsellers including #1 bestselling books Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Leavell also represents Rob Elliott, whose LOL series has sold more than 2.5 million copies.[18] He also represented the anonymous Dutch novel Diary of an Oxygen Thief.[19][20] Leavell also represents Cat Marnell, a former Lucky, XoJane and Vice blogger.[21]
In September 2017 he began his employment at UTA.[5] One of the first clients Leavell represented at UTA was comedian and actor Tiffany Haddish.[2] Haddish's memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, was a debut New York Times bestseller, spending each of its first six weeks in print on the list and, as of January 2018, reaching #5 overall.[2][22][23][24]
Over his career, Leavell has frequently been interviewed about publishing trends.[10][12][17]
In 2024, Leavell was promoted to Partner at UTA.[25]
Selected clients
According to Publishers Weekly.[3][10]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Stephen Curry
- MrBeast[26]
- Tiffany Haddish
- Rich Paul
- Jay Chandrasekhar
- Mark Frauenfelder
- GloZell Green
- George Karl
- Chelsea Handler
- Larry Charles
- Drew Magary
- Cat Marnell
- Patrick McEnroe
- Daniel O'Brien[27]
- John L. Parker, Jr.
- Carol Moseley Braun
- Brian Kilmeade
- Mike Sacks
- Pete Sampras
- Scott Sigler
- Steve Spurrier
- "Weird Al" Yankovic
- Guy Raz
- Adam Savage
- Mandy Stadtmiller
- Anthony Sullivan
- Jorge Cruise
- Mat Best