Our Team

The Marsal Lyon Literary Agency is dedicated to helping authors successfully place their work. Our members have many years of experience in the publishing industry and possess a diverse and unique skill set. We have worked with many bestselling and award-winning authors, as well as first-time authors, and look forward to continuing to bring exceptional projects to the market.

Kevan Lyon

Kevan Lyon is a founding partner of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. With over 25 years in the publishing business, including over 15 years as a literary agent and many years on the wholesale, retail and distribution side of the business, Kevan brings an informed and unique perspective to her work with clients. Her background on the buying and retail side of publishing affords her helpful insight into what types of books will sell and how to market them. Kevan holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Kevan is currently taking new queries.

Jill Marsal

Jill Marsal is a founding partner of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. She represents many NYT, WSJ, USA Today bestselling and award-winning authors. She also has a strong legal background and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is looking for a broad range of fiction: mystery, suspense, women’s fiction, contemporary, and historical. On the non-fiction side, she is interested in: business, current events, health/wellness, self-help, nature/science, advice/relationships, psychology, parenting, narrative, and history.

Jill is currently taking new queries.

Shannon Hassan

Shannon Hassan has been an agent at Marsal Lyon for over a decade. She represents upmarket adult fiction, middle grade fiction, and young adult fiction and has New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors on her list. She looks for contemporary and historical stories with a fresh voice and a big hook, and is especially interested in underrepresented voices. She received her JD from Harvard and her BA from George Washington University. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, and served on the board of The Dairy Arts Center.

Shannon is currently taking new queries.

Patricia Nelson

Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon in 2014. She represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, and is always especially interested in seeing novels by BIPOC, queer, and disabled authors in all genres that she represents. With a client list that includes multiple bestsellers and award-winners, she enjoys working with both debut and established authors to build successful long-term careers. Patricia holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Patricia is currently closed to queries except by referral.

Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong

Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong is a life-long lover of books and enjoys vivid memories of the exact day she unlocked the secret code behind letters that, when combined, form words. Since then, it’s the rare occasion when you’ll find her without a book in her hand, a Kindle in her purse, or a pair of Airpods in her ears while she devours the works of whatever author she’s selected as her new favorite of the month.

Cathie is closed to queries until November 1.

Lexie Krauss

Lexie Krauss is the assistant to Kevan Lyon. She graduated from Mills College in 2018 with a degree in English/Creative Writing. After a year-long internship with Laura Dail Literary Agency, she joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, where she has been for two years. When she isn’t reading manuscripts, she’s keeping her finger on the pulse of the market as a bookseller.