Debra Goldstein and Mary Ann Naples founded The Creative Culture, Inc. in 1998, as a natural extension of their successful publishing collaborations when Debra was with William Morris Agency and Mary Ann with Simon & Schuster. Debra and Mary Ann each have two decades of experience specializing in non-fiction lifestyle and wellness books, and collectively they have worked with some of the most renowned authors in their field. As literary agents, they view their role as authors’ creative business partners. Although each represents clients individually, they often collaborate in order to shape and position each client’s ideas, material, and larger marketing and media platform for optimal success.
Debra has a particular emphasis on inspiration, fitness, creativity, health and beauty, modern spirituality, and topics of personal interest to women. She has represented a wide array of well-known authors, many of whose books have bloomed into highly successful cottage industries, including SARK (Succulent Wild Woman), MJ Ryan (This Year I Will…), Lou Paget (How to Be a Great Lover), Shaun Robinson (Exactly as I Am: Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice with Today’s Girls on What It Takes to Believe in Yourself), and Ellyn Spragins (What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self). Debra is passionate about the power of books to help people live better, be it in our minds, bodies, relationships, work, or personal expression and style. She is continually seeking authors that are bringing fresh and enlightened ideas to the forefront of our culture through strong existing multi-media presence.
Mary Ann loves memoir, health, diet and nutrition, green living, and wellness and lifestyle books generally. She also represents a small fiction list. With her strong publishing house background (before Simon & Schuster she was an editor at Doubleday and Hyperion), Mary Ann’s intrinsic understanding of what publishers are looking for as well as her editorial expertise are central to her success as an agent. She is looking for books that connect to our cultural conversation and give us a greater understanding of our lives, be it in food, fashion, social issues, or any other relevant topic seen through a fresh lens. Mary Ann is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives Electronic Publishing Committee and is deeply committed to forging a bright future for books and writers amidst the rapidly changing digital landscape.
Laura Nolan joined The Creative Culture in 2005. Before that Laura was a literary agent for 10 years before joining Barnes & Noble in 2000 to help launch Barnes & Noble Digital and the Barnes & Noble trade publishing division. Laura represents non-fiction in the following areas: food narrative, cookbooks, memoir, cultural and social issues, women's interests and lifestyle and limited selection of literary and commercial fiction.
Karen Gerwin, formerly an agent at William Morris and ICM, joined The Creative Culture in the spring of 2006. She represents writers in the following categories: pop culture, lifestyle, parenting, humor, memoir/narrative nonfiction, women's interests, and a very limited selection of fiction (no genre categories, i.e. no thrillers, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, etc.).
Matthew Elblonk, formerly an agent with Collins Literary, joined The Creative Culture in 2008. He currently represents writers in the world of pop culture, music, young adult, literary fiction and humor. Interests also include narrative non-fiction, science, and he is always on the lookout for authors with great ideas and an equally strong platform.