InkWell Management Literary Agency

Our Staff

Stephen Barbara

Stephen Barbara

A graduate of the University of Chicago, Stephen Barbara first worked as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins and as contracts director of the Donald Maass Agency for three years prior to becoming a full-time literary agent. Stephen then spent six years at Foundry Literary + Media developing his client list, before joining InkWell in 2015.

Stephen has worked with many writers across categories such as adult commercial fiction and books for young readers, including Paul Tremblay, Clémence Michallon, Lauren Oliver, Laura Amy Schlitz, Lisa Graff, Ethan Aldridge, Minh Lê, and Betsy Bird. Through collaboration, he has additionally represented bestselling works by actress Krysten Ritter, TV personality Hannah Brown, actor Diego Boneta, K-Pop star Jessica Jung, horror author Alma Katsu, and global soccer star Kylian Mbappé.

Media rights are an area of strong focus for Stephen. Books he’s represented have been adapted for film and television, including THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD (as “Knock at the Cabin,” with Universal), BEFORE I FALL (Open Road), PANIC (Amazon Prime Video), and THE NOVEMBER CRIMINALS (SONY). Many adaptations based on books of his are also currently in development, including A Head Full of Ghosts (Lionsgate), The Quiet Tenant (Blumhouse), and Bachelorette Weekend (Hulu).

20 years into his career, Stephen remains excited to discover great new voices; mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, speculative, SFF, and fiction that lives on the line between literary and genre are all areas of particular interest. Originally from New Haven, Stephen now lives in Long Island City, Queens, with his wife and two children.