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About the agency

My name is Laurens Molegraaf and I have been working in publishing for over twenty years. I worked in licensing and foreign rights for Dutch publishing houses like Querido, De Bezige Bij (Busy Bee), Cossee, and Boom Publishers/Management Impact. The Santasado Agency was founded in 2021 to represent high-quality Dutch non-fiction titles for international publication. Besides an international agency, Santasado is also a publishing house for non-fiction titles in Dutch and English on the ecological, economical, philosophical, and sociological themes we are currently facing.

I have done a wide range of different jobs for various publishers in picture books, children's literature, young adult, literary fiction, non-fiction and management books. I always liked the variety and learned a lot from the different jobs. In my experience I have fulfilled nearly all functions in publishing (including one ill-advised week in a book store) with the sole exception of actually writing a book. I also learned a lot from the different publishing houses, colleagues and authors I have worked with (literary, non-fictions, management, children’s). It made me an allrounder who can view a book from many different perspectives.

When I'm not working with books I like to read them for my pleasure. I enjoy making and listening to music, I follow basketball (the NBA and the WNBA) and I appreciate Belgian beer and the stories and legends that surround Belgian brewing. I love my family (fiancé and two daughters) and the medieval city of Zutphen and its surroundings.

About the name

Santasado is a combination of the Portuguese words Santo (saint) and Assado (roasted).

For the name of the company I looked to my patron saint Saint Lawrence (Saint Laurent, San Lorenzo, Santo Lourenço) for inspiration, he is also the patron saint of the (holy) books. Lawrence of Rome was born on December 31, 225 A.D. in Huesca, Spain. In Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza) he meets the man who would later become Pope Sixtus II and together they travel to Rome. Laurentius became one of the seven archdeacons of Rome and, in addition to administrative duties, he was responsible for the administration of gifts for the needy and the care of the holy books.

In 257 during the Christian persecution, the Roman emperor Valerian I closed all Christian houses of worship, but Sixtus II held a service nonetheless. He is betrayed and sentenced to death along with four of the seven deacons. Laurentius is imprisoned, but not immediately convicted. The emperor demands from him all the riches of the church, the precious gold and silver and the sacred books. Laurentius asks for three days to collect these treasures, but during his leave he distributes all the wealth among the poor. On the third day he returns to the emperor empty-handed but with a procession of needy, crippled and blind people. He points to the group and declares to the judges: “Behold the true treasures of the church. The Church is truly richer than your Emperor.”

Then he is tortured, but if he still refuses to reveal where the riches of the church are, he is tied to a grate over a fire. During this torture he says, "I'm done on this side, please turn me over". He is then beheaded and a relic with his burnt head is still worshiped in St. Peter's Basilica. Saint Lawrence dies on August 10, 258 as the last archdeacon of Rome and this day is still the name day of Laurens. Every year around August 10 a meteor shower (the Perseids) can be seen that, according to tradition, reminds us of the sparks of his torture, so these meteors are called the Tears of St. Lawrence.

Saint Lawrence is the patron saint for all who work with fire (brewers, chefs, coal burners, coffee roasters, firemen, glass blowers and stained glass makers, gunsmiths, knife makers, pastry chefs, restaurant owners and tanners), accountants, archivists, barbecues, butchers, comedians, deacons and seminarians, laundries, libraries and librarians, miners, the poor, students, wine traders, and wine makers, he is the patron saint for Canada, Mexico and Sri Lanka, the third patron saint for the city of Rome and he is revered in prayers to cure lumbago.