Editors and Agents
Betsy Amster is a literary agent and president
of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, representing literary fiction and a wide
range of nonfiction, including memoirs, psychology and self-help, pop culture,
health, women's issues, parenting, gardening, cooking, and design. Before opening
her agency in 1992, she spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage
and two years as editorial director of the Globe Pequot Press. She has been
described in the Los Angeles Times as "a dogged prospector of
the city's literary talent" and celebrated in a profile in the American
Society of Journalists and Authors newsletter for her "no-nonsense style
and whimsical sense of humor." She will moderate Agent's Panel
One, conduct consultation appointments, and present
"On-the-Spot Critiques: Query Letters". Bring your one-page query
to this workshop for an on-the-spot evaluation. Queries will be selected at
random and read aloud keeping the author's name confidential. She will discuss
its strengths and ways for improvement as a selling tool for your work.
Jason Allen Ashlock is a literary agent
with Marianne Strong and Associates in Upper Manhattan, where he handles select
fiction and general nonfiction properties. He seeks narrative nonfiction and
fiction which approach the intersection of literature and spirituality, the
American story and the American soul. He's looking for smart commercial fiction
with a pop-culture sensitivity that illuminates the American situation and nonfiction
with both an offbeat perspective and unusual, provocative subjects. He enjoys
irony so long as it doesn't collapse into cynicism, sentiment that doesn't slide
into the sentimental, and American stories that are true, or could be. He'd
like to write a book about the varieties of religious experience in contemporary
America (Scott Huler's narrative meets William James' complexity). If you get
around to writing that first, he'll represent it. He will conduct advance
reading appointments and consultation appointments.
Loretta Barrett is a literary agent and president
of Loretta Barrett Books, Inc. in New York. She founded the agency in 1990.
Prior to opening her own agency, she was editor-in-chief of Anchor Books and
vice president and executive editor at Doubleday. She is a member of AAR, and
has representation in every major foreign market. Her nonfiction interests cover
a wide range of topics: psychology, science and technology, religion, spirituality,
current events, parenting, women's issues, and biography. She represents the
national best seller The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil; the current
The New York Times best seller Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy
Lessons from the Scripture by Raymond Arroyo; The New York Times
best seller Symptoms of Withdrawal by Christopher Kennedy Lawford;
as well as I'm Not Mad I just Hate You, a national best seller by Roni
Cohen-Sandler, Ph.D. Other notable clients include theologian George Weigel,
historian Ann Douglas, astronomer Phil Plait, and spiritual writers Wayne Muller
and Noah Levine. Her fiction preferences are largely mainstream and contemporary.
She is particularly drawn to women's fiction and thrillers. Her fiction list
includes Forgotten, by The New York Times best-selling author
Mariah Stewart, the national best seller The Lake of Dead Language, by
Carol Goodman, and the forthcoming Young Adult Thriller Anthology edited
by R.L. Stine with contributors including Allison Brennan, Meg Cabot, and Jim
Rollins. In addition, she represents novelists such as Laura Van Wormer, Theresa
Rebeck, and Gary Birken, MD. For a complete list of clients and submissions
guidelines please see www.LorettaBarrettBooks.com.
She will conduct consultation appointments and present "Mock
Auction: An Inside Look at How Agents Auction Big Books."
Vicky Bijur is a literary agent and runs
the Vicky Bijur Literary Agency, which she started in 1988. She has worked at
Oxford University Press and with the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency. Her authors
include Laura Lippman, The New York Times best seller whose novella
was just serialized in The New York Times Magazine; Steven Greenhouse,
labor reporter for The New York Times; James Sallis, whose novel Drive
has been optioned by Hugh Jackman; Lisa Genova, author of the novel Still
Alice; Larry Gonick, pioneer of graphic nonfiction and author of The
Cartoon History of the Universe. She also represents cookbooks, memoir,
biography, parenting, self-help, psychology, science writers, environmental
issues and health. She is interested in contemporary and historical fiction
as well as crime fiction. Her books have appeared on The New York Times
best-seller list, in The New York Times Notable Books of the Year,
Los Angeles Times Best Fiction of the Year, Washington Post Book
World Rave Reviews of the Year, and been nominated for the Los Angeles
Times Book Award as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. Three
of her mystery writers have won Edgar awards. She has served as president of
the Association of Authors' Representatives and is currently chair of its ethics
committee. She will conduct consultation appointments, and
present "Do I Really Need My Own TV Show to Get an Agent? The Importance
of 'Platform' in Today's Publishing World."
Sandra Bishop, a literary agent, began her
career as a writer after attending a writers' conference. There she realized
writing could be more than a dream, but a real - and respectable - profession
worth pursuing. After a few years learning the craft, pitching article ideas
to magazine editors, and meeting deadlines, her career in publishing began to
materialize. She landed a job in the marketing department of a Christian publishing
house, assisting with contracts, budgets, and marketing plans for a respectable
list of predominately nonfiction authors. Over the years, as she continued to
make her living as a writer, she approached a local business expert about collaborating
on a book idea. With her expertise on the proposal, pitch, and content, the
project resulted in a two-book deal for the author, and became her first book
deal - even though she was not an official agent . . . yet. She is now an agent
with MacGregor Literary, a small, but highly respected agency representing authors
in both the inspirational and general markets. MacGregor Literary's most recent
best seller, Through the Storm by Lyn Spears, is just one of more than
40 deals which placed the agency on the short list of Publishers Marketplace
Top Dealmakers in 2008. Though new to agenting, her list is growing quickly
and she is looking forward to a long career helping authors write books that
make a difference. She will conduct advance reading appointments and
consultation appointments and present a topic to be announced.
Faith Black is an editor with Avalon Books
acquiring romances, mysteries, and Westerns. Previously, she worked at New Horizon
Press and Cambridge University Press. A graduate of Williams College, she earned
her degree in English. She received her master's from Rutgers University in
English and studied at Oxford University. She joined Avalon Books in 2006 as
associate editor and was promoted to editor in April 2008. She will conduct
advance reading appointments and consultation appointments.
Michelle Brower is a literary agent with
Wendy Sherman Associates since 2004, and previously worked with Joelle Delbourgo
Associates. She enjoys working directly with emerging writers and is interested
in representing literary and commercial fiction, memoir, pop culture, humor,
crafting, graphic novels, popular science and narrative nonfiction. Books that
capture elements of the strange and wonderful will always pique her interest,
and she also looks for those that offer a unique perspective of the world. She
has a master's in literature from New York University. She has represented Breathers:
A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne (Broadway Books), Farm City: The Education
of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter (Penguin Press), and I Saw
You ... Missed Connection Comics by Julia Wertz (Three Rivers). Please
no romance, hard sci-fi, high fantasy, or cozy mysteries. She will conduct advanced
reading appointments and consultation appointments,
and present, "The Blueprint for your Book: Writing the Perfect Nonfiction
Proposal."
Elise Capron is a literary agent with the
Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, known for establishing and guiding the careers
of many fiction and nonfiction authors, including Amy Tan, Lisa See, Maxine
Hong Kingston, Diane Mott Davidson, Kevin Starr, Mike Davis, Chalmers Johnson
and many others. For nearly 30 years SDLA has developed a reputation for discovering
new talent and representing quality work with great commercial potential. She
has been agenting for five years, and specializes in debut fiction, character-driven
literary and offbeat fiction, and short story collections. She is also interested
in selected nonfiction if it has a literary edge. In the fiction realm, she
looks for unforgettable writing, a terrific narrative voice/tone, and great
characters. She loves novels with an unusual or eccentric edge, and is drawn
to stories she has never heard before. She hopes to work with writers who are
professional, have a realistic sense of the market, and who are getting their
work published regularly in literary magazines. Some of her recent and soon-to-be-published
books include Jonathon Keats' The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Lamad-Vov
(Random House), Ali Liebegott's The IHOP Papers (Carroll &
Graf), Peter Plate's Soon the Rest Will Fall (Seven Stories Press),
and Whitney Lyles' Party Games (Simon Pulse) and First Comes Love
(Berkley). She will conduct consultation appointments.
Jamie Weiss Chilton is an associate agent with Andrea
Brown Literary Agency, where she represents children's books exclusively: teen
novels, middle grade fiction, chapter books, picture books, and narrative nonfiction.
Her specific interests include literary fiction with intense emotional content
(character-driven, not issue-driven plots); smart thrillers and mysteries; science
fiction and reality-based fantasy; surreal stories and magical realism; sweet,
funny, quirky chapter books and picture books. Her career in children's books
began in 1998, with an editorial internship at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers,
followed by positions as an Editorial Assistant and Assistant Editor at Bantam
Delacorte Dell and Knopf & Crown Books for Young Readers, divisions of Random
House Children's Books. After returning to her hometown of Los Angeles, she
pursued her love of children's books in a new arena, as conference manager and
Golden Kite Award director at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
(SCBWI) before joining the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She believes that one
great way to get to know someone is through their taste in books. Favorites
that she worked on in an editorial capacity while at Random House include Acceleration
and Sparks by Graham McNamee, Trouble Don't Last and Crooked
River by Shelley Pearsall, Zipped by Laura and Tom McNeal, Daughter
Of Venice by Donna Jo Nappoli, and The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning,
Illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev. She holds a B.A. in English from Columbia University,
and has completed a series of editorial workshops at the Center for Children's
Books. She will conduct consultation appointments.
Charis Conn is a contributing editor at Harper's
Magazine and has been editing fiction and nonfiction for 20 years, working
with such writers as George Saunders, David Foster Wallace, Joyce Carol Oates,
T.C. Boyle, George Plimpton, and Richard Russo. She wrote and edited the Harper's
Index and three books based on the feature. She has also taught writing and
editing at Syracuse University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University
of Southern Maine, St. Mary's College, New York's Gotham Writers' Workshop,
and at many writers' conferences nationwide. Her fiction has appeared in The
North American Review, New Letters, and Harper's, and has been
anthologized, broadcast on radio, and honored in Best American Short Stories.
Her first novel, Through the Green Fuse, will be published by Pantheon
in 2010. She is also a freelance book editor, based in New York. She will conduct
advance reading appointments, consultation appointments, and
present and present, "The Ten Don'ts."
Stacy Creamer is editor-in-chief
of Broadway Books and vice president, executive editor at Doubleday. Both are
imprints of the Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House. She
edits commercial fiction and nonfiction and oversees the acquisition and publication
of titles for the Broadway list. Her authors include Christopher Reich, Rules
of Deception; Carolyn Jessop, Escape; Elizabeth Edwards, Saving
Graces; Lance Armstrong, Every Second Counts; mountain climber
Ed Viesturs, No Shortcuts to the Top; mystery writers Harley Kozak
and Julie Kramer; Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools and Biggest
Loser; and trainer Bob Harper, Are You Ready! She has edited many
New York Times best-selling writers, including Lauren Weisberger, Patricia
Cornwell, Robin Cook, Steve Martini, Catherine Coulter, Daniel Silva, Dean Koontz,
and Alice Hoffman. She will conduct advance reading appointments and
consultation appointments.
Lindsay Davis is a literary agent with Writers
House, one of the largest independent agencies in the world. The agency has
played a critical role in developing the careers of hundreds of authors, with
such notable clients as Ken Follett, Stephen Hawking, Nora Roberts, Stephenie
Meyer, Christoper Paolini, and Neil Gaiman. At the West Coast office of Writers
House, she works primarily with children's and young adult authors and artists,
including Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, Cynthia Rylant, Kadir Nelson, Jennifer Donnelly,
and Sara Pennypacker. Before joining the agency, she worked in the children's
marketing department at Harcourt and taught fourth grade as a member of Teach
for America. She is actively building her list and is interested in picture
books, middle-grade, and young adult fiction. She will conduct consultation
appointments.
Jennifer de la Fuente is a literary agent
with Venture Literary and acquires a range of fiction and nonfiction. Some of
her areas of interest include literary fiction, pop culture, narrative nonfiction,
memoir, and parenting. She doesn't handle sci-fi, romance, children's, or spirituality.
Recent titles include: The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young
Girls and What We Can Do About It by M. Gigi Durham (Overlook Press, 2008);
Over and Under by Todd Tucker (Thomas Dunne Books, 2008); Hump:
True Tales of Sex After Kids, by Kimberly Ford (St. Martin's Press, 2008);
and The Slide, by Kyle Beachy (Dial Press, 2009). Before joining Venture
Literary, she worked at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and in the literary/feature
film division of The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles. For four years, she coordinated
the literary and music series "Artists on the Cutting Edge" at the
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. She will She will moderate Agent's Panel
Two and conduct consultation
appointments.
Jill Dembowski, an editorial assistant,
with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, works with senior executive editor
Andrea Spooner on a broad range of children's books by such renowned authors
as Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, Marc Brown, Alice Hoffman, Patrick McDonnell,
Jerry Pinkney, Gail Giles, and Robie Harris. Recent acquisitions include Jackson
Pearce's Sisters Red, a young adult paranormal modernization of Little
Red Riding Hood meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Tumtum & Nutmeg,
a classic middle-grade adventure story, and Rumblewick's Diary, a chapter
book series for girls. Other editorial projects include Mary Jane Begin's picture
book Willow Buds and Kirk Scrogg's laugh-a-page Wiley & Grampa's
Creature Features. She is interested in young adult literary fiction with
fresh, compelling narratives and dark themes, and she is also on the lookout
for picture books with stand-out characters. She will conduct advance
reading appointments and consultation appointments.
Alyse Diamond is an associate editor who
joined St. Martin's Press in 2005. Her list consists entirely of nonfiction,
and she enjoys acquiring memoir, journalism, pop business, self-help, psychology,
parenting, heath/medicine, and lifestyle. She is particularly intrigued by topics
of interest to female readers, and you'd be hard pressed to find a memoir she
won't devour in one sitting. Forthcoming titles she is excited about include
Quirky, Yes - Hopeless, No, a guide for parents of children with Asperger's
Syndrome, by Dr. Cynthia La Brie Norall with Beth Brust, which she discovered
at last year's SDSU Writers' Conference; The PETA Practical Guide To Animal
Rights by the president and founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk; Making
Peace With Your Office Job by Cindy Glovinsky; and The Dancer's Way
by Linda H. Hamilton, Ph.D. and the New York City Ballet. Prior to joining St.
Martin's, she worked at Peachtree Publishers in Atlanta and ParentGuide
Magazine in New York. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in publishing
at New York University. She will conduct advance reading appointments
and consultation appointments and present "The Secrets
of Saleable Nonfiction: What's Hot and What's Not."
April Eberhardt is a literary agent with
Reece Halsey North Agency based in San Francisco, Paris and New York. She joined
Reece Halsey North in 2008 after five years of editorial work with Zoetrope:
All-Story, a literary magazine, and another agency. Her specialty is adult literary
fiction, particularly ironic family dramas and realistic midlife tales, often
with a twist, preferably involving strong female characters. She is attracted
to collections of interlinked stories with a common character or theme. An original
voice and smart, speedy delivery are critical, as is a subtle sense of the absurd.
She enjoys working with new authors to edit and streamline their manuscripts
before submitting them to publishers. April does consider selected commercial
fiction as well as nonfiction works. She does not represent mysteries or murders,
thrillers, historical fiction, romances or fantasy, nor does she represent children's
titles. She earned an MBA in finance and marketing from Boston University, a
B.A. in anthropology and French from Hamilton College, and a CPLF degree from
the University of Paris. Her prior careers in banking and management consulting
honed her strategic, marketing and presentation skills and serve her well in
her literary endeavors. She will conduct advanced reading appointments
and consultation appointments.
Taryn Fagerness is a literary agent and the
subrights manager at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. In this capacity,
she sells foreign translation rights to 35 countries, as well as film rights,
audio rights and merchandising rights. As literary agent, she specializes in
fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, 'quirky' nonfiction, and nonfiction with
a science or environmental angle. In a fiction project, she is drawn to highly
original concepts and voices; she likes an element of the unexpected, and particularly
enjoys speculative fiction. In nonfiction, she loves pop-science, environmental
topics, and "quirky" topics (think competitive eating, cadavers, or
earth worms), paired with a strong narrative or an over-arching story. She enjoys
memoirs and narrative nonfiction, and in both she looks for a great story with
a unique hook. Some of her recent and soon-to-be-published books include Matthew
Dicks' Something Missing (Broadway): Roz Savage's Rowing Across
the Atlantic: One Woman's Adventure from Office to Ocean (Simon & Schuster);
Randy Frost and Gail Steketee's Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning
of Things (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); William Burt's Marshes: The
Disappearing Edens (Yale University Press); and Rachel Rifat's How
to Make Out in the Supply Room: Fun Things to Make and Do When the Boss Isn't
Looking (Running Press). She will conduct consultation appointments.
Evelyn M. Fazio is the publisher of WestSide
Books and has 25 years of publishing experience in nearly every market segment
of publishing, from professional books for teachers to major library reference
works, at houses such as Prentice-Hall, Random House, Marshall Cavendish, M.E.
Sharpe, and Baker & Taylor, the trade and library wholesaler. Prior to being
hired to start WestSide Books, she was a full-time literary agent and co-authored
seven nonfiction books published by Da Capo and Kensington. She holds a master's
in history from UCONN and taught high school social studies for two years. She
has been publisher of WestSide Books since its inception in 2006 and is looking
to acquire edgy, realistic contemporary novels that will interest high school
age readers, especially teenage boys. She will conduct advanced reading
appointments and consultation appointments and present
"YA from the Trenches: Acquiring Edgy, Realistic Contemporary YA Books
for Teens."
David Forrer is a Literary Agent with InkWell Management. He began his career in publishing as an assistant with the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency after receiving his master's in creative writing from Boston University in 1996. He has been an agent with InkWell Management since it was created in 2004. His areas of interest and representation range from literary fiction (The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings) to commercial fiction (The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne), historical fiction (Madameoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell), crime fiction (Cold In Hand by John Harvey), and suspense/thriller (Ritual by Mo Hayder); as well as humorous nonfiction (The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has A Flat Stomach by Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry) and popular history (Working IX To V by Vicki Leon). He will conduct consultation appointments and present, "Point of View: Why It Matters and Strategies for Storytelling."
Dawn Frederick is the owner and agent for
Red Sofa Literary, based in the Twin-Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul). She launched
Red Sofa Literary in January 2008, after five years at Sebastian Literary Agency.
Red Sofa Literary reflects her goal to bring smart, quirky, and entertaining
books onto bookstore shelves. And yes, she does in fact own a big red sofa.
In her free time, she brings that same level of quirky creativity into her own
hobbies, as she is heavily involved in the world of roller derby through the
Minnesota Rollergirls, based in Saint Paul. Red Sofa Literary is actively seeking
creative and narrative nonfiction (no memoirs please), with a strong emphasis
on a good writing platform and a strong voice. She will conduct consultation
appointments and present "Deadly Details Not to Overlook during
the Book Proposal and Agent Submission Process."
Juliet Grames is an associate editor for
The Overlook Press, a mid-sized independent publishing company in New York,
where she has been happily editing and acquiring fiction and narrative nonfiction
for the last two years. Out of the 15-20 titles she acquires and edits a year,
she works on a very small number of fiction titles, most of them women's fiction
with a strong multicultural bent, so she can devote special time and attention
to them editorially. She works with each author very carefully on development
and line editing. Among the titles she has acquired and edited at Overlook are
Book Sense Pick, The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte, by leading
thriller author Laura Joh Rowland; the critically acclaimed Enlightenment,
by translator Maureen Freely; Sophie Brody nominee Sima's Undergarments
for Women, by Ilana Stanger-Ross; the feminist media critique, The
Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do about
It, by Dr. M. Gigi Durham, which was featured in such diverse venues as
People magazine, Time, and Fox news; and the forthcoming Repeat
after Me by critically acclaimed memoirist, poet, and Chinese soap opera
star Rachel DeWoskin. She began her career in editorial at John Wiley &
Sons after spending a year at the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
Before that, she worked as a bookseller at Borders for five years, in her college
library for two years, and even in the public library of her tiny hometown.
In her free time, she reads. She will conduct advanced reading appointments
and consultation appointments and present "Building Platform
for Would-Be Debut Authors (Fiction and Nonfiction)" and "Making the
Internet Work for You, Before and After Your Book Deal."
Emily Griffin is an associate editor with
Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books), where she began her publishing
career in 2003. She edits a wide range of fiction and nonfiction; on the fiction
side, her authors include Claire LaZebnik (Knitting Under the Influence,
The Smart One and the Pretty One), Zoey Dean (bestselling author of the
A-Listseries), and Sally Beauman (The Sisters Mortland). In terms of
nonfiction, she has a special fondness for memoirs with distinctive voices,
and will be publishing Corked, author Kathryn Borel's account of a
French wine trip with her father, and a memoir by Michelle Au, MD, about medical
residency and motherhood. She graduated from Harvard College with a degree in
history and literature. She will conduct advanced reading appointments
and consultation appointments.
Regina Griffin is an executive editor. She
began her career working for the famed children's book agent, Marilyn E. Marlow,
who represented such authors as S.E. Hinton, Paul Zindel, Robert Cormier, Edith
Thacher and Clement Hurd, Paula Danziger, Patricia Reilly Giff among many others.
She spent ten years at Scholastic, where she built up the movie tie-in program
and oversaw the Apple and Point paperback imprints. There she also helped developed
a new hardcover program, focusing on middle-grade and young adult fiction. Books
she has edited include the Newbery Honor book, Somewhere in the Darkness
by Walter Dean Myers, and the Caldecott Honor book, Harlem, written
by Myers and illustrated by his son, Christopher. In 1996 she became editor-in-chief
of Holiday House, the small independent children's book publisher. At Holiday
House she worked with such writers and illustrators as Russell Freedman, Trina
Schart Hyman, Janet Stevens, Mary Amato, Walter Dean, and Christopher Myers.
Beginning this year, she moved to Egmont USA, joining the multinational publisher
to establish their first list in the U.S., which will be published in fall 2009.
She will conduct advanced reading appointments and consultation
appointments and present a topic to be announced.
Jacqueline Hackett works out of her boutique agency, Literary Works. Before starting her agency she was an agent at the Watkins/Loomis Agency, one of the oldest boutique agencies in New York, where she worked with authors like Walter Mosley and Frederic Tuten. She received her publishing certificate from the Columbia University Publishing Program, her law degree from Duke University and her undergraduate degree in accounting from Georgetown University. Before becoming an agent, she spent several years working outside of publishing, as a corporate contracts attorney, so she brings her strong negotiation and problem solving skills, her financial background, and a love of reading to her work as an agent. She represents clients who write serious and entertaining nonfiction and commercial fiction including J. California Cooper, Michael Schacker, Rachel Vassel, and Risa Williams. Some of her sales are: Prince: How He Revolutionized Rock N Roll and Survived (St. Martins); A Spring Without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply (Lyons Press); and a novel, by J. California Cooper (Doubleday). She is currently looking for commercial nonfiction and fiction with a humorous/suspenseful plot and unique characters. Jacqueline is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives.
Esmond Harmsworth is a literary agent and
a founding partner of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency. Born in
London, he was educated in England before graduating from Brown University and
Harvard Law School. As a literary agent, he represents fiction and nonfiction.
He is one of the leading U.S. agents for business books, and regularly places
major titles on management, leadership, finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship
with the leading publishers; his list also includes serious nonfiction books
on topics such as politics, psychology, society as well as books on popular
culture, health, food, religion, spirituality, fitness, and media. Published
nonfiction books he's recently represented include the #1 Wall Street Journal
business list best-seller, The Breakthrough Company by Keith McFarland
(Crown Business); Thanks! How The New Science of Gratitude Can Make You
Happier by Dr. Robert Emmons (Houghton Mifflin); Superclass:
The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making by David
Rothkopf (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at
the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen (W. W. Norton); and The SHOW IT
LOVE Workout by celebrity fitness trainer Kacy Duke (McGraw-Hill). For
fiction, he represents literary fiction, mystery and crime, popular (mainstream)
fiction and young adult and middle grade fiction. Many of his clients write
"crossover" literary suspense and literary mystery novels; they include
Laura Dietz, In The Tenth House (Crown); Sarah Stewart Taylor, Sweeney
St. George mystery series (St. Martin's Press); Sabina Murray, winner of
the PEN/Faulkner Award for The Caprices, and author of A Carnivore's
Inquiry and Forgery (Grove/Atlantic); and Jedediah Berry, author
of the forthcoming novel The Manual of Detection (Penguin Press).
A guest lecturer at Boston University, he has also been a featured panelist
or speaker at the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, the national conference
of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Breadloaf Writer's Conference,
the Wesleyan Writer's Conference, Bouchercon, and the Iowa Writer's Workshop.
He will conduct consultation appointments and present a topic
to be announced.
Rachel Holtzman is an assistant editor with
G. P. Putnam's Sons and entered the publishing world via ELLE magazine.
Her current authors include award-winning journalist Joshua Kendall, The
Man Who Made Lists, and Edgar Award-winner David Ellis, Eye of the
Beholder. She's worked closely with ABC News' chief White House correspondent
Martha Raddatz; The New York Times best sellers Ridley Pearson, Evan
Wright, and Kate Jacobs; as well as Crosby, Stills, and Nash's David Crosby.
She is actively looking for memoir and narrative nonfiction with a magazine
sensibility - a strong voice, a unique perspective, and a journalistic backbone.
She greatly admires the work of Mary Roach, Bill Bryson, and Chuck Klosterman.
When it comes to fiction, nothing beats a raw and gritty thriller or intelligent
fiction that melds the literary with the commercial, much in the spirit of Anne
Tyler, Nick Hornby, and Julia Glass. She has a soft spot for all things food-related;
loves any project that indulges her wanderlust; and always respects the swagger
of the brash, funny, and extreme. She will conduct advanced reading
appointments and consultation appointments and present
"From Byline to Book Deal: Building a Media Platform for Would-Be Debut
Authors."
Kathryn Huck is an executive editor with
St. Martin's Press where she has been acquiring nonfiction, specifically memoir,
narrative nonfiction, current affairs, pop culture, lifestyle, and wellness.
A few books acquired since joining SMP: Jason Bitner's Cassette From my
Ex, which pays homage to the lost art of the mixed tape and lost loves;
BBQ Diplomats, a fascinating memoir by a New Jersey restaurateur who
made it his business to single-handedly improve relations with North Korea;
and Step Out on Nothing, by CBS national correspondent and
60 Minutes contributor Byron Pitts, which is an inspirational memoir chronicling
his childhood struggles with illiteracy, a debilitating stutter, and family
dysfunction, eventually overcoming them through faith. Before arriving at SMP,
she was an editor at Harper Collins for seven years and acquired such titles
as You: The Owner's Manual by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz and
Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. She also co-edited At
the Center of the Storm by former CIA director George Tenet and the forthcoming
Hit Charade: Lou Pearlman, Boy Bands, and the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in U.S.
History by Tyler Gray. She will conduct advance reading appointments
and consultation appointments.
L. Spencer Humphrey is a literary agent
who officially launched the agency side of her consulting business in 2007.
Previously, Rocky Hill Group, Inc. had exclusively worked as a full-service
brand and creative development company, serving clients in the publishing, toy,
and media industries. She opened Rocky Hill Group after having run publishing
divisions of Disney, Lyrick Studios, The Bubble Factory, Scholastic and Price
Stern Sloan. She sold her first picture book manuscript in 2007 and represents
fiction and nonfiction for younger children, including picture books, early
readers, chapter books and middle grade projects. She is most interested in
strong character-driven narrative and finely tuned humor for kids. She will
conduct advanced reading appointments and
consultation appointments and present "Children's Book
Marketplace Basics."
Andrew Karre is editorial director with Carolrhoda
Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group. Lerner has been a leading independent
publisher of children's books for 50 years, and Carolrhoda is its trade book
imprint, committed to publishing award-winning picture books, middle grade and
young adult fiction and nonfiction. Before joining Carolrhoda, he was the acquiring
editor for Flux, the young-adult imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide, where he acquired
and edited over 50 young adult novels. He will conduct advanced reading
appointments and consultation appointments and present
a topic to be announced.
Kevan Lyon, a literary agent with the Dijkstra
Agency since 2004, handles women's fiction with an emphasis on commercial women's
fiction and all genres of romantic fiction. Her particular interest is historical
fiction of all types and commercial women's fiction. She is also interested
in nonfiction, representing authors in the areas of memoir, environment, parenting,
pets, and current events. She holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management
at UCLA and comes to the agency with 17 years of experience on the retail and
distribution side of the publishing business. Her background on the buying and
retail side of publishing affords her unique insight into what types of books
will sell and how to market them. She is particularly attracted to stories that
draw the reader in and loves a sweeping, complex story with strong female characters.
Her authors in women's fiction span a broad range of genres from more literary,
commercial projects to all genres of romance including historical, contemporary,
suspense, and paranormal. She loves to be surprised by a unique plot or characters
and is always looking for a new, fresh voice or approach. With nonfiction projects
she looks for topics that she is passionate about or that speak to issues of
particular concern to women and families. Some of her recent and soon to be
published books include Thread of Fear by Laura Griffin (Pocket Books,
2008); Early Bright by Ami Silber (Toby Press, 2008); Lost In You
by Alix Rickloff (Kensington, 2008); Haunting Jordan by PJ Alderman
(Bantam 2009); Dark Highland Fire by Kendra Leigh Castle (Sourcebooks,
2009); Her Ladyship's Companion by Evangeline Collins (Berkley, 2009);
Sounds Like Crazy by Shana Mahaffey (NAL, 2009); Rescue Warriors
by David Helvarg (Thomas Dunne, 2009); Fierce Heart: The Story of Makaha
and the Soul of Hawaiian Surfing (St. Martins, 2009); and Alternative
Ed. (Knopf) by LouAnne Johnson. She will conduct consultation appointments,
will co-present "Understanding What to Expect
from Your Agent - How to Make Your Agent Your Best Friend, Favorite Critic,
and Top Sales Person!" and On-the-Spot: Query
Letters. Bring your one-page query to this workshop for an on-the-spot evaluation.
Queries will be selected at random and read aloud keeping the author's name
confidential. She will discuss strengths and ways for improvement as a selling
tool for your work.
Jill Marsal is a literary agent with the
Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She looks for mysteries and thrillers that
keep the pages turning and have an original hook. In commercial fiction, she
welcomes a dramatic storyline, strong voice, or compelling characters in interesting
situations and relationships. On the nonfiction side, her areas of interest
include health, self-help, relationships, psychology, business, parenting, history,
current events, and narrative nonfiction. Some of the books she has represented
include Victoria Zackheim's The Other Woman (Warner), Dakota Banks'
The Mortal Path: Dark Time (Harper Collins), Martin Limon's The
Door to Bitterness (Soho), Larry Engelmann and Emily Wu's Feather in
the Storm (Pantheon), former Assistant Secretary of State Susan Shirk's
China, Fragile Superpower (Oxford), Barry Popkin's The World is
Fat (Avery), and Aida Donald's Lion in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt
(Basic). She will conduct consultation appointments and
present, "How to Write a Killer Mystery and Get it Published."
Megan McKeever is an associate editor with
Pocket Books, has worked in both book and magazine publishing for ten years,
the last six in commercial fiction at Pocket. Her list is quite diverse, encompassing
women's fiction, romance, urban fantasy, young adult, and pop culture books.
She assisted on works by such authors as Kresley Cole, Liz Carlyle, Linda Lael
Miller, JoAnn Ross, Joan Johnston, and Judith McNaught. She will conduct
advanced reading appointments and consultation appointments
and present a topic to be announced.
James Minz is a senior editor with Baen
Books after previous stints with Del Rey and Tor Books. Over the years, he has
worked on science fiction, fantasy, horror, suspense, thrillers, westerns, and
historical fiction, as well as the occasional nonfiction title. Authors he has
worked with include Catherine Asaro, Hal Duncan, Terry Goodkind, Elizabeth Haydon,
Nancy Kress, Elizabeth Moon, Frederik Pohl, Harry Turtledove and Gene Wolfe,
among many others. He is interested in fantasy, science fiction and urban fantasy
that feature entertaining plot-driven stories with strong central characters.
He will conduct advanced reading appointments and consultation
appointments, and present "Geeks of the World Unite!: How SF is
taking over the World."
Kelly Mortimer, a literary agent for Mortimer
Literary Agency, represents clients in both the ABA and the CBA. She gives each
client personal attention, including manuscript editing. Her agency was recognized
by Romance Writers of America; she was also number six on Publishers Marketplace
Top 100 Dealmakers - Romance Category in 2007 and is the American Christian
Fiction Writers current Agent of the Year. She writes a monthly column for Christian
Fiction Online magazine called "Gotta Get It," as well as the
"Ask an Agent" column for Romance Writers United. She will conduct
consultation appointments and present, "Got Grammar? Workshop."
Drew Nederpelt is a literary agent. He will
conduct consultation appointments and present "Agents,
Publishers and Best-Sellers: How You Can Have One Without the Others."
Katherine Nintzel is an editor with William
Morrow/HarperCollins where she works with a broad range of fiction and nonfiction.
She is looking for literary and "book club" fiction, speculative fiction
and fantasy, and narrative nonfiction, including memoir and pop culture. Recent
and upcoming titles include Jessica Anya Blau's Today Show; summer
reading pick The Summer of Naked Swim Parties; Diane Hammond's Book
Sense Notable Hannah's Dream; Hallie Ephron's debut solo thriller Never
Tell a Lie; and activist Karen Dawn's Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking
the Way We Treat Animals, a hip, glossy call-to-arms covering the broad
spectrum of the current animal rights movement. She will conduct advance
reading appointments and consultation appointments
and co-present "The Opening Paragraph: An On-the-Spot Critique Workshop."
Please bring two (2) copies of the first page of your project, with your name
removed, to the workshop. Though critiques are public, they are also anonymous.
Lori Perkins is the executive editor and editorial
director for Ravenous Romance and has been a literary agent for 20 years. She
is also a published author, as well as an adjunct professor at N.Y.U.'s Center
for Publishing. Ravenous Romance is a new publisher of erotic romance ebooks
and audio books. They are publishing a book-a-day and a short story a day. She
is also president of L. Perkins Agency, which has foreign agents in 11 countries
and working relationships with Hollywood agents. She was the agent for How
To Make Love Like A Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale by Jenna Jameson, which
made The New York Times best-seller list for seven weeks. She was also
the agent for J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter by Marc Shapiro,
which was on The New York Times children's best-seller list. Perkins
is also the author of four books, The Cheapskate's Guide To Entertainment: How
to Throw Fabulous Parties on a Budget, which was excerpted in Redbook
and Family Circle Magazines; The Insider's Guide To Getting A Literary
Agent, which was chosen by Amazon.com as one of the top 100 books on writing;
The Everything Family Guide To Washington D.C., and The Everything
Family Guide To New York. She has also written numerous articles on publishing
for Writer's Digest and Publisher's Weekly. She has edited five
erotica anthologies, and teaches a course on editing your manuscript at N.Y.U.'s
Center for Publishing. Before starting her own agency in 1989, she worked as
an agent with Lowenstein Associates. Prior to becoming an agent, she was a journalist
who received her B.A. in journalism and art history from N.Y.U., where she later
taught feature article writing. She is a native New Yorker with a 16 -year-old
son who attends the Bronx High School of Science, just like his mom. She will
conduct advanced reading appointments and consultation appointments
and present, "Erotica and the Changing Publishing Market."
Toni Plummer is an associate editor with
Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press. The eclectic nature of
the imprint's list has allowed her to pursue a range of literary and commercial
fiction, including general, women's, and crime fiction. Her nonfiction interests
include narrative, memoir, relationships, humor, and social/cultural issues.
Her taste in mysteries runs the gamut, from police procedurals to cozies. In
mysteries, she has acquired debut private eye novels Living the Vida Lola
by Misa Ramirez and Chinatown Angel by A.E. Roman, as well as City
of Silver, a historical mystery set in Peru, by Annamaria Alfieri
and A Bad Day for Sorry, a gritty Southern novel, by Sophie Littlefield.
In other fiction, she has acquired The Accidental Santera by Irete
Lazo, a novel about a Latina scientist who enters the mysterious world of Santeria.
Toni's nonfiction acquisitions include Exposed: Confessions of a Wedding
Photographer by Claire Lewis and The Down and Dirty Dish on Revenge:
Serving It Up Nice and Cold to That Lying, Cheating Bastard by Eva Nagorski.
A Mexican-American, Toni is especially interested in acquiring Latino authors
and books with multicultural themes. She grew up in the San Gabriel Valley of
Los Angeles County and loves reading strong works having to do with Southern
California. She will conduct advance reading appointments and
consultation appointments.
Jennifer Pooley is a senior editor with HarperCollins
imprint William Morrow. She has acquired a wide variety of books across the
Morrow and Harper Perennial imprints including such novels as Michael Zadoorian's
The Leisure Seeker (forthcoming) and Willy Vlautin's Northline,
both optioned to Sharp Independent at HarperCollins (sharpindependent.com)
and on the nonfiction side such titles as the national best-seller, Summer
at Tiffany, (a memoir she discovered at the San Diego State University
Writers' Conference in January 2006), Jennifer Sey's Chalked Up;
and The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride,
(forthcoming) by Daniel James Brown. She is actively seeking new voices in literary
and mainstream fiction and nonfiction (memoir, history, biography, journalism,
social, and popular science), and she also acquires the occasional gift/pop
culture title such as Amy Allen's This Little Piggy Went to Prada,
Tamsin Blanchard's Green is the New Black, and Concetta Bertoldi's
New York Times best seller, Do Dead People Watch You Shower? And
Other Questions You've Been All But Dying to Ask a Medium. Note:
She cannot accept, open, or return unsolicited submissions prior to or following
the conference. She also does not acquire genre titles of any kind: crime, thriller,
or romance, and can promise that if you don't spell check your appointment pages,
that she will not enjoy reading them! She will conduct advanced reading
appointments and consultation appointments and co-present
"The Opening Paragraph: An On-the-Spot Critique Workshop." Please
bring two (2) copies of the first page of your project, with your name removed,
to the workshop. Though critiques are public, they are also anonymous.
Marc Resnick a senior editor, has been working
at St. Martin's Press since 1996. His nonfiction list consists of outdoor adventure,
sports, and military titles as well as popular culture and memoirs. His military
books include The New York Times bestseller Kill Bin Laden, by
a Delta Force Commander, about the hunt for the terrorist leader and Trigger
Men, a narrative about American combat snipers, as well as a memoir from
a member of WWII's Band of Brothers, Easy Company Soldier. His outdoor
adventure books include Diving Into Darkness by Phillip Finch and the
national bestseller Ten Hours Until Dawn by Michael Tougias. Also on
his eclectic nonfiction list is BIG PAPI, the New York Times bestselling
memoir by Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, a hilarious pop culture guide
for the modern man called The Man Book, and the cold war submarine
book, Stalking The Red Bear. On the fiction side he is having a great
time working with award-winning author Ken Bruen on his thrillers, Once
Were Cops, the Jack Taylor series, Duane Swierczynski, The Blonde,
Severance Package, and former tight end for the New York Giants, Mark Bavaro,
on his novel about the dark side of professional football, Rough & Tumble.
He will conduct advanced reading appointments and consultation
appointments.
Angela Rinaldi is a literary agent and formerly
an editor at NAL/Signet, Pocket Books, Bantam Books, and manager of book publishing
for the Los Angeles Times. A member of AAR, she has taught publishing
programs at UCLA and was a member of the literature panel for the California
Arts Council. Her agency list is an eclectic mix of nonfiction and fiction that
includes The New York Times best seller Who Moved My Cheese?
by Dr. Spencer Johnson, Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent, Calling
In The One by Katherine Woodward Thomas, Global Warming Is
Good For Business by Kimberly Keilbach, The Thyroid Solution
by Dr. Ridha Arem, My First Crush by Linda Kaplan, along
with novelists Drusilla Campbell, Megan Clark, Marjorie Reynolds, and Stephanie
Kane. She is actively looking for commercial and literary fiction, narrative
nonfiction, memoir, social, and cultural history and practical nonfiction. She
does not represent category romances, science fiction/fantasy, westerns, cookbooks,
poetry, children's books, young adult titles, or film scripts. She will conduct
consultation appointments.
B.J. Robbins, a literary agent, began her
book publishing career in the publicity department at Simon & Schuster.
She later moved to Harcourt, where she became director of marketing and then
senior editor. In 1992 she started her own Los Angeles-based literary agency,
representing quality fiction and general nonfiction, with a particular interest
in memoir, biography, history, pop culture, sports, travel/adventure, medicine,
and health. Her client list includes James D. Houston's Snow Mountain Passage
and Bird of Another Heaven, CBS TV Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson's
Between the Bridge and the River, Eduardo Santiago's Tomorrow They
Will Kiss, John Hough, Jr.'s The Last Summer, and the upcoming
Carry Me Home by Nafisa Haji, and The Writing on My Forehead. Her
nonfiction list includes J. Maarten Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals,
Getting Stoned with Savages, and Lost on Planet China; Los
Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine's Man of the House; Tim
Madigan's I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers; and James
Donovan's A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn. A member
of AAR and PEN USA West, she has led workshops at UCLA Extension, UC Irvine
Extension and at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Fiction Workshop. She
will conduct advanced reading appointments and consultation
appointments and present "Why Can't I Find an Agent? Submission
Strategies 101."
Jennifer Rofe is an associate agent with
the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She handles children's fiction projects only,
from picture books through young adult, and is particularly interested in literary,
multicultural, offbeat, paranormal, and commercial-with-heart material. She
enjoys magical-realism and reality-based fantasy; ghost stories (though not
gore); stubborn characters who learn lessons the hard way; and unassuming heroes
and underdogs. She is currently interested in acquiring commercial, boy-friendly
adventures and is always looking for projects that simultaneously tug at her
heartstrings and make her laugh out loud. She considers herself an editorial
agent in that she works with her clients to strengthen their manuscripts before
presenting them to editors. Some of her sales include The Down To Earth
Guide To Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, Scholastic's
lead title for Fall 2007; Milagros, The Girl From Away, a magical-realism
middle grade by Meg Medina (Christy Ottaviano Books/Holt); The Farwalker's
Quest, a middle-grade fantasy by Joni Sensel (Bloomsbury); Paris Pan
Takes The Dare, a commercial middle-grade by Cynthea Liu (Putnam/Puffin);
Before You Were Here, Mi Amor a bilingual picture book by Samantha
Vamos (Viking); and The Year The Swallows Came Early, a literary middle-grade
by Kathryn Fitzmaurice (The Bowen Press/HarperCollins). She will conduct consultation
appointments and present, "What Agents Do For Their Clients."
Elana Roth, literary agent, began her career
at Nickelodeon Magazine, researching and writing wacky and even gross stories
for kids, which made her fall in love children's publishing. From there, she
spent nearly five years as an editor at Parachute Publishing, a packager specializing
in children's book series. There she was lucky to work on R.L. Stine's Rotten
School among many other series for kids of all ages. She left in early
2008 to become an agent, and is looking forward to working with authors (debut
and already published) closely, being very hands-on editorially to get those
existing (and already fabulous) manuscripts just right, and developing new proposals
together. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
She will conduct advanced reading appointments and consultation
appointments.
Robyn Russell is an associate with The Amy
Rennert Agency, a boutique literary agency located in the San Francisco Bay
Area. She began working with Rennert in 2005 while completing her MFA in writing
from the University of San Francisco. The agency represents a select group of
quality fiction and nonfiction writers - many of them award-winners - and several
agency books have been on The New York Times and national best seller
lists. Their authors include Jimmy Buffett, The New York Times best-selling
author of the Maisie Dobbs series Jacqueline Winspear, National Book Award finalist
Beth Kephart, NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman, co-author Annie
Barrows of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and the
late Terry Ryan, author of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, made
into a feature film starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson. The Amy Rennert
Agency is actively seeking strong narrative nonfiction and outstanding literary
and commercial fiction. She is especially drawn to voice-driven fiction, psychological
realism, and stories set in unusual locations. She will conduct advanced
reading appointments and consultation appointments.
Mary Sue Seymour, literary agent, is a former
teacher and still holds her permanent teaching certificate in New York State.
A member of the AAR, WGA, The Author's Guild and RWA, she has been agenting
since 1992. She enjoys traveling to conferences and presenting three workshops:
Hooks, Books and Great Beginnings; Fast Talk: Speeding the Pace of Narrative
through Dialogue; and Killer Queries. Her upcoming conferences include the Washington
Independent Writers in Washington, DC, The Florida Writer's Association Conference
in Lake Mary, Fla., RWA National in San Francisco, Faith, Hope and Love Conference
in San Francisco, Faith Writers Conference in Nashville, Put Your Heart in a
Book in NJ, Connecticut Romance Writers, Women's Fiction Festival in Matera,
Italy, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Colorado Christian Writers
Conference, Southwest Writers Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. Current sales
are multi-book deals to Harper San Francisco, Zondervan, Harvest House, Cook
Communications Ministries, and Thomas Nelson. She has a positive working relationship
with the editors at Adams Media Corp in Boston, selling them a lot of Everything
books and also general nonfiction titles. She has also sold books to Bantam,
Berkley, Warner Books, Harlequin, and others. She will conduct consultation
appointments.
Kelly Sonnack is an agent with the Sandra
Dijkstra Literary Agency, known for establishing and guiding the careers of
critically acclaimed fiction and nonfiction authors. The Los Angeles Times
dubbed the Dijkstra Agency "the most powerful literary agency on the West
Coast" and, in its 25+ years, the agency has developed a reputation for
discovering new talent and representing quality work with commercial potential.
She started her publishing career under the publishing giant Elsevier as an
acquisitions editor under the Academic Press imprint. She specializes in all
areas of children's literature (picture books, middle grade, young adult, and
graphic novels). She is also interested in adult fiction and nonfiction with
international or multicultural themes. Some of her recent and soon-to-be-published
books include Steve Watkins' Down Sand Mountain (Candlewick), Jasmin
Darznik's The Good Daughter (Grand Central), Merrily Kutner's Alphabet
Magic (Roaring Brook), Candace Ryan's Animal House (Walker), and
Heather Leigh's Hey Little Baby (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books)
- a project found at last year's SDSU conference! She will conduct consultation
appointments and present "Don't Shoot
Yourself in the Foot: How to Avoid Childish Mistakes when Writing for Children."
J.L. Stermer is a literary agent
with the Donald Maass Literary Agency, which she joined in 2007. She
is seeking commercial fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, pop-culture (cooking,
fashion, style, music, and art), smart humor, and upscale erotica/erotic memoir
and multicultural projects. A graduate of Columbia University, she was born
and raised in New York City. Previously, she worked at Venture Literary.
She will conduct consultation appointments
and present "Two Pages that Cannot Be Rejected: How to Get Your Proposal
Out of the Slush."
Hilary Teeman is an associate editor is with
St. Martin's Press, a trade division of Macmillan, where she acquires a wide
range of upmarket "book group" fiction, historical fiction and commercial
women's fiction, as well as memoir, popular culture, and popular self-help titles.
Recently published and forthcoming titles include: Becky by Lenore
Hart, a historical novel of the "true life" of Becky Thatcher, Tom
Sawyer's childhood sweetheart; The Genizah at the House of Shepher
by Tamar Yellin, a multi-generational saga of a Jerusalem family embroiled in
a feud over a mysterious and valuable biblical codex, which received Jewish
Book Council's 2007 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature; Life Without
Summer by Lynne Griffin, abouta mother who seeks the help of a grief counselor
after the death of her four-year-old daughter; The Art of Disappearing by
Ivy Pochoda, in which a woman falls in love with a magician who can't control
his gift; Bar Flower by Lea Jacobson, a harrowing memoir of one American
woman's journey through the erotic, addictive world of Japan's high-end pleasure
trade; Buying a Piece of Paris by Ellie Nielsen, a passionate, heartwarming
memoir of one woman's quest to buy the perfect Parisian apartment; and Picking
Cotton by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, a joint memoir by
a rape victim and the man she wrongly identified as her attacker and sent to
prison for 11 years, exploring the explosive issues surrounding DNA exoneration
and the power of forgiveness. Prior to joining St. Martin's, she worked as a
literary agent with Trident Media Group, representing her own list of authors
and handling audio rights for the company. She began her career in the film
industry, in development at HBO Films, Lynda Obst Productions, and Blum/Israel
Productions. She will conduct advanced reading appointments
and consultation appointments.
Sally van Haitsma is a literary agent with
the Castiglia Literary Agency. The agency has placed significant nonfiction
and fiction titles with major publishers since 1993, also representing film
and foreign rights. Best-selling authors include Stacey O'Brien, Wesley
the Owl (Simon & Schuster);Jay Kopelman and Melinda Roth, From
Baghdad, With Love (Lyons Press); Douglas Keister, Teardrops (Gibbs
Smith); Dr. Dean Hamer, The God Gene (Doubleday); Gerri Sullivan and Saffi Crawford,
The Power of Birthdays, Stars and Numbers Ballantine); Laurie Beth
Jones, Jesus CEO (Hyperion/Disney). New sales include The Leisure
Seeker by Michael Zadoorian (HarperCollins); Waiting for the Apocalypse
by Veronica Chater (Norton); The Islanders by Sandra Rodriguez Barron
(HarperCollins); Coming Clean by Mike Brune (Sierra Club Books); Beautiful:
The Life of Hedy Lamarr by Stephen Shearer (St. Martin's Press); Barry
Dixon Interiors by Brian Coleman (Gibbs Smith); Freefall by Reece
Hirsch (Penguin); America Libre by Raul Ramos y Sanchez (Grand Central);
In Triumph's Wake by Julie Gelardi (St. Martins Press); Rogelia's
House of Magic by Jamie Martinez (Random House) and Writing as a Sacred
Path by Jill Jepson (Ten Speed). Actively seeking new authors, she is interested
in commercial and literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, education, business,
and current affairs. She will conduct consultation appointments.
Michelle Wolfson is a literary agent and
founder of Wolfson Literary Agency, LLC. She is actively seeking authors of
commercial fiction in the following categories: mainstream, mysteries, thrillers,
suspense, chicklit, romance, women's fiction, and young adult. She is drawn
to projects that are well-written, with strong, interesting characters. She
is also interested in practical and narrative nonfiction projects, particularly
those of interest to women. Michelle holds a bachelor's from Dartmouth College
and an MBA from New York University. Before founding her agency, she spent four
years with Artists & Artisans and the Ralph Vicinanza Agency. Before that,
she spent several years working outside of publishing, first in nonprofit and
then in finance. She brings the skills she learned in these areas, plus a lifetime
love of reading, to the table as an agent. Recent projects include First
Comes Marriage: Modern Relationship Advice from the Wisdom of Arranged Marriages
by Reva Seth (Touchstone); The Get-Your-Man-to-Marry-You-Plan: Buying the
Cow in the Age of Free Milk by Lori Uscher-Pines (St. Martin's Press);
Change Your Job, Change Your Life by Alexandra Levit (Ballantine);
Chill Out and Get Healthy: Live Clean to Stay Strong and Be Sexy by
Aimee Raupp (NAL); Phenomenal Girl 5 by AJ Menden (Dorchester); Timing
Is Everything: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That, and Go There
by Mark Di Vincenzo (Morrow); In the Shadow of Freedom: From African Child
Soldier to US Marine by Tchicaya Missamou with Travis Sentell (Atria).
For the latest agency news as well as submission guidelines, please visit the
company web site at www.wolfsonliterary.com.
She will conduct consultation appointments and will co-present
"Understanding What to Expect from Your Agent
- How to Make Your Agent Your Best Friend, Favorite Critic, and Top Sales Person!"
and "On-the-Spot: Query Letters." Bring your one-page query to this
workshop for an on-the-spot evaluation. Queries will be selected at random and
read aloud, keeping the author's name confidential. She will discuss strengths
and ways for improvement as a selling tool for your work.
Glenn Yeffeth is publisher and founder of
BenBella Books, an innovative, author-friendly publishing house that publishes
a broad array of nonfiction titles, with a special emphasis on health and nutrition,
pop culture, business, and finance. He acquired and edited the bestselling titles
The China Study, Taking the Red Pill, and Finding
Serenity. In an earlier life he ran a European business consultancy based
out of London and worked with Fortune 500 executive teams on large scale strategy
and business change projects. He has an MBA in marketing and finance from the
University of Chicago and a B.A. in history from Oberlin College.
Screen Writers on Screenwriting
Marvin V. Acuna 
Frank Catalano
Madeline Di Maggio
Jonathan Eskenas
Taylor Van Arsdale
Marvin V. Acuna - is a producer and founder
of Acuna Entertainment, a literary management and film/television production
company based in California. AE's mission is to identify career-building opportunities
in motion picture and television; to provide significant access to agencies,
studios, and networks; and to produce select client originated material, thus
enabling our clients to direct and transition from writer to filmmaker. This
approach allows our clients to become leaders in the entertainment industry.
AE's intention is to become the industry's literary representation and production
company of choice for writers who aspire to become filmmakers. Born in Guatemala,
he immigrated to the USA at the age of five. His formative years were spent
in Providence, RI. He has spent his adult life manifesting his childhood dream
- making filmed entertainment!
Acuna has over fifteen years of motion picture/television production, development
and artist representation experience, and a vast network of established entertainment
industry relationships. He gained exposure to every aspect of the television
and film industries, including but not limited to development, production, acquisitions,
financing, syndication, and packaging. He has reviewed, summarized, and appraised
the marketability of submitted motion picture screenplays, television scripts,
treatments, and independent films. Additionally, he played a key role in the
strategic planning and execution of Bernie Mac's, (The Bernie Mac Show) professional
career goals.
He produced the feature film The Great Buck Howard starring John Malkovich,
Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn, and Tom Hanks. The film premiered at the
2008 Sundance Film Festival to nine sold out screenings and rave reviews. The
picture is the center piece film for the 2008 Seattle Film Festival and the
closing gala film for the 2008 Cinevegas Film Festival. It will make its nationwide
theatrical debut February of 2009. Currently, he is in the final days of post-production
for the Documentary, Leaving Vogue Moran. The story of a 43-year-old
man who awakes to the truth that he is alone. He embarks on a journey to discover
a healthy relationship by confronting his past. His journey leads him thru the
transformation of self loathing to self love. Up next, he is set to produce
Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story, The Year Of Wonders starring Abigail
Breslin, and Class Action starring George Lopez. Other feature credits
include, Two Days starring Paul Rudd, Adam Scott and Donal Logue; Touched
starring Jenna Elfman, Bruce Davison, and Samantha Mathis; and How Did It
Feel starring Blair Underwood and Natasha Gregson Wagner.
In Television, Acuna has Price set up at CBS; Expedition set
up at HBO; Walter Reed Medical set up at FX; Complications,
based on The New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, at
FOX; and finally in pre-production Girly Magazine Party from Dennis
Klein, creator of HBO's The Larry Sanders Show. He will conduct
consultation appointments and present, "The Seven Habits of Six
(And Seven) Figure Screenwriters."
Frank Catalano holds a master's degree in
writing from the University of Southern California's prestigious Professional
Writing Program and a second master's in Asian drama from the University of
Hawaii. He currently is a member of the faculty at the School of Theatre of
the University of Southern California and is part of the Theatre Arts, Film
and Social Science faculties at Moorpark College, Pierce College, and Pasadena
City College. As a playwright, he has had play productions in New York City,
Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Dayton, Ohio: American Rose Garden, Cyclotron
(La Mama, N.Y.C.), Evolution, Waiting For to Go (Kennedy Center, Hawaii),
Saturday Nights. His play Autumn Sweet was produced by the
Dayton Playhouse and was optioned for film by Warner Bros. Studios. He has served
in various executive capacities at Lorimar Studios, Beverly Hills Playhouse,
Southern California Center for the Arts and Warner Bros., where he had a "first
look" writing deal for the development of television and motion picture
properties. He has written and performed in animated television series and feature
films, including ABC television series L.A. Law, Ugly Betty, and NYPD
Blue; Sci-Fi Channel series Robotech and Flint the Time Detective;
and Fox TV's The Adventures of Dynamo Duck. He currently is president
of The Creative Edge, providing seminar programs, consulting, and program development
services to individuals and creative organizations. His is also the author of
Art of the Monologue and The Creative Audience - The collaborative
role of the audience in the Visual and Performing Arts. He will present
topics to be announced.
Madeline Di Maggio is a writer and producer
with Honest Engine Films. She produced Surviving Eden, starring Peter
Dinklage, Jane Lynch, Sheri Oteri, and Michael Payne and the documentaries Stir
It Up and Humble Beauty (released Sept. 2008). She has worked
as a creative consultant and story editor to Paramount Studios and has written
over 40 hours of produced film in: prime-time sitcoms, one-hour dramas, TV pilots,
soaps, animation, and feature films. She co-wrote the M.O.W. Alibi,
starring Tori Spelling, and the feature film If the Shoe Fits starring
Rob Lowe and Jennifer Grey. Her book-to-film feature, Catherine Called Birdy
with co-writer Pamela Wallace (Witness), was developed and sold to
Ben Myron Productions, and the screenplay Murder with Privilege, a
true crime, to Showtime. She currently has five scripts under option. Her books
include The Everything Screenwriting Book for Adams Media and How
to Write for Television for Simon and Schuster, the second edition (released
Dec. 2008). She presents workshops throughout the U.S. and overseas. In 2007
she was hired by MediaCorp in Singapore to instruct in-house professional television
writers. She was voted the Members Choice Award for Best Screenwriting Seminar
and Script Consultant by the National Screenwriters Forum. She will conduct
consultation appointments and present "The
Hooks that Sell and How to Pitch Them," "Hush! The Character is Talking"
and "From Words to Pictures."
Jonathan Eskenas is a producer and currently
serves as vice president of development at Dick Clark Productions, a leading
television and film production company. In this position, he has become one
of the industry's top executives, producing numerous television movies, miniseries,
and series for multiple outlets. He recently co-executive produced the Lifetime
movie Fab Five starring Tatum O'Neil and Jenna Dewan. The film premiered
in August 2008 as the network's highest-rated movie of the year and second-most-watched
movie of all time among the key 18-48 female demographic. He also executive
produced Hallmark Channel's romance film Bridal Fever, starring Delta
Burke and Andrea Roth, which premiered in Feb. 2008. He is currently in production,
post production, and development on multiple projects, including The Good
Witch's Garden for Hallmark Channel, along with films for Lifetime, Nickelodeon
and ABC Family. Among his other producing credits are 3: The Dale Earnhardt
Story, ESPN's all-time highest rated movie with over seven million viewers
starring Barry Pepper in a SAG Award nominated performance; Odd Girl Out,
based on the groundbreaking book about bullying among teenage girls, for Lifetime;
ESPN's critically acclaimed telefilm Code Breakers starring Scott Glenn;
the widely publicized true story The Madam's Family: The Truth About Canal
Street Brothel, starring Ellen Burstyn, Annabella Sciorra, and Dominique
Swain, for CBS; USA Network telefilm D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear,
winner of NAACP Image Awards for best television movie and best lead actor (Charles
Dutton); ESPN film The Junction Boys starring Tom Berenger as coaching
icon Bear Bryant; and comedic detective film Mystery Woman, starring
Kellie Martin, which premiered as Hallmark Channel's all-time second-highest
rated original film and has since spawned multiple sequels. He has also supervised
development and production of Playmakers, ESPN's first original dramatic
series, honored as one of AFI's top ten shows of the year, winner of a GLAAD
Award for outstanding drama series, and nominated for a CSC Award; and Tilt,
ESPN's gritty series set around the world of professional poker. He has spearheaded
several high-profile projects in various media, including "10 Dates from
Hell", an internet series produced for TBS which premiered on the network's
web site in Feb. 2008; and an animated series at Disney Channel. Recognized
as a leading producer, he has given multiple presentations at SDSU's Writers'
Conference, and has been a guest lecturer for UCLA's producing program and for
AFI's and LMU's screenwriting classes. Previous to his position at Dick Clark
Productions, he was president of Orly Adelson Productions. He will conduct consultation
appointments for screenplays and present "Development Needs for
Network and Cable Television," "How a Producer Thinks," and "Rules
of Truth."
Taylor Van Arsdale, screenwriter and film
producer, began her career as an assistant talent booker at Hollywood's Improvisation.
In 1997 she moved to HBO Pictures, working on such projects as Winchell
(directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Stanley Tucci and Glenn Headley), Don
King: Only In America (directed by John Herzfeld and starring Ving Rhames,
Vondie Curtis-Hall and Jeremy Piven), A Bright and Shining Lie (directed
by Terry George and starring Bill Paxton and Amy Madigan), GIA (directed
by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway and Mercedes
Rhuel), and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (directed by Martha Coolidge
and starring Halle Berry, Brent Spiner and Klaus Maria Brandauer). She moved
to Breen Productions in 1999 as vice president of development, responsible for
the acquisition and development of projects for network and cable television
companies as well as generating show concepts for presentation. During her tenure
Haven - The Ruth Gruber Story (starring Natasha Richardson) was created
as a mini-series and then later produced in 2001 by CBS/Alliance Atlantis. She
also optioned and developed Under the Influence - The Unauthorized Story
of the Anheuser-Busch Dynasty (to develop with Larry Gelbart - creator
of M*A*S*H), Nightwatch for CBS's consideration and A
Dry Spell for TNT's consideration. In 2000 she created Tailfish Productions,
a film production company, acquiring and developing material for feature films.
There she managed the development of Earthbound (currently in pre-production
with Moctesuma Esparza [Gettysburg and Selena] co-producing);
The Second Agenda, an action/thriller optioned to Davis Classics Entertainment;
Bloodwork for USA Films; Fordham Boys for Showtime, with Ian
Biederman (Shark) attached to write script; and Wickapogue Witches
for Minkoff-Clark (Stuart Little). She has taught screenwriting courses
at Loyola Marymount University, where, under her tutelage, students received
the following accolades: Winner 2004 Austin Film Festival, Best Comedy Screenplay
(It Bleeds It Leads), First Round Finalist 2005 Thrills & Chills
Competition, Horror (Hunger), Semi-Finalist, Nicholl Fellowship (Earthbound),
Sixth Spec Scriptacular Winner, Sitcom (Chapelle's Show: Crazy World Of
TV). Most recently she was hired as the instructor/script consultant for
NBC's Writers on the Verge Diversity Workshopfacilitating the development of
one-hour dramas and half-hour comedies. She has acted as a script consultant
for Strip written by Jeff Wilber, a one-hour pilot purchased by HBO
Original Programming; Nothing Ever Happens To Me written by Joanne
Storkan (produced in 2004 through Cineville, Inc. as Surviving Eden);
and Remember the Slave written by Lorin B. Coleman (2001 DGA African-American
Student Film Award co-winner). In 2007 she opened Pro-ScriptService.com, a web
site designed to give writers a better understanding of their craft with services
also available for producers and directors. She continues to write comedy, nurture
up-and-coming new writers, and develop properties for film and television production.
She will conduct consultation appointments and will present
"Effective Pitching," "How to Write a Screenplay Adaptation of
Your Novel," "First Act Foibles and How to Fix Them," "Creating
Organic Characters," and "How to Find the Right Producer to Shop Your
Story."
Writing Experts and Industry Professionals
Roberta Cantow is a filmmaker, editor and
documentarian has worked in many areas including poetic, experimental, narrative
and documentary forms as well as hybrids of these forms. Her film and video
work has been recognized with grants for production and distribution over a
period of many years and has been exhibited on A and E, and PBS, among others.
Her film, Clotheslines, billed as a poetic documentary, was recognized
with an Emmy Award and continues to have a long life through non-theatrical
and educational distribution channels. She recently completed Bloodtime
Moontime Dreamtime, a trilogy about women honoring the life passage events
in their lives. Before offering book trailer production, her editing and multimedia
production service, Original Digital, was focused on serving the values-oriented
storytelling needs of individuals, families, community groups, and organizations.
She will present, "What is a Book Trailer and Who Needs One?"
Ron Carlson is the author of ten books of
fiction, most recently the novel, Five Skies which was a Los Angeles
Times book of the year and is the One Book of Rhode Island, 2009. His book
on writing, Ron Carlson Writes a Story, is taught across the country.
He selected stories, A Kind Of Flying, has garnered awards. He directs
the graduate program in fiction at UC Irvine. He will conduct consultation
appointments and present, "Finding the Story, "Writing Dialogue,"
"Girl in a Car" and "Writing Character."
Charis Conn is an editor for Harpers Magazine (see
Editors and Agents).
Jill Dearman is a writing coach and the author
of Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice (Penguin,
summer 2009). She has been teaching her "Bang the Keys" philosophy
of writing to new scribes and published professionals since 2003. She is a part-time
professor of journalism at New York University and holds an MFA in creative
writing from The New School. An award-winning fiction writer, her prose has
been published in numerous publications including North Atlantic Review,
The Portland Review, Lilith, New York Stories, and Mr. Beller's Neighborhood.
As a journalist, she has written for The Writer, New York
Daily News, Time Out New York, and other publications.
For more information see www.jilldearman.com.
She will present, "Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice,"
"Channel Surfing and Other Meditation Methods for Concentration-Challenged
Writers," and "Eight Ingredients for a Delicious P.L.O.T.W.I.C.H."
Phyllis Gebauer is an author and writing
teacher. She teaches fiction at UCLA Extension and in 1992 was named Outstanding
Teacher in Creative Writing. Her most recent publication is her memoir Hot
Widow (Fithian Press, 2008), which Thomas Pynchon calls, "Rollicking
and heartbreaking evidence that little black dresses aren't just for graveside
anymore." Her comic novel, The Pagan Blessing, was published by
Viking in 1979, in paperback by Fithian Press in 2006, and was called by Ray
Bradbury, "A blessing indeed; a true delight." She has published short
stories, articles and essays, and is currently working on a mystery set in Puerto
Vallarta that involves a pair of senior sleuths whom she hopes to feature in
a series. She belongs to PEN USA, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime,
and the Dorothy L. Sayers Society in Great Britain. Visit her web site www.phyllisgebauer.com,
which is filled with photos and contains excerpts of her work. She will conduct
On-the-Spot Critiques and present "How to Get the Most out of This Conference,"
"A Fictional Approach to Writing a Factual Memoir" and "Elements
of a Winning Short Story."
Dr. Jason R. Karp is a freelance writer,
specializing in fitness and running. He holds a Ph.D. in exercise physiology,
which gives him a unique perspective on the subjects about which he writes.
He has published over 100 articles in numerous international fitness, running,
and coaching consumer and trade magazines, including Runner's World, Shape,
Oxygen, Ultra-Fit, Her Sports, Running Times, Marathon & Beyond, IDEA Fitness
Journal, Fitness Management, Track Coach, Techniques for Track & Field and
Cross Country, New Studies in Athletics, and others. He is a technical/contributing
editor for Fitness Management, the magazine for owners, managers and
program directors in physical fitness facilities. He has also published scientific
research articles in scholarly journals, was a chapter contributor for Track
& Field Omnibook, and recently signed a book deal with Sourcebooks
for his first book, on advice for graduate students and successfully navigating
through the Ph.D. process. In addition to writing, he owns RunCoachJason.com,
a coaching, personal training, and fitness consulting company, providing science-based
coaching to runners of all levels, fitness training to the public, and consulting
to coaches and fitness professionals. He speaks at numerous coaching and fitness
industry conferences. He will present, "Writing and Publishing What You
Know."
Paula Margulies is a communications expert
and the owner of Paula Margulies Communications, a boutique public relations
agency specializing in helping talented authors get premium exposure for their
publications. She works with publishers, agents, distributors, bookstores, and
media outlets to ensure that authors and their books get maximum attention and
coverage from their target audience. She consults with authors to set up book
tours, garner interest and exposure with targeted media, including newspapers,
magazines, television and radio, and build a successful brand strategy for themselves
and their books. She has specialized for more than 15 years in communications,
marketing, and public relations for all types of products and services. A graduate
of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned her master's
degree in language arts and literature, she also holds degrees in marketing
communications and education. She has served as the marketing and publicity
director for both large companies and small businesses and is an instructor
in business communications and public relations at community colleges throughout
Southern California. She is also the author of numerous award-winning short
stories and essays, so she understands the business of writing firsthand. Her
debut novel, Coyote Heart, is currently represented by New York literary
agent, Robert E. Tabian. She will present, "Book Publicity on a Budget
- Seven Simple Steps for the Frugal Writer."
Carolyn Marsden is known as an ambassador
to children around the world and voices the stories that most need to be shared
with our youngest generation. Her debut novel for young readers, The Gold-Threaded
Dress (Candlewick, 2002), received enormous critical acclaim and was named
a Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novel and a Booklist Editors' Choice. She is
also the author of Mama Had to Work on Christmas (Viking, 2003),
Silk Umbrellas (Candlewick, 2004), Moon Runner (Candlewick, 2005),
The Quail Club (Candlewick, 2006), The Jade Dragon (Candlewick,
2006), When Heaven Fell (Candlewick, 2007), Bird Springs (Viking,
2007), and the most recent The Buddha's Diamonds (Candlewick,
2008), which was just picked as an SCIBA Finalist. She has an MFA in
writing for children from Vermont College. For more information please visit
www.carolynmarsden.com.
She will present "Writing for Middle Graders," and "Writing Multicultural
Stories for Children."
Judy Reeves is a writer, teacher and writing
practice provocateur whose books include A Writer's Book of Days; Writing
Alone, Writing Together; A Creative Writer's Kit and The Writer's
Retreat Kit. Other works include two plays produced by The Fritz Blitz
and a chapbook of poetry. Her work has also appeared in the San Diego Reader
and Personal Journaling magazine and several anthologies. In addition
to leading private writing workshops, she teaches creative writing at UCSD Extension
and speaks at writing conferences internationally. She is executive director
of San Diego Writers, Ink., a nonprofit arts organization. She will conduct
the "Night Owl On-The-Spot Critiques" and present, "10 Ways to
Enter Story, "Turning Real Life into Fiction" and "First Paragraphs
and What They Must Do."
Cathy Scott, a veteran journalist, traveled
to New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina to report the stories
of pets displaced by Katrina. Best Friends Animal Society, whose work she covered,
later hired her as a writer for its magazine and web sites. Pawprints of
Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned, was released in mid-July. Scott
has published one biography and four true crime books (including the Los
Angeles Times best seller The Killing of Tupac Shakur. Her latest
- Rough Guide to True Crime (Penguin) - is set for release in summer
2009. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles
Times, the New York Post, the San Diego Union-Tribune,
George magazine, and Reuters News Service. She is a member of the Society
of Professional Journalists' national speakers bureau and has appeared on CNN,
Court TV, Unsolved Mysteries, Oxygen network's Snapped, National
Public Radio, and the BBC. Before Katrina, she was an adjunct journalism instructor
for nearly five years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her journalism
work has also taken her to Los Angeles to cover the 1992 riots (the Rodney King
uprising), Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, Somalia for Operation Restore
Hope, and Panama to cover the U.S. military handing over operation of the canal
to Panamanian officials. Here is a sampling of reviews of her work: "These
stories are so riveting ..." (Steve Dale, Tribune Media wire service);
"A thorough report on the investigation of the drive-by shooting of one
of rap music's top stars." (Kirkus Reviews); "For setting the record
straight as well as for limning a major pop music star, this is a valuable book."
(Booklist critic Mark Tribby); "Definitely worth a read ..." (Nelson
George, Africana Magazine). She will present topics on writing nonfiction
books and magazine articles including "10 Must-Haves for Your Nonfiction
Book Proposal," "Dare to Be Different: Creative Nonfiction Writing
Tips," "Don't Let Your Words Get in the Way of Good Magazine Writing,"
"Wow 'Em with Yourself and Your Writing," and "Blogging Your
Way to Riches."
Carol Wissmann is a freelance writer who
has written for 60 consumer, business, trade, and university publications. She
credits 25 years success in sales for the know-how to quickly market and grow
your freelance career. She is past president of Seattle Free Lances and is listed
in Who's Who of Americans. Her writing profession follows previous successful
careers - from twelve years as owner of an advertising business to ten years
as a teacher. Her practical expertise and experience speeds and simplifies the
process of progressing from pen to publication. She will present a four-part
series on profiting from writing periodicals: "Writers Seeking Editors
Seeking Writers," "Making that Magical Connection," "Pay
and the Big Picture," and "Copyright, Contracts & Caveats."
Keynote Presentation
Christopher Reich was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1961, and grew up in Los Angeles,
California. A graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Texas at
Austin, he worked for years at one of Switzerland's largest banks, where he specialized
in private banking, and later, mergers and acquisitions. In 1995, he left Switzerland
and returned to the United States to pursue a career as an author.
His first novel, Numbered Account (1998), spent twelve weeks on The
New York Times best-seller List and was translated into twenty-one languages.
A nominee for the Edgar Award for best debut fiction, Numbered Account
has to date sold over one and a half million copies worldwide.
He has written four other acclaimed novels, all of which were national best-sellers.
In 2006, The Patriots Club won the inaugural "Thriller" award for
best novel of the year as voted by the International Thriller Writers Association.
His latest work, Rules of Deception, published by Doubleday in July,
was an instant New York Times best-seller, and is being developed by
Paramount Pictures and Lorenzo di Bonaventura into a major motion picture.
Reich has served as a consultant to the United States Treasury Department's
Counter Terrorism Task Force and has lectured extensively on the subjects of
money laundering and terrorist finance.
He lives with his wife and daughters in Southern California. He will present
the keynote, "The Rules of Bestsellerdom - what to do (and not to do) on
the road to 'The List'" and a workshop, "The Elements of the Thriller
- a practical guide to writing bestselling suspense fiction."
Conference Co-Director
Diane Dunaway is an author and well-known
university instructor, with best-sellers in both fiction and nonfiction. Her
latest is Losing the Weight of the World - How to Lighten Your Burdens Through
Meditation and Joyful Living (Doubleday). She will moderate the conference
general sessions.
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