As director of AgentFest, some writers ask me, "Is it really worth the time and expense?"

I have two answers.

The short: "Not only yes, but hell yes."

The long: "You get to pitch yourself to more than forty top literary agents. You do it face to face, not through a sterile e-mail. More often that not, the agents ask for chapters or a full manuscript. Occasionally, they take you as a client, and shop your book to publishers. All because you were savvy enough to sign up for AgentFest. What's not to like?"

Then again, I run the thing. If I thought it sucked, that would be pretty embarrassing, no?

So I'd like you to meet two people far more objective than me. They are literary agent Victoria Skurnick of Levine Greenberg, and author Mary-Frances Makichen. They discovered each other at AgentFest 2008. Victoria liked what she heard in the pitch, requested the manuscript, one thing led to another, and Victoria took Mary-Frances as a client. As we speak, the book is heading out to publishers.

How can you beat that?

Mary-Frances and Victoria have a great tale to share, so I'll get out of the way and let them tell you. Thanks for reading, and please join us next July for AgentFest 2009!

Shane Gericke
Director of AgentFest 2008 and 2009

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By Mary-Frances Makichen

When I first heard about Agentfest, I was excited but nervous. Speed dating with forty-plus agents sounded like a wonderful opportunity to pitch my manuscript, but also overwhelming. Still, I'd never heard of any other organization making so many agents available to participants in one afternoon event.

I did my homework before arriving in New York. I went on the ThrillerFest website, read the agent bios, visited their websites, and noted their current clients. Then I put together a list of the agents that I thought might be interested in my work.

The event was well organized and ran smoothly. Shane advised attendees to meet as many agents as possible--not just the ones we were familiar with. This turned out to be great advice. I ended up pitching to a lot of agents outside my original list. Many of those unplanned encounters turned out to be some of the best for me. By the end of the day, I had several promising requests for my manuscript.

One of those requests was from Victoria Skurnick, of the Levine|Greenberg Literary Agency.

A few weeks later, Victoria offered to represent me. I was absolutely thrilled and elated! I definitely have AgentFest to thank for introducing me to my agent.

 

By Victoria Skurnick

When I first met Mary-Frances at ThrillerFest, I immediately loved the psychic element of her idea.  But it was only when she sent me the manuscript that I got to see just how talented she is, how beautifully she brings to life the terrible situation our heroine finds herself in. 

Mary-Frances knows how to build good characters, how to keep the suspense up and how to evoke romance within terror.  She's a triple threat.