AgentFest V
Announcing AgentFest
Grand Hyatt, New York City
AgentFest is designed to put authors and agents together for the purpose of pitching projects. This will be an unprecedented opportunity for those writers looking to get or change agents. And where better to have this event than in the heart of publishing, New York City?
AgentFest is set up like a speed-dating event. You pitch your novel to an agent for a few minutes, get the agent's reaction, and then move on to a differerent agent.
Please note: AgentFest is available only in a package with CraftFest. There are no one day passes for Wednesday or Thursday only. Registering for ThrillerFest alone does not qualify you to attend AgentFest.
Read a sampling of the personal success stories of authors who connected with their new agents at AgentFest.Graham Brown and Jamie Freveletti
Tips on pitching to an agent in person can be found here.
These are the literary agents who agreed to spend the day with us at AgentFest 2010. We asked them to introduce themselves to you here. For more, click on their websites at the end of the biographies, or Google their names.
If you're an author--published or aspiring--and haven't signed up for AgentFest's full afternoon of pitching your manuscripts to the best agents in the business, you're missing out on a potentially life-changing experience.
Pamela Ahearn
Ahearn Agency
The Ahearn Agency was founded in 1992 and currently represents more than thirty authors. Clients are several
Robert Astle
Robert worked for 25 years in professional theater in
Donna is unable to attend AgentFest. Donna Bagdasarian
Publication Riot Group
Donna established Publication Riot Group Inc. after 11 years working in the publishing industry as a literary agent. The company is a literary management company, representing their authors in all processes of the entertainment trajectory: from book development, to book sales, to subsidiary sales in the foreign market, television and film. Publication Riot Group represents both fiction and nonfiction with special interest in general fiction/mainstream, literary fiction, mystery and suspense, thrillers, historicals, contemporary women's fiction, biography and memoir, history, business, finance, psychology, and popular science. Publication Riot Group views the author's editorial needs and career development as integral components of the literary agent's role, in addition to the negotiation of intricate contracts. Some twenty-plus authors are represented by the agency.
Donna is a native New Englander who grew up in the suburbs of
Donna is interested in almost all fiction: literary, women's, historical, mainstream, ethnic, with the exceptions of sci-fi and fantasy. Her interests in non-fiction range from pop-culture to academic, sociological, scientific, political, and memoir.
Matt Bialer
Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
Matt Bialer has been in the publishing business since 1985, when he was the assistant to Perry Knowlton, President of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Matt then spent 14 years in the Book Department at the William Morris Agency. He has been an agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates since 1985 and has repped many authors in a variety of genres including the New York Times
bestselling authors W. Michael and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Tad Williams, Patrick Rothfuss and Philip Carlo. Among the thriller authors he represents are the Gears, Katia Lief (Kate Pepper), Jim Nisbet, Lynn Hightower, Diana Rowland, Dave Zeltserman, Joseph Trigoboff, Thomas O'Callaghan.
Michelle Brower
Folio Literary Management
Michelle Brower began her career in publishing in 2004 while studying for her Master's degree in English Literature at New York University, and has been hooked ever since. During that time, she assisted the agents Wendy Sherman and Joelle Delbourgo, and found herself in love with the process of discovering new writers and helping existing writers further their careers. After graduating, she became an agent with Wendy Sherman Associates, and there began representing books in many different areas of fiction and non-fiction. In 2009, she joined Folio Literary Management, where she is looking for literary fiction, thrillers, high-quality commercial fiction that transcends genre, and narrative non-fiction. She enjoys digging into a manuscript and working with authors to make their project as saleable as it can be, and her list includes the authors S.G. Browne, Julia Wertz, Todd Ritter, and Michele Young-Stone among many others.
Debbie Carter
Muse Literary Management
Debbie focuses on manuscript development, the sale and
Ann Collette
Helen Rees Literary Agency
Ann Collette spent 15 years as a freelance writer and editor before joining the Helen Rees Literary Agency ten years ago, which comes in handy when developing first novels. Her list includes literary, horror, mystery, women's fiction, and crime. When it comes to thrillers, the genre closest to her heart, the darker the better! Exotic locales, especially
Bill Contardi
Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents
(No agency website)
For ten years, Bill worked as an editor for NAL, Berkeley, Popular Library and Avon Books. He was director of literary affairs at United Artists and then vice president, literary affairs, at Warner Bros., both in their
Nicholas Croce
Croce Agency
Nicholas Croce is President of the Croce Agency, a boutique literary agency that specializes in commercial fiction including mystery, thriller, suspense, women's, historical and sci-fi, among other genres. Nicholas represents such authors as C. Allyn Pierson, Susan Higginbotham and Brandy Purdy, whose debut novel went from being self-published to appearing on the London "Times" bestseller list. Following a less-is-more philosophy to author representation Nicholas believes in investing the time in strategic planning and marketing to help his authors build their careers over the long-term.
Prior to founding the Croce Agency Nicholas worked at John Wiley & Sons, Rosen Publishing and Croce Publishing, where he learned the essentials of contract negotiation, marketing, promotion, sales and distribution. His eponymous press was named by Writers Digest as one of the top 50 publishers for first-time authors, due in part because of its commitment to strong relationships with writers. Wishing to further this commitment and work more closely with authors he launched the Croce Agency.
Nicholas is the author of three young adult educational books. His writing and interviews have also appeared in the literary journal Conceptions Southwest, the Bergen News, mediabistro, GalleyCat and, in a letter advocating for innovation in book publishing, the New York Times.
Liza Dawson
Liza Dawson Associates Literary Agency
Liza established her agency following a successful twenty-year career in book publishing, including posts as executive editor of Putnam Publishing and executive editor at William Morrow. She received her B.A. in history from
Stacia Decker
Donald Maass Literary Agency
Stacia Decker joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2009. A former editor at Harcourt and Otto Penzler Books, she began her career at Farrar, Straus & Giroux after earning an MFA at
Verna Dreisbach
Dreisbach Literary Management
Verna Dreisbach, of Dreisbach Literary Management, is an agent, author and educator. She teaches publishing courses through University of California Davis Extension and her Seal Press anthology, Why We Ride: Women Writers on the Horses in their Lives, is due for publication in May 2010. This year, she will complete her MA degree in creative writing. Verna is the founder and president of Capitol City Young Writers, a non-profit organization that supports and encourages creative writing in aspiring youth and co-founder of The Writers Police Academy. Through her agency, Verna represents both fiction and non-fiction authors with a particular interest in books with a political, economic or social context. She represents a variety of fiction including commercial, literary and young adult. With over 13 years as a police officer, Verna also has a genuine interest and expertise in the genres of mystery, thriller and true crime. No fantasy, sci-fi, screenplay or children's books.
Diana Fox
Fox Literary LLC
Diana Fox is the owner of Fox Literary LLC, a full-service boutique literary agency specializing in commercial fiction along with select works of literary fiction and non-fiction with broad commercial appeal. Before founding Fox Literary in 2007, Diana spent several years learning the business of publishing at Writers House. Since then, Fox Literary has represented a steadily growing client list, including the agency's first New York Times and USA Today bestselling titles. Diana is currently seeking submissions in the following genres: young adult, science fiction/fantasy, romance, women's fiction, historical fiction, thrillers, noir/crime fiction, and graphic novels. On the nonfiction side, memoirs, biography, and smart narrative nonfiction are all welcome. Fox Literary does NOT represent screenplays, poetry, category Westerns, non-literary horror, Christian/inspirational, or children's picture books.
Josh Getzler
Russell and Volkening, Inc.
After almost three fascinating and productive years reacquainting myself with the world of publishing at Writers House, I joined Russell and Volkening, Inc., as a (mostly) fiction and young adult/middle grade agent and their director of Film/Television rights.
My story: Left Harcourt in 1993 to get my MBA. After Business School I spent 11 years owning and operating a minor league baseball team. I got out of baseball in late 2006 and rejoined the book world on the agent side. I worked at Writers House until November 2009, building a list of novelists, YA and children's book authors, and the occasional nonfiction writer.
I am particularly into foreign and historical thrillers and mysteries, so send me your ruthless doges and impious cardinals...and your farmhouse cozies! Give me atmosphere, let me learn something about another time or another place (or both), and kill off nasty Uncle Mortimer in the process--I'll be yours! I take middle grade and YA mystery or adventure series, but not so much fantasy, and definitely not picture books. (There are many others who specialize in these books.) And please don't send religious fiction--I don't have contacts in the Christian book market. Please feel free to email me at my new desk at josh@randvinc.com.
Alex Glass
Trident Media Group, LLC
Alex Glass came to Trident as chairman Robert Gottlieb's assistant in 2001 and was promoted to literary agent shortly thereafter. He has a BA in political science from Johns Hopkins and an MFA in creative writing from American University, and has worked in the literature program at the National Endowment for the Arts and in the marketing department of the Putnam Berkley Publishing Group.
Alex's clients include national best selling author Chad Kultgen (The Average American Male), international best selling author Matt Bondurant (The Third Translation and The Wettest County in the World), Edgar Award-winning author Katherine Marsh (The Night Tourist), New York Times best selling novelist and memoirist Da Chen, NFL legend Mark Bavaro (Rough and Tumble), the estate of Newbery Award-winner Ellen Raskin (The Westing Game), and High Times Magazine (The Official High Times Potsmokers Handbook).
Upcoming books for 2010 include Murdaland co-founder and publisher Cortright McMeel's debut novel Short (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press), acclaimed novelist Marcy Dermansky's Bad Marie (HarperPerennial), middle grade author Courtney Sheinmel's Sincerely (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), and award-winning crime writers Brian M. Wiprud's Buy Back and Dennis Tafoya's The Wolves of Fairmount Park (St. Martin's Minotaur). Recent deals include Jay Clark's debut YA novel The Edumacation of Jay Clark, to Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt and Co. Books For Young Readers; Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's debut collection Cheyenne Madonna to Black Sparrow/David R. Godine; and Jimmy Gleacher's new novel Paradise Rules to Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.
Alex's books have been sold to the movies, television, and to foreign publishers around the world. He is currently looking for debut literary fiction; crime fiction and thrillers; middle grade and young adult fiction; and pop culture, humor, and narrative nonfiction.
Stacey Kendall Glick
Dystel and Goderich
Stacey Kendall Glick, Vice President, joined DGLM in 1999 after working film and television development for five years. Following a number of internships in the entertainment business, her first job after college was at PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, where she looked for book projects to be adapted into feature films. Next, she worked as a story editor at Hearst Entertainment, where she scouted material for television movies.
Stacey grew up just outside of
She has a wide-ranging and eclectic client list, and is interested in many subjects, including (but not limited to) narrative nonfiction, parenting, cooking and food, memoir, psychology, self-help, health/fitness, lifestyle, current events, pop culture, YA, middle grade, and adult contemporary fiction of all kinds. She enjoys paranormal thrillers, especially ones with ghosts or witches, as well as medical, legal, and an occasional serial killer thriller if it's unique and high concept.
Katie Grimm
Don Congdon Associates
Katie Grimm joined Don Congdon Associates in 2007 and is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives and Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. She is interested in vivid literary fiction, transportive historical fiction, up-market women's fiction, mystery, thriller, young adult, middle grade, and narrative non-fiction. For ThrillerFest 2010, she especially is looking for historical thrillers, but she's also interested in exotic settings, relatable characters, lurid details, twisting plotlines, and of course, fast-paced writing. She isn't as interested in thrillers with terrorist plots, international conspiracy theories, or a strong focus on romance.
Bob Gussin
Oceanview Publishing
Bob is CEO and founder of Oceanview, a new, traditional model independent publisher. Bob was formerly vice president and chief scientific officer of Johnson and Johnson. Oceanview publishes adult fiction and nonfiction with an emphasis on the thriller/suspense/mystery genre. Many of Oceanview's titles have received national awards. Oceanview's books are distributed throughout the
Naomi Hackenberg
Elaine P. English, PLLC
Naomi Hackenberg joined The Elaine English Literary Agency in 2008, where she began by assisting with the agency's commercial fiction projects and selling foreign translation rights. She is currently building her own list and is actively seeking commercial manuscripts with compelling narrative voices and carefully-wrought, authentic characters. She will be looking for manuscripts for herself and Elaine English--particularly thrillers (especially of the psychological variety; preferably not of the terrorist variety), romantic suspense, mysteries, steampunk, romances of all subgenres except inspirational, and young adult manuscripts. Naomi's background is in American Studies and Creative Writing, and she holds a Bachelor's degree from The George Washington University and a Master's degree from The University of Chicago. She's an associate member of the Association of Authors' Representatives and a member of the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Helen Heller
Helen Heller Agency
Helen Heller founded the Helen Heller Agency Inc in Toronto in 1988 and the agency now has three full-time agents. Although the agency is based in Canada, its business is international and its clients are worldwide best-sellers. Helen specializes in fiction--especially crime fiction--and has handled a number of best-selling and award-winning authors including Linwood Barclay--whose novel No Time for Goodbye was the best-selling book in the UK in 2009, Kelley Armstrong who has topped the New York Times list, Ariana Franklin, who has won the Ellis Peters Award and Giles Blunt, who has won the Silver Dagger. Helen particularly enjoys cross-genre fiction and loves to find and establish new voices.
Kevin Kaiser
Creative Trust, Inc.
Kevin Kaiser oversees global brand strategy for select best-selling fiction authors at Creative Trust, Inc., an entertainment management firm in
Miriam Kriss
Irene Goodman Literary Agency
Miriam joined the agency just as she was finishing her master's degree in fine arts at
Kristin Lindstrom
Lindstrom Literary Management
Kristin Lindstrom started her career as the editor of a monthly magazine in the energy industry in 1975. She then worked for a software development company as a public relations writer before leaving to spend 14 years as an independent marketing specialist representing clients in a number of industries.
Kristin is from a family of university English professors and writers and holds a bachelor's degree in Literature from
Lindstrom Literary Management LLC was established in 1993 and represents a range of fiction and nonfiction clients. Kristin works closely with writers to fine-tune their manuscripts and proposals in preparation for submission to publishers.
She handles women's fiction, thrillers and mysteries, general commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and pop culture among other topics.
Thrillers are one of her favorite genres to represent.
Kristin is married and lives outside
Sandy Lu
L. Perkins Agency
Sandy Lu is an associate agent at the L. Perkins Agency. She holds BAs in psychology and sociology from
In fiction, she is seeking submissions in the following areas: dark literary and commercial fiction, mystery, thriller, psychological horror, urban fantasy, and historical fiction. In non-fiction, she is seeking submissions in the following areas: narrative non-fiction, history, biography, memoir, science, psychology, pop culture, and food writing. In particular, she is looking for historical thrillers or mysteries set in Victorian times and has recently fallen in love with steampunk. She is also actively searching for espionage fiction and non-fiction set in
Bob Mecoy
Bob Mecoy Literary Agency
Bob is looking for the following types of fiction: Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Thrillers/Suspense, Military/Espionage, Graphic Novels, and these forms of non-fiction: Sports, Politics, Medical, Science, Memoirs, Current Affairs, Business, Narrative and Humor.
Christine Mervart
Anderson Literary Agency
After graduating from
Chasya Milgrom
Dystel and Goderich Literary Management
Chasya originally joined Dystel and Goderich as an intern, after completing her degrees in English and psychology from
Chasya hails from
Beth Miller
Writers House
Beth is a born-and-bred New Yorker, and has lived on Long Island her whole life. She's been an avid reader since a ridiculously young age (rumor has it she was reading street signs at around 2, but this could be an urban legend), and she is never far from a book. She usually has a precarious stack of books by her bed, one in her bag for the train, and a bunch in the
trunk of her car in case she gets stuck somewhere.
She has a long-standing fascination with the sea, and went to college with the intention of studying marine biology. About halfway through, she switched to general biology, and graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Southampton College of Long Island University. Not knowing what to do after she graduated, she entered a teaching certification program, where she quickly discovered that she had absolutely no desire to teach. She gave that up and worked in a bookstore for awhile before landing a job at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as a DNA Sequencing Technician.
That position lasted for 7 years, during which time she went back to school, earning her M.A. in Literature from Queens College, CUNY, in 2006. She began working as an assistant to Robin Rue at Writers House in February 2007, where she gets to work with fabulous authors such as Lisa Jackson, Linda Howard, Karen Rose, Lora Leigh, Kresley Cole, James Swain, David
Rosenfelt, Elizabeth Scott, Jacquelyn Frank, and JoAnn Ross, just to name a few.
She still loves the sea, and tries to go scuba diving whenever she can-preferably someplace warm and tropical. She loves traveling, especially road trips, the best of which was in 2005 when she did a road trip throughout Scotland with two friends. She's hoping to return there soon,
but for now she is eagerly looking for manuscripts in the hope of finding something spectacular!
She will be looking for manuscripts for herself and for Robin Rue, searching for romance, thrillers, and YA, primarily, but they are always open to a compelling, unputdownable story with a fresh voice!
Peter Miller
PMA Literary & Film Management
Known as "The Literary Lion," Peter has been an extraordinarily active literary and film manager for more than thirty years. He is president of PMA Literary and Film Management and Millennium Lion; and he and his company have successfully managed more than 1,000 books worldwide, as well as dozens of motion picture and television properties. These works include eleven New York Times bestsellers, and eleven produced films that Miller has managed or executive produced. Three of those films have been nominated for Emmy Awards: Goodbye, Miss Fourth of July (The Disney Channel, with four nominations); A Gift of Love (Showtime, two nominations); and Helter Skelter (CBS, one nomination). In addition, Miller has a number of film and television projects currently in active development, with some nearing production, in association with Warner Bros. Features, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros. Television, DreamWorks, and many other producers and production companies. Peter spends most of his time in
Scott Miller
Trident Media Group
Scott is an agent and vice president at Trident. He is a graduate of the
Nick Mullendore
Loretta Barrett Books
Nick Mullendore joined Loretta Barrett Books, Inc. in April 1998 and is the Vice President and Director of Foreign Rights for the agency. He began his publishing career in publicity at HarperBusiness, the trade business books imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, after graduating from the University of Missouri--Columbia with a B.A. in Creative Writing in 1996. At Missouri, Nick was an intern and, after graduation, an employee of one of the nation's premier literary magazines, The Missouri Review. He is also an alumnus of New York University's Summer Publishing Institute.
Nick's tastes tend to run just outside the mainstream. Counter-cultural, counter-intuitive, thought provoking, dark, relevant--if any of these describe a project, then it will probably hold some appeal for him. Politics, current affairs, science (particularly physics and space), pop culture criticism, sports, scientific thrillers, noir, literary fiction--apply a unique perspective and Nick's curiosity will be piqued. And funny is good, too. Everybody likes the funny.
Jessica Papin
Dystel and Goderich
Jessica Papin rejoins Dystel and Goderich after a three-year hiatus in
With a background on both sides of the proverbial desk, Papin is as hands-on as an agent as she was as an editor; she loves working collaboratively with clients to shape and refine their work. Her stay in the
She is interested in literary and smart commercial fiction, narrative non-fiction, history with a thesis, medicine, science and business. In every case, she looks for passion, erudition, and storytelling skill. She is also interested in psychology, health and women's issues.
Barbara Peters
Poisoned Pen Press
Barbara Peters, retiring from librarianship and the law, founded Scottsdale, Arizona's The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in 1989. For fun! She and her husband Robert Rosenwald then founded Poisoned Pen Press in 1997. Its first published work was nominated for an Edgar, Barbara as editor. She has also been presented with the Raven Award and the Ellery Queen Award by the Mystery Writers of America, A James Patterson Award, is a 12-time nominee for Bookseller of the Year, and is a member of the relevant American, Canadian, and British author/bookseller organizations. It's still fun but ever more challenging--suggesting the concept of ITW to its founders may be her most lasting achievement.
Barbara Poelle
Irene Goodman Literary Agency
Originally from the West Coast, Barbara worked for a Bay Area publisher before accepting the offer to join Irene Goodman's team. A voracious reader and award-winning debater, Barbara is not only able to devour manuscripts, but fight for them as well . . . and her very brief stint as a stand-up comic comes in handy for those particularly raucous debates--both in the office and at home. With her strong background in editing and copywriting, Barbara has no qualms about helping writers turn a "maybe" into a "yes," and values client communication above all else. Barbara is passionate about mysteries, memoirs, nonfiction relating to social issues and family relationships, and romances, but will be a proud promoter of any writer with a strong, unique voice.
Marcy Posner
Folio LIterary Management
Marcy Posner is a literary agent at Folio Literary Management. Most recently she was an agent and Director of Foreign Rights for Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. prior to that she was President of The Marcy Posner Literary Agency. She began her agenting career at the
Marcy represents writers in many areas, including commercial women's fiction, historical fiction, and young adult fiction, as well as history, biography, and non-fiction books on health and lifestyle. Her clients include Jill Barnett, Colleen Gleason, Jacqueline Kelly, Susan Hubbard, Jerri Corgiat, Kristina Cook, Britta Coleman, and Elizabeth Wrenn. Additionally, she has featured as a guest speaker at a number of writing conferences, including
Linn Prentis
Linn Prentis Literary Agency
One day when her fortunes were at a low ebb, Linn Prentis, a commercial writer, editor and project manager with a speciality in rewrite, fell into a job with the Virginia Kidd Agency. Kidd had married James Blish, perhaps the most famous writer and teacher of science fiction's 1970's New Wave, and Kidd was a major presence in the SF world. Thus, Linn's first book sales were for work that didn't conform to consensus reality, and she eventually came to run the editorial side of the Kidd agency. At her own shop she focuses on fiction - yes, the futuristic, fantastic, horrid, and unconventional - but also the mysterious and thrilling, as well as works marketed to audiences defined as general, literary, women's, men's, historical, political, ethnic, gay, young adult, middle reader and non-category romance. She also considers memoirs and, rarely, other non-fiction.
Dan Raines
Creative Trust, Inc.
Dan Raines is the founder and president of Creative Trust, Inc., a media, entertainment and literary management company established in 1989. CT originally made its mark by managing Grammy award-winning platinum music artists and publishing songs recorded by such global greats as Cher,
In 2002, CT expanded into literary representation with authors and novelists. Today, CT Literary Group has the privilege of working with some of the most respected authors in print, including Ted Dekker, Phillip Yancey, Donald Miller, Richard Foster, and Brian McLaren.
In 2007, CT established a sister company with the express purpose of developing media properties. CT Media has strategic film, TV, and DVD partnerships with Lionsgate, VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer, movie director Steve Taylor, and New York Times best-selling authors Ted Dekker and Donald Miller.
CT clients and partners have received an unprecedented number of industry and consumer awards including over 100 Grammy, Juno, Dove, and literary awards, and sold over 25 million records, 22 million books, and 50 million videos.
Alanna Rameriz
Trident Media Group
Alanna Ramirez is an agent with Trident Media Group. She began her publishing career in the editorial department at the Berkley Publishing Group and later went to the publicity department at HarperCollins before coming to Trident to work with Ellen Levine. At Trident, Alanna has also been the audio rights Agent and worked directly under Chairman Robert Gottlieb. She has had the privilege of working with such esteemed authors as Christopher Andersen, Russell Banks, Debra Ollivier, Peter Orner, Mary Morris, and T. Jefferson Parker. She has sold book excerpts, short stories, and essays to The Atlantic, BOMB, Granta, Harper's, Ladies Home Journal, Salon, Slate, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among others. Her interests include literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, pop culture, food and wine, and lifestyle books. Current clients include Caprice Crane, Rosalyn Hoffman, Brian Katcher, Nathaniel Lande, Ian Mount, Hal Niedzviecki, James L. Thane, John M. Thompson, and Alex Yates. She holds a B.A. in History and Journalism from
Victoria Skurnick
Levine Greenberg Literary Agency
Victoria, now an agent at Levine Greenberg, began her publishing career at Avon Books, where she worked in the advertising department. After a stint at Pocket Books as assistant director of advertising and promotion, she went to Holt, Rinehart & Winston, where she was director of the promotion and advertising department. In 1980, she became a senior editor at Pocket Books, then went on to be a senior editor at
Karen Solem
Spencerhill Associates Ltd.
Karen Solem represents a broad range of commercial fiction including women's fiction, thrillers and mysteries. A number of her clients have become New York Times bestsellers and though it's wonderful to have that kind of recognition, she still takes a lot of pleasure in discovering and working with new talent. Karen brings an editorial background as well as a business background to assist her clients. Prior to becoming an agent Karen had 25 years of corporate publishing experience, as editor, editor-in-chief and publisher.
In 1980 she joined Simon & Schuster as editor-in-chief of Silhouette books. With her development of Silhouette from four books a month to a division that released more than 24 titles a month and she worked with authors such as Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, Barbara Delinsky and Debbie Macomber are just a few of many who got their start in romance.
In 1990, to broaden her publishing background she moved to Harper Paperbacks, an imprint of Harper Collins, as Editorial Director and Associate Publisher. After five years, Karen left corporate publishing to be a literary agent, where she enjoys not having to walk that line between publisher/employer and author. Being the author's advocate exclusively is rewarding and a pleasure. She was previously associated with Writers House where she worked for nearly six years.
Joanna Stampfel-Volpe
Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation
Joanna Stampfel-Volpe has been with Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation for over two years. Prior to becoming a full-time agent with Nancy Coffey, Joanna was an assistant and Junior Agent with FinePrint Literary Management, a publisher's assistant at Blue Marlin Publications, and a book seller at Barnes & Noble. Her previous sales range from children's literature to adult non-fiction, including THE TOWN THAT FOOD SAVED (Rodale, March 2010) by Ben Hewitt, DECEPTION~A Haunting Emma Novel (Bloomsbury Children's, June 2010) by Lee Nichols, THE DUFF (Poppy, September 2010) by Kody Keplinger, SWAY (Hyperion, Summer 2011) by Amber Turner, and THE ROTTEN ADVENTURES OF ZACHARY RUTHLESS (HarperCollins Children's, Summer 2011) by Allan Woodrow. Joanna has also sold a number of audio books and has just finished negotiations on her first film option. Joanna is looking for clients who are as enthusiastic about writing and reading as she is, and she is currently building her list. Genres she's looking to build in are: women's fiction, thrillers, speculative fiction, and dark mainstream fiction. When she's not reading (which is almost never), she enjoys cooking, watching movies, playing Guitar Hero and hanging with her husband and her chihuahua, PeeWee.
Jon Sternfeld
Irene Goodman Agency
Jon joined the agency after a stint in both the creative and the development sides of the film world. Discovering young, hungry writers still remains his passion to this day. He's looking for literary fiction and narrative non-fiction that combines his love of literature with an adventurous spirit. He is open to all writers with an original voice, and he has a particular interest in non-fiction that focuses on cultural, historical and social issues. He is proud to be the fastest promoted agent in the thirty years of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, moving from assistant to agent in record time.
Becca Stumpf
Prospect Agency
Becca Stumpf is currently looking for Adult, YA and Middle-Grade literary and commercial fiction. She especially keeps an eye out for Urban Fantasy/Paranormal/SciFi books with a strong voice and broad appeal, mysteries with a literary bent, and romance novels that are wry, witty and dark with a paranormal twist (or just very smart and sexy). Becca would also like to add a few gritty, character-driven thrillers to her list and she's always up for select non-fiction, including narrative non-fiction, memoir, travel, and humor.
John Talbot
Talbot Fortune Agency
John is a literary agent and former book editor with twenty-plus years of publishing experience. Prior to becoming an agent he spent seven years with Putnam Berkley (now part of Penguin USA), where he rose to the rank of Senior Editor and worked with such major bestselling authors as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, and Jack Higgins, as well as rising literary stars such as Tom Perrotta. He published national bestsellers in hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market paperback, along with five New York Times Notable Books. He began his editorial career at Simon & Schuster.
As a former book editor, John is focused on finding and cultivating high editorial quality and on long-term career management. He's keenly interested in well-crafted thrillers and good genre fiction in growth categories. More generally he is looking for fresh voices and perhaps new perspectives applied to familiar situations. While a high concept plot and fast-pacing are important, he feels that an authentic voice and vivid characters are the two qualities that linger longest in the mind after a good read. Previous publication is a plus, but often the most surprising and engaging material comes from a writer who may not have published yet, or who's been quietly and patiently working away for months or years, ready to surprise and delight readers with a wonderful story.
An agency-represented title that may be of interest to ITW members is Brad Taylor's debut novel with Dutton, One Rough Man. Taylor is a retired a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces. He will draw on his 21-year army career, including eight years with Delta Force, to launch a series built around Special Forces operative Pike Logan, a member of what Dutton calls ?ga new breed of counterterrorist organization operating outside the bounds of U.S. law.?h One Rough Man will be published in February 2011. Other agency-represented titles include several Tom Clancy's EndWar, Splinter Cell, and Ghost Recon novels, a dozen 24 and CSI titles, Cleo Coyle's bestselling Coffeehouse Mystery series, Jessica Beck's Donut Shop Mysteries, the David Kent Department 30 trilogy, and Clint McKinzie's Burns Brothers novels.
Joseph Veltre
The Veltre Company
Joseph (Joe) is the founder of The Veltre Company, a New York City based Literary Management and Production company. He has worked in both the film and publishing industries. In film, he worked at Miramax, serving dual roles as director of development for Miramax Films and editor-at-large for Miramax Books. In publishing, his career began at St. Martin's Press, as senior editor overseeing several imprints, including the Minotaur/Dead Letter Mystery program, which published authors such as Ian Rankin and S.J. Rozan. He then worked as senior editor at HarperCollins, editing high quality non-fiction, working with business writers, journalists and academics, including Dr. Richard S. Tedlow and John Heilemann.
Before starting his own company, Veltre was a literary agent and foreign and film rights director for a prominent Literary Agency, Carlisle & Company (now part of InkWell Management). There he worked on the rights front with a wide range of authors including Antonio Damasio and James Gleick, built strong relationships with publishers overseas, film and television producers, studios and agents.
He has a unique breadth of experience and now works with a diverse group of talented authors. He regularly attends national and international book fairs and speaks at conferences on topics vital to both aspiring and experienced authors. Though his client list is selective, he is constantly looking for new writers, focusing on a wide range of subjects, including: upmarket non-fiction, literary fiction, thrillers, women's fiction, mysteries, narrative and political non-fiction, academic and historical non-fiction, suspense, business and young adult books. He works closely with a variety of artists, including: academics, historians, journalists, novelists, filmmakers, sports figures, photographers, doctors, TV personalities, business consultants, and military leaders.
Veltre graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in English and attended the graduate English program at the University of Alabama, where he taught literature and writing. He is from Cartersville, Georgia and now lives in New York City, with his wife, novelist Adrienne Miller.
Scott Waxman
Waxman Literary Agency
Scott Waxman founded the Waxman Literary Agency in 1997 and since expanded it to include agents Farley Chase, Holly Root and Byrd Leavell. Known for a hands-on approach to book development and a passion for great storytelling, he has represented numerous New York Times bestselling books and other national bestsellers, including Craig Robinson's A Game of Character, David Faber's And Then The Roof Caved In, Jeremy Schaap's Cinderella Man, Neal Bascomb's The Perfect Mile, Stephen Talty's Empire of Blue Water, Sophie Uliano's Gorgeously Green and Adam Nicolson's God's Secretaries. Scott began his career as an editor with HarperCollins Publishers in 1990, before moving to the agent side in 1994. His business ventures also include an enhanced e-books publishing company he started 10 years ago called LiveReads. Recently, Scott founded Diversion Books, a company focused on providing authors with the benefits of electronic publishing.
Jennifer Weltz
Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency
Jennifer, a partner at Jean Naggar, has sold books domestically, internationally and for film for nearly two decades. She has worked with bestselling authors such as Phillip Margolin. For a winning thriller, she looks for a page-turner with strong original plot.
Paige Wheeler
Folio Literary Management
Paige Wheeler is a founding partner of Folio Literary Management. Prior to forming Folio, she founded Creative Media Agency (CMA) in 1997 and served as its president for nine years until she merged CMA into her new company, Folio, in 2006. Her goal was to create a literary agency that truly serviced its authors and their intellectual property. With the formation of Folio, she is now able to provide the ability to sell both domestic and foreign rights, as well as offer the services of a marketing department, a speakers bureau and licensing capabilities. "I'm looking to represent a broad range of projects. In particular, I've been reading upscale commercial fiction and nonfiction books that tell a unique story or ones in which the author has a huge platform. I seem to be especially drawn to a story if it has a high concept and a fresh, unique voice," she says. What I'm looking for: Fiction: All commercial fiction and upscale (think book club) fiction, as well as women's fiction, romance (all types), mystery, thrillers, and psychological suspense. I enjoy both historical fiction as well as contemporary fiction, so do keep that in mind. Nonfiction: I'm looking for both narrative nonfiction and prescriptive nonfiction. I'm looking for books where the author has a huge platform and something new to say in a particular area. Some of the areas that I like are lifestyle, relationship, parenting, business, popular/trendy reference projects and women's issues. I'd like books that would be a good fit on The Today Show. What I'm not looking for: in fiction, children's, science fiction, and fantasy; in nonfiction, academic nonfiction.
Lois Winston
Ashley Grayson Literary Agency
www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/CGrayson
Lois Winston is an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency as well as an award-winning author of novel length fiction and non-fiction. She began her association with the agency as a client. In 2005 she was invited to join the agency as an associate, opening what she likes to call their East Coast division. She continues to be represented by one of the other agents within the agency. Lois currently represents authors who write romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, women's fiction, mystery, young adult, and horror, but voice is more important to her than genre, and she loves books that make her laugh out loud. She's not interested in category romance, erotica, Regencies, inspirationals, westerns, or paranormal books that feature vampires and shape-shifters.
The Ashley Grayson Literary Agency was established in 1976 and consists of four agents who handle both literary and commercial fiction, children's fiction, and some non-fiction. Recent sales have included romance, women's fiction, urban fantasy, YA, and mysteries to Pocket, Harlequin, Grand Central Publishing, St. Martin's Press, Harper Collins, Viking, Scholastic, Red Sage, Ellora's Cave, Midnight Ink, and Dorchester, as well as children's chapter books to Little Brown and Feiwel & Friends. Our client list includes bestselling authors John Barnes, Bruce Coville, Christopher Pike, and Carrie Vaughn, among others.
Christine Witthohn
Book Cents Literary Agency
www.bookcentsliteraryagency.com
Christine Witthohn is a literary agent and the founder of Book Cents Literary Agency. She is one of the main sponsors of the International Women's Fiction Festival held annually in
Christine is NOT looking for: inspirational, westerns, sci fi, horror, erotica, poetry or screenplays.
ThrillerFest
ITW's annual celebration of the thriller world is the largest event of its kind, a meeting place for authors, readers, budding writers, and publishing industry professionals.
For 2011, we’ll be back in the heart of New York in July with the ThrillerFest conference including CraftFest and AgentFest.
ThrillerFest VI will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The dates will be July 6-9, 2011.
More information to follow.
Sponsor
