Workshop Leaders
New York Writers Workshop co-founders Charles Salzberg and Tim Tomlinson often lead sections of the conferences. Christina Chiu will lead a section for Spring 2022. See Workshop Leader bios below.
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Christina Chiu is the winner of the James Alan McPherson Award for her novel Beauty, a Kirkus Best Books of 2020. She is also author of Troublemaker and Other Saints, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.Troublemaker was a nominee for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award and winner of the Asian American Literary Award. Chiu has published in Tin House, The New Guard, Washington Square, The MacGuffin, Charlie Chan is Dead 2, Not the Only One, Washington Square, and has won literary prizes from Playboy, New Stone Circle, El Dorado Writers’ Guild, World Wide Writers. She hosts the virtual Let’s Talk Books Author Series, curates and co-hosts the Pen Parentis Literary Salon in New York City, and is a founding member of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. She received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. Chiu is a shoe designer.
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Ross Klavan’s novella Thump Gun Hitched was published in 2016 in the compilation Triple Shot (along with Charles Salzberg and Tim O’Mara) by Down and Out Press. His darkly comic novel Schmuck was published by Greenpoint Press in 2014. His original screenplay for the film Tigerland starring Colin Farrell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Klavan recently finished an adaption of John Bowers’ The Colony and has written scripts for Miramax, Intermedia, Walden Media, Paramount and TNT TV, among others. He moderated a conversation between Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer which was later published as Like Shaking Hands with God; and his short stories have appeared in magazines and been produced by the BBC. An earlier novel, Trax, was published under a pseudonym. His play How I Met My (Black) Wife (Again), co-written with Ray Iannicelli, has been produced in New York City. He has worked as a newspaper and radio journalist in London and New York City, where he lives with his wife, the painter, Mary Jones.
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Charles Salzberg is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Esquire, New York magazine, Elle, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, The New York Times Arts and Leisure, The New York Times Book Review, and other periodicals. He is the author of more than 25 non-fiction books, including From Set Shot to Slam Dunk, An Oral History of the NBA, On a Clear Day They Could See Seventh Place, Baseball's 10 Worst Teams of the Century (with George Robinson) and Soupy Sez: My Zany Life and Times, with Soupy Sales. He is also the author of the Shamus Award nominated Swann's Last Song, Swann Dives In, and Swann's Lake of Despair, as well as Devil in the Hole, which was named one of the best crime novels of 2014 by Suspense magazine. He has been a Visiting Professor of Magazine at the S.I. School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Sarah Lawrence College, the Writer's Voice, and the New York Writers Workshop, where he is a Founding Member.
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Tim Tomlinson is co-founder of New York Writers Workshop, and co-author of its popular text, The Portable MFA in Creative Writing. He has also published the books This Is Not Happening to You (short fiction), Yolanda: An Oral History in Verse (oral history/poetry), and Requiem for the Tree Fort I Set on Fire (poetry). His work has been collected in Brooklyn Poets Anthology, A Feast of Narrative: Stories by Italian-American Writers, Long Island Noir, Poet Sounds: Poems Inspired by the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Surviving Suicide: A Collection of Poems That May Save a Life, and elsewhere. He has been published in Australia, China, India, Singapore, the Philippines, and in numerous venues in the US, including, most recently, About Place Journal, Another Chicago Magazine, ChillFiltr Review, Columbia Journal, Good Life Review, Litro, and the Passengers Journal. He's on the Advisory Board of Asia Pacific Writers & Translators. He teaches in New York University's Global Liberal Studies program. Visit Tim online at http://timtomlinson.org/.
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Laurence Klavan wrote the novels, The Cutting Room and The Shooting Script, published by Ballantine Books. His novel, Mrs. White, co-written under a pseudonym, won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. His graphic novels, City of Spies and Brain Camp, co-written with Susan Kim, were published by First Second Books at Macmillan, and their Young Adult fiction series, Wasteland, is currently being published by Harper Collins. His short work has been published in such print and online journals as The Alaska Quarterly, The Literary Review, Conjunctions, Natural Bridge, Gargoyle, Failbetter, Pank, Stickman Review, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, among many others, and a collection, ‘The Family Unit’ and Other Fantasies, has been published by Chizine Publications. He received two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics to Bed and Sofa, the musical produced by the Vineyard Theater in New York and the Finborough Theatre in London. His one-act, The Summer Sublet, produced in the EST Marathon in New York, was published in Applause Books' Best American Short Plays 2000-2001. His web site is LaurenceKlavan.com.
Editors & Agents
Editors will be announced in advance of each Conference
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Miranda Hill is an Assistant Editor at Berkley/Ace whose interests lie in acquiring commercial horror, fantasy, and mystery titles. Miranda joined the publishing team at Berkley in 2016, and is particularly interested in ghost stories, character-driven speculative fiction, and witch novels with a romance element. Some of her recent and upcoming titles include The God of Lost Words by A.J. Hackwith, The Moonshine Shack Murder by Diane Kelly, and Impossible by Sarah Lotz..
Helen O'Hare, Hachette Book Group, Mulholland Books. I’m excited to have joined this fantastic team in February 2020 and am hungry to find suspense of all kinds for Mulholland Books—including domestic suspense, psychological thrillers, mysteries, crime, and true crime—and commercial and women’s fiction for Little, Brown. I love literary page-turners with a rich sense of place, character-driven suspense, and narratives that open up unexpected perspectives or closed-off communities. My list includes Lauren Beukes’s Afterland, Kathleen Kent’s The Burn, Zoje Stage’s Wonderland, and beloved authors Denise Mina, Elizabeth Hand, and Allen Eskens. I previously spent six years at G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, where I edited Kate Weinberg, Camille Perri, Jacob Tobia, Robert Hillman, Sasha Sagan, and Jeni McFarland, and worked with writers including Delia Owens, Jill Santopolo, Lisa Gardner, and Frances Liardet. I got my start in the industry with positions at Other Press and Viking/Penguin, after years of indie bookselling at the Boulder Book Store and the Tattered Cover Book Store in Colorado.
Daniela Rapp, St. Martin's Press. Daniela Rapp is an editor at St. Martin’s Press, where she acquires a wild and eclectic mix of projects in various genres, including mysteries and thrillers, books on animals/pets/nature, travel, food, humor, language/writing, and history, as well as memoirs. She is also interested in being introduced to high-concept narratives in fiction and is actively looking for Native American writers and books. Recent and forthcoming projects include And Then Life Happens by Auma Obama, The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont, Shucked by Erin Byers Murray, and Across Many Mountains by Yangzom Brauen.
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Priya Doraswamy’s love for books, people, and background in law makes her career as a literary agent the perfect fit for her passions and talents. Priya enjoys working with publishers and writers from around the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and India. Although physically in the EST, her work hours are zone-free. She does admit to occasionally losing track of time zones and waking a writer with an early morning phone call. Priya has been an agent for several years and has sold several books worldwide. She is drawn to all genre of fiction and nonfiction. Prior to her agency career, she was a practicing lawyer in the United States. Originally from Bangalore, India, Priya immigrated to the New York area many moons ago. For a period of time she relocated with her family to Singapore, and there, began her career as a literary agent. She founded Lotus Lane Literary in May 2013 and continues her journey with writers and publishers.
Thomas Flannery Jr is an agent with Vigliano Associates, the pre-eminent boutique literary agency. Established in 1986, Vigliano Associates has represented 16 #1 New York Times bestsellers and almost 100 books that have made the lists. Thomas is also the head of Vigliano Books, an independent book publishing platform that was established in 2013. He has a BA in English Literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University and was an actor in a past life. Facebook: Vigliano Associates Twitter: @ViglianoAssoc
Sharon Pelletier joined DG&B in 2013 after working for Europa Editions, Vantage Press, and Barnes & Noble. Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Sharon moved to New York in 2009 and now can't imagine ever living anywhere else. In addition to growing her own list, Sharon oversees digital projects and social media for the agency. While her interests are broad, Sharon is especially seeking upmarket fiction, including unexpected suspense fiction; smart, complex women’s fiction; and hearty, unforgettable book club fiction. On the nonfiction side Sharon is eager for compelling, fierce narrative nonfiction by journalists and experts, and emerging voices with a growing platform who can speak to pop culture, feminism, sports, social justice, and/or religion.
Editors at
Conferences Past
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Miranda Hill is an Assistant Editor at Berkley/Ace whose interests lie in acquiring commercial horror, fantasy, and mystery titles. Miranda joined the publishing team at Berkley in 2016, and is particularly interested in ghost stories, character-driven speculative fiction, and witch novels with a romance element. Some of her recent and upcoming titles include The God of Lost Words by A.J. Hackwith, The Moonshine Shack Murder by Diane Kelly, and Impossible by Sarah Lotz..
Helen O'Hare, Hachette Book Group, Mulholland Books. I’m excited to have joined this fantastic team in February 2020 and am hungry to find suspense of all kinds for Mulholland Books—including domestic suspense, psychological thrillers, mysteries, crime, and true crime—and commercial and women’s fiction for Little, Brown. I love literary page-turners with a rich sense of place, character-driven suspense, and narratives that open up unexpected perspectives or closed-off communities. My list includes Lauren Beukes’s Afterland, Kathleen Kent’s The Burn, Zoje Stage’s Wonderland, and beloved authors Denise Mina, Elizabeth Hand, and Allen Eskens. I previously spent six years at G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, where I edited Kate Weinberg, Camille Perri, Jacob Tobia, Robert Hillman, Sasha Sagan, and Jeni McFarland, and worked with writers including Delia Owens, Jill Santopolo, Lisa Gardner, and Frances Liardet. I got my start in the industry with positions at Other Press and Viking/Penguin, after years of indie bookselling at the Boulder Book Store and the Tattered Cover Book Store in Colorado.
Daniela Rapp, St. Martin's Press. Daniela Rapp is an editor at St. Martin’s Press, where she acquires a wild and eclectic mix of projects in various genres, including mysteries and thrillers, books on animals/pets/nature, travel, food, humor, language/writing, and history, as well as memoirs. She is also interested in being introduced to high-concept narratives in fiction and is actively looking for Native American writers and books. Recent and forthcoming projects include And Then Life Happens by Auma Obama, The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont, Shucked by Erin Byers Murray, and Across Many Mountains by Yangzom Brauen.
Priya Doraswamy’s love for books, people, and background in law makes her career as a literary agent the perfect fit for her passions and talents. Priya enjoys working with publishers and writers from around the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and India. Although physically in the EST, her work hours are zone-free. She does admit to occasionally losing track of time zones and waking a writer with an early morning phone call. Priya has been an agent for several years and has sold several books worldwide. She is drawn to all genre of fiction and nonfiction. Prior to her agency career, she was a practicing lawyer in the United States. Originally from Bangalore, India, Priya immigrated to the New York area many moons ago. For a period of time she relocated with her family to Singapore, and there, began her career as a literary agent. She founded Lotus Lane Literary in May 2013 and continues her journey with writers and publishers.
Thomas Flannery Jr is an agent with Vigliano Associates, the pre-eminent boutique literary agency. Established in 1986, Vigliano Associates has represented 16 #1 New York Times bestsellers and almost 100 books that have made the lists. Thomas is also the head of Vigliano Books, an independent book publishing platform that was established in 2013. He has a BA in English Literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University and was an actor in a past life. Facebook: Vigliano Associates Twitter: @ViglianoAssoc
Sharon Pelletier joined DG&B in 2013 after working for Europa Editions, Vantage Press, and Barnes & Noble. Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Sharon moved to New York in 2009 and now can't imagine ever living anywhere else. In addition to growing her own list, Sharon oversees digital projects and social media for the agency. While her interests are broad, Sharon is especially seeking upmarket fiction, including unexpected suspense fiction; smart, complex women’s fiction; and hearty, unforgettable book club fiction. On the nonfiction side Sharon is eager for compelling, fierce narrative nonfiction by journalists and experts, and emerging voices with a growing platform who can speak to pop culture, feminism, sports, social justice, and/or religion.
Agents at Conferences Past
Over the years, New York Writers Workshop has welcomed a diverse and accomplished roster of literary agents to our pitch conferences. These professionals represent a wide range of genres and publishing houses, and they’ve provided invaluable feedback, connections, and opportunities to emerging and established writers alike.
Browse the directory below to explore some of the agents who have participated in past events. Their involvement reflects our commitment to connecting writers with real-world publishing pathways and fostering meaningful industry relationships.
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I represent both fiction and nonfiction, with a particular interest in literary fiction and narrative nonfiction in the areas of history, current affairs, biography, science, and cultural criticism (I love “idea” books that can still tell a great story). I started at ICM in 2006, working as assistant to Amanda Urban, and returned to build my own list in 2012, after a detour to Berlin, where I worked as a freelance book critic and then to Boston, as a senior publicist at Harvard University Press.
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I spent the first 21 years of my life in Southern California, and the only thing I really knew about publishing before I moved to New York City was Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal of Terry Crabtree in Wonder Boys—he’s an editor, and he flies into Pittsburgh (wearing a big, comfy looking east coast coat) to coax a second novel out of his troubled but probably brilliant author, and then come the hijinks. That sounded pretty swell to me, so I read Wonder Boys on the flight over to New York, and over the course of six or seven months of interviews and internships, I realized that I still wanted the coat and the authors, but would be more comfortable playing the role (so to speak) of their agent (though editing is perhaps my favorite thing in the whole wide world, and I work very closely with my clients to polish and perfect their manuscripts before and after submission). I landed at Writers Housein 2008, became its biggest fan about four seconds later, started taking on my own clients in 2010 (I represent a pretty broad spectrum of adult and children’s titles, including picture books, middle grade, young adult, memoir, literary fiction, graphic novels, and some bizarre, unclassifiable stuff) and just got my coat back from the dry cleaner.
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Matt joined The Tobias Agency in 2020 after previously working at the David Black Agency and the Aaron M. Priest Agency. Once he received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Emerson College, he decided to apply his talents in representing authors, as opposed to writing himself. A lover of all things science fiction and fantasy, Matt accepts his nerd status readily. Some of his favorite reads include: The Summoner by Gail Z Martin; Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames; Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse; and Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Matt is interested in receiving submissions for both graphic memoirs and graphic novels, as well as adult science fiction and fantasy, and some popular nonfiction. He is not interested in YA.
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Amy Elizabeth Bishop joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2015 after interning for them in 2014. In addition to her own client list at DG&B, Amy assists the president, Jane Dystel, and oversees the office and the interns. She reads widely, but her main interests at this time include upmarket women’s fiction, voice-driven historical fiction, and stories with a Victorian Gothic flair; in terms of nonfiction, she’s eagerly on the hunt for narrative nonfiction that addresses issues of politics, social justice, feminism or targets a millennial audience. In all genres, she’s eager to find work from minority voices and you can find her on Twitter @amylizbishop.
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William Callahan: an agent at Inkwell Management, attended Fordham University and the University of Iowa. He has edited and published a zine of short fiction, edited crosswords, and is the writer for, and co-founder of, the New York-based Three Sciences Productions, a theatre group whose plays have been performed at the Ontological-Hysteric Theatre, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and The Tank, among others. He is interested in a similarly wide range of fiction and non-fiction. He is also very interested in innovative presentations and formats for books. He would like to represent a cookbook of recipes you can execute in your bedroom.
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Sonali Chanchani is an associate agent at Folio Literary Management, where she represents character-driven literary fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, and narrative nonfiction with an eye towards social justice. She earned her degree in English and Narrative Studies from the University of Southern California and began her career in publishing at Kaya, an independent press dedicated to publishing authors from the Asian diaspora. A fierce advocate of authors from marginalized communities, she’s keen to represent a diversity of voices.
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John Cusick is an agent with Greenhouse Literary, representing picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels. He is the author of Girl Parts and Cherry Money Baby (Candlewick Press), as well as managing fiction editor at Armchair/Shotgun, a literary magazine. He is a regular speaker at writers’ conferences, and keeps a blog at www.JohnMCusick.com. You can also find him on twitter: @johnmcusick. He lives in Brooklyn.
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With over 20 years of experience as a New York-based literary agent, B.G. Dilworth represents a broad range of mid-list and bestselling authors in the fields of history, memoir and biography, health and fitness, true crime, business, economics, pop culture, and cooking. B.G. works closely with his clients in the creation and sale of their projects, offering advice on book conception and organization; editorial assessment; image and brand management; co-writer selection; marketing asset development; rights licensing; and contract negotiations. Before founding his own agency, B.G. Dilworth was a senior literary agent with a 15-year tenure at Authors and Artists Group, one of New York City’s premier boutique literary agencies.
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Priya Doraswamy: Read Priya’s bio.
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Before settling in New York City, Hannah worked and went to school in Denver, where she obtained her degree in Writing for Film and Television. Opportunities in New York presented themselves before she could run off to LA, and she course corrected her career toward publishing, a dream of hers since childhood. After stints as a remote intern for a well-known agent, a bookseller at the famous Books of Wonder, an intern at Soho Press, a literary assistant at Trident Media Group, and a freelance editor working with well-known authors, Hannah joined KT Literary in 2016. Hannah is a proud geek and TV junkie, with an all-consuming love for Doctor Who, Harry Potter, and anything created by Joss Whedon. With her background in film and television, she is attracted to stories with strong visuals and sharp dialogue, whether presented in edgy speculative or contemporary YA and MG fiction, or dark and lyrical speculative adult fiction.
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Thomas Flannery Jr is an agent with Vigliano Associates, the pre-eminent boutique literary agency. Established in 1986, Vigliano Associates has represented 16 #1 New York Times bestsellers and almost 100 books that have made the lists. Thomas is also the head of Vigliano Books, an independent book publishing platform that was established in 2013. He has a BA in English Literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University and was an actor in a past life. Facebook: Vigliano Associates Twitter: @ViglianoAssoc
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Scott Gould is a literary agent at RLR Associates Ltd. in Manhattan, a boutique agency founded nearly 30 years ago, where he oversees all book development within the firm. Scott began his career in the editorial department of Playboy Magazine and later in publicity at Tor/Forge. At RLR, he represents both commercial and literary fiction, as well as general audience nonfiction. Scott is a graduate of New York University, where he received a BA in English and American Literature.
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Doug Grad was an editor for 22 years at imprints of Simon & Schuster, Random House, Penguin, and HarperCollins. He acquired and edited numerous bestsellers in fiction and nonfiction, including the first two New York Times bestselling novels of historical fiction by Jeff Shaara. Over the years he’s worked with generals and admirals, war heroes, historians, politicians, astronauts, sports stars, coaches, comedians, mobsters, cops, journalists, musicians, truckers, cowboys and Native Americans among others. He opened his own literary agency in 2008 and has sold fiction and nonfiction to Simon & Schuster, Ballantine/Bantam/Dell, HarperCollins, Three Rivers Press, Ten Speed Press, St. Martin’s Press, New American Library, Threshold, Thomas Dunne Books, Kensington, Wiley, Lyons Press, Running Press, Triumph Books, Naval Institute Press, Osprey Books, Sourcebooks, Midnight Ink and Crooked Lane Books. His biggest sale is for the EarthEnd Saga trilogy by Gillian Anderson (of “The X-Files”) and Jeff Rovin to Simon 451, the new science fiction imprint at Simon & Schuster. In 2011, Doug started Antenna Books, an ebook company dedicated to his authors’ backlist titles, including the novels and short stories of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara. Doug is married to a librarian, lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two children and their pug dog, Winston.
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Sylvie Greenberg is a literary agent at Fletcher and Company, a full-service literary agency that works closely and creatively with clients from the editorial stage to strategizing ways to take advantage of multi-platform possibilities including film/tv development. She especially enjoys working with emerging writers and developing long-term relationships, and is looking for strong writing and powerful stories in literary fiction and a wide range of non-fiction topics, including business, sports, humor, science, memoir and history. Sylvie is from California and is a graduate of Stanford University.
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Lisa Grubka spent a decade first at the William Morris Agency and then Foundry Literary + Media, before joining Fletcher and Co. in 2012. Lisa works with a broad variety of authors, from debut novelists to Food Network stars, and has represented several New York Times bestsellers. She represents and is looking for both fiction (literary, upmarket women’s, and young adult) and non-fiction (narrative, food, science, and more). She takes a very hands-on approach in working with her authors, and is a thorough editor, ensuring the best possible proposal or manuscript. She works closely with her authors every step of the way, and takes pleasure in matchmaking her authors with the right publishing home. She began her career at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
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Jenny Herrera joined the David Black Agency in 2015 after working at Fletcher & Company and Europa Editions. She went to college in Ohio, where she studied French, Philosophy, and Russian, and she has master’s degrees in Philosophy and Social Sciences. She represents authors ranging from serious non-fiction to humor to diet and fitness. She has a special passion for non-fiction that is driven by big ideas, told in a literary way. The David Black Agency represents Erik Larson, Jeff Hobbs, Jennifer Gonnerman, Bill Phillips, and others. www.davidblackagency.com
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Annie Hwang is an agent at Folio Literary Management where she represents a range of fiction for adults and select nonfiction projects. She gravitates toward literary fiction with commercial appeal, and is particularly drawn to braided narratives and layered plots, especially when populated by complex characters with deep emotional resonance. Commercially, she’s looking for both sweeping historical fiction and visceral literary thrillers that depart from the norm of the genre. The most important thing to her, beyond concept or pitch, is breathtaking storytelling that stretches its genre to new heights. A California native, Annie worked in journalism before joining the publishing world, where she digs for stories that keep her reading late into the night and stay with her long after she puts them down.
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Hillary Jacobson is a literary agent at ICM Partners in New York City. She is actively building a list consisting of commercial and literary fiction, YA, as well as narrative non-fiction and memoir. She joined ICM in 2015, started representing books in 2016, and was officially promoted to agent in 2017. Prior to ICM, she interned at Random House, Janklow & Nesbit and Alloy Entertainment. She is a graduate of Brown University.
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Molly Jaffa has been working closely with Folio authors’ projects since 2008, and is an Associate Member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR). In addition to building her selective but growing list of fiction and nonfiction clients, Molly is Folio’s Co-Director of International Rights. Her children’s fiction clients include #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY and DUMPLIN’), Jeramey Kraatz (THE CLOAK SOCIETY), Kristen Lippert-Martin (TABULA RASA), and Barrie Summy (The “I So Don’t Do…” mystery series). You can follow her on Twitter @molly_jaffa.
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Heather Karpas has been at ICM Partners since 2012 building a list consisting of literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, lifestyle/health, and pop culture. She holds a degree in Psychology from Middlebury College in Vermont.
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Kristyn Keene has been at ICM Partners since 2006, building a list consisting of literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, young adult, and pop culture. She is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course and holds a degree in English and writing from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
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Patrick Kennedy, a partner at the Second Sight Literary Agency, specializes in nonfiction and memoir projects. He was trained at Johns Hopkins (Phi Beta Kappa BA 2008, Writing Seminars MFA 2010) and McGill University (English Research MA 2011), and began his career as an education journalist and university professor. Patrick’s Second Sight clients include experts in fitness, the performing arts, pet care, and international politics, as well as select authors in suspense, romance, and literary fiction. He is presently interested in signing memoir and autobiographical projects (all age levels) and instructional books (particularly cooking, career advice, and self-help).
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Dan Kirschen began his career at ICM Partners in 2010 and has been there since, focusing on literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, current events, and pop culture (music and comedy in particular). He's a graduate of William & Mary, with a degree summa cum laude in Philosophy, and in his nocturnal life he plays the drums in a band.
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Jim McCarthy interned for Dystel, Goderich & Bourret while studying urban design at New York University. Upon graduating, Jim realized he would much rather continue working with books than make the jump (as he had originally intended) to the field of city planning. 18 years later, he remains at DG&B as a VP and agent. As an avid fiction reader, his interests encompass both literary and commercial works in the adult, young adult, and middle grade categories. He is particularly interested in literary fiction, underrepresented voices, fantasy, mysteries, romance, anything unusual or unexpected, and any book that makes him cry or laugh out loud. In addition to fiction he is also interested in narrative nonfiction whether it be memoir, historical, science, pop culture, or just a darn good polemic. His list includes New York Times bestsellers Richelle Mead, Morgan Rhodes, Michael Arceneaux, Victoria Laurie, Livia Blackburne, Juliet Blackwell, Suzanne Young, and Robin Talley among many other successful and established authors.
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Tia Mele is a Junior Agent at Talcott Notch Literary and is excited to build her list in Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction. She lives in northern Connecticut with her pet rabbit and three dogs. Some of her earliest memories involve reading and writing books, so it was only natural that she pursue a career that allows her to read every day. When she isn't exploring new worlds through books, she's travelling, watching baseball, and spending time with her family. Tia is looking for middle grade and young adult fiction that makes her feel a wide array of emotions. She loves characters that are well rounded and diverse, and she loves a good romance, as long as it doesn't detract from the overall story. She has a soft spot for sports, especially baseball, in both fiction and non-fiction. In adult fiction, she's primarily looking for emotional women's fiction with realistic characters and strong stories. She's also looking for genre romance, and she loves new takes on old tropes.
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Jessica Papin: Read Jessica’s bio.
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Sharon Pelletier joined DG&B in 2013 after working for Europa Editions, Vantage Press, and Barnes & Noble. Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Sharon moved to New York in 2009 and now can't imagine ever living anywhere else. In addition to growing her own list, Sharon oversees digital projects and social media for the agency. While her interests are broad, Sharon is especially seeking upmarket fiction, including unexpected suspense fiction; smart, complex women’s fiction; and hearty, unforgettable book club fiction. On the nonfiction side Sharon is eager for compelling, fierce narrative nonfiction by journalists and experts, and emerging voices with a growing platform who can speak to pop culture, feminism, sports, social justice, and/or religion.
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Kimberly Perel: Read Kimberly’s bio.
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Rick Pascocello has spent 25 years marketing books, most recently with Penguin Random House, where he was Vice President, Executive Director of Marketing. While there, he was given the rare opportunity to work closely with a wonderfully diverse collection of writers, including some of fiction’s premier authors like Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, Ken Follett, Charlaine Harris, Khaled Hosseini, Nora Roberts, Patrick Rothfuss and JR Ward; as well as non-fiction bestsellers such as Stephen Johnson, Jen Lancaster, James McBride, Dan Pink, and Joan Rivers. Rick oversaw the marketing campaigns for thousands of New York Times best-sellers, and spearheaded innovative marketing strategies in social media, retail partnerships, and cause-related marketing, such as ‘Read Pink’ to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and The Kite Runner campaign that built a school in Afghanistan. Since 2015, he has provided independent marketing support to authors, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. He currently serves on the board of DBW 2017 as marketing captain coordinating conference programming. He brings a vast and diverse range of experience and relationships to his role as a literary agent, and will continue to leverage his broad, insider knowledge of book publishing and media to advocate for his clients.
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Janet Reid: Read Janet’s bio.
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Michelle Richter joined Fuse Literary after eight years at St. Martin’s Press. While there, she edited nonfiction including MELISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL by Melissa Joan Hart and RENEWABLE by Jeremy Shere, and worked on women’s fiction, memoir/ biography, pop culture, cookbooks, and diet/health books. She has a M.S. in Publishing from Pace University, and a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Russian from UMass Boston. Michelle is primarily seeking fiction, especially book club reads, women’s fiction, literary fiction, and mystery/suspense/thrillers. Her favorite authors include Ann Patchett, Emma Straub, Laura Lippman, Richard Russo, Tom Perrotta, and Gillian Flynn. For nonfiction, she’s interested in fashion, pop culture, science/medicine, sociology/social trends, and economics.
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Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts joined Writers House in 2015 and represents a diverse list of nonfiction, memoir, literary fiction, upmarket/book club fiction, and select realistic young-adult. Prior to joining Writers House, she was director of foreign rights at the Susan Golomb Literary Agency, handling translation rights for award-winning authors such as Jonathan Franzen, Rachel Kushner, William T. Vollmann, as well as representing her own clients. She brings ten years of experience to the position; she was a literary scout at Sanford Greenburg Associates and began her career in editorial, at an independent literary publishing house, where she launched a lifelong commitment to shepherding quality fiction and nonfiction to publication. She is from the San Francisco Bay Area and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Rita Rosenkranz: Read Rita’s bio.
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Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, senior agent and president at McIntosh & Otis, has degrees from New York University and Manhattan School of Music. She began her book publishing career in subsidiary rights and then took on the responsibilities of acquisitions editor at a major audio publishing imprint. Initially, she joined McIntosh & Otis to manage all subsidiary rights but began working as an agent shortly thereafter. Her primary interests include literary fiction, women's fiction, historical fiction, and mystery/suspense, romance, along with narrative non-fiction, history and current affairs. Elizabeth represents numerous New York Times bestsellers, and both Agatha and Edgar Award winners and nominees.
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Zoe Sandler has been at ICM for nearly five years, much of that time working for Esther Newberg, and has spent the last two years building her own list of author clients while serving as coordinator for ICM’s literary department. She is primarily interested in narrative nonfiction, working with journalists who report on subjects in the sciences, and on the environment, social justice, and travel. Zoe started her publishing career at a small academic press in North Carolina, and is originally from California, but loves calling New York home.
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Katharine Sands (Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency) Katharine has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books including fiction, memoir and non-fiction. Among the books she represents are: The Apothecary’s Curse, by Bram Stoker Award nominee Barbara Barnett; Girl Walks Out of a Bar, a memoir by Lisa Smith that was featured by People Magazine as Notable Nonfiction; and teenage climate activist Jamie Margolin’s Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use it. Katharine likes books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks, which might be at issues, life challenges or popular culture. When reading fiction she wants to be compelled and propelled by urgent storytelling, and hooked by characters. For memoir, femoir, and himoir, she likes to be transported to a world rarely or newly observed.
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Alec Shane majored in English at Brown University, a degree he put to immediate use by moving to Los Angeles after graduation to become a professional stunt man. Realizing that he prefers books to breakaway glass, he moved to New York City in 2008 to pursue a career in publishing. Alec quickly found a home at Writers House Literary Agency, where he worked under Jodi Reamer and Amy Berkower on a large number of YA and Adult titles. Alec is now aggressively building his own list and is always looking for great mysteries and thrillers, as well as horror, historical fiction, and YA/middle grade books geared towards boys. On the nonfiction side, Alec would love to see humor, biography, history (particularly military history), true crime, “guy” reads, and all things sports. Genres I prefer: Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Noir, Biography, Military History, True Crime, Sports, Action/Adventure, Dark Fiction, HumorNot Looking For: Romance (paranormal or otherwise), women’s fiction, picture books, high fantasy, science fiction featuring aliens/intergalactic warfare, self-help, poetry, religious fiction
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Wendy Sherman: Read Wendy’s bio.
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Erica Spellman-Silverman: Read Erica’s bio.
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Diane Stockwell is the founder of Globo Libros Literary Management, a boutique agency focusing on a range of narrative non-fiction and select fiction. Particularly interested in books that impact public discourse and shed new light on important subjects, recent projects include National Immigration Forum Director Ali Noorani's book There Goes The Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration (Prometheus); Slaves for Peanuts: How the Peanut Prolonged Slavery in West Africa by Jori Lewis (The New Press); and Watching Them Die: The Mexican Army and the 43 Disappeared, a documentary by Temoris Grecko (Netflix). In addition to literary representation, Diane also performs book-length and short translations from Spanish into English.
Laura Usselman joined Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency in 2016 after spending three years at Cambridge University Press. Her interests include literary and upmarket fiction, as well as inventive memoir, travel and food writing. Before moving to New York, Laura earned her MFA in Fiction at Virginia Tech, where she taught composition and creative writing. She began her publishing career with internships at the University of Georgia Press and Inkwell Management. A native of Atlanta, she studied English and film at the University of Georgia. She lives in Brooklyn.
U–Z
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Laura Usselman joined Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency in 2016 after spending three years at Cambridge University Press. Her interests include literary and upmarket fiction, as well as inventive memoir, travel and food writing. Before moving to New York, Laura earned her MFA in Fiction at Virginia Tech, where she taught composition and creative writing. She began her publishing career with internships at the University of Georgia Press and Inkwell Management. A native of Atlanta, she studied English and film at the University of Georgia. She lives in Brooklyn.
NYWW Workshop Leaders of Conferences Past
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Laura Geringer Bass, editor, story advisor and writer, has collaborated with many celebrated authors and artists in the field of children’s books. She has worked with numerous publishing houses and entertainment studios including HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin, Hyperion/Disney, Dreamworks, Fox, and CBS. Laura Geringer Books, an award-winning imprint of HarperCollins, sold over fifty million books worldwide, including the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie franchise, and modern day classics by William Joyce, Brian Selznick and others. She is the author of twenty books for children including the bestselling A Three Hat Day, an ALA Notable Book illustrated by Arnold Lobel, a Top Ten featured selection on LeVar Burton’s Reading Rainbow. Her YA fantasy, Sign of the Qin, an ALA Best Book, was shortlisted for the Printz award. Myth Men, her popular series of graphic novels, was adapted by CBS as an animated TV show. Her love of story informs her service on the board of First Book, a non-profit organization that has delivered over one hundred million books into the hands of children in need. Her new novel, The Girl With More Than One Heart is due out from Abrams in Spring 2018. Visit Laura at: www.laurageringerbass.com
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June Clark is a New York-based writer and the author of numerous books including, The Everything Baby Name, The Mix and Match Baby Name Book, and The Everything Mother Goose Book. She is also the co-author of Signature For Success and The Complete Book of Astrology.Prior to being a published author, June worked in cable TV marketing and promotion and is the recipient of a Cable ACE/Emmy Award, among other industry merits. During her career, June penned notable multimedia campaigns for cable services like Food Network, Bravo, CNBC, HBO, A&E, and AMC, as well as promotional materials for AOL, Hasbro, Kraft Foods, and Sony. She is now the founder of Get There Media, a promotion/marketing and creative services company that provides brand strategy and editorial guidance to authors, experts, and entrepreneurs. Over the years, June has worked with hundreds of writers as a Senior Associate at FinePrint Literary Management, specializing in nonfiction books. She has guided authors through the publishing process from creating marketable book proposals to closing and managing book deals. June holds a Master’s Degree from Emerson College in Writing and Publishing. Her play, Separation Anxiety, is a Rod Parker Playwriting Award winner and was produced at the Brimmer Street Theatre in Boston. A monologue from the play is featured in the book One on One: The Best Women's Monologues of the 21st Century. For more information, visit www.gettheremedia.com and www.juneclark.com.
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Allison Estes grew up playing on Faulkner’s grave, which is about as steeped in literary heritage as you can get. She is an author, freelance editor and book doctor, and an adjunct professor in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. She has taught writing to all ages through the New York Writers Workshop in New York, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council in Oxford, Mississippi, and various other venues for about a million years. Besides books, she loves dogs, horses and kids, so she has some of each. When she isn’t busy writing, editing, teaching and soccer-momming, if the grave of a famous author is not available, she plays softball as much as possible. Allison has written fifteen middle grade and young adult novels, including the Short Stirrup Club series (Simon and Schuster). Her last adult book was Paw & Order: Dramatic Investigations by an Animal Cop on the Beat (Bowtie Press). Her picture book, Izzy & Oscar (Sourcebooks/ Jabberwocky) was released in April 2015. Visit Allison’s website at www.allisonestes.com.
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Laurence Klavan wrote the novels, The Cutting Room and The Shooting Script, published by Ballantine Books. His novel, Mrs. White, co-written under a pseudonym, won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. His graphic novels, City of Spies and Brain Camp, co-written with Susan Kim, were published by First Second Books at Macmillan, and their Young Adult fiction series, Wasteland, is currently being published by Harper Collins. His short work has been published in such print and online journals as The Alaska Quarterly, The Literary Review, Conjunctions, Natural Bridge, Gargoyle, Failbetter, Pank, Stickman Review, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, among many others, and a collection, ‘The Family Unit’ and Other Fantasies, has been published by Chizine Publications. He received two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics to Bed and Sofa, the musical produced by the Vineyard Theater in New York and the Finborough Theatre in London. His one-act, The Summer Sublet, produced in the EST Marathon in New York, was published in Applause Books' Best American Short Plays 2000-2001. His web site is LaurenceKlavan.com.
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Ross Klavan’s novella Thump Gun Hitched was published in 2016 in the compilation Triple Shot (along with Charles Salzberg and Tim O’Mara) by Down and Out Press. His darkly comic novel Schmuck was published by Greenpoint Press in 2014. His original screenplay for the film Tigerland starring Colin Farrell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Klavan recently finished an adaption of John Bowers’ The Colony and has written scripts for Miramax, Intermedia, Walden Media, Paramount and TNT TV, among others. He moderated a conversation between Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer which was later published as Like Shaking Hands with God; and his short stories have appeared in magazines and been produced by the BBC. An earlier novel, Trax, was published under a pseudonym. His play How I Met My (Black) Wife (Again), co-written with Ray Iannicelli, has been produced in New York City. He has worked as a newspaper and radio journalist in London and New York City, where he lives with his wife, the painter, Mary Jones.