Agents & Editors Day 2007
Agents & Editors Confirmed for 2007:
Elfrieda Abbe
The Writer Magazine – Fiction/Nonfiction
Elfrieda Abbe is the editor of The Writer magazine, which received the Folio Award for editorial excellence. She has been a freelance writer, staff writer and editor at newspapers and magazines, and was editor of the award-winning arts and entertainment section of The Milwaukee Sentinel and editor of publications at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee College of Arts and Science, and has written for numerous periodicals. Bring a query letter and outline of an article you want to propose to a magazine editor. She will also look at article leads and can answer general questions about nonfiction and fiction publishing.
Doris Booth
Manager, Authorlink Literary Group; Editor-in-chief, Authorlink.com – Fiction/Nonfiction
Doris Booth is the manager of Authorlink Literary Group, which operates as a separate division of Authorlink.com. The new agency represents true crime, thrillers, women’s fiction, and a wide range of nonfiction. Recent sales have included projects for Berkley/Penguin Group USA, St. Martin’s Press, and Barnes & Noble Publishing. Booth represents New York Times bestselling authors Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, among others. In her role as the CEO of Authorlink.com, she has facilitated the sale of more than 90 fiction and nonfiction properties within the past five years, including a recent six-figure deal to HarperCollins. She has overseen direct sales to Simon & Schuster, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Barnes & Noble Publishing and others. Authorlink.com is the news, information, and marketing site for editors, agents and writers, attracting nearly one million visitors per year. Booth has close ties with a broad range of editors and publishers, primarily in New York. Authorlink Literary Group is actively seeking a few good new clients.
Regina Brooks
Serendipity Literary Agency LLC
Regina Brooks is the founder and president of Serendipity Literary Agency LLC, a boutique agency based in Brooklyn, New York. Her agency has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature, including Marilyn Nelson, a three-time National Book Award finalist who has won the Coretta Scott King Honor and the 2006 Michael Printz Honor; Nina Jablonski; California Academy of Sciences Director Marjorie Greenfield (The Working Women’s Pregnancy Guide); and a host of other notable writers. Brooks has a talent for identifying new voices like Derrick Barnes, whose first novel, The Making of Dr. Truelove, was nominated for the American Library Association Award. Serendipity was hailed by Writer’s Digest magazine as one of the top 25 literary agencies in 2004. Prior to opening her agency, Brooks held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons and McGraw-Hill. She is the author of the children’s book, Never Finished! Never Done! (Scholastic, 2004). Brooks is interested in nonfiction and fiction for adults, young adults and children, and subjects like politics, psychology and self-help, pop culture, health, science, women’s issues, parenting, cooking, and design crafts, alternative spirituality, business, science/technology. She is always interested in new and emerging writers.
Philippa Burgess
Partner, Creative Convergence
Philippa Burgess oversees the consulting division of Creative Convergence: An Entertainment Company. The department provides a collaborative brand development process for a dynamic list of consulting clients that include experts, professionals, production companies, and media & entertainment resources. Burgess co-founded the boutique literary management company Mason Burgess Lifschultz, which evolved into Creative Convergence, and led the company into entertainment consulting. While in the process of establishing her own firm, she worked as a paralegal for various law firms on business M&A transactions and business litigation. Burgess works closely with the management and production departments, where her credits include co-producer on the film “Dual,” and consultant on the TV pilot “52 Fights” for ABC/Touchstone. She regularly contributes to magazines and screenwriting resources on entertainment and media topics. Before starting Mason Burgess Lifschulz, Burgess worked at International Creative Management (ICM) in the motion picture literary department. http://www.creative-convergence.com/
Elizabeth Evans
Reece Halsey North Agency, Tiburon, CA – Fiction/Nonfiction
Elizabeth Evans has been working with Kimberley Cameron at the Reece Halsey North Agency since 2004. A division of the original Reece Halsey Agency founded in 1957, Reece Halsey North is a small agency in Tiburon, California, that specializes in literary fiction. Among its clients have been Aldous Huxley, William Faulkner, Upton Sinclair, and Henry Miller. Elizabeth is actively seeking new voices in literary and mainstream fiction, science fiction, mystery, and horror. In non-fiction, she is looking for history, health, current events, and pop culture. Her current dream project is a smart biography of a prominent woman in American history. She enjoys meeting with new writers and hopes to finish her own novel in 2007.
Paul Fedorko
Trident Media Group, New York – Fiction
Having built his career in the publishing industry, Paul Fedorko is now a literary agent with Trident Media Group of New York City. As a publishing executive he has worked with hundreds of authors including John Grisham, Danielle Steel, Nicholas Evans, Elmore Leonard and Maeve Binchy. There are two areas Paul doesn’t feel comfortable representing: science fiction and fantasy, and children’s/young adult – all others are open. He will talk to writers with either complete or incomplete manuscripts. http://www.tridentmediagroup.com
Dena Fischer
Manus & Associates Literary Agency – Fiction/Nonfiction
Dena Fischer, an agent with Manus & Associates Literary Agency, Inc., represents literary fiction, practical and narrative nonfiction and memoir. With a knack for understanding an author’s goals and helping achieve them through respectful constructive feedback, she has been helping writers streamline and perfect their work for more than a decade. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in English literature, Dena began her career in the film business in Los Angeles as a book reader at Creative Artists Agency. She went on to run the agency’s story department, reading and critiquing scripts and books for the president of the agency and supervising a department of staff and freelance readers. She then served as vice president at two independently financed production companies. Making the switch from film to books, she was an associate at The Amy Rennert Agency, Inc. for three years prior to joining Manus & Associates. Recent projects include Lifeguarding: A Memoir of Secrets, Swimming & the South by Catherine McCall (Harmony Books, July 2006); Screamfree Parenting: Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool by Hal Edward Runkel, LMFT, (Broadway Books, September 2007); Baby Lists: Essential Lists of What To Do & What To Get (Adams Media, June 2007) by Elaine Farber; and The Only Boy in Ballet Class by Denise Halma Gruska (Gibbs-Smith, Summer 2007).
Mike Hamilburg
Mitchell J. Hamilburg Agency, Los Angeles – Fiction
The Mitchell J. Hamilburg Agency in Los Angeles was founded in the mid-1930s by Michael Hamilburg’s father and has represented film and television personalities ever since. Michael has sold numerous books and films and been associated with a varied range of authors and books. He has co-produced several films, such as Sydney Pollack’s "The Yazuka," by Paul and Leonard Schrader for Warner Bros., starring Robert Mitchum, and "White Mile," starring Robert Alda for HBO.
Anne Hawkins
John Hawkins & Associates, Inc., New York – Fiction/Nonfiction
Anne Hawkins is a literary agent with John Hawkins & Associates, Inc., New York. Founded in 1893 by Paul R. Reynolds, it is the oldest literary agency in the country. She works with mainstream literary and commercial fiction, including mystery and suspense, and a wide variety of non-fiction, particularly history, politics, biography, science, natural history, medicine, and women’s and family issues. A number of her books have gained distinction through award nominations, book-to-film contracts, significant foreign rights sales, major book club selections, or placement on the New York Times bestseller list. Anne Hawkins is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives.
Jeff Herman
The Jeff Herman Literary Agency, Stockbridge, MA – Nonfiction
Jeff Herman founded The Jeff Herman Literary Agency, LLC in 1987 while still in his twenties. The agency has sold many hundreds of titles to publishers, and is one of the most dynamic and innovative agencies in the business. Herman’s agency has a strong presence in general adult nonfiction, including business, general reference, commercial self-help, technology, recovery/healing, and spiritual subjects. Herman’s own publications include Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents (more than 350,000 copies sold), and Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 Proposals That Sold and Why! His books are considered to be among the best tools available to writers. He’s also the co-founder of his own indie house, Three Dog Press (3dp). Previously, Herman worked for a New York public relations firm where he designed and managed national consumer marketing campaigns for Nabisco Brands and AT&T. Prior to that he was a publicist at Schocken Books, now a Random House imprint, where he promoted the bestseller: When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
Jennifer Jaeger
Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Jennifer Jaeger is an associate agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency in Salinas, CA. She handles young adult and middle grade fiction, chapter books, easy readers and limited amounts of picture books. She is particularly interested in humorous, literary, multicultural, offbeat, paranormal and contemporary material. Jennifer enjoys characters with a strong sense of self. She likes stubborn characters and has a soft spot for unassuming heroes and underdogs. Jennifer is specifically interested in acquiring more middle grade and boy-friendly material. While Jennifer represents crossover projects, she does not accept adult projects and takes on limited amounts of historical fiction and fantasy. Some of her sales include The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, Scholastic’s lead title for Fall 2007; Las Mantas De Milagros by Meg Medina to Holt; Farwalker by Joni Sensel to Bloomsbury; and Paris Pan Takes the Dare by Cynthea Liu (in a two-book deal) and Before You Were Here, a bilingual picture book by Samantha Vamos, all to the Penguin Group. http://www.andreabrownlit.com
Mike Larsen
Larsen-Pomada Agency, San Francisco – Nonfiction
Michael Larsen, AAR, is a partner in the Larsen-Pomada Agency. He is always eager to find passionate, promotable nonfiction writers with books that will interest big houses, that will make a difference in people’s lives, or that have such good ideas and writing that he has to handle them. Mike is the author of the third edition of How to Write a Book Proposal, and Literary Agents: What They Do, How They Do It, and How to Find and Work with the Right One for You. http://www.Larsen-Pomada.com
Alana Lennie
Lennie Literary
Alana Lennie is a literary agent with Lennie Literary in San Diego. Alana worked with her husband, Michael, for many years during his practice of law. When he decided to merge his law practice with a literary agency, she managed the office, then moved into the position of literary agent. On the fiction side, Alana enjoys literary fiction, mysteries (cozies), and short stories. She always is thrilled to receive queries from young people. As for nonfiction, her interests range from business books, child care, and anything involving travel (guidebooks to memoirs). "I believe it’s as important for an agent to work at assisting the publisher and the author market their published book as it is to market the unpublished book to an editor," Alana says. http://lennieliterary.com
Paul S. Levine
Paul S. Levine Literary Agency, Los Angeles – Fiction/Nonfiction
Paul S. Levine is a lawyer and a literary agent who has practiced entertainment law for 25 years, specializing in the representation of writers, producers, actors, directors, composers, musicians, artists, authors, photographers, galleries, publishers, developers, production companies and theatre companies. Levine opened the Paul S. Levine Literary Agency in 1998, and has since sold more than 80 fiction and nonfiction books to at least 30 different publishers and has had many books developed as movies-for-television and feature films.
Deborah Levine-Herman
The Jeff Herman Literary Agency, Stockbridge, MA – Nonfiction
Deborah Levine-Herman joined The Jeff Herman Literary Agency, LLC, in 1990 as an agent primarily focused on project selection and development. She co-authored with Jeff Herman Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 Proposals that worked and Why. (Wiley) Deborah Levine-Herman has authored or collaborated on nine other books including: The Complete Idiots Guide to Motherhood (Alpha), and Spiritual Writing from Inspiration to Publication (Beyond Words). Herman is an intuitive and often uses her gifts to help writers discover their authentic selves. Levine-Herman speaks at various venues throughout the country on such topics as book proposals, writing as a spiritual journey, how to get published in the religious or spiritual markets, as well as how to ghost write/collaborate and live the writer’s life without losing your mind.
Sharlene Martin
Martin Literary Management, Los Angeles – Nonfiction
Martin Literary Management, located in Los Angeles, represents nonfiction book authors. In her short three years as a literary manager, Sharlene has made over 50 sales to such major publishers as Random House, Penguin Putnam, Rodale, St. Martin’s, and Warner as well as a host of smaller and independent publishers. Some of her clients have been featured in People magazine, sold serial excerpts to Readers Digest, been on the Today Show, The View and made the NY Times and LA Times bestseller lists. With a strong entertainment industry background, Sharlene is always looking for narrative nonfiction that has high adaptability to film and television. She particularly enjoys memoirs (that can be corroborated!), prescriptive books with writers who have already developed their platforms and business books that have an entrepreneurial twist. Publishers, editors and writers who deal with her consistently express their joy in working with someone who is such an avid fan of good writing and an enthusiastic guardian and representative of her clients’ work. She employs this personal touch to all of her business relationships and credits it with her proven record of success at selling books in a wide range of non-fiction genres. "Considerate Literary Management for the 21st Century" is her motto and she tries to honor that daily in her business relationships. http://www.martinliterarymanagement.com
Stephen Blake Mettee
Quill Driver Books, California – Nonfiction
Stephen Blake Mettee, publisher of Quill Driver Books, is the author of The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal. Quill Driver Books publishes nonfiction books including books on writing. QDB’s authors include, Irving Stone, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and America’s most popular medical columnist Peter H. Gott, M.D. QDB has been recognized as one of the "Top 101 Independent Book Publishers" and by Writer’s Digest as one the 100 most new-writer friendly book publishers in the United States. Mettee is always in the market for exceptional nonfiction books.
Stuart M. Miller
The Stuart M. Miller Co., Los Angeles – Fiction/Nonfiction
Stu Miller of The Stuart M. Miller Co. has been a successful literary and packaging agent in Hollywood and New York for more than 40 years, representing fiction and nonfiction authors, screen and television writers, producers, directors, interactive multimedia creators and a broad range of intellectual property. His clients have included multiple winners of Oscar, Emmy, WGA, DGA, CableAce, People’s Choice, Golden Globe, and many other national and international awards. His greatest pleasure is finding and nurturing previously undiscovered talented writers and helping them to develop satisfying, rewarding careers.
Randi Murray
Randi Murray Literary Agency, California, Fiction/Nonfiction
Randi Murray formed her own agency in 2003, and represents fiction and nonfiction writers, including Joyce Maynard, public radio’s Ira Glass and comedian David Brenner. She is interested in literary and commercial fiction, and narrative nonfiction (memoir, humor, history, biography, science, politics/current affairs, business, sports, psychology and womens issues). She does not represent thrillers, romance, suspense, children’s/young adult, poetry, science fiction/fantasy, and is not presently looking for any practical/prescriptive nonfiction. Randi has her undergraduate and MBA degrees from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and worked at Goldman Sachs in New York before moving to San Francisco in 1987. She is interested in speaking with nonfiction writers who have a proposal and sample chapters, and fiction writers with a complete or nearly complete manuscript. http://www.murrayagency.com/
Elizabeth Pomada
Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents, San Francisco – Fiction/Nonfiction
Elizabeth Pomada, AAR, is a partner in Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents. Fiction: literary and commercial, mysteries, thrillers, historical and contemporary romance (not science fiction or genre westerns). Nonfiction: women’s interest and narrative nonfiction. Since 1972, the agency has sold books to more than 100 publishers. Elizabeth is eager to find books she likes, by writers she likes, and sell them to editors she likes. Elizabeth is the author of Fun Places to go with Children in Northern California, now in its ninth edition. http://www.Larsen-Pomada.com
Trish Reynales
Features Director, Santa Barbara Magazine
Trish Reynales is the features director of Santa Barbara Magazine. During her 20 years in publishing, she has worked with a wealth of talent, from Daniel Duane and Mary Roach to Kimberly Brown Seely, Tony Perrottet, and many others. Previous posts include founding editor and editor in chief of Travel + Life; features editor of Mungo Park, Microsoft’s online adventure magazine; and contributing editor for Santa Barbara Magazine and Islands. Her work has also appeared in a variety of other publications—from Outside to the Seattle Times—and garnered awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Utah Film Commission, and the Scripps Howard Foundation. She has served on panels for National Geographic Traveler and the Society of Environmental Journalists, and delivered addresses for the National Writers Union, among other organizations. She holds an undergraduate degree in fine arts and a master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California. She’s keen to find new and emerging talent with story ideas about Santa Barbara.
Angela Rinaldi
Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency, Los Angeles – Fiction/Nonfiction
Angela Rinaldi of Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency of Los Angeles represents an eclectic mix of nonfiction and fiction titles and includes The New York Times bestseller, Who Moved My Cheese? by SBWC alumnus Dr. Spencer Johnson. She is looking for commercial and literary fiction, narrative nonfiction and practical and proactive nonfiction. Angela would like to meet with novelists who have completed, or are very close to completing, their novels. For nonfiction authors, she would like to talk with writers who have a proposal or have written an outline.
Katharine Sands
Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
Katharine Sands is a literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency in New York City. She represents a wide range of authors in a broad range of categories: From fiction and faction to nonfiction (popular culture, personal growth, leisure activities) to home arts (lifestyle, cookbooks, home design) to the more eclectic (travel, humor, spirituality). She has handled projects for the literary estate of Norman Wexler, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for Saturday Night Fever; and has represented XTC: SongStories; Under the Hula Moon (as co-agent); The Tao of Beauty: Chinese Herbal Secrets to Looking Good and Feeling Great by Ford model Helen Lee; Make Up. Don’t Break Up by five-time Oprah guest Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil, Give Me That Online Religion by Dr. Brenda Brasher; Elvis and You: Your Guide to the Pleasures of Being an Elvis Fan; The New Low-Country Cooking by Chef Marvin Woods, The Indigo Cookbook by Chef Glenn Chu, CityTripping: a Guide for Nighthawks, Foodies, Culture Vultures, Fashion Fetishist, and the Generally Style-Obsessed, among many others. Katharine has been guest speaker on writing and publishing topics for The American Society of Journalists and Authors and The New York State Council on the Arts. Her book reviews have appeared in The New York Times and Publishers Weekly.
Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli
JET Literary Associates, Santa Fe and Vienna, Austria – Fiction/Nonfiction
Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli has been involved in publishing for thirty-five years. Having received her M.A. in English literature, she set off for NY to become an editor. Following the advice of a mentor who told her to “take whatever you can get, just to get started,” she accepted a job offer in the contracts department of New American Library. Within two years she moved on to become an editor at Fawcett’s school division, Premier Books. Then one day she was approached by a well-established agent who wanted to hire someone who understood the paperback market. Throwing caution to the wind, she decided to take that offer and become an agent, combining her knowledge of publishing contracts and her love of working with writers. Two years later, in 1975, she and then-husband Jim Trupin founded JET Literary Associates Inc. in New York. As of 2002, their offices have relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Vienna, Austria. JET represents adult and YA nonfiction and fiction, except sci-fi. Current client list is available on the agency Website. http://www.jetliterary.com
Sally van Haitsma
Castiglia Literary Agency, San Diego, Fiction/Nonfiction
Sally van Haitsma is a literary agent with the Castiglia Literary Agency. The agency has successfully placed significant nonfiction and fiction titles with major publishers since 1993, many by first-time authors. Best-selling writers include Douglas Keister and Paul Duchscherer: Inside the Bungalow (Penguin); Brian Coleman: Scalamandre (Gibbs Smith); Dr. Dean Hamer: The God Gene (Doubleday); Frederic Moramarco: Italian Pride (Kensington); Julie Gelardi: Born to Rule (St. Martin’s Press); Gerri Sullivan and Saffi Crawford: The Power of Birthdays, Stars and Numbers (Ballantine); Tershia d’Elgin: What Should I Eat? (Random House). These sales have extended to film, audio, foreign, commercial and electronic rights where appropriate. New sales include The Heiress of Water by Sandra Rodriguez Barron (HarperCollins/Rayo); From Baghdad, With Love by Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth (Lyons Press); Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta (Simon & Schuster/Pocket); Waterbaby by Cris Mazza (Soft Skull Press); Hick by Andrea Portes (Unbridled Books); Illuminations by Mark Tompkins and Jennifer McMahon (Celestial Arts/Ten Speed); Big Brown by Greg Niemann (Wiley); In Triumph’s Wake by Julie Gelardi (St. Martins Press); and Rogelia’s House of Magic by Jamie Martinez (Random House). Sally is interested in commercial and literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, education, business and current affairs.