CURRENT CONFERENCE: SPEAKERS

Appointments will open after January 1

AGENTS:

Christine Hogrebe
taking appointments

A native of Northeastern Pennsylvania, agent Christina Hogrebe grew up on a steady diet of Anne of Green Gables and Sweet Valley Twins books, for which she was nearly laughed out of the English department at Franklin & Marshall College and the University of Denver Publishing Institute, who graduated her anyway. Inspired by her favorite chick lit heroines, she left the wilds of PA in search of dirty martinis and adventure, landing on the doorstep of Jane Rotrosen Agency, who, sensing a kindred spirit, hired her as one of publishing’s many over-eager assistants in 2003. Christina annoyed mentor Meg Ruley with reader’s reports until they promoted her to agent soon thereafter. She continues to pursue “three-hanky-” and “read-with-the-lights-on” reads and is accepting published and unpublished clients.

Jennifer Schober
taking appointments

Prior to joining Spencerhill in 2006, Jennifer received a B.A. in Religious Studies from Ithaca College and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Lesley University.     Trained as a psychotherapist, Jennifer enjoys using her clinical skills as an agent, coaching clients on issues surrounding increasing creativity and balancing the demands of work and life. Actively acquiring since 2006, Jennifer has sold more than 150 books with recent sales to Mills & Boon, Harlequin, Kensington, Dorchester, Sourcebooks, HarperCollins, Ballantine and Berkley. She is looking for books with an emotional hook, fantastic storytelling and dynamic characters that leap off the page. She is accepting submissions from published and unpublished authors in women’s fiction including literary fiction, category, contemporary, historical, historical romance, erotic and paranormal romance, romantic suspense, as well as urban fantasy. She is accepting YA but does not accept Children’s work or Sci Fi at this time.
Jennifer often marvels at how all her many jobs and degrees once felt at odds with each other until she became an agent—when all her experience seemed to converge perfectly. Jennifer lives on a working farm in upstate NY and when she doesn’t have her head in a book, she can be found hiking the hills with her Pitbull Maude or weeding her vegetable garden.

Jenny Bent
taking appointments

In a career spanning 15 years, Jenny Bent has made a practice of making bestsellers—either by spotting new talent or developing careers for multi-published authors. Her list is varied and includes commercial fiction and nonfiction, literary fiction and memoir. All the books she represents speak to the heart in some way: They are linked by genuine emotion, inspiration and great writing and story-telling.
Bent was born in New York City but grew up in Harrisonburg Virginia in a house full of books where she spent many lazy afternoons reading in a sunny window seat. She went on to England to get a BA/MA with first class honors from Cambridge University. After graduation she worked in magazines, bookselling and agenting, most recently at Trident Media Group, before founding THE BENT AGENCY in 2009. She now lives in Brooklyn in an apartment full of books and while there are not quite so many lazy reading afternoons, she manages to fit one in now and then.

Jim McCarthy
taking appointments

Jim McCarthy interned for DGLM while studying urban design at New York University. Upon graduating in 2002, 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.
As an avid fiction reader, his interests encompass both literary and commercial works in the adult and young adult categories. He is particularly interested in literary women’s fiction, underrepresented voices, mysteries, romance, paranormal fiction, and anything unusual or unexpected. In addition to fiction he is also interested in narrative nonfiction, memoir, and paranormal nonfiction.

Jim was raised just outside of NYC and currently lives in Manhattan.

Kevan Lyon
taking appointments

With over 20 years in the publishing business, including 5 years as a Literary Agent with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and 17+ years on the wholesale, retail and distribution side of the business, Kevan Lyon brings an informed and unique perspective to her work with clients. Her background on the buying and retail side of publishing affords her helpful insight into what types of books will sell and how to market them. Kevan holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Kevan handles women's fiction, with an emphasis on commercial women's fiction, young adult fiction and all genres of romance. Her particular interest is historical fiction of all types. She looks for stories that draw the reader in and loves a sweeping, complex story with strong female characters. Her authors in women's fiction span a broad range of genres from literary and commercial books to all genres of romance including historical, contemporary, suspense and paranormal. She loves to be surprised by a unique plot or characters and is always looking for a new, fresh voice or approach.

She is also interested in non-fiction, representing authors in the areas of current events, narrative, memoir, environment, parenting and pets/animals. With non-fiction projects she looks for topics that she is passionate about or that speak to issues of particular concern to women and families.

EDITORS:

Alicia Condon, editorial director, Kensington Publishing
taking appointments

Alicia Condon has been editing romance for the last thirty plus years and is currently Editorial Director in charge of Brava, where she acquires romance of every kind for all of Kensington’s imprints.  She has had the pleasure of working with New York Times bestselling authors Jayne Ann Krentz, Diana Palmer, Sandra Brown, Christine Feehan, Jacqueline Frank and Amanda Ashley.  She especially enjoys pushing the boundaries of the genre and discovering and working with brand new writers. 

Selina McLemore, senior editor, Grand Central Publishing at Hachette Book Group
taking appointments

Senior Editor Selina McLemore acquires literary and commercial women’s fiction, narrative non-fiction, and romance. Her diverse list includes New York Times bestselling authors Kimberla Lawson Roby, Stella Cameron and Caridad Pineiro; national bestselling authors Jennifer Haymore and Iris Gomez; and award-winning authors Drusilla Campbell, Leila Cobo, and Gwendolyn Zepeda.

Prior to Grand Central Publishing, Selina worked at HarperCollins Publishers and Harlequin Books. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she earned degrees in English and Spanish Literature.

Deb Werksman, editorial manager at Sourcebooks Inc.
taking appointments

Deb Werksman has been an acquiring editor and editorial manager for Sourcebooks for the past thirteen years, before which she had her own publishing company. She acquires single title romance in all subgenres, as well as historical and women's fiction. Sourcebooks is the country's largest woman-owned independent publishing house, and we're known for our sales and marketing, as well as our focus on building authors' careers.

Adam Wilson, editor at Gallery/Pocket Books
taking appointments

The newest addition to the Gallery and Pocket Books editorial team, Adam Wilson has worked with many wonderful and bestselling authors over the years, including Heather Graham, Sophie Littlefield, Michael and Kathleen Gear, Rob Thurman, and Maggie Shayne. Raised in Colorado, matured in Washington, and settled in New York, he's amazed to have found a job where he's paid to read. Currently, he is looking to add urban fantasy, paranormal thrillers, commercial literary fiction, entertainment nonfiction, and anything with great writing to his list.

Cindy Hwang, executive editor at Penguin Group
not taking appointments