Featured Agents at
the 2019 Agents & Editors Conference
The 2019 A&E Conference will include agents from a notable list of reputable literary agencies. Click on the linked agency names to read more about them. More added each week.
Lauren E. Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret
Reiko Davis, DeFiore and Company Literary Management
Melissa Edwards, Stonesong
Jessica Errera, Jane Rotrosen Agency
Serene Hakim, Ayesha Pande Literary
Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary
Alison Lewis, The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency
Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary
Kelli Martin, Wendy Sherman Associates
Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency
Rayhané Sanders, Massie & McQuilken Literary Agents
DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency
Marya Spence, Janklow & Nesbit Associates
Paul Stevens, Donald Maas Literary Agency
Kristin von Ogtrop, InkWell Management
Cindy Uh, Thompson Literary Agency
Kent D. Wolf, Friedrich Agency
Lauren E. Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret
Lauren E. Abramo joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2005. As VP and subrights director, she maintains a small client list and sells foreign and audio rights for the agency. Her interests include humorous middle-grade, contemporary young adult, and upmarket commercial fiction and well-paced literary fiction on the adult side. She’s also interested in nonfiction, especially pop culture, psychology, pop science, reportage, media, and contemporary culture. Her list has a strong focus on books that engage in some way with social justice. In all categories she’s especially seeking authors from marginalized communities traditionally underrepresented in publishing.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High Concept Commercial, Literary, Women's, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Romance, Graphic Novels
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, Pop Culture, Essays, Social Justice
Children's: YA Fiction, MG Fiction
Reiko Davis, DeFiore and Company Literary Management
Before joining DeFiore in early 2016, Reiko Davis was an associate agent at Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency for four years. She grew up in Kansas City, received her BA in Comparative Literature and Art History from Brown University, and is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course. She represents literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and middle grade and YA fiction. She is especially seeking books by underrepresented voices, including writers of color, immigrants, women, and the LGBT community. She loves books that aren't afraid to tackle big questions or important emotional truths, and do so through remarkable storytelling.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High Concept Commercial, Literary, Women's, Short Fiction
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, History, Memoir, Pop Culture
Children's: YA Fiction, YA Nonfiction, MG Fiction, MG Nonfiction
Melissa Edwards, Stonesong
Melissa Edwards joined Stonesong as a literary agent in August 2016. Previously, she was a literary agent at the Aaron Priest Literary Agency, where she managed the foreign rights for a 40-year backlist. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt Law School, Melissa began her career as a litigation attorney before transitioning into publishing. She is a tireless advocate for her clients and a constant partner during the publication process and beyond. Melissa represents authors of children's fiction, adult commercial fiction, and select pop-culture nonfiction. She is looking for warm and timeless middle grade fiction and accessible young adult fiction. For adults, she is looking for fast-paced thrillers and smart women's fiction. Melissa also acts as a contract consultant for authors and agents under the business MLE Consulting.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High Concept Commercial, Women's, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Nonfiction: Pop Culture
Children's: YA Fiction, YA Nonfiction, MG Fiction, MG Nonfiction, Picture Book, Early Reader
Jessica Errera, Jane Rotrosen Agency
Jessica Errera has been with JRA since 2014. She is looking for commercial women’s fiction with a fresh and fun hook, all genres of YA (especially diverse stories), contemporary romance, mysteries and suspense, the occasional historical fiction, and anything that might be read in a day on the beach. Jessica is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she spent four years cheering on the Tar Heels and a few fantastic months interning with Algonquin Books.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Women's, Historical, Romance, Graphic Novels
Children's: YA Fiction, MG Fiction
Serene Hakim, Ayesha Pande Literary
Serene Hakim has been with Ayesha Pande Literary since 2015. A child of immigrants, she grew up straddling cultures and languages. She is looking for both adult fiction and non-fiction as well as YA (all genres) with international themes or a focus on LGBTQ+, feminist issues and underrepresented/marginalized voices. She is especially interested in stories dealing with the Middle East and is specifically looking for writing that explores meanings of identity, home, family and parenthood/motherhood. Forthcoming projects include Kristen Arnett’s debut novel Mostly Dead Things.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High Concept Commercial, Literary, Women's
Nonfiction: Narrative, Essays
Children's: YA Fiction
Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary
Tricia Lawrence is the Pacific Northwest branch of EMLA, born and raised in Oregon, and now lives in Seattle. After 22 years of working as a developmental and production-based editor (from kids books to college textbooks, but mostly college textbooks), she joined the EMLA team in March 2011 as a social media strategist. As agent, Tricia represents picture books/chapter books that look at the world in a unique and unusual way, with characters that are alive both on and off the page, and middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction that offers strong worldbuilding, wounded narrators, and stories that grab a reader and won't let go. Tricia loves hiking, camping out in the woods, and collecting rocks. She loves BBC America and anything British. She has way too many books and not enough bookshelves.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Graphic Novels
Nonfiction: Narrative, History, Biography, Memoir, Essays, Self-Help
Children's: YA Fiction, YA Nonfiction, MG Fiction, MG Nonfiction, Picture Books, Early Reader
Alison Lewis, The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency
Alison Lewis is a literary agent at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, where she represents narrative nonfiction, cultural criticism, history, science, literary fiction, and memoir. A Colorado native and Summa Cum Laude graduate of Middlebury College, she worked in editorial at W. W. Norton & Company before joining the agency in 2016. She is also editor of the literary magazine American Chordata.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Literary
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, History, Biography, Essays
Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary
Kim Lionetti is a senior literary agent at BookEnds. Having started her twenty-five-year career in the industry as an editor at Berkley Publishing, she enjoys helping authors shape their works into books their readers will love. Kim’s client list includes women’s fiction, suspense, young adult and romance, and she’s looking for new talent in all of these genres, but she’s especially eager to represent more diverse voices. As an autism mom, she’s most passionate about stories featuring neurodiverse characters, and those with special needs.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High Concept Commercial, Women's, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Romance, Historical
Children's: YA Fiction
Kelli Martin, Wendy Sherman Associates
Kelli Martin has worked in book publishing for twenty years. She started at Simon & Schuster and rose up the editorial ladder at HarperCollins, Harlequin, and Amazon Publishing. At Amazon Publishing, Kelli was the launch editor and public face of Montlake Romance, and Executive Editor at Lake Union (the general fiction imprint). Now as a literary agent, Kelli is passionate about signing authors in contemporary romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction, domestic suspense and psychological thrillers. For Kelli, guiding writers, perfecting manuscripts and building a list of beloved books that satisfy publishing houses and readers are the loves of her life.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Women's, Romance, Domestic Suspense/Psychological Thrillers
Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency
Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts joined Hannigan Salky Getzler in 2017, where she represents a list of literary fiction and non-fiction, as well as select middle-grade and YA. She began her career in the editorial department at MacAdam/Cage, an independent publisher based in San Francisco. Previously at Writers House, she has worked as a literary scout, and was an agent and rights director at the Susan Golomb Literary Agency. She is always on the lookout for new voices and seeks to be a passionate advocate for her clients. Soumeya is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, daughter and their cat.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Literary, Women's, Short Fiction
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, Memoir, Pop Culture, Essays, Lifestyle, Family Parenting
Children's: YA Fiction, MG Fiction
Rayhané Sanders, Massie & McQuilken Literary Agents
Rayhané Sanders is a literary agent at Massie & McQuilkin and an independent book editor with over 10 years of industry experience. She began her career at Newsweek Magazine, before moving to book publishing, working for Penguin’s Dutton and Gotham Books and then for William Morris Endeavor, where she worked closely with veteran agent Dorian Karchmar. Rayhané began to represent authors at WSK Management, adding a New York Times bestseller to her list, before moving to Massie & McQuilkin in 2015. She represents literary, historical, and upmarket book club fiction; narrative nonfiction; and memoir. Her clients include bestselling, award-winning authors Lidia Yuknavitch, Janet Beard, Devin Murphy, Jonathan Weisman, Margaret Malone, and others. As an independent book editor, she offers a wide range of editorial and consulting services to help emerging writers polish their fiction and non-fiction projects to attract agents and publishers.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High Concept Commercial, Literary, Women's, Historical, Short Fiction
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, History, Biography, Memoir, Pop Culture, Essays, Self-Help
Children's: YA Fiction
DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency
DongWon Song is an agent at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency representing science fiction and fantasy for adults, young adult, and middle grade readers as well as select non-fiction. He was formerly an editor at Orbit and a product manager for the ebook startup, Zola Books, and has taught as an adjunct instructor in the publishing program at Portland State University.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Graphic Novels
Nonfiction: Narrative, Pop Culture, Essays
Children's: YA Fiction, YA Nonfiction, MG Fiction, MG Nonfiction
Marya Spence, Janklow & Nesbit Associates
Raised in California’s Bay Area, Marya Spence studied literature at Harvard, where she was Fiction Editor for the Advocate and specialized in creative writing. She got her MFA in Fiction at New York University, where she also taught, and has worked at The New Yorker, PAPER Mag, Travel & Leisure, Vanity Fair, Publishers Weekly, METROPOLIS Magazine, and more. As someone who values craft from the writer’s perspective, Marya represents a diverse range in fiction and nonfiction, including, but not limited to, literary novels and collections, cultural criticism and voice-driven essays, narrative journalism with a humorous or critical edge, and pop culture.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Literary
Nonfiction: Pop Culture, Essays
Paul Stevens, Donald Maass Literary Agency
Paul Stevens has been an agent with the Donald Maass Literary Agency since 2016. Before joining DMLA, he worked as an editor at Tor Books for 15 years focusing on science fiction and fantasy. Paul is primarily looking to represent science fiction and fantasy for adults, but he also will consider other genres such as mystery and suspense if they have science fiction / fantasy elements. He represents authors such as Kel Kade, Jeremy Finley, Dan Koboldt, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Sean Grigsby.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Kristin van Ogtrop, InkWell Management
Kristin van Ogtrop is the former editor-in-chief of Real Simple and an agent at InkWell Management. Under her stewardship, Real Simple became the #1 American women’s lifestyle magazine brand with a print and digital reach of 25 million and was nominated for 15 National Magazine Awards. Kristin’s blog, “Adventures in Chaos,” was nominated for a Media Industry Newsletter “Best of the Web” award, and in 2014, she was named by Fortune magazine as one of the “55 Most Influential Women on Twitter.” She is a contributor to the New York Times bestseller, The Bitch in the House and the author of Just Let Me Lie Down, published by Little, Brown. As an agent, she will represent memoir, commercial women’s fiction, humor, lifestyle and big idea books driven by counterintuitive thinking.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: High-Concept Commercial, Women's
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, Biography, Memoir, Pop Culture, Essays, Lifestyle, Family/Parenting
Cindy Uh, Thompson Literary Agency
Cindy Uh graduated from Boston College and received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Pacific American Law Journal. After practicing law for six years, she got her start in publishing as an intern at Einstein Thompson Agency before joining TLA in 2015. Cindy is excited to continue developing talent in both adult nonfiction and children's fiction and nonfiction with an emphasis on compelling stories, distinct voices, and diversity (of all types). Her clients include NYT Bestsellers Mari Andrew, Cecile Richards and Lauren Peterson, as well as Bridget Beth Collins, Kimothy Pikor, Brent Preston, Kristin Russell, Shelly Westerhausen, Timothy Pakron, and Gautam Raghavan.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Women's, Graphic Novels
Nonfiction: Narrative, Current Events, Memoir, Pop Culture, Lifestyle, Self-Help, Health/Wellness, Illustrated
Children's: YA Fiction, YA Nonfiction, MG Fiction, MG Nonfiction, Picture Book
Kent D. Wolf, The Friedrich Agency
Kent D. Wolf is an agent with The Friedrich Agency, representing literary fiction and narrative nonfiction--from novels to story collection to immersive journalism to personal essays. His clients include National Book Award for Fiction Finalist Carmen Maria Machado, New York Times-bestselling essayist Samantha Irby, Barnes & Noble Discover novelist Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and New York Times Notable novelist Martin Seay, among others.
Actively Seeking
Fiction: Literary
Nonfiction: Narrative, Pop Culture, Essays