2008 Agents and Editors

Agents

Lauren E. Abramo

Lauren E. Abramo joined Dystel & Goderich Literary Management after earning an M.A. in Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She is an avid reader of fiction, especially anything literary, smart and fun, as well as nonfiction designed to make you think or laugh - particularly history, politics, current affairs, music, pop culture, philosophy, and science.

Emmanuelle Alspaugh

Emmanuelle Alspaugh was an agent at The Creative Culture and an editor at Fodor's, the travel arm of Random House, before joining Wendy Sherman Associates in the spring of 2007. She offers her clients the full breadth of her editorial experience, working closely with them to develop their proposals and manuscripts. Her interests include literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, business, popular culture, and relationships.

Her non-fiction authors include screenwriter Richard Farrell, family therapist Catherine McCall, Marie Claire staff editor Sarah Wexler, and food blogger Adrienne Kane. In fiction, she represents Danielle Younge-Ullman (Falling Under) and Alissa Johnson (As Luck Would Have It).

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Kathleen Anderson is an award-winning editor and literary agent and president of Anderson Literary Management in New York and a member of PEN and AAR. She has been working in the publishing business since 1979, first as an editor at W.W. Norton for nine years and then as a senior editor at Poseidon, a division of Simon & Schuster, where she published Mary Gaitskill and Ursula Hegi. Kathleen is a recipient of the Tony Godwin Award, which is given to an outstanding American editor who is then sent to England to learn about British publishing.

Among her clients are The New Yorker writer George Packer (The Assassins' Gate), novelist Emma Donoghue (Slammerkin, Life Mask), young adult writer Barry Lyga (The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl) and many other non-fiction and fiction writers. She is particularly interested in literary fiction, general women's fiction, commercial fiction (psychological suspense, romantic suspense, chicklit, ladylit), narrative nonfiction, literary journalism, memoir, cultural studies, biography, true crime, and young adult.
 

Kimberly Cameron - Reese Halsey North

Kimberley Cameron

Kimberley Cameron became a partner with Dorris Halsey of the Reece Halsey Agency in 1992. She opened Reece Halsey North in Tiburon, CA in 1995, and Reece Halsey Paris in 2007. The Reece Halsey Agency has been in existence since 1957, specializing in excellent writing. Aldous Huxley, William Faulkner, Upton Sinclair and Henry Miller have been among agency clients. Kimberley was a founding partner of Knightsbridge Publishing and developed books for motion pictures at MGM before becoming a literary agent. She specializes in finding new voices and has launched the careers of many.

She represents mainstream and literary fiction, women's fiction, mysteries, horror and science fiction, and nonfiction in the genres of history, biography, self-help and science. She is a member of AAR has sponsored the Rupert Hughes Writing Award at the Maui Writers Conference since 1996. She divides her time between her offices in Tiburon and Paris.

Daniel Conaway

Before joining Writers House as a literary agent, Dan Conaway worked as an Executive Editor at G. P. Putnam's Sons and HarperCollins; as Director of Literary Acquisitions for PolyGram Filmed Entertainment; and in a variety of capacities (British Rights Manager, Director of Advertising, College Traveler) for W.W. Norton. In 2004 he authored one of the first anonymous publishing industry blogs, BookAngst 101, writing as Mad Max Perkins. He's looking for narrative nonfiction, literary journalism, pop culture, popular history, historical fiction, literary fiction, and thrillers.

Jim Donovan

Jim Donovan is the founder and president of Jim Donovan Literary, an agency in Dallas, Texas. Since 1993, Jim has sold hundreds of books for dozens of writers, negotiating publishing contracts with companies such as Bantam Books, Broadway, HarperCollins, Morrow, Putnam, Random House, Simon & Schuster, St. Martin's Press, Viking Penguin, Warner Books, and many others.

He works with both fiction (chiefly mysteries and thrillers) and a broad range of nonfiction (primarily American history, biography, sports, health, popular culture, and business; associate agent Melissa Shultz also works in the areas of women's fiction and nonfiction). His agency also sells film, foreign, and all subsidiary rights.

Jim began his career in publishing in an Austin bookstore in 1981 and moved to Dallas in 1984 to become a buyer for a regional bookstore chain. In 1987 he became a trade book editor at Taylor Publishing; when he left in 1993 to start his own agency, he was senior editor. He has also authored several books, including Custer and The Little Bighorn (Voyageur Press) and the recent A Terrible Glory (Little, Brown), which was published in March to excellent reviews.

Some books Jim Donovan Literary has handled include the New York Times bestsellers Hogan and The Masters (by Curt Sampson), and the bestselling sports book The Junction Boys (Jim Dent), which became an ESPN film; the Edgar Award-nominated Sea Of Bones by Ron Faust; the Stoker-nominated Dead City by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle); American Brutus by Michael Kauffman (Random House); Adopted Son by David Clary (Bantam); Bill Sloan's lauded trio of Pacific War books, Given Up For Dead (Bantam), Brotherhood Of Heroes (S&S), and The Ultimate Battle (S&S); and That's Not In My American History Book by Thomas Ayres (Rowman & Littlefield); All About 'All About Eve' by Sam Staggs (St. Martin's Press); Carlton Stowers' Where Dreams Die Hard (Da Capo); and Jeff Guinn's bestselling Santa Claus books.

Jim has guest-lectured and taught seminars on the craft of writing and the business of publishing (and getting published) at several universities and writers' conferences.

He lives just outside Dallas with his wife and daughter.

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Mary Evans is an eighth generation Hoosier who traveled to New York to attend Barnard College. She stayed in Manhattan, and has worked in publishing for almost thirty five years. Her first job was at the legendary Farrar, Straus & Giroux under the leadership of Roger Straus himself. After a subsequent stint at Viking Penguin, she became a literary agent and has not looked back since.

Mary established her eponymous agency in 1994 and counts a Pulitzer Prize winner amongst her clients, as well as writers who have won many other literary awards and nominations. She is proud to represent Texan Gerald Winaker, MD, as well as clients from all parts of the globe.

Lilly Ghahremani

Lilly Ghahremani is an attorney now "using her powers for good" as a literary agent with Full Circle Literary (co-founded with Stefanie Von Borstel). Lilly is interested in a wide range of nonfiction, driven by a compelling narrative voice (even if it's a how-to). She is interested in YA, and is open to reviewing chick lit or literary fiction. As a rule please know that Full Circle does not represent genre fiction, poetry, or screenplays.

A sampling of her recent sales include Raina Lee's karaoke book Hit Me with Your Best Shot (Chronicle Books), Joseph Sommerville's Rainmaking Presentations (Palgrave), and Cal Patch's Patternmaking (RH/Potter Craft). Lilly particularly enjoys books about pop culture, crafts, the rest of the world (with a soft spot for the Middle East), music and the performing arts, and topics that connect with a female readership.

Ronnie Gramazio

Ronnie Gramazio was born and raised in Australia. Immediately after graduating from college, Ronnie entered the publishing industry working for numerous independent presses in Melbourne before moving to Sydney where he worked for such major houses as Simon & Schuster and Wiley.

His publishing career, which spans 15 years, has included working in all facets of the industry, from marketing and publicity to project editing and acquiring. Prior to relocating to New York City, Ronnie was involved in the development and launch of the trade program at Wiley Australia, where he published a number of best-sellers including A Figure of Speech by illustrious political speech writer Graham Freudenberg and the true crime account of a 1966 unsolved case entitled Searching for the Beaumont Children by prolific author Alan J. Whiticker.

Ronnie moved to New York City in 2006 and continued to work as an acquiring editor. His role in acquisitions led to his string of contacts within the publishing industry in the United States. He signed Truth At Last, which he bought from Sharlene Martin at Martin Literary Management. Written by Jon Larry Ray, the brother of Dr. Martin Luther King assassinator, James Early Ray, it is scheduled for publication in Spring 2008 (Lyons Press). This was just the beginning of Ronnie's business relationship with Sharlene. In November 2007, he became an agent at Martin Literary Management, setting up the New York City office of this esteemed agency; he primarily represents authors of fiction, children's and true crime books.

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Robert Guinsler has been with Sterling Lord Literistic since 2000. His primary interests include literary and commercial fiction, journalism, narrative nonfiction with an emphasis on pop culture, science and current events, memoirs, and biographies. Robert's clients are journalists, novelists and academics.

Authors he represents include Barnes and Noble Discover pick Doug Crandell, author of The Flawless Skin of Ugly People, Jonathan Engel, author of The Epidemic: A Global History of Aids, Mark Kurzem, author of The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father's Nazi Boyhood, BBC journalist Quil Lawrence, author of Invisible Nation: How the Kurd's Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East, Charles London, author of One Day The Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War, Adam Pitluk, author of Standing Eight and Damned To Eternity, and Vanity Fair contributing editor George Wayne, author of Uncensored Vanities: Volume I.

Abigail Koons

Eager to work with emerging and established talent, Abigail Koons is currently looking to add to her list of diverse and engaging authors. Her passion for travel makes her a natural fit for adventure and travel narrative nonfiction, and she is also seeking projects about popular science, history, politics, current events, and art.

Abigail is also interested in working with commercial fiction, especially superb thrillers and mysteries. As the Foreign Rights Director, she continues to build on her prior experience with agent Nicholas Ellison, as well as her time with EF Education, a multinational corporation based in Sweden. Abigail is a graduate of Boston University.

Alexandra Machinist

Alexandra Machinist joined the Linda Chester Literary Agency in March 2007. A native New Yorker and perennial Janklow & Nesbit college summer intern, after graduating from the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia School of Law, Alexandra practiced corporate law for a couple of years before delightedly returning to the literary fold. She is a promiscuous reader whose interests span a huge range of genres, with the common element being a superlative and engaging voice. She is actively building her list and looking for literary fiction, historical fiction, pop-culture (particularly science and nature), narrative nonfiction, and anything that explores an unknown subculture or subtext.

Recent fiction sales include Erica Eisdorfer's The Wet Nurse's Tale, a neo-Victorian novel in the tradition of Sarah Waters and Michel Faber (Putnam), Nicole Dickson's Casting Off, a magical novel about a mother and daughter whose lives change during a summer on an island off the coast of Ireland (NAL) and Marta Acosta's Nancy's Guide to Style (Pocket) about an event planner's plummet from grace.

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Kirsten Neuhaus joined Vigliano Associates in 2006. Previously, Kirsten worked at Elaine Markson Agency and Sanford J Greenburger Associates handling domestic and foreign rights. Before moving to New York, she lived in Miami and Buenos Aires, and is a graduate of Columbia University, where she majored in English.

Kirsten's list includes fiction such as Chambermaid by Saira Rao (Grove/Atlantic) and Querida Gabriella by Leila Cobo (Grand Central Publishing) as well as a wide range of nonfiction including memoirs such as Spiced: My Unglamorous Life as a Pastry Chef by Dalia Jurgensen (Putnam), and serious nonfiction such as Al-America by San Francisco Chronicle journalist Jonathan Curiel (The New Press). She is looking for nonfiction dealing with current events, international affairs and memoirs, as well as smart, well-written fiction.

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Rebecca Oliver joined the Endeavor Talent Agency's book group in May 2007 as a literary agent and director of subsidiary rights. Before becoming an agent Rebecca worked in book publishing, first at St. Martin's Press and most recently at Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books) as the Associate Director of Subsidiary Rights.

At Endeavor her client list is diverse and ranges from practical nonfiction (Dr. Michelle Callahan, Dating Detox) to memoir (John DeLucie, The Hunger; Janna Cawrse, The Motion of the Ocean) to both commercial and literary fiction. Other non-fiction clients include tattoo artist Kat von D, television host Zane Lamprey, and career expert Nicole Williams.

Recent fiction projects include The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, a highly original and mesmerizing novel set in Salem, Massachusetts and focusing on a family of women who can read the future in a piece of lace (publishing in August 2008 from William Morrow with a blockbuster marketing campaign); Shadow of the Swords by Kamran Pasha, a historical novel set against the backdrop of the Crusades; and The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson, a contemporary mystery about two brothers living in London who receive letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes. Currently her agency is NOT looking for sci-fi, fantasy, or genre romance (except romantic suspense).

Andrea Somberg

Andrea Somberg joined Harvey Klinger Inc. in the spring of 2005. Previously she was an agent at Vigliano Associates and the Don Maass Agency. She's handles a wide range of projects, both fiction and nonfiction, including literary, commercial, young adult, genre (romance, mystery, sf/fantasy), memoir, pop-culture, how-to, self-help, humor, interior design, cookbooks, and health and fitness.

Recent titles include Sarah Beth Durst's young adult debut Into the Wild (Razorbill/Penguin), Justine Musk's urban fantasy series, Blood Angel (ROC/Penguin) and young adult novel Stranger (Pocket/MTV Books), Mitchell Bartoy's noir mystery, The Devil's Own Ragdoll (St. Martins), Meaghan Mountford's Cookie Sensations (Rutledge Hill), Jim Thompson's The Cubicle Survival Guide (Random House), UnRapped: Rap-Up's Guide to Hip-Hop and R&B (Warner/HBG), Marcelle Karp, the cofounder of BUST magazine's, The Confidential Housewife (DK/Penguin), Heather Maclean's Baby Gear Buying Guide (Rutledge Hill), Carly Milne's memoir, Sexography (Phoenix) and novels by romance authors Monica Jackson and Paula Quinn. Visit Harvey Klinger Inc.
 

Nicole Steen

Nicole Steen is a young agent building a selective list at Elyse Cheney Literary Associates, a full service agency specializing in high quality fiction and nonfiction. Prior to joining the agency in 2007, Nicole worked as a Foreign Rights Agent at Trident Media Group, where she represented a wide range of authors in the foreign market, including Marilynne Robinson, Michael Ondaatje, Russell Banks, John Perkins, Deepak Chopra, Louis Sachar, Jane Urquhart, Janet Evanovich, Elizabeth George and Karen Robards.

Her interests include literary fiction, well written commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, popular science and psychology/self help.

Uwe Stender

Dr. Uwe Stender, has a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. He also studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the Universitaet Goettingen, Germany. He taught at both Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh and has been widely published in scholarly journals and books. Uwe was a guest speaker at
several major conferences.

His best know clients are former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan, whose first book What's Possible will be released by Meredith in May 2008, Simon and Schuster bestselling author and 2001 NAACP Image Award Recipient for Outstanding Literature in Fiction Omar Tyree whose first non-fiction project The Equation will be released by Wiley in the fall of 2008, and legendary NBA referee Bob Delaney, whose book Covert will be published by Union Square West/Sterling in February 2008. Uwe also has very strong connections to Hollywood production companies.

Katie Sulkowski

Katie Sulkowski is Literary Brand Manager for Creative Trust, Inc. In the fiction category, Katie represents John Perrodin, Erin Healy, Rachel Hauck, Kristin Russell; in nonfiction, she represents Melody Green, Sissy Goff and Melissa Trevathan, Carl Medearis. She also oversees foreign rights for all authors.

Katie has six years experience in book publishing, having worked at Thomas Nelson Publishers and as a freelance agent before joining Creative Trust. In her role at CT, Katie develops author brands and works closely with publishers on marketing book products. A native to Nashville, she graduated with a BA in English from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a focus in creative writing. She resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sally van Haitsma

Sally van Haitsma is a Literary agent with the Castiglia Literary Agency. The agency has successfully placed significant non-fiction 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); 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); In Triumph's Wake by Julie Gelardi (St. Martins Press); Rogelia's House of Magic by Jamie Martinez (Random House).

Actively seeking new authors, Sally is interested in commercial and literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, education, business and current affairs.

Stefanie Von Borstel

Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, Stefanie Von Borstel is a literary agent and co-founder of Full Circle Literary. Prior to agenting she worked in various editorial and marketing positions with Penguin and Harcourt. At Full Circle, she represents a range of nonfiction and children's books, everything from parenting and lifestyle to pop culture and Latino-interest.

Stefanie's recent projects include The Bilingual Edge by Kendall King and Alison Mackey (Collins), Isabel's Cantina by chef and restaurateur Isabel Cruz (Clarkson Potter), I Love Dirt! by Jennifer Ward (Shambhala), Girls Night In by Penny Warner (Adams Media). On the children's side, Monica Brown's Pelé The King of Soccer/El Rey de Fútbol (Rayo/HarperCollins) and What Can You Do with a Rebozo? by Tejana author Carmen Tafolla (Ten Speed).

Stefanie is especially interested in Latino fiction and nonfiction, popular culture, parenting, relationships, women's interest, lifestyle, crafting, how-to, as well as multicultural children's and young adult. Visit Full Circle Literary.

Natanya Wheeler

Natanya Wheeler is actively seeking to build her list at Lowenstein-Yost Associates. She would love to find narrative nonfiction in the areas of memoir, women's issues, nature and politics.

Nataya is also aggressively looking to build her fiction list with strong writers who have original and confident voices. She's particularly interested in literary fiction that touches on current events or multicultural issues, young adult novels, fast-paced commercial fiction, women's fiction of all kinds - historical and contemporary romance - and erotica with an edge. She does not handle science fiction, horror, or fantasy.

Caryn Wiseman

Caryn Wiseman has been an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. since early 2003. She handles children's books only: young adult and middle-grade fiction and nonfiction, chapter books, and picture books. Caryn holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, and a BS from the University of Virginia.

Caryn's particular interests include: sports; humorous chapter books and middle-grade fiction; "boy" books; YA that falls at the intersection of commercial and literary; YA that is edgy without being gratuitous; magical realism and reality-based fantasy; biography for kids of all ages; unique nonfiction; and African-American and Latino-themed literature in all age groups. However, she is always open to terrific children's work that doesn't fit these categories. For fiction, a fresh, unique voice is paramount, but the story must have great characterization and plot as well. She loves nonfiction that reads like fiction; that has a great "story behind the story."

Ted Weinstein

Literary agent Ted Weinstein is a member of the Association of Authors'Representatives (AAR) whose clients include a wide range of journalists, academics, celebrities, and other authors of nonfiction for adults. His agency represents the full range of narrative and practical nonfiction, with particular focus on biography and history, business and personal finance, contemporary culture and politics, popular science and the environment, health and medicine, pop culture, and quirky reference books.

Ted's clients include NPR's "Math Guy" Keith Devlin, Pulitzer finalists Steve Suo and Erin Barnett of the Portland Oregonian, CalTech math department chairman Gary Lorden, USA Today editorial board member Richard Whitmire, Wired News managing editor Leander Kahney, and many others. More information about Ted, his agency, and his clients can be found at Ted Weinstein Literary Management.

Editors

Lindsey Moore

Lindsey Moore is a freelance editor who has worked for Crown Publishing, an imprint of Random House, and for HarperCollins. The books she works on include a wide range of commercial fiction and nonfiction including relationship books, sex and health, pop culture, funny memoir. Nonfiction-wise, her tastes trend toward the quirky, girly, or funny: more serious or straightforward memoirs are not for her. On the fiction side, she mainly looks for commercial novels about strong female characters, including African-American and Latin-American fiction.

Lindsey has edited the New York Times bestsellers The MANual: A True Bad Boy Explains How Men Think, Date, and Mate-and What Women Can Do to Come Out on Top by former Today Show relationship expert Steve Santagati and You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again by Suzanne Hansen, as well as Size Matters by Dr. Harry Fisch, Just Do It by Doug Brown, and the novel The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg by Geoff Herbach.

Toni Plummer

Toni Plummer is an Assistant Editor at Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press. She edits several mystery series. These include police procedurals, private eye novels, and genre veteran Robert J. Randisi's Rat Pack mystery series. In addition to crime fiction, she is looking for literary fiction and other commercial fiction, like general women's and chicklit. Her non-fiction interests include travel, philosophy, cultural studies, narrative nonfiction, and memoir. She is especially interested in acquiring Latino authors and books with multicultural themes.

Brooke Warner

Brooke Warner is a senior editor at Seal Press, publisher of women's non-fiction books, written for women, by women. Seal Press is part of Avalon Publishing Group, with offices in New York City and Emeryville, California. Fueled by the radical thinking and daring work of its authors, Seal's list includes books on women's health, parenting, outdoor adventure and travel, popular culture, gender and women's studies, and current affairs. Among Seal Press's many notable authors are Michelle Tea, Ayun Halliday, and Inga Muscio. Brooke is looking for non-fiction works that inform women's lives.

Please see her profile on Publishers Lunch.