We’re so excited to have the second year of yet another benefit to aspiring writers during ThrillerFest week called ConsultFest! ConsultFest will be available throughout CraftFest and ThrillerFest where attendees can meet for 15 minutes, one-on-one with an industry leading expert. Recruiting the top acquiring editors and agents for this opportunity, writers will get instant feedback on his or her query letter or first two pages of a manuscript. The writer will be assigned a time with the expert who will read the writer’s work, provide comments about first impressions, and offer feedback for improvements. The assignments for consults are randomly chosen with the following experts who’ve agreed to help us July 7th – 10th.
Below is a list of agents and editors who will participate in ConsultFest at ThrillerFest XV.
EDITOR
Lou Aronica, The Story Plant
www.thestoryplant.com
EDITOR
Susan Chang, Tor Books
www.us.Macmillan.com/torforge/
Bio: Susan Chang is a senior editor at Tor Books, where she acquires and edits for the Starscape middle grade and Tor Teen young adult imprints. She does not acquire picture books, new adult, or adult titles. Like many editors, she has eclectic tastes, and is open to be queried about anything and everything, not limited to science fiction and fantasy. For chapter books she is looking for high concept books or series with an educational hook; for middle grade, action and high-stakes adventure; and in young adult, stories that are thought-provoking and emotionally truthful. She is also interested in nonfiction in the areas of popular science, archaeology, anthropology, biography, and history.
Authors she is currently working with: Kathleen Baldwin, Alan Gratz, Daryl Gregory, P. J. Hoover, David Lubar, Sarah Porter, and Brandon Sanderson.
AGENT
Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency, LLC
www.LizaRoyce.com @lizaroyceagency
Bio: Liza Fleissig, with her partner Ginger Harris-Dontzin, opened the Liza Royce Agency (LRA) in early 2011. Their goal was, and remains, to represent authors in all stages of their careers, from the most established to those developing their craft, as well as debuts. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a degree in Finance, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law with a JD, Liza is a former partner in a NYC based litigation law firm and brings more than 20 years of negotiating experience to the field. This background, along with connections rooted in publishing, movies and television, allowed them to focus and build on a referral based clientele. From picture books through adult projects, fiction and non-fiction, LRA welcomes strong voices and plot driven works. Their inaugural books became available in stores January 2013. Their first was an Edgar nominee, another was an Indie Next Pick, and two others were optioned for film. LRA’s success began right out of the gate. Here’s to more great books!
Current Authors: Robert Bailey II, Linda Stasi, Walter Gragg, Isabella Maldonado, Estate of Marc Olden, among others.
EDITOR
Bob Gussin, Oceanview Publishing
www.OceanviewPub.com
Bio: Robert Gussin is the CEO of Oceanview Publishing and Oceanview Vineyards. Prior to that, he was Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Johnson and Johnson. Oceanview is a traditional publisher of thriller, mystery and suspense novels. Titles are published in all formats: hard cover, paper, digital, and audio.
Clients: Raymond Benson, Miles Corwin, Ward Larsen, Matt Coyle, and approximately one hundred others.
EDITOR
Stephanie Kelly, Dutton
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
Bio: Stephanie Kelly is an editor at Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, where she has worked since 2011. She acquires both fiction and nonfiction. She is interested in psychological thrillers, suspense, commercial fiction, women’s fiction, and fresh, platform driven narrative nonfiction, especially with a pop culture, humorous, millennial, or feminist bent.
Authors: Her authors include New York Times bestsellers Tami Hoag, Eric Jerome Dickey, and Hannah Shaw, and national bestseller Fiona Davis. Recent and forthcoming titles include Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie, Hush Little Baby by R.H. Herron, and Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter.
EDITOR
Jaime Levine, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
www.HMHBooks.com
Bio: Senior Editor, joined HMH in April 2018; she primarily acquires upmarket suspense, mysteries, and thrillers and she is the editor for the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien. Some of her recent and forthcoming titles include the first novel and last creative act by American legend Stan Lee, a spy thriller by Oliver Harris, a home-invasion thriller by Bracken MacLeod, and a debut horror novel by newcomer Jasper DeWitt. She previously worked at Thomas Dunne Books and Grand Central Publishing, where she edited the #1 best-selling duo Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, the estate of Robert Ludlum, and the writers Julianna Baggott, Eric van Lustbader, Octavia Butler, and Jacqueline Carey.
EDITOR
Alex Logan, Grand Central
EDITOR
Katie McGuire, Pegasus Books
www.pegasusbooks.com
Bio: Katie McGuire is an editor at Pegasus Books, where she started her career in the summer of 2014. After graduating from Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing, she returned to her native New York and is now happily settled in Queens with her cat, Miss Moneypenny. She is on the hunt for both fiction and nonfiction projects, and has a particular soft spot for crime fiction (almost every subgenre!), historical fiction, comic books, true crime, royalty, superheroes, and spies. You can find her on Twitter: @katiemickgee.
Current authors: William Boyle, Paul Vidich, S. J. Rozan, John Copenhaver, Jake Hinkson, John Woods, Casey Dunn, Jay Stringer, and Julie McElwain, among others.
EDITOR
Jennifer Monroe, Berkley, Penguin Random House
EDITOR
Chantelle Aimee Osman, Agora Books
www.PolisBooks.com
Bio: Chantelle Aimée Osman is the editor of Agora, an imprint of Polis Books. The former Editor-in-Chief of RT Book Reviews Magazine and a freelance editor for over ten years, and she also co-hosts the Crime Friction podcast. She teaches writing internationally, including with the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, Authors at Large and LitReactor. Chantelle is the author of the non-fiction series on writing The Quick and Dirty Guides To… and has also published numerous works of short fiction. She was named a Left Coast Crime Guest of Honor in 2016. Find her on Twitter @SuspenseSiren.
Authors: John Vercher, Patricia Smith, Tori Eldridge, Gary Phillips , Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Gabino Inglesias
AGENT
Gina Panettieri, Talcott Notch Literary Services
www.TalcottNotch.net
Bio: Gina Panettieri is President of Milford, Ct-based Talcott Notch Literary and is a 23-year publishing industry veteran as an agent, and has also worked as a freelance editor and writer, and is author of THE SINGLE MOTHER’S GUIDE TO RAISING REMARKABLE BOYS, published by Adams Media.
Clients: Brian Andrews, Dawn-Michelle Baude, Dr. Bruce Cohen, Scott Craven, Scott Deitche, Beth Fehlbaum, Nancy Holzner, Lisa Jakub, Erik Lawrence, Dr. Seth Meyers, Paula Munier, C.S. Nelson, General (Ret) Richard (Val) Pattee, Dr. Karyn Purvis, A.E. Rought, Cpt. Daniel Sjursen, Brette Sember, Wayne Simmons, Michael Stewart, Brian Taylor, Drew Eric Whitman, Jeff Wilson, Stacy Laabs and Sherri Field.
AGENT
Peter Rubie, FinePrint Literary Management
www.FineprintLit.com
Bio: Peter Rubie, is CEO of FinePrint Literary Management, where as a literary agent he represents a broad range of high-quality fiction and non-fiction. He’s a former BBC Radio and Fleet Street journalist, who was a member of the New York University publishing faculty for ten years, teaching the only university-level course in the country on how to become a literary agent. For several years he was the director of the book publishing section of the NYU Summer Publishing Institute. Prior to becoming an agent, Peter was an in-house editor for Walker & Co., for nearly six years, whose authors won prizes and critical acclaim. He has also worked independently as a book doctor for what is now Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and other mainstream publishing companies. He was once a regular reviewer for the international trade magazine Publishers Weekly and is a published author of both fiction and non-fiction. A member of the Association of Authors Representative (AAR), he regularly lectures and writes on publishing and the craft of writing. (Blog: http://lincolnsquarebooks.com/author/prubie/)
Clients: Luke McCallin (The Man from Berlin), Chris Goff (Birdwatching mysteries, Dark Waters), J. Madison Davis (Dub Greenaway mysteries, Murder of Frau Schutz – Edgar nominated for Best First Novel, And the Angels Sang), Macolm Shuman (Mysterious Press mysteries), Vicki Stieffel (Bone Man, Body Parts), and William P Wood (Rampage, Sudden Impact).
EDITOR
Gretchen Stelter, Cogitate Studios
www.CogitateStudios.com
Bio: Gretchen Stelter began her career in publishing while she was still finishing her master’s degree, helping launch the West Coast-based Baker’s Mark Literary Agency and later moving to editorial director. In 2010, she started editing and writing full-time and has worked on over 500 traditionally published books, doing everything from proofreading and copyediting to developmental editing and ghost writing, as well as working with select self-published authors. She’s a member of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild, Editorial Freelancers Association, and Sisters in Crime
Clients: ITW members Liv Constantine (sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine, The Last Mrs. Parrish), Paige Dearth, Glenn Dyer, and Jerri Williams; as well as publishing houses Sourcebooks (including books by Marieke Nijkamp, Natasha Preston, Charles Belfoure, Nic Joseph, and Randall Silvis), Albert Whitman (including books by YALSA-honored Linda Joy Singleton), and others.
AGENT
Jess Taylor
Revizion Editorial Services
www.revision.net
AGENT
Nikki Terpilowski, Holloway Literary
www.HollowayLiteraryAgency.com
Bio: Nikki established Holloway Literary in 2011 after working in marketing communications as a writer and editor. Nikki is the senior agent at Holloway Literary and also handles all negotiations for the agency’s film deals. She loves all types of fiction, but is particularly interested in finding interesting mysteries, fresh Southern voices, ethnically and culturally diverse fiction and culinary non-fiction. When she’s not working or wrangling her three sons, she enjoys traveling to the beach, mountains and all historical sites in between.
Clients: Internationally bestselling domestic suspense author, Kimberly Belle, internationally bestselling contemporary romance author, Katie Oliver and USA Today bestselling cozy mystery author, Catherine Bruns. Kimberly Belle’s Three Days Missing is currently optioned to Two Jacks Productions, her bestselling novel The Marriage Lie is in development at ABC Studios and Rea Frey’s Not Her Daughter is in development with Argent Pictures.
AGENT
Anne Tibbets, D4EO Literary Agency
www.d4eoliteraryagency.com
Bio: Anne Tibbets began her career as a screenwriter, author, and literary agency intern at
D4EO Literary Agency, becoming a full-time agent in 2018 at Red Sofa Literary. Anne joined D4EO Literary Agency in 2019 and is best found on Twitter @AnneTibbets and her blog http://writeforcoffee.blogspot.com/.
Clients: Emery Hayes, JJ Blacklocke, Dawn Ius, McCormick Templeman, Benjamin Evett, and others.
AGENT
Jennifer Weis, Literary Agent
Bio: Jennifer Weis recently left St. Martin’s Press where she was Executive Editor for 30 years to move to the other side of the desk. Many things have changed for her but one thing has remained constant: that is, the hunt for page-turning fiction of all kinds, with a focus on suspense. With bestsellers like B.A. Paris’ BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, THE BREAKDOWN and BRING ME BACK, and the national bestselling BABY TEETH in the past few years, her editorial list has also included such long-time suspense writers as Erica Spindler.
Jennifer is the co-chair of Project Lyme, a nonprofit based in NYC that focuses on awareness, education and advocacy. She is a graduate of Yale College and Yale University (M.A. in English) and lives in NYC with her husband and 4 children.
AGENT
Christine Witthohn, Book Cents Literary Agency
www.BookcentsLiteraryAgency.com
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Bio: Christine Witthohn is a U.S. literary and licensing agent and the founder of Book Cents Literary Agency (opened in 2005). She is a sponsor of the International Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy, and teaches brainstorming, branding, and social media classes in various cities around the U.S., U.K., and Italy. A member of AAR, RWA, MWA, you can usually find her at a book fair (London, BEA, and Frankfurt), in a local bookstore, listening to an audio book while commuting, or binge watching foreign subtitled films/television series.
Leading Clients: Kerrigan Byrne, Coreene Callahan, Lisa Marie Rice, Shannon McKenna, Anita Clenney, Cynthia St. Aubin, Sherelle Green, Kari Lee Townsend, Nathaniel Free, S.G. Redling, Joni Sauer-Folger, Yahrah St. John, Sparkle Abbey, Liz Lipperman, A.C. Arthur, Leigh Michaels, Pete Morin, and others.
Check back soon for more editors and agents participating in ConsultFest 2020.
ConsultFest sessions will be scheduled throughout CraftFest and ThrillerFest during which attendees can invest $100 to meet for fifteen minutes, one-on-one, with a top acquiring editor or agent to get instant feedback on his or her query letter OR first two pages of a manuscript. The writer will be assigned a time with the expert who will provide comments and offer feedback for improvements. Opportunities are limited; sessions will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis. Two sessions may be purchased. Questions? Contact Sandra Brannan, PitchFest Director.
