The following agents and editors are listed for Virtual PitchFest 2021. Please check back periodically as we will update the roster as more experts confirm.

2021 Agents/Editors/Producers:

AGENT
Bernadette Baker-Baughman
www.victoriasanders.com

Bio: Bernadette Baker-Baughman has completed a Master’s Degree in Writing at Portland State University, and spent several years in-house (first editorial, then marketing). She began agenting in 2005 and has worked with VSA since 2010.

Currently Looking For: She is drawn to strong storytelling in all genres, with a special interest in thrillers, contemporary novels, magical realism, young adult, and books for kids. She is also open to pop-culture, gift books, and memoir. She loves smart writing, high concept books, work with great emotional resonance, and humor. She is always looking for authors with a distinctive voice.

Not Looking For: N/A

Clients: She has represented a number of New York Times bestselling and award-winning writers and illustrators, including Leslye Walton, Faith Erin Hicks, Tony Cliff, Maris Wicks, Liv Constantine, and Carson Morton, to name a few.

AGENT
Rachel Beck, Liza Dawson Associates
www.lizadawsonassociates.com

Bio: Rachel Beck joined Liza Dawson Associates in 2020 after working at a boutique literary agency for four years. She has been in the publishing industry since 2009 and worked at Harlequin editing romance novels for nearly six years before transitioning her skills to the agent world in order to be an advocate and champion for authors.

Currently Looking For: Rachel believes that the right book can change or heal a life, and she wants to find those. But she’s also interested in lighter fiction that helps you escape or simply makes you laugh after a tough day. Or nonfiction that teaches you something about an obscure topic, thus opening up a new world. More specifically, she’s looking for: upmarket/book club women’s fiction (Emily Giffin, Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain) that explores controversial/morally gray areas in a complex, sympathetic way; light-hearted millennial fiction or contemporary romance (Kristan Higgins) that makes you go from laughing to crying in an instant; character-driven, psychologically intense domestic suspense (B.A. Paris, Megan Abbott, Kaira Rouda) that feels fresh from page one, with characters who are mind-blowingly insane or extreme or fascinating; issue-driven/LGBTQ+ young adult (Courtney Summers, Amber Smith, Jennifer Niven, Robin Talley); and select nonfiction.

Not Looking For: Middle grade, picture books, epic/high fantasy, erotic romance, short stories or poetry.

Clients: Rea Frey, Georgina Cross, Patricia Johns, Sara Goodman Confino, Jen Wiggins, Erik Severinghaus, Cathy Cassani Adams, Britt Frank, Jerri Chisholm

AGENT
Susan Chang, Tor Books
www.us.macmillan.com

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.

Currently Looking For: Psychological or dark horror; mythological retellings in contemporary settings; historical fiction; all types of speculative fiction; and diverse voices.

Not Looking For: Picture books, New Adult, or Adult.

Clients: W. Bruce Cameron, Alan Gratz, Sarah Henning, Sarah Porter, and Brandon Sanderson.

AGENT
Robert G. Diforio, D4EO Literary Agency
www.d4eoliteraryagency.com

Bio: Bob has been in publishing for nearly 60 years. He graduated from Williams College in 1964 and joined Kable News Company [a distributor of books and magazines, including Berkley Books] as Eastern U.S. Book Supervisor, calling on the then network of ID’s, independent distributors.

From book rep to VP of books sales he joined New American Library in 1972 as VP, Sales Director. He spent 17 years at NAL helping launch the mass market paperback careers of Stephen King, Ken Follett, Robin Cook and Erica Jong rising to publisher and president of the company.

He led the management team in a leverage buy out of NAL, with Odyssey Partners, from Times Mirror in 1983. They subsequently purchased E. P. Dutton and sold the company to Pearson PLC to merger with Viking/Penguin.

Currently Looking For: N/A

Not Looking For: N/A

Clients: Three years later he left and formed D4EO Literary Agency where he has helped launch the writing careers of hundreds of author with sales of over 4,000 books. The agency – www.d4eoliteraryagency.com – now has 7 agents working with Bob from their home offices around the USA.

AGENT
Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency, LLC
@lizaroyceagency (Twitter/Instagram)
www.lizaroyce.com  

Bio: Liza Fleissig, with her partner Ginger Harris-Dontzin, opened the Liza Royce Agency (LRA) in early 2011. A cross-platform company providing development, representation, and strategic career management for clients in all media, their goal is to represent clients in all stages of their careers, from the most established to those developing their craft, as well as debuts. Both former partners in NYC based litigation law firms, Liza and Ginger bring a combined 40 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.

Looking For: Liza loves a good thriller/suspense/mystery, women’s fiction, domestic suspense, and humor. She is also always on the lookout for marginalized voices and stories, but all strong voices and storytelling welcomed!

Not looking For: Although she never says never, at the moment she is not focusing on super high scifi/fantasy or political thrillers.

Current Authors: Robert Bailey II, Isabella Maldonado, Amy Impellizzeri, Danielle Wong, Walter Gragg, Estate of Marc Olden, among others.

AGENT
Renee C. Fountain, President
Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management
www.ghliterary.com

Bio: Renee C. Fountain is the president of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management. A former television book scout, and publishing industry veteran, Ms. Fountain has more than 20 years of licensing, publishing and entertainment experience. Having worked for major publishing houses such as Harcourt and Simon & Schuster, Ms. Fountain had the great fortune of working with some of the best writers and illustrators in the publishing world.

Currently Looking For: All types of adult and YA fiction and non-fiction. I prefer thrillers, horror/dark fantasy, women’s fiction, humor, pop-culture, true crime, lifestyle, business, self-help, memoirs and other narrative/commercial non-fiction.

Not Looking For: Children’s Picture books/Middle Grade, short story collections, Poetry, Sci-Fi, Plot concepts based on: Bio-hazard, Viral Epidemics/Pandemics, terrorists of any kind, political/geopolitical themes, vampires, zombies, werewolves or witches.

Clients: Jonathan Fredrick Cash City, Hum Little Birdie and Bad Men Will Come (Audible Originals), Luke Romyn Ash (Audible Originals), Rebecca Fox Starr Beyond The Baby Blues and Baby Ever After (Rowan & Littlefield), Train Your Head & Your Body Will Follow, My 30 Day Reset Journal and Recess to Reset Kids Journal- Sandy Joy Weston (Skyhorse) Sarah Cain The 8th Circle and One By One (Crooked Lane) Danny Johnson, Last Road Home (Kensington), Michael Logan Hell’s Detective (Crooked Lane) Thommy Hutson Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (Permuted Press), Elizabeth Heaney The Honor Was Mine (Grand Harbor).

AGENT
Lori Galvin, Aevitas Creative Management
www.aevitascreative.com

Bio: Lori Galvin was a book editor before joining Aevitas Creative Management as agent in 2015. Her book deals include Cambria Brockman’s debut thriller Tell Me Everything (Ballantine; Netflix has optioned film rights) and Holly Watt’s CWA Steel Dagger award-winning To the Lions (Dutton), and Wanda M. Morris’s All Her Little Secrets (William Morrow). Lori met and signed Wanda at Thrillerfest 2019!

Currently Looking For: Sophisticated thrillers and suspense, contemporary noir, gothic fiction, mystery/horror crossovers, speculative fiction, cozy culinary mysteries, and true crime. Adult and YA.

Not Looking For: Science fiction, romance, or children’s.

Clients: Cambria Brockman, Sara Goudarzi, Hannah Kirshner, Wanda M. Morris, Kwame Onwuachi, Sebastian J. Plata, and Sandy Pool.

AGENT
Sandy Lu, Book Wyrm Literary  Literary Agency
www.bookwyrmlit.com

Bio: Sandy Lu founded Book Wyrm Literary Agency in 2020 after working as a literary agent for more than a decade at the L. Perkins Agency.
Sandy holds BAs in psychology and sociology from Queens College, with minors in music, business, and Japanese. Prior to becoming an agent, she attended the Ph.D. Program in Social and Personality Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center and worked as a business/operations manager in the theater industry. Born and raised in Taiwan, she is a native Mandarin speaker.

Sandy’s areas of study and work experience greatly inform her interest in submissions. She is seeking stories that will draw her in with a unique voice, make her miss her bedtime with a thrilling plot, and characters that will stay with her long after she turns the last page. Bonus points if you can make her laugh out loud or unable to hold back tears. Sandy especially loves historical fiction and anything dark, twisted, or with a supernatural bent. She also favors unreliable narrators and serpentine plots that will keep her guessing till the end. She especially wants to find a great spy novel set in early 20th century China.

Currently Looking For: Fiction: mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, and YA. Non-fiction: narrative nonfiction, history, biography, science, business, psychology, pop culture, and food writing.

Not Looking For: Picture books, graphic novels, religions/spirituality, politics/current affairs, sports, parenting, how-to/self-help, poetry, or screenplays.

Clients: M. H. Boroson, B.J. Graf, Heather Levy, Elizabeth Lewes, Jeneva Rose, and Randall Silvis.

AGENT
Eric Myers, Myers Literary Management
www.myersliterary.com

Bio: Eric Myers founded his own agency, Myers Literary Management, in 2017 after working as an agent for several companies including Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret, LLC and The Spieler Agency. He entered agenting through the back door–as an author himself, having written Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis (St. Martin’s Press, 2000) and co-authored two other books. His journalism has appeared in The New York Times and Time Out.

Currently Looking For: Young Adult, Thrillers, Pop Culture, Historical Fiction, and some memoir, but only if the author already has a strong platform.

Not Looking For: Literary fiction, poetry, mysteries, unless the thriller aspect is very strong.

Clients: Jack Barsky, Bryan Batt, Alonso Duralde, Kathleen Kalb, Lydia Kang, Derek Taylor Kent, August Norman, Justus Rosenberg, Kim Stagliano, Anne Thompson, Robert Hofler, David Neilsen, Beverley McLachlin, and many more. He is pleased to have discovered Simon Gervais (HUNT THEM DOWN, THE THIN BLACK LINE, and the upcoming THE LAST PROTECTOR) at Thrillerfest.

AGENT
Lynnette Novak, The Seymour Agency
Twitter: @Lynnette_Novak 
www.theseymouragency.com 

Bio: Prior to joining The Seymour Agency, Lynnette spent seventeen years freelance editing. She worked with new writers, advanced writers, as well as New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors. Lynnette earned a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba, where she specialized in English and French. She excelled in Advanced Creative Writing in university and studied writing for children and teens through the Institute of Children’s Literature. She was a Pitch Wars mentor in 2015 and 2016. Both her mentees acquired an agent. Lynnette has since closed her editing business and is excited to bring her passion for the written word to agenting.

Currently Looking For: She loves dark and suspenseful, mysterious twists, unique worlds, light and funny, a good love story, and lots of voice. (Always looking for own voices, diversity, and LGBTQ+!!!)

• In adult fiction: thrillers, psychological suspense, horror, contemporary romance, romantic comedy, and mysteries (traditional, amateur sleuth, and cozy).

• In young adult fiction: thrillers, psychological suspense, horror, contemporary, mysteries, fantasy, and sci-fi.

• In middle grade fiction: contemporary, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action/adventure, mystery, and humor.

• In children’s fiction: picture books (non-rhyming preferred).

Not Looking For: N/A.

Clients: Lynnette Novak is an agent at The Seymour Agency and is currently building her client list.

EDITOR
Chantelle Aimee Osman, Agora Books
www.polisbooks.com

Bio: Chantelle Aimée Osman is the editor of Agora, an imprint of Polis Books. Agora focuses on crime fiction with unique social and cultural themes. Titles from Agora’s debut list have been nominated for Edgar, Anthony, Lefty, Macavity and Strand Critics awards. The former Editor-in-Chief of RT Book Reviews Magazine and a freelance editor for over 10 years, she is also an instructor at 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 in addition to serving as editor for several anthologies. She was named a Publishers Weekly Rising Star honoree in 2020. Find her online at chantelleaimee.com and on Twitter @SuspenseSiren.

Currently Looking For: Agora focuses on crime novels that delve into the most important issues of our time—exploring society, economy, politics, culture, race, and gender in unique and different ways—from a roster of diverse authors from varying backgrounds.

Not Looking For: Non-Fiction, Poetry, or anything outside of the above categories.

Authors: John Vercher, Patricia Smith, Tori Eldridge, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Gabino Inglesias, Johnny Shaw, Cynthia Pelayo, Eloísa Díaz, Josh Stallings, Sung J. Woo, Amita Murray, Carolyne Topdjian, Andrea J. Johnson, RV Raman, and Gary Phillips.

AGENT
Michelle Richter, Fuse Literary
www.fuseliterary.com

Bio: Michelle Richter is a Senior Agent at Fuse Literary, which she joined from St. Martin’s Press. She is also an adjunct professor at Pace University’s M.S. in Publishing program, of which she is an alum. Crime fiction is her true love, from police procedurals to domestic suspense to thriller. And don’t forget the heists and con artists. She’s rarely found a British or Scandinavian crime show she couldn’t get wrapped up in. Recent favorite authors include Ruth Ware, S.A. Cosby, P.J. Vernon, Halley Sutton, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden.

Currently Looking For: Suspense, thriller, amateur sleuth, traditional mystery, police procedural, YA thriller/suspense, commercial women’s fiction, book club reads. She loves family secrets, sister/friend stories, lots of twists, and unreliable narrators. LGBTQ and BIPOC voices are very welcome.

Not Looking For: Military or espionage thrillers, science fiction/fantasy, poetry, middle-grade, memoir.

Clients: E.A. Aymar, E.A.Barres, Kellye Garrett, Jennifer Gold, Tara Laskowski and Carl Vonderau.

AGENT
Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency
www.lgrliterary.com

Bio: Victoria Skurnick is with the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency, and represents both fiction and nonfiction. Among the books she has represented are Turn of Mind, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, Jar of Hearts, Bad Things Happen, The Unexpected President, Anonymous Sources, and The Dangerous Book for Dogs.

Victoria has been with LGR for 14 years; before joining the agency, she was editor-in-chief of The Book-of-the-Month Club, Senior Editor at St. Martin’s Press and Pocket Books, and Advertising Director of Holt. She is also the co-author of seven novels published under the name Cynthia Victor.

Currently Looking For: Literary fiction, thrillers, narrative nonfiction, history, politics and pop culture. But she is open to just about every kind of book.

Not Looking For: Science fiction, fantasy, or romance.

Clients:Victoria’s client list includes Susan Elia MacNeal, Jennifer Hillier, Mariah Fredericks, Alice LaPlante, Harry Dolan, and Kermit Roosevelt among others.

AGENT
John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency
www.talbotfortuneagency.com

Bio: John is a literary agent with twenty-five plus years of commercial book publishing experience. Prior to becoming an agent he was a Senior Editor at Putnam Berkley, where he had the honor of working with such global bestsellers as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, and Jack Higgins. He edited dozens of national bestsellers and several New York Times Notable Books. He began his editorial career at Simon & Schuster.

Currently Looking For: Thrillers, domestic suspense, suspense with Western themes and settings, crime novels, and mysteries with series and bestselling potential. I look particularly for authenticity, a strong and engaging voice, good pacing, and, most of all, a singular protagonist who grabs my attention from page one.

Not Looking For: N/A

Clients: Brad Taylor, Mike Maden, Boyd Morrison, Ted Bell, Josh Hood, Ellie Alexander, Cleo Coyle, LynDee Walker, Kevin O’Brien, Rick Campbell, “Real Book Spy” Ryan Steck, Jeff Ayers, Austin Camacho, and Morrow debut author and Agentfest signee Taylor Moore.

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.

Currently Looking For: Romance (contemporary, historical, sweet, POC), Women’s fiction, YA (especially science fiction and fantasy), Historical fiction, Mysteries (cozy, traditional, contemporary, historical), Thrillers (military, political, espionage, domestic suspense), Literary fiction, Southern fiction, Nonfiction (culinary, heirloom skills, mindfulness, lifestyle, American south). Particularly interested in southern USA voices.

Not Looking For: Stories that focus on chronic illness or dying, Erotica, Graphic horror (light elements of horror are acceptable), Stories with graphic sex scenes, Police procedurals, Stories in which children are abused, Stories that explore sexual abuse and its effects, Stories in which racism or discrimination are the focus (unless it is historical non-fiction), Fiction set in the 60,s, 70’s, 80’s or 90’s.

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.