Stephanie Evanovich New York Times Best-Selling Author
Our 2015 Keynote Speaker
Stephanie Evanovich is a full-fledged Jersey girl from Asbury Park who began writing fiction while waiting for her cues during countless community theater projects. She attended New York’s School of Film and Television and acted in several improvisational troupes and a few smallbudget movies, all in preparation for the greatest job she ever had, raising her two sons. Now a fulltime writer, she’s an avid sports fan who holds a black belt in tae kwon do. Visit Stephanie on: “http://www.facebook.com/ stephanieevanovichbooks”
Website:
www.facebook.com/stephanieevanovichbooks and www.stephanieevanovich.com
“Big Girl Panties has wit and heart”—People “Evanovich’s incredibly entertaining debut mesmerizes with wit, heart, and intelligence as a spirited large woman breaks out of her shell in a thinobsessed world…a marvelous gem.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review “Evanovich’s debut effort is a funny, clever, and well-paced read.”—Booklist “A good start by Evanovich, who presents both sides of the story in a romance with imperfect heroes.”—Kirkus Reviews
A steamy new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Big Girl Panties! THE SWEET SPOT by Stephanie Evanovich William Morrow Hardcover; On Sale: July 8, 2014 Price: $26.99; 272 Pages; ISBN: 9780062234810; E-BOOK ISBN: 9780062234834
irectory of Speakers Marilyn Allen Maureen Amaturo Jacob Appel Nora Baskin Alan Beechey Patience Bloom Jack Camarda Jocelyn Davies April Eberhardt Jennifer Fusco Lane Heymount
Ron Hogan Beena Kamlani Lynn Levin John Marshall Jessica Regel Katharine Sands Alana Sanko Sara Sargent Eliza Shallcross Lee Stringer Paul Witcover
Marilyn Allen Founder and Partner Allen O’Shea Literary Agency
Marilyn Allen is a founder and partner in Allen O’Shea Literary Agency, which focuses on nonfiction works. Allen has previoulsy held senior sales and marketing positions for Penguin Books, Simon & Schuster and culminated as the Associate Publisher of HarperCollins. Allen and agent partner Coleen O’Shea co-authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Book Proposals and Query Letters (Penguin). The agency currently seeks practical nonfiction, memoir and pop culture, especially health, cooking, business, parenting, narrative nonfiction, science and blog-based books.
Website:
www.allenoshealiteraryagency.com
Maureen Amaturo Freelance Writer, Columnist, Poet, Author
Maureen amaturo is a is a freelance writer, columnist, poet, and writes fiction for both the adult and children’s markets. Her poetry has been published by Beatlefest, in several national anthologies, and has become song lyrics for local bands. When her short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Harlem” won first place in a national competition, she was labeled “America’s next Flannery O’Connor.” After a career of fashion and beauty writing – having written for several major cosmetic companies and designers, published two beauty how-to books, and having had work published in Parents, Glamour, Vogue, Redbook, newspapers, advertising (U.S. and global,) beauty catalogs, and designer websites – Maureen saw fiction as a natural next step. But she hasn’t abandoned her fashion writing altogether. She writes a bi-weekly fashion column, “Dressing On The Side,” for her local newspaper.
Maureen is Co-Chairman of The Unicorn Writers Conference, and has produced six annual conferences in partnership with literary agent, Jan Kardys. Additionally, she is actively involved in conceptualizing, curating, and producing exhibits and performing arts events for local arts organizations. Having established a Literary Arts Program at her community arts center, Maureen created and produced an annual Edgar Allan Poe event involving best-selling authors, television and Broadway personalities, and the Curators of Edgar Allan Poe Museums across America. At The 2009 Edgar Awards, Jeff Jerome, Curator of the Poe Museum in Maryland, presented Maureen with a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the city ofBaltimore for her efforts in promoting the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Maureen teaches a variety of Creative Writing classes to students of all ages, Fashion Illustration, Jewelry Design, and other mixed media arts workshops. Additionally, she writes
articles and conducts celebrity interviews for her local newspapers. She is founder of the Sound Shore Writers Group and is currently at work on several new children’s books and has completed her first novel, a romantic comedy. Maureen holds a B.A. in English and an MFA in Creative Writing.
Jacob Appel Award-Winning Author, Scholar and Practicing Psychiatrist
Jacob M. Appel is the author of the novels, The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up, which won the 2012 Dundee International Book Award, and TheBiology of Luck (2013). His story collection, Scouting for the Reaper (2014), won the Hudson Prize. Jacob's short fiction has appeared in more than two hundred leading literary journals including Agni, Alaska Quarterly Review, Colorado Review, Gettysburg Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, Southwest Review, Story Quarterly, Threepenny Review, Virginia Quarterly Review and West Branch. His prose has won the Boston Review Short Fiction Competition, the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Award for the Short Story, the Dana Award, theArts & Letters Prize for Fiction, the North American Review’s Kurt Vonnegut Prize, the Missouri Review’s Editor’s Prize, the Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize, the Briar Cliff Review’s Short Fiction Prize, the Salem College Center for
Women Writers’ Reynolds Price Short Fiction Award, the H. E. Francis Prize, the New Millennium Writings Fiction Award on four separate occasions, an Elizabeth George Fellowship and a Sherwood Anderson Foundation Writers Grant. His stories have been short-listed for the O. Henry Award (2001), Best American Short Stories (2007,2008), Best American Nonrequired Reading( 2007,2008), and the Pushcart Prize anthology (2005, 2006, 2011). Jacob holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Brown, an M.S. in bioethics from the Alden March Bioethics Institute of Albany Medical College, an M.A. and an M.Phil. from Columbia, an M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, an M.F.A. in fiction from N.Y.U., and MFA in playwriting from CUNY-Queens, an MPH from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He practices psychiatry in New York City.
Website:
www.jacobmappel.com
Nora Raleigh Baskin Author & Teacher
Nora Raleigh Baskin is the author of the middle grade novels "http://www.writingclasses.com index-yii.php/redirect/bnIsbn/ isbn/0440418526 "What Every Girl (except me) Knows, "http://www.writingclasses.com/index-yii.php/redirect/bnIsbn/isbn/0316010286 "Almost Home (Little, Brown and Company), "http://www.writingclasses.com/index-yii.php/ redirect/bnIsbn/isbn/0060596120"Basketball (or Something Like It), "http://www.writingclasses.com/index-yii.php/redirect/bnIsbn/ isbn/0060596074"In the Company of Crazies (HarperCollins), and "http://www.writingclasses.com/index-yii.php/redirect/bnIsbn/ isbn/9781416935582"TheTruth About My Bat Mitzvah and "http://www.idie-bound.org/ book/9781442458086"Runt (Simon & Schuster), as well as the YA novels "http://www.indiebound.orgbook/9780763668457"Subway Love, "http:!%20%20//www.idiebound.org/ book/9780763649081"Surfacing, "http://www. writing classes.com/index-yii.php/redirect/bnIsbn/isbn/
9780763636234 "All We Know Of Love (Candlewick), "http://www.writingclasses.com /index-yii.php/redirect/bnIsbnisbn/ 9781416963783
Website:
www.norabaskin.com/Home.html
Alan Beechey Mystery Writer
Alan Beechey is the author of a series of
mysteries featuring children’s author and
amateur detective Oliver Swithin. His latest novel, This Private Plot, was published last year by Poisoned Pen Press, along with new paperback editions of his earlier titles An Embarrassment of Corpses – which made The Bookshop Blog’s list of the “Best 100 Mysteries of All Time” -- and Murdering Ministers. Alan is also the co-author of a recent non-fiction book on American culture and values.
Website:
www.beechey.com
Patience Bloom Senior Editor & Author
Patience Bloom is the Senior Editor for
Harlequin Romantic Suspense, which gives her full license to indulge in her love of the thriller genre and all things suspense. Her work at Harlequin is the perfect mesh of romance and suspense, though she works on many different lines from Christian and historical romances to her home line. She has been with the company since December 1997. Originally from the Northeast, she has lived in France, Connecticut, Ohio and New Mexico and now resides in New York City. She has her master’s degree in French literature, which hasn’t really helped with her work as an editor, and taught French at Sandia Preparatory School before moving into publishing. Recently, she published Romance Is My Day Job (Dutton/Plume) about her work as an editor and the search for Mr. Right.
Website:
http://harlequinblog.com/tag/editorpatience-bloom/
Jack Camarda Media Trainer & Presentation Coach
Jack Camarda is a 30-year broadcasting veteran having worked for ABC, Cox Communications and ESPN as well as serving as a university professor for more than 20 years. He created the, “Mayor of Fogarea,” character while the morning host at KC101. He’s also written and introduced a number of the broadcasting courses to the curriculum of Fairfield University, and was faculty at Sacred Heart University and the University of New Haven. A media consultant and presentation coach since 1995, he has tutored well over 200 clients, many of them CEOs, COOs and CFOs of Fortune 500 companies as well as many published authors and several television and media personalities. He’s a published author himself, having written a political satire entitled, “Corruptus Politicus: A Shallow Man’s Quest For Wealth, Cheap Celebrity and Self Importance In A Politically Correct World.”
Website:
www.jackcamarda.com
Jocelyn Davies Author & Editor
Jocelyn davies is the author of the “A Beautiful Dark� series and the forthcoming young adult novel, THE ODDS OF LIGHTNING (Simon Pulse, 2016). In addition to writing, she also edits books for tween and teen readers. Jocelyn lives in Brooklyn, New York and has never been struck by lightning--at least not literally. Follow her on twitter @jocelyndavies.
Website:
www.jocelyndavies.com
April Eberhardt Literary Agent & Advocate
april Eberhardt After 25 years as a corporate strategist and consultant, April Eberhardt joined the literary world, where she saw strategic opportunity to play a role in the changing world of publishing. A self-described “literary change agent,� April advises and assists authors worldwide as they choose the best pathway to publication for their work, be it indie or traditional, digital or print. She serves as an industry advocate for establishing quality standards for non-traditionally published work to increase acceptance of independent publishing. April divides her time between San Francisco, New York, and Paris. She also is a reader for the Best American Short Stories series published annually by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Website:
www.aprileberhardt.com
Jennifer Fusco Author & Publicity Professional
JEnnifer Fusco is the author of Market or Die, a marketing book for writers, and the owner of a publicity services company. A threetime winner of the Advertising Excellence Award, Jennifer has launched successful print and digital ad campaigns. She has served as a member of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and believes that brand building is a key to professional success. Ms. Fusco also writes contemporary romance. Her debut novel, FIGHTING FOR IT, a sports romance, will debut September 15, 2015 from Penguin Intermix.
Website:
www.marketordie.net/about.html
Lane Heymount Literary Agent & Author
LANE Heymount served as a literary assistant at the Seymour Agency for two years, leading the marketing efforts for their authors and connecting clients with readers. As a lover of literature since childhood, he decided to pursue his passion as a literary agent to bring well-written books to the masses. With a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, business and literature, Lane continued his education in Creative Writing and English, attending Harvard. Lane is a member of HWA, ITW, SCBWI, RWA, and the AAR. He believes what John Gregory Dunne said: “Writing is manual labor of the mind.”
Website:
www.theseymouragencey.com/About-Us. html
Ron Hogan Editor Writer Co-host
RON Hogan is an editor at Regan Arts. He
helped create the literary Internet, launching Beatrice.com in 1995, and currently writes for Shelf Awareness, Buzzfeed, and The Daily Beast, among other publications. Ron is also the co-host of Lady Jane’s Salon, the first monthly reading series in the United States dedicated to romance fiction. He lives in Queens.
Website:
www.reganarts.com
Beena Kamlani Senior Editor Viking Penguin
Beena Kamlani is senior editor at Viking Penguin and has worked closely with many writers, foremost among them Saul Bellow and Robert Fagles. She taught book editing at New York University and was awarded the “Excellence in Teaching” award from NYU in 2002. She now teaches writing and editing at The Writing Center at Hunter College. A speaker at many writers’ conferences across the country, she gives talks on writing, editing, reading and the development of craft. She is an award-winning fiction writer whose work has been published in many magazines and anthologies. She lives in New York.
Website:
www.penguin.com
Lynn Levin Poet, Writer, Translator & Professor
Lynn Levin is a poet, writer, and translator. She is the author of six books, most recently: Miss Plastique (Ragged Sky Press, 2013), a 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in poetry; as co-author, Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets (Texture Press, 2013), a 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in education/academic books; and a translation from the Spanish, Birds on the Kiswar Tree (2Leaf Press, 2014), a collection of poems by the Peruvian Andean poet Odi Gonzales. Her other books include: Fair Creatures of an Hour (Loon-feather Press, 2009), a 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in poetry; Imaginarium (LoonfeatherPress,(2005) a finalist for ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award; and A Few Questions about Paradise (Loonfeather Press, 2000). Lynn Levin’s poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Boulevard, Washington Square Review, The Hopkins Review, Cimarron Review, 5 A.M.,
Kerem, Verse Daily and on Garrison Keillor’s radio show The Writer’s Almanac. She has published essays in Southwest Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Contemporary Poetry Review, Alimentum, Review, Wild
River Review, and other places. Her short fiction appears in Cleaver, The Rag, Rathalla Review, and YARN. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.
Links:
http://raggedsky.com/miss-plastique www.amazon.com/Poems-Writing-PromptsValerie-Fox/dp/0615782833 http://2leafpress.org/online/birds-kiswartree/ https://www.english.upenn.edu/People/ LynnLevin
Website: www.english.upenn.edu/.../LynnLevin
John Marshall TV and Magazine Comedy Writer
John Marshall is an Emmy-nominated writer who has written for The Chris Rock Show, Politically Incorrect, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, The Electric Company and many other shows. He has also written for MAD Magazine and Bazooka Joe Comics. He is the executive producer and head writer for the 2015 Writers Guild of America, East Awards.
Website:
http://www.thewriterjohnsmarshall.com
Jessica Regel Foreign Rights Director & Literary Agent
Jess REGEL serves as Foundry’s Foreign Rights Director for Children’s Books, and also represents her own list of authors. As a domestic agent, Jess represents all genres of young adult and middle grade books, as well as a select list of adult general fiction, women’s fiction, and adult nonfiction. She is passionate about discovering projects that are compulsive, contagious, and creative. She’s particularly interested in books that are “conversation starters” and novels that bridge the literary-commercial divide, combining a high-concept plot with beautiful writing. On the foreign side, with energy and persistence, Jess develops the international careers of Foundry clients. Each day she calls on the relationships she’s cultivated with foreign editors and agents to place Foundry authors’ works in new countries and new cultures across the globe.
Originally from Iowa, Jess was working at her local library when she was offered a job at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency and packed up for New York City. She spent 11 years at the Naggar Agency representing subsidiary rights and building her list of authors, including: Lesley Livingston’s Wondrous Strange and Starling series (HarperTeen), Emily Danforth’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Balzer + Bray), Cecilia Galante’s Little Wings Series (Random House Children’s), Shana Mlawski’s Hammer of Witches (Lee & Low), Jeryl Brunner’s My City, My New York (Globe Pequot Press), J.C. Carleson’s Work Like a Spy (Profile) and The Tyrant’s Daughter (Knopf ), and Jillian Cantor’s Margot (Riverhead) and Searching for Sky (Bloomsbury). Jess is a graduate of Hunter College with a degree in English Literature.
Jess Regel only accepts submissions by email. Please send all queries to: jrsubmissions@foundrymedia.com For more information on submitting your project, please see the “http://www.foundrymedia. com/submissions” Foundry Submissions page.
Website:
www. www.foundrymedia.com
Katharine Sands Literary Agent Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
Katharine Sands A literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Katharine Sands has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books. Highlights include: Spiritual Pregnancy: Nine Months that Change Your Life Before You Give Birth by Dr. Shawn Tassone and Dr. Kathryn Landherr; Talk to Strangers: How Everyday Random Encounters Can Expand Your Business, Career, Income and Life by David Topus; The New Rules of Attraction: How to Get Him, Keep Him and Make Him Beg for More by Arden Leigh; Stand Up for Yourself: Resolve Workplace Crises Before You Quit, Get Axed or Sue the Bastards by Donna Ballman; Making Healthy EZ with Dr. Oz guest, Dr. Julie Chen;Dating the Devil (producer: Vast Entertainment) by Lia Romeo; XTC: SongStories; Chasing Zebras: THE Unofficial Guide to House, MD by Barbara Barnett of Let’s Talk TV; City Tripping: a Guide for Foodies, Fashionistas and the Generally Style-Obsessed; Writers on Directors; Ford model Helen Lee’s The Tao
of Beauty; Elvis and You: Your Guide to the Pleasures of Being an Elvis Fan; New York: Songs of the City; Taxpertise: Dirty Little Secrets the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Know; The SAT Word Slam, Divorce After 50; Trust Your Gut; Make Up, Don’t Break Up with Oprah guest Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil to name a few. She is the agent provocateur of Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, a collection of pitching wisdom from leading literary agents. Recently contributed “Grey is the New Black” to Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey, a nonfiction look at the cultural phenom of the bestselling novel. Actively building her client list, she likes books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks, which might be at issues, life challenges or popular culture. When
reading fiction she wants to be compelled and propelled by urgent storytelling, and hooked by characters. For memoir and femoir, she likes to be transported to a world rarely or newly
Website:
www.sarahjanefreymann.com
Alana Sanko Television Writer Executive Producer Comedy Writer
Alana Sanko is an award-winning television writer and Executive Producer who has written and developed for comedy, drama and animated series, as well as TV movies and network and cable pilots for ABC, CBS, Bravo, MTV, HBO, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Nick at Nite, to name a few. Her credits include the critically acclaimed television series, Murphy Brown, ABC’s comedy pilot See Jayne Run, starring Heather Locklear and Nickelodeon’s series Just for Kicks, along with Whoopi Goldberg, which earned her a WGA Award. Alana’s also written for numerous children’s television series, including Little Einsteins, DragonTales, A Little Curious, Oswald the Octopus and The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. Currently she’s developing a comedy pilot and enjoying her work with the talented writers at the Westport Writers Workshop.
Website:
www.alanasanko.com
Sara Sargent Editor & Presentation Coach
Sara Sargent is an Editor at Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, where she acquires young adult fiction. She works with New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines, National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti, Jennifer Echols, Julie Cross, Aaron Karo, and Martina Boone, among others. Previously she was an Associate Editor at Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins. Sara also received her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University. You can sometimes find her eating takeout and reading on the couch. You can always find her online and on Twitter and Instagram @Sara_Sargent. Sara lives in Brooklyn.
Website:
www.sarasargent.wordpress.com
Eliza Shallcross Editor & Author
ELIZA SHALLCROSS who is presenting the copywriting workshop, Book Copy as a Marketing Tool, is a thirty-year veteran of the publishing industry. Her extensive experience encompasses a wide range of fiction genres including romance, mystery, suspense, urban fantasy, and new adult as well as a variety of nonfiction such as health, history, and autobiography. Her editorial experience began in the early 1980’s while at Berkley Books (now part of the Penguin Group) and continued at Harlequin Enterprises— initially with Harlequin Historicals and subsequently with Silhouette Books. For the past decade, she has worked as a Senior Copywriter for the Pocket and Gallery imprints of Simon & Schuster and as a freelancer in the writing and editing fields. She is also the author of two Regency romances— The Marquis of Carabas and The Countess and the Butler—using the name Elizabeth Brodnax. A graduate of Brown University with a degree in English Literature, Eliza Shallcross is the proud mother of a recent college graduate and a resident of New Jersey.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizashallcross
Lee Stringer Author, Teacher and Mentor
Forged out of twelve years of homelessness and addiction on the streets of New York City, Lee Stringer’s landmark memoir, Grand Central Winter: Stories From the Street--which ultimately conveys the irrepressibility of hope-was one of the top ten books recommended by both the New York Times and USA Today when it debuted in 1998. It has since been translated into 20 languages on four continents and has been optioned for both film and stage productions. As a pre-teen, Stringer was consigned, for two years, to a special boarding school for kids at risk, an experience he hauntingly vivifies in his second award-winning memoir, 2004’s Sleepaway School: Stories From a Boy’s LIfe. In 2002, he collaborated with novelist Kurt Vonnegut on Like Shaking Hands With God: a Conversation About Writing, a monograph about how writing intersects with each of their lives. Currently at work on yet another memoir, entitled White People, Stringer, 59, resides in Mamaroneck, New York, serves on five non-
profit boards, and directs a local nonprofit program that provides free one-on-one homework assistance to young people whom for various reasons, do not get it in their homes.Â
Website:
http://catalog.sevenstories.com
Paul Witcover Writer, Editor, Teacher and Critic
Born in Zurich, Paul Witcover is a writer, editor, teacher, and critic. He is the author of the novels Waking Beauty, Tumbling After, Dracula: Asylum, The Emperor of All Things, and the forthcoming Eternity in Love, as well as a collection of short fiction, Everland and Other Stories. With Elizabeth Hand, he created and wrote the DC comic Anima. His work has been a finalist or shortlisted for the Nebula, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and James Tiptree awards. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Website: www.sff.net/people/stilskin