Liesa Abrams is Executive Editor at Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, where she edits primarily middle grade and tween fiction. Her projects include Brandon Mull’s #1 New York Times bestseller, Beyonders: A World Without Heroes, as well as the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Dork Diaries, Fablehaven, and Pendragon series. She has a special affinity for fantasy and action/adventure, and as a comics geek, particularly enjoys working on books that bring in some comics elements such as Alan Silberberg’s Sid Fleischman Award winning Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze. Before coming to Aladdin, Liesa edited teen and middle grade fiction at Razorbill and at the book packager now known as Alloy Entertainment. Among her teen properties at these companies were novels by Scott Westerfeld, R.A. Nelson, and Maureen Johnson, and the classic Sweet Valley High series.

Michelle Andelman has worked as a literary agent, specializing in the children’s market, for five years, currently with Regal Literary. Her authors write middle-grade and Young Adult fiction, but also the occasional picture book, chapter book, or adult market memoir or work of fiction.

Jenny Bent has worked in publishing for over 15 years, both as an editor and an agent, most recently as Vice President at Trident Media Group before founding The Bent Agency in 2009. There she has continued her tradition of representing bestsellers, with over 15 titles on the NYT list since she opened her doors. The agency recently expanded to include an in-house foreign rights agent and a children’s book agent, Susan Hawk, formerly the Marketing Director at Henry Holt Children’s Books. She is looking for young adult, literary suspense, crime, romantic suspense, and general fiction. Please see her website, www.thebentagency.com, for submission guidelines.

Michael Bourret joined Dystel & Goderich Literary Management as an intern while studying film and television production at New York University, and began at the agency full-time in 2000. After ten years as an agent in the New York office, Michael now works in Los Angeles in the West Coast office of DGLM. There, he continues to represent his own list of bestselling and award-winning clients while also aggressively pursuing new film and television opportunities.

Michael is always on the lookout for exceptional writers with unique ideas, no matter what the category. He is currently looking for middle grade and young adult fiction, commercial adult fiction, and all sorts of nonfiction, from practical to narrative. He’s especially interested in food and cocktail related books, memoir, popular history, politics, religion (though not spirituality), popular science, and current events. And if you’ve got something on bourbon or tennis, even better. Michael is now only accepting queries via email.

Ginger Clark has been a literary agent with Curtis Brown, LTD. since the fall of 2005. She represents science fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, literary horror, and young adult and middle grade fiction. In addition to representing her own clients, she also represents British rights for the agency’s children’s list. Previously, she worked at Writers House for six years as an assistant literary agent. Her first job in publishing was as an editorial assistant at Tor Books. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and a member of the Contracts Committee of the AAR. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband. Ginger is taking on new clients, and she prefers emailed queries.

Sara Crowe is an agent at Harvey Klinger, Inc. where she represents adult fiction and nonfiction and children’s fiction. Her clients include NYT Bestselling authors Leslie Banks and Jonathan Maberry, Ben Dolnick, Nina LaCour, Michael Northrop, Lisa Schroeder, Kristen Tracy and Dan Wells. Her authors have been nominated for Edgars and the Morris Award and have been on the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults list and in the Top Ten. I am consistently ranked among the top three YA agents in Publishers Marketplace.

After attending the Radcliffe Publishing Course, she started her career at The Wylie Agency in New York, and after two years, moved to their London office as a foreign rights agent. At Trident Media Group in New York, she was a Foreign rights manager and represented rights for Louis Sachar, Michael Ondaatje and Russell Banks. Sara joined Harvey Klinger in 2005 to build her own list and to develop a children’s list for the agency.

Catherine Drayton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Law from University of New South Wales. She worked as a copyright and defamation litigator in Sydney for four years before moving to the United States in 1995. She had a brief stint as a literary scout and then joined Arthur Pine Associates in 1998. She currently works for Inkwell Management, where she represents both fiction and non-fiction writers and has had considerable success with books for children and young adults. Her clients include New York Times bestselling authors and a number of internationally successful writers. She represents Markus Zusak, John Flanagan, Becca Fitzpatrick and Beth Hoffman, amongst many others.

Alyssa Eisner-Henkin represents middle grade, young adult and select women’s fiction at Trident Media Group. Her clients include Lauren Barnholdt, Lisa Greenwald, and Sarah MacLean. Prior to joining Trident over four years ago, Alyssa spent over seven years as an editor at Simon & Schuster Children’s where she edited Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson and The Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick. She is actively seeking new clients and would love to see more middle grade mysteries, adventures, and wish-fulfillment premises. On the YA side, she’s on the watch for thrillers with girl appeal, epic romances, and magical realism.

Natalie M. Fischer is an Assistant Agent at the Bradford Literary Agency. An honors graduate of the University of San Diego, California, Natalie holds a B.A. in Literature/Writing. She started as an intern at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency in 2007, after which time she left to write author profiles and book reviews for the San Diego Union Tribune. Finding that journalism was just not for her, she returned to work full-time at the Dijkstra Agency in April 2009, and started building her own client list in September of that same year. She made her move to the Bradford Agency in February of 2011. Natalie’s interests include talented, hard-working new authors with a fresh, unique voice and hook. Her specialty is commercial fiction, with an emphasis in children’s literature (from picture book-YA/Teen), romance (contemporary and historical), historical fiction, multi-cultural fiction, paranormal, sci-fi/fantasy in YA or romance only, fairy-tale/legend spin-offs, and “beautiful dark” novels. She will also consider select nonfiction (has to have a fantastic hook and an even more fantastic author platform) and that amazing project she never even knew she was looking for! She is always drawn to an open and positive attitude in an author, good grammar, and fantastical, engaging and sexy plots.

Diana Fox is the owner of Fox Literary LLC, a full-service boutique literary agency specializing in commercial fiction along with select works of literary fiction and non-fiction with broad commercial appeal. Before founding Fox Literary in 2007, Diana spent several years learning the business of publishing at Writers House. Since then, Fox Literary has represented a steadily growing client list, including the agency’s first /New York Times/ and /USA Today/ bestselling authors. Diana studied English literature and creative writing at Smith College, and grew up in the suburbs of New York City; she now lives in Manhattan, where she has no room for dogs or cats as the books have taken over the apartment.

A native of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Christina Hogrebe grew up on a steady diet of Anne of Green Gables and Sweet Valley Twins books, for which she was nearly laughed out of the English department at Franklin & Marshall College and the University of Denver Publishing Institute, who graduated her anyway. Inspired by her favorite heroines, she left the wilds of PA in search of books and adventure, landing on the doorstep of Jane Rotrosen Agency, who, sensing a kindred spirit, hired her as one of publishing’s many over-eager assistants in 2003. Christina annoyed mentor Meg Ruley with reader’s reports until they promoted her to agent soon thereafter. She continues to pursue new voices in adult and young adult fiction and has a particular fondness for magical realism, star-crossed romance, Veronica Mars-like mystery, morality tales, historical fiction and anything that can be categorized as a three-hanky read.

Weronika Janczuk is a literary agent with Lynn Franklin Associates. Previously she worked with the D4EO Literary Agency and at Flux, among others. Currently she represents a wide range of fiction and non-fiction for YA and adults alike—and is very actively building her list, especially in areas of crime fiction (especially espionage and literary suspense/thrillers), fantasy/sci-fi, horror, women’s fiction and romance, both literary and high-concept YA, memoir, and narrative non-fiction.

Representative sales include, among others, DANCING IN THE DARK (Flux, Winter 2013), originally published by Penguin Australia, a literary YA about an orthodox Jew who chooses to dance behind her parents’ backs, in a two-book deal, and THREE PARTS DEAD (Tor, TBD), a very clever fantasy about a first-year associate at an international necromantic firm who must unravel the mystery surrounding a god’s death, in a two-book deal.

Jennifer Laughran began her career in agenting after working as a long-time children’s bookseller and buyer. She is also the founder of the extremely popular YA event series “Not Your Mother’s Book Club”. She joined Andrea Brown Literary Agency in 2007. Always on the lookout for sparkling YA and middle grade fiction with unusual and unforgettable characters and vivid settings, she is drawn to all kinds of books, whether realistic comedies or richly imagined magical adventures. However, the common thread in her favorite stories is an offbeat world-view. Jennifer adores simplicity, but she is not interested in the conventional, predictable, mechanical, gimmicky or ordinary. Jennifer loves funny books, thrilling books, romantic books, books that make her cry, and all-around un-put-downable books… and her true favorites are all of the above.

Kendra Levin Kendra Levin is an editor at Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), where she has spent almost six years working on a wide range of children’s literature from picture books to young adult novels. Prior to that, she worked at Scholastic in several different capacities. An award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced Off- and Off-Off Broadway, Kendra also helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach. Authors she edits include David A. Adler (the Cam Jansen series), Susane Colasanti, Sharon Robinson, M.H. Herlong, Stasia Ward Kehoe, and others.

Steven Malk is the third generation of his family to be involved in children’s books, as both his mother and grandmother owned children’s bookstores. He opened a West Coast office for Writers House in 1998, and represents a wide range of authors and illustrators, including Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, Marla Frazee, Kadir Nelson, Sara Pennypacker, Jennifer Donnelly, Brett Helquist, Sonya Sones, Adam Rex, Deborah Wiles, and Cynthia Rylant, among others.

Jim McCarthy interned for DGLM while studying urban design at New York University. Upon graduating in 2002, Jim realized he would much rather continue working with books than make the jump (as he had originally intended) to the field of city planning.

As an avid fiction reader, his interests encompass both literary and commercial works in the adult and young adult categories. He is particularly interested in literary women’s fiction, underrepresented voices, mysteries, romance, paranormal fiction, and anything unusual or unexpected. In addition to fiction he is also interested in narrative nonfiction, memoir, and paranormal nonfiction.

Jim was raised just outside of NYC and currently lives in Manhattan.

Emily Meehan is an executive editor at Disney Hyperion. Before joining Hyperion in December 2010, Emily worked at Simon & Schuster BFYR for over ten years, where she edited Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy, Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush Hush saga, and Kate Brian’s Private series among many other teen, middle grade, and picture books. At Disney-Hyperion Emily is building a list of teen and middle grade books and is thrilled to be working again with Melissa de la Cruz on Blue Bloods as well as the launch of her new series Wolf Pact, and with Rachel Cohn on the debut of her new series The Annex.

Sara Megibow has worked at the Nelson Literary Agency since 2006. For three years, her main responsibility was to be the first reader for all queries, sample pages and full manuscripts submitted to the agency. In 2009, Sara was promoted to Associate Literary Agent and is actively acquiring new clients. The Nelson Literary Agency specializes in representing young adult and middle grade fiction, romance, science fiction and fantasy, commercial and women’s fiction (including chick lit) and high concept literary fiction. Nelson Literary Agency is a member of AAR, RWA, SFWA and SCBWI. Please visit our website for submission guidelines, and feel free to visit Sara’s Publisher’s Marketplace site to learn more about her personal tastes and recent sales.

Martha Mihalick is the associate editor at Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. In nearly nine years there, she has worked with many acclaimed authors and artists, including Kevin Henkes, Lynne Rae Perkins, Peter Sís, Megan Whalen Turner, Chris Crutcher, and Naomi Shihab Nye. Martha edits books for children and teens of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. Some recent titles are: Mistwood by Leah Cypess, Do Not Build a Frankenstein by Neil Numberman, and Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy, among others. You can find her elsewhere on the internet at marthamihalick.com and @curiousmartha. And you can see what Greenwillow Books is up to at greenwillowblog.com and facebook.com/Greenwillow.

Molly O’Neill is an Editor at Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books. She edits both literary and commercial projects—everything from picture books to middle grade to young adult novels. She seeks vivid stories, original voices, and manuscripts with a strong sense of place—in short, the kind of books that keep readers thinking and imagining, long after the last page. Books that she’s acquired and edited include Veronica Roth’s young adult DIVERGENT trilogy; Bobbie Pyron’s middle grade A DOG’S WAY HOME; Nola Buck and Sarah Jane Wright’s picture book A CHRISTMAS GOODNIGHT, and the forthcoming young adult INSIGNIA trilogy by S. J. Kincaid.

Molly’s been in children’s books for nearly eight years: before becoming an editor (her absolute dream job!), she worked on the Marketing/Publicity side of the industry, first at Clarion Books and then at HarperCollins. She blogs about editing, publishing, art, and life at www.10blockwalk.blogspot.com and tweets at @molly_oneill.

Kathleen Ortiz: As a former online editor and interactive designer, I use my experience in online marketing to help authors build their communities and promote themselves and their books. I look past the pages of a story and think of ways to help authors reach more readers so they can interact with the characters and their world.

As subrights director at Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation, I handle foreign, audio and digital rights for the agency. I have an intimate list of clients, with Jaime Reed’s debut YA paranormal romance, LIVING VIOLET, book one of the Cambion Chronicles, coming out by Kensington in January 2012.

You can find me on Twitter or visit my blog for more information or updates on the publishing industry.

Ammi-Joan Paquette is an associate agent with Erin Murphy Literary Agency, representing all types of children’s and YA literature. Recent client releases include Erin E. Moulton’s lyrical middle-grade adventure Flutter: The Story of Four Sisters and an Incredible Journey (Philomel, 2011) and Michelle Ray’s edgy contemporary retelling Falling for Hamlet (Poppy/Little Brown, 2011). Joan is also the author of the picture book The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies (Tanglewood, 2009), and her debut middle-grade novel, Nowhere Girl (Walker/Bloomsbury, 2011) will be out in September.

Annette Pollert acquires contemporary, commercial teen fiction and the occasional nonfiction title for Simon Pulse. She loves complicated, engaging protagonists, and books set in—or out of—reality with inventive hooks and distinctive voices. She particularly enjoys dark, edgy novels; mysteries; thrillers; and suspense—all, of course, infused with romance! Annette’s list includes NYT Bestselling authors L.J. Smith, Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié, and Thomas E. Sniegoski, as well as Lisa Schroeder, Jeri Smith-Ready, and debut authors Brian Farrey and Arlaina Tibensky, among others.

You can follow her on Twitter at @annettepollert. To find out more about Simon Pulse books, visit simonandschuster.com.

Barbara Poelle began her publishing career as a freelance copywriter and editor before joining the Goodman Agency in 2007, but feels as if she truly prepared for the industry during her brief stint as a stand-up comic in Los Angeles. She has found success placing thrillers, literary suspense, historical romances, humorous/platform driven non-fiction, and upmarket fiction and is actively seeking her next great client in those genres, but is passionate about anything with a unique voice. Barbara has a very hands on approach with the craft and editorial details of the books she represents, and loves working with her clients to take their writing to the next level.

Anica Rissi is an Executive Editor at Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. She specializes in developing, editing, and acquiring fiction for teens, and especially loves discovering and building new talent and new voices. She is interested in commercial, high-concept, and literary projects; unexpected or dark humor; edgy topics; smart writing; compelling storytelling; and characters that she can’t get out of her head.

Jennifer Rofe handles children’s fiction projects ranging from picture books to young adult. Middle grade is Jennifer’s soft spot and she’s open to all genres in this category, especially the tender or hilarious. She is always looking for fresh and distinct voices; stories that simultaneously tug at her heartstrings and make her laugh out loud; and unassuming, “adorkable” heroes. As for YA, Jennifer is drawn to contemporary works; dramatic or funny romance; and urban fantasy/light sci-fi. She’s especially interested in mind-blowingly smart projects that are layered, complex, and unexpected. In terms of picture books, early readers, and chapter books, she is interested in character-driven projects and smart, exceptional writing. Jennifer also enjoys how-to and sports-related nonfiction. Jennifer earned a BA in English with a minor in Social and Ethnic Relations from UC Davis and has a background in secondary education. She is also co-author of the picture book PIGGIES IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH (Charlesbridge).

Holly Root is a literary agent with the Waxman Literary Agency, where she represents authors of commercial adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as novels of all sorts for young adult and middle grade readers. Prior to joining WLA in 2007, Holly Root worked at the William Morris Agency and Trident Media Group.

After nearly ten years with industry powerhouse agency Janklow & Nesbit Associates, Kate Schafer Testerman formed kt literary in early 2008, where she concentrates on middle grade and YA fiction. Bringing to bear the experience of working with a large agency, she enjoys concentrating on all aspects of working with her authors, offering hands-on experience, personal service, and a surfeit of optimism.

Her clients include Maureen Johnson, Ellen Booraem, Stephanie Perkins, Ransom Riggs, Thomas E. Sniegoski, Josie Bloss, and Matthew Cody, among other exciting newcomers. Kate is a graduate of the University of Delaware’s Honors Program, a former cast member of the New York Renaissance Faire, and an avid collector of shoes. Her interests cover a broad range including teen chick lit, urban fantasy and magical realism, adventure stories, and romantic comedies. She is an active member of the SCBWI and AAR.

Jessica Sinsheimer has been reading and campaigning for her favorite queries since 2004. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she went east for Sarah Lawrence College and stayed for the opportunity to read soon-to-be books for a living.

Now an Associate Agent at the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, she’s developed a reputation for fighting office members to see incoming manuscripts first—and for drinking far too much tea. Her most recent sale is RIPPER, a paranormal/historical YA novel, about a Victorian girl who takes down Jack the Ripper–and its sequel.

Always on the lookout for new writers, she is most excited about finding literary, women’s, and Young Adult fiction, and—on the nonfiction side—psychology, parenting, self-help, cookbooks, memoirs, and works that speak to life in the twenty-first century.

Kelly Sonnack came to the Andrea Brown Literary Agency two years ago after agenting for the Sandra Dijkstra Agency for three years. Prior to that, Kelly worked for the publishing giant Reed Elsevier, where she served as the Life Sciences Acquisitions Editor under the Academic Press imprint.

As an agent, Kelly represents all age groups within children’s literature (picture books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels). In picture books and middle grade fiction, Kelly looks for a good sense of humor, stories that stretch a young reader’s imagination, and an authentic voice. In young adult, she appreciates literary voices and character-driven stories with heart but is also drawn to dystopian, light science-fiction, and other well-crafted fantasy. In non-fiction for children, she enjoys projects that inspire and stimulate the minds of our younger generations.

Joanna Stampfel-Volpe has been a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, an editorial assistant with independent publisher, Blue Martin Publications, and has worked as an assistant and junior agent at FinePrint Literary Management before accepting a full-time agent position with Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation in January of 2008. Since then she has sold a number of exciting projects, including Kody Keplinger’s The DUFF, Allan Woodrow’s The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless, Lee Nichols Haunting Emma novels, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, and Erica O’Rourke’s Torn series. Nancy Coffey Literary is a full-service agency and active members of SCBWI, RWA, and AAR.

Suzie Townsend was a high school English teacher for six years before changing careers and joining FinePrint Literary Management as an intern. She represents everything from children’s books (chapter books to YA, both fiction and non-fiction) to adult fiction (speculative, fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, and romance, especially paranormal). She’s interested in strong characters and voice driven stories that will keep her up at night. Suzie gravitates towards strong female protagonists, complex plot lines with underlying political, moral, or philosophical issues, and stories which break out of the typical tropes of their genre, like Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series. She is also interested in select narrative non-fiction (with special interest in food, memoir, pets, pop culture, and teaching). She’s not interested in screenplays, poetry, or picture books. She lives in Brooklyn with two dogs who know that chewing on shoes is okay but chewing on books is not.

Carlie Webber, Jr. Agent, Jane Rotrosen Agency. YA is Carlie’s specialty, though she is also interested in middle-grade fiction. Carlie is interested in a wide range of genres not limited to contemporary life, GLBTQ, humor, horror, science fiction, mystery, romance and narrative nonfiction. She enjoys both literary and commercial works, from the serious and scary to the funny and fluffy. Guy-narrated love stories, tales of relationships gone wrong, anything set in the grunge era and dramas revolving around sisters are all on her submissions wishlist, but she is not looking for epic fantasy or historical fiction.

Roseanne Wells is an agent at Marianne Strong Literary Agency. An avid reader, she discovered her passion for book publishing during her internship at W.W. Norton and hasn’t looked back. She is also an arts reviewer for PlayShakespeare.com and a volunteer for Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho, NYC. Wells is interested in narrative nonfiction, science (popular or trade, not academic), history, true crime, religion, travel, humor, food/cooking, and similar subjects. She is also actively expanding the agency’s fiction list and looks for strong literary fiction, YA, sci-fi, fantasy, and smart detective novels (more Sherlock Holmes than cozy mysteries).

Tina Wexler is an agent at ICM, representing writers in both the children’s and adult marketplace. Prior to joining ICM, she was with the Ellen Levine Literary Agency/Trident Media and the Karpfinger Agency. She is from southern Maine, holds an MFA in poetry, and lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and son.

Caryn Wiseman has been an Agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. since early 2003, and has sold over 125 books. She handles children’s books only: young adult and middle-grade fiction and non-fiction, chapter books, and picture books (fiction and non-fiction). She represents New York Times bestselling authors, award-winning authors, debut authors, and authors at every stage in between. Caryn holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, and a BS from the University of Virginia, and her fifteen years of business experience prior to joining the Agency emphasized editing and writing as well as sales, negotiation and client management.

Caryn’s particular interests include humorous middle-grade fiction for girls and for boys; YA that falls at the intersection of commercial and literary; and non-institutional biography and other unique nonfiction for children and teens. She would love to see more contemporary multicultural MG or YA—books that deeply explore another culture, as well as books in which the ethnicity of the character is not the issue; contemporary MG or YA fiction with a touch of magical realism; sports fiction for girls and boys that has a hook other than the sport; page-turning thrillers; unique twists on paranormal and dystopian themes; and realistic fiction with an environmental theme. She is always open to terrific children’s work that doesn’t fit these categories, however. For fiction, a fresh, unique voice is paramount. A literary bent to a well-crafted commercial story in which ordinary characters find themselves in extraordinary situations would capture her attention. She loves nonfiction that reads like fiction; that has a great “story behind the story”.

Marietta Zacker has experienced children’s books from every angle – teaching, marketing, publishing & bookselling. She thrives on working with authors who make readers feel their characters’ emotions & illustrators who add a different dimension to the story. She is also Book Curator at an independent toy store & bookstore.

**Surprise Addition**

Kat Salazar joined Larsen Pomada Literary Agents in February 2011 as an intern for the agency working directly for agency co-founder Elizabeth Pomada. She previously interned at University of California Press, Wales Literary Agency, HarperOne of Harper Collins Publishers, and worked part-time for University of Washington Press. She now works full-time as Publicity Director for Conlan Press. Simultaneously, she is the agency’s newest Associate Agent and the San Francisco Writers Conference Social Media Director. Kat earned a BA degree from University of Washington, double majoring in English: Literature and Communications: Journalism.