Featured Panelists

Zaina Arafat is the author of You Exist Too Much. } Publishing with an Independent Press

Claudia Ballard is an agent at William Morris Endeavor. } The Author and Their Publishing Partners 

Nathan Bransford is a former literary agent and author of How to Write a Novel. } Literary Agents 101 

Regina Brooks is Lead Agent and President at Serendipity Literary Agency. } Literary Agents 101 

Alia Hanna Habib is an agent at The Gernert Company. } Query Letter Clinic 

Alexis Hurley is an agent at InkWell Management. } Query Letter Clinic 

Danielle A. Jackson is Managing Editor at Oxford American. } Publishing in Literary Magazines 

Renée Jarvis is an agent at MacKenzie Wolf Literary.
} Agent Pitch Clinic

Maggie Kane is an agent at Irene Goodman Literary Agency. } Agent Pitch Clinic

Jacqueline Ko is an agent at The Wylie Agency. } Literary Agents 101

Jonathan Lee is Editor-in-Chief at Catapult. } Publishing with an Independent Press

Jacey Mitziga is an agent at DeFiore and Company. } Agent Pitch Clinic

Jyothi Natarajan is Editorial Director at The Margins. } Publishing with an Independent Press

Carol Taylor is Editorial Director at McKinnon Literary. } Literary Agents 101

Emily Temple is the author of The Lightness. } The Author and Their Publishing Partners

Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a prose editor for The Adroit Journal. } The Author and Their Publishing Partners

Lena Valencia is Managing Editor at One Story. } Publishing in Literary Magazines

Jessica Williams is an Executive Editor at HarperCollins/William Morrow. } The Author and Their Publishing Partners

Randy Winston is the Associate Fiction Editor at Slice Literary Magazine. } Publishing in Literary Magazines

Monika Woods is an agent at Triangle House. } Agent Pitch Clinic

Joanna Yas is Editor-in-Chief at Washington Square Review. } Publishing in Literary Magazines

Renée Zuckerbrot is an agent at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents. } Literary Agents 101

Agent Pitch Session Participants

Sarah Bedingfield is an agent at Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. } Agent Pitch Sessions 

Sonali Chanchani is an agent at Folio Literary Management. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Farley Chase is an agent at Chase Literary Agency. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Sarah Fuentes is an agent at Fletcher & Company. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Veronica Goldstein is an agent at Fletcher & Company. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Serene Hakim is an agent Ayesha Pande Literary. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Erin Harris is an agent at Folio Literary Management. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Tanya McKinnon is an agent at McKinnon Literary. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Christina Morgan is an agent at Serendipity Literary Agency. } Agent Pitch Sessions

Agent Pitch Sessions

During your 6-minute sessions with two agents, you’ll be delivering verbal quick pitches, also known as the elevator pitch—a clear, concise, compelling description of your book that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator with someone. You’ll hear how to hone your pitch at the conference, but delivering a strong pitch takes practice. To make the most of your Agent Pitch Sessions, we recommend you take time before the conference to write and practice your delivery.

The Literary Writers Conference is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. 

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