Here’s our agent & editor lineup for this year’s DFWCon, June 9-10! Looking for newer agents actively building their client lists? We’ve got ‘em! Or maybe you’re looking for experienced agents who can share years of accumulated wisdom? We’ve got ‘em! And collectively, these industry professionals provide great coverage of a broad range of genres.
Agents
Malaga Baldi, Baldi Agency
The Baldi Agency is an eclectic agency specializing in literary fiction, memoir and cultural history. Malaga Baldi was a cashier at Gotham Book Mart, a lousy Ballantine Books Publicity Department secretary, an associate at CandidaDonadio & Associates and the Elaine Markson Agency before going out on her own. Baldi believes the strength of the author’s voice and the heart of the story to be key when considering new work. Baldi graduated from Hampshire College and lives in NYC.
Amy Bishop, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC
Amy Elizabeth Bishop joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2015 after interning for them in 2014. In addition to her own client list at DG&B, Amy assists the president, Jane Dystel, and oversees the office and the interns. She reads widely, but her main interests at this time include upmarket women’s fiction, voice-driven historical fiction, and stories with a Victorian Gothic flair; in terms of nonfiction, she’s eagerly on the hunt for narrative nonfiction that addresses issues of politics, social justice, feminism or targets a millennial audience. In all genres, she’s eager to find work from minority voices.
Amy Brewer, Metamorphosis Literary Agency
Amy Brewer has been an avid reader and lover of literature her whole life. She is a graduate of Culver-Stockton College with a theater degree because drama, romance, and angst are her lifelong passions. She is the co-writer of the Texting Prince Charming series and continues to be enthralled with the art of writing. As an agent at Metamorphosis Literary agency, she has learned to utilize her skills as a certified yoga teacher to calm writers nerves and help guide them to the right publishers so that they may realize their dreams.
Patty Carothers, Metamorphosis Literary Agency
Patty Carothers has been in love with stories for as long as she can remember. She is a certified copy editor and an Oxford comma fangirl. Her adoration of all things comic book related and YA has morphed into her co-writing the Texting Prince Charming series. Engaging and realistic characters that bounce off the pages through witty and thought-provoking dialogue are a thrill for her to read. Although, most days the real question lies with a simple: Is she team Marvel or team D.C.? During her internship at Metamorphosis, she has utilized her passion for being a wordsmith and grammar guru to help writers develop their writing skills and harness their distinctive inner voices.
Marisa Corvisiero, Corvisiero Literary Agency
Marisa A. Corvisiero, Esq. is founder of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. She is also an author coach, literary consultant, speaker, author, and an attorney with over 18 years of experience in corporate law and trust & estates in New York City. She has attended more than 60 writing conferences, and hosted or participated in numerous boot-camps, workshops, webinars, and tutorials instructing on the craft and business of writing at many of those events, including Writing Digest, Writers Day Workshops, RT, RWA and local chapters, SCBWI, and her very own full day Author-Preneur Workshops.
Lucienne Diver, The Knight Agency
Lucienne Diver is a literary agent with The Knight Agency with over twenty-five years of experience. Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold over seven hundred titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, romance, suspense, and young adult fiction. Her authors have been honored with the Hugo Award, the RITA, National Readers’ Choice, Romantic Times, Colorado Book, and Philip K. Dick Awards, among others, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.
Serene Hakim, Ayesha Pande Literary
Prior to joining Ayesha Pande Literary, Serene Hakim worked at Laura Gross Literary Agency in Boston. She has also interned at David Godine Publisher and Chase Literary Agency. Serene holds an M.A. in French to English translation from NYU and a B.A. in French and Women’s Studies from the University of Kansas. She loves to read anything she can get her hands on, but is particularly drawn to fiction with strong female voices, both YA and adult fiction and non-fiction with international themes, and LGBTQ and feminist issues. She is always on the lookout for great YA sci-fi and fantasy, realistic YA, and anything that gives voice to those whose voices are underrepresented and/or marginalized. As a child of Lebanese immigrants, she is especially interested in stories dealing with the Middle East and the variety of immigrant experiences out there.
Bob Mecoy , Bob Mecoy Literary Agency
After stopping at all of the stations of the editorial cross, at all the publishing corporations except Hachette, Bob Mecoy became an agent. Having grown up in mass market publishing, he wanted to continue publishing a wide-ranging list–fiction, nonfiction, genre fiction, even graphic novels–and was becoming more difficult every day–so he jumped the desk. Today, his clients include a New York Times bestselling romance writer (who’s begun pubbing mysteries), an Edgar Award winning mystery writer (who really wants to do a big thriller), Harvey and Eisner-Award winning graphic novel creators and a growing number of science fiction and fantasy authors.
Natascha Morris, Bookends Literary Agency
Natascha spent most of her childhood in a leather chair with her nose in a book. Formerly an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster, her passion for books across genres and her desire to finding amazing talent drove her to make the transition from editorial to literary agent. Her editorial philosophy stems from the idea that all books should be well written and entertaining. Some of her favorite authors include Molly Idle, Sherwood Smith, Ann Rinaldi, Sabaa Tahir, and Meg Cabot.
Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency
Kristin established Nelson Literary Agency, LLC, in 2002 and over the last decade and a half of her career, she has represented over forty New York Times bestselling titles and many USA Today bestsellers. Her goal as an agent is simple: she wants every client of hers to make a living solely from writing and 90% of her clients do just that. Those clients include Jamie Ford, Hugh Howey, Marie Lu, Gail Carriger, Josh Malerman, J.D. Barker, Ally Carter, Stacey Lee, Simone Elkeles, Jasinda Wilder, Jana DeLeon, Courtney Milan. When she is not busy selling books, Kristin attempts to play golf & tennis. She also enjoys playing bridge, and can be found hiking in the mountains with her husband and their dog Chutney.
Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Patricia Nelson is a literary agent with Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, representing all genres of young adult and middle grade fiction, as well as women’s fiction, romance, and select literary fiction. Recent sales include books placed with HarperCollins, St. Martin’s Press, Simon & Schuster, and Bloomsbury, among others. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California and previously taught literature and writing at the college level.
Kevin O’Connor, Sheedy Lit
Kevin has a long history in children’s media and products working on such brands as Sesame Street, Kidz Bop, Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail and littleBits. At Barnes & Noble he headed up kids’ book publisher relations for NOOK. As a literary agent he specializes in middlegrade novels and nonfiction for children and history, science and technology nonfiction as well as literary fiction for adults.
Lauren Spieller, Triada US Literary Agency
Lauren Spieller is a literary agent and author who lives in New York with her husband. When she isn’t writing, she can be found drinking lattes, pining for every dog she sees, or visiting her native California. Your Destination is on the Left is her debut novel, and is available for preorder!
Uwe Stender, Triada US Literary Agency
Literary Agent Dr. Uwe Stender is a Full Member of the AAR (Association of Authors’ Representatives). He is interested in all kinds of non-fiction and fiction. In non-fiction, he is completely open to any project, from Memoir, Pop Culture, and Health to How-to, Gardening, History and everything in between, including non-fiction for children. In Children’s fiction, he is looking for YA, MG and PBs. In adult fiction, his tastes trend towards Women’s Fiction, Psychological Suspense, and Mysteries. As an immigrant to the USA himself, he is always eager to bring projects from underrepresented voices into the world. So surprise him, his tastes are eclectic, and he may just love what you wrote! His favorite five novels right now are: Caraval, The Underground Railroad, Der Nasse Fisch, Kafka On The Shore, The Young Elites, and Wonder.
Maximilian Ximenez, L. Perkins Agency
Maximilian Ximenez grew up within the New York publishing industry. Prior to joining the L. Perkins Agency, he worked at Blizzard Entertainment, creators of the popular Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo video game franchises. He is a strong believer in publishing and narrative as a central pillar of franchise and transmedia development.
Editors
Twyla Beth Lambert, Fawkes Press
Twyla Beth Lambert is an Acquisitions Editor for Fawkes Press. In addition to spending a decade as a Senior Editor for Mary Kay, she works with private clients at all stages of their writing process. She loves getting caught up in a strong protagonist’s story and her greatest thrill is helping turn a writer’s dreams into a reality. For private clients and consultations, Twyla Beth will consider all fiction except erotica. For Fawkes Press acquisitions, she is looking for middle grade and young adult fiction, mysteries (especially cozies), thrillers and suspense, as well as powerful narrative non-fiction. Series potential is strongly desired.
Laura Maisano, Anaiah Press
Anaiah Press publishes Christian fiction for the modern audience in both digital and print formats. It specializes in books with an element of faith, whether it is strong plot point or a subtle background theme. Laura Maisano is a Senior Editor for Anaiah’s YA imprint and a YA author herself. She has an MA in Technical Writing and worked in the field for six years. She’s a bit of a geek at heart, loves cosplay and K-dramas, and will always enjoy a book with an emotional punch.
Genre preferences
How do you know who you should pitch your work to? We’re so glad you asked! You can refer to these genre charts to see what the agents are looking for! But remember, agents’ preferences can have a lot of nuance. For example, an agent might be a Yes for historical fiction but have no interest in stories set in the 20th Century. We strongly recommend you supplement these charts with your own research.
DFWCon agent genres chart (PDF) – revised May 6, 2018
Pitch Sessions
As a DFWCon attendee, you’re entitled to one 10-minute session with an agent of your choice (first come first served). You’ll receive an email with instructions for signing up within 3 to 4 days of registering for DFWCon.
You’ll be asked to pick your top three choices. This is for backup in case your first choice is no longer available.
If you want to change your agent selection later, just go back to Eventbrite later, log into your registration and update it.
Extra pitch sessions will be available for purchase at the conference.
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