Andrea Brown is the President of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. Founded in New York City in 1981, it was the first literary agency to represent both children's book authors and illustrators. Prior to opening her own firm, Andrea was an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, and worked in the editorial departments of Random House and Dell. In 1990, she moved her literary agency to Northern California. Her literary agency has sold approximately 1,500 books to publishers, from toddler board books to serious, award-winning young adult and adult fiction. Andrea has published articles and published a chapter about the children's book field in THE PORTABLE WRITER'S CONFERENCE, published by Quill Driver Books. She has been quoted in the NEW YORK POST, CNN.com, Yahoo News, FORBES, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING and REUTERS NEWS SERVICE.

The Andrea Brown Literary Agency has offices in Palo Alto, Salinas, and New York, and they represent clients who write everything from very young picture books to adult fiction and nonfiction. Their clients range from first-time authors to award winning, best-selling authors with over one hundred titles.

Tom Colgan is Executive Editor at The Putnam Berkley Group of Penguin Putnam, Inc. He is a native New Yorker who has worked in the publishing business for seventeen years. He started at Berkley books in 1985 and has worked there ever since except for a five year sojourn at Avon/Morrow. He has worked with authors such as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, and Ed McBain. Tom has edited a new book coming out this spring called Last Man Down, about one of the last firemen out of the WTC after the 911 attack. Tom acquires mystery/ thriller/ suspense, so-called "boy books," i.e., Clancy, and nonfiction. He is interested in everything other than romances, science fiction, children's books, screenplays and poetry. 

Melissa Flashman is a literary agent with Trident Media Group. She was raised in Kentucky, graduated from Wesleyan University and studied in the Ph.D. program in English at Johns Hopkins. Melissa is looking for narrative and serious non-fiction, political books, humor, pop-culture, lifestyle and fiction

Jaimee is currently oversees acquisitions and all editorial development for The Literary Group International.  She has worked with such prominent authors as Homer Hickam, Dr. Marianne Legato, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and Dr. Sanjiv Chopra.  Jaimee is currently representing both fiction and non-fiction projects.  She is interested in up-and-coming fiction authors, graphic novelists with fresh voices, the young adult genre, serious literature, and non-fiction titles concerning sociology, politics, music and cultural studies.  Jaimee is a member of the volunteer staff at 826NYC, a nonprofit writing tutorial center in Brooklyn and distributor of McSweeneys Books as well as its affiliate Superhero Supply Store; she also teaches their graphic novel seminar for children.  She holds a degree from Boston University, where she studied under renown editor and literary critic, Christopher Ricks.

Laura Blake Peterson began her career in publishing at Curtis Brown, Ltd. as a summer intern. She is a graduate of Vassar College and has been with Curtis Brown, Ltd. since 1986. She lives in western New Jersey with her husband and daughter.

Curtis Brown was established in 1899 and is one of the oldest independent literary agencies. They represent many of the most significant and acclaimed writers of the last century and numerous of the most prominent and influential of today’s authors.

The agency represents a wide variety of best-selling and prize-winning authors, journalists and writers.

Curtis Brown Ltd. has a thriving foreign rights department - handling translation sales in over thirty territories – and a dedicated ‘book-to-film’ section handling film and TV rights for their authors’ works, which make Curtis Brown an international market leader.

Joe Veltre is the founder and president of Artists Literary Group. He began his publishing career at St. Martin's Press as a senior editor overseeing several imprints, including the Dead Letter/Minotaur Mass Market Mystery program. At St. Martin's, he acquired books across a wide range of genres, including literary and commercial fiction, thrillers, mysteries, narrative non-fiction, sports books, and pop culture. He then worked as senior editor at HarperCollins, where he edited high quality non-fiction, working with journalists and academics. From there, he went to Miramax, serving dual roles as director of development for Miramax Films and editor-at-large for Miramax Books.

Veltre left Miramax to serve as literary agent and foreign and film rights director for Carlisle & Company, a boutique agency in New York City. There he worked with a wide range of commercial and literary authors, built strong relationships with publishers overseas, film and television producers, studios and agents.  

With experience as a former senior editor, Miramax Film executive, and agent and rights director at a major literary agency, Veltre brings a unique breadth of experience to the company. As head of ALG, Veltre works with a diverse group of talented authors. He regularly attends national and international book fairs and speaks at trade conferences on topics vital to both aspiring and experienced authors. Though his list is selective, he is constantly looking for new writers, focusing on a wide range of subjects, including: commercial fiction and non-fiction, literary fiction, thrillers, women's fiction, mysteries, narrative and political non-fiction, academic and historical non-fiction, romance, suspense, business and how-to non-fiction, and young adult books. He works closely with a variety of artists, including: academics, historians, journalists, novelists, filmmakers, sports figures, photographers, doctors, TV personalities, business consultants, and military personnel.

Veltre graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in English and attended the graduate English program at the University of Alabama, where he taught literature and writing. He is from Cartersville, Georgia and now lives in New York City.

Paige Wheeler is a founding partner of Folio Literary Management, LLC. Prior to forming Folio Literary Management, Ms. Wheeler founded Creative Media Agency (CMA) in 1997 and served as its President for nine years until she merged the company into her new venture, FOLIO, in 2006.

What Paige is looking for:
I'm looking to represent all different types of projects. Lately, I've been reading upscale commercial fiction (heading toward literary but stopping short) and nonfiction books that tell a unique story or ones in which the author has a huge platform. Most importantly, I love it if the book has a high concept. Can you describe it in a sentence? Is the writing really, really strong? Is your voice unique?

Fiction: All commercial fiction and Upscale (think book club) fiction as well as women's fiction, romance (all types), mystery, thrillers, psychological suspense, and some young adult.

Nonfiction: I'm looking for both narrative nonfiction and technical nonfiction.

New York Times Best-selling author Cherry Adair took nearly ten years to become an overnight success.  Armed with a solid career plan and strategies to implement her dream, she’s become a bestselling author. Her innovative action-adventure novels have appeared on numerous bestsellers lists, won dozens of awards and garnered praise from reviewers and fans alike. With the creation of her kick butt anti-terrorist group, T-FLAC, years before action adventure romances were popular, Cherry carved a niche for herself with her sexy, sassy, fast-paced, action adventure novels.  She lives on the shores of a lake in Western Washington with a view of Mt. Rainier and her abundant gardens. There she dreams up ways to torture her characters into discovering that we all need love and the human connection.

Natalie R. Collins is an author and journalist with over twenty years of writing experience. Although she wrote short stories, newspaper articles, and advertising copy for many years, including a long stint with the largest daily newspaper in Utah, it wasn’t until nine years ago that  she attempted to write her first novel. Once started, she found it impossible to stop. For quite a while, New York publishing did not appreciate her efforts. But in 2004, Wives and Sisters was published by St. Martin’s Press. This book received tremendous critical acclaim and reviews. It was followed by Behind Closed Doors, which also received great reviews. Natalie’s books are set in the unique culture of Utah Mormonism, and are somewhat controversial because she explores all aspects of the religion. She is currently working on her third book for St.Martin’s.

As Natalie M. Roberts, she is the author of the Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery Series from Berkley Prime Crime. The first book, Tutu Deadly, was published in April 2007. The second book, Tapped Out, comes out in October 2007.

She is also the author of Twisted Sister, coming in October 2007 from Five Star.

Natalie served as an editor for the 2001 and 2002 Sundance Film Festivals, has written columns and books on finding a respectable literary agent, and provides a listing of vetted, legitimate literary agents on her Web site. You can visit her at www.nataliercollins.com, or www.jennytpartridge.com.

She resides in Utah with her husband and two daughters.

Sarah Langan grew up on Long Island and went to college in Waterville, Maine, where she published her first story, "Sick People". She got her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Her novel, THE KEEPER, was a New York Times' editor's pick, and Bram Stoker First Novel Finalist. Her next novel THE MISSING is due out in October, 2007. She is currently at work on yet another novel, Audrey's Door, and a collection of short stories.

In addition to writing novels, Sarah is also pursuing her Master's in Environmental Health Science/Toxicology at New York University.

Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a business owner, a licensed death scene investigator, and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams. Deborah’s unique experiences, enthusiasm, and high-energy level make her a much sought after speaker at writers’ conferences across the nation. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.

She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana, and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the National Association of Women Writers, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual, national campaign designed to encourage more people to read. Her most recent novels are: FAMILY INHERITANCE, GRAVE INTENT, A HOUSE DIVIDED, and MORBID CURIOSITY. Deborah’s next release, WATER WITCH, is scheduled to be on bookstore shelves in August ’08.

Boone, NC, author Scott Nicholson has published novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction magazine articles, and has written three screenplays. He works as a newspaper reporter and won three North Carolina Press Association awards. He's had the usual collection of odd jobs: dishwasher, carpenter, painter, musician, baseball card dealer, and radio announcer. Now he haphazardly trades words for beans and uses "haphazardly" as often as possible.

Nicholson has published about 50 stories in six different countries, including the collection “Thank You For The Flowers.” Nicholson won the grand prize in the international Writers of the Future contest in 1999. That same year, he was first runner-up for the Darrell Award. He studied Creative Writing at Appalachian State University and UNC-Chapel Hill. He recently finished a term as Secretary for the southeastern chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and is a member of the Horror Writers Association and International Thriller Writers.

Sarah Pinborough is the author of four mass-market horror novels, The Hidden, The Reckoning, Breeding Ground and The Taken. She also writes short stories and her most recent can be found in ‘Summer Chills’ ed Stephen Jones, alongside stories by horror luminaries such as Clive Barker and Michael Marshall Smith.

Her first novel The Hidden is under film option, and major film studios are also showing interest in Breeding Ground and The Taken. Breeding Ground has also been recommended for a British Fantasy Award 2007 for Best Novel.

Publisher’s Weekly has compared her to Dean Koontz and Bentley Little and she is fast becoming a writer to watch in the US market. Sarah can be seen talking with Muriel Gray and others in a series of short programmes on the Sci-Fi channel entitled ‘Reasons we love Stephen King’, which are airing throughout May and June, and she is currently working on her next horror novel and a YA novel as well as finishing a screenplay.

Sarah lives in Milton Keynes, England with her two cats and teaches English at her local high school when not writing. You can find out more about Sarah from her website www.sarahpinborough.com or www.myspace.com/sarahpinborough.

Hank Schwaeble is not only an accomplished thriller author but a practicing attorney in Houston, Texas.  A former Air Force officer and special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Hank did his undergraduate work at the University of Florida, graduated at the top of his class from the Defense Language Institute's year-long Japanese Language Course, and was an editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review.  His latest fiction has recently appeared in the highly-acclaimed anthologies Alone on the Darkside and Five Strokes to Midnight.  Best-selling author Tom Monteleone has called Hank "a talented voice [who] writes with a confidence that could be called swagger if he wasn't so good."

Alexandra Sokoloff is a screenwriter who has sold original horror and thriller scripts and written novel adaptations for numerous Hollywood studios, for producers such as Laura Ziskin, Neal Moritz, David Heyman and Michael Bay.   Her adaptation of Sabine Deitmer's psychological thriller COLD KISSES was filmed in Germany.  She is the author of two new dark suspense novels from St. Martin’s Press: Bram Stoker Award-nominated THE HARROWING (2006) and THE PRICE  (Jan. 2008), and a story in the illustrated noir superhero anthology THE DARKER MASK (Tor 2008).  Alex is a former Board member of the Writers Guild of America, West, and the founder of WriterAction.com, an online community and resource center for over 2000 professional screenwriters.   She sings as a Killerette in the all-author Killer Thriller Band, and is a member of MUSE, a new collective of female suspense authors, with Sarah Langan, Sarah Pinborough and Deborah LeBlanc.   www.alexandrasokoloff.com