Judy L. Mandel first self-published her memoir, Replacement Child, under her own imprint in 2009, after being turned down by several agents and publishers who doubted the market for the book. Because she believed in the book, and telling her story, she utilized her years of marketing experience to produce the book and coordinate wide distribution. She embarked on a country-wide book tour and blog tour, garnering some significant recognition for the book, including awards from Writer’s Digest and the National Indie Excellence Awards. When the book sold over 14,000 copies, (eBook and print combined) she approached an agent she had met at a conference four years prior who had been interested in the book but didn’t feel it was marketable. Now, it seemed, it was! The book has a new life now in the traditional publishing arena from Seal Press/Perseus. Judy has been a journalist, advertising copywriter, public relations

Randall Klein is an associate editor at Random House, who oversees Random’s new digital-only imprint “Alibi.” Bio coming soon. Meanwhile, here’s the Publishers Marketplace announcement. share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend

Gabriela Pereira is the Creative Director and Founder of DIY MFA, the do-it-yourself alternative to a Masters Degree in writing. Gabriela creates tools and techniques for the serious writer so they can get the “knowledge without the college.” She holds an MFA in Writing from The New School and has taught at several organizations throughout New York City, including 826NYC, Everybody Wins and the East Harlem Tutorial Program. When she’s not teaching or designing learning tools for DIY MFA, Gabriela enjoys writing some fiction of her own. She especially loves writing middle grade and teen fiction, with some “short stories for grown-ups” thrown in for good measure. share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend

Before joining Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency as an Associate Agent in 2011, Linda read manuscripts, book proposals, and queries at Folio Literary Management; was Submissions Manager at the McVeigh Agency; and interned at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency and also Meryl Zegarek Public Relations. Prior to that she was Community Relations Manager at Barnes and Noble, where she set up author readings and signings and organized book groups and book fairs. Currently, Linda co-edits The New York Bookwoman, the newsletter of the New York chapter of the Women’s National Book Association, and manages their blog. She also leads workshops about publishing at Hofstra University. Linda graduated from Buffalo University with a BA in English and Environmental Studies and went on for graduate work in Creative Writing at Temple University. She also holds a BSN from New York University. Linda is an avid reader, a fiction writer, the mother of three

Jerry Amernic is a writer from Toronto. He is the author of five books and has been a newspaper reporter and columnist, feature writer for magazines, publisher of a magazine, college instructor of writing and journalism, and a consultant who provides valuable services for his clients. Those services include writing, PR and media relations, and training people how to be interviewed by the media. His first book Victims: The Orphans of Justice was a look at Canada’s criminal justice system, and it led to a weekly column in a major Toronto newspaper. He later wrote two business-oriented books for a U.S. publisher. Jerry’s first novel Gift of the Bambino was released in Canada by a small literary house that later went out of business. The story is about a young boy and the special relationship he has with his grandfather, and how they are bound by baseball and Babe Ruth. It’s

Daniela Rapp got her start in the industry at a literary agency selling foreign rights. She is now an Editor with St. Martin Press and is actively looking for mysteries (historical and contemporary), high-concept women’s fiction, serious narrative nonfiction titles, as well as books about pets, animals, nature, American history, language and humor, and travel. No historical fiction, no chick lit, no romance, and very few prescriptive books. She is especially interested in multi-cultural projects and Native American topics. Her other projects are “Things That Make Us (SIC) by Martha Brockenbrough. It is about apop-culture-studded rant on the abuse of grammar, spelling and usage to the offenders. “Murder On The Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner, which is a bestselling French mystery novel set in 1889. It is about a woman collapses and dies on this great Paris landmark and “Dog Talk” by Harrison Forbes, a veteran dog trainer and radio

Alex Glass came to Trident Media Group as Chairman Robert Gottlieb’s assistant in 2001 and was promoted to literary agent shortly thereafter. He grew up in New York City, has a BA from Johns Hopkins, and has worked in the literature program at the National Endowment for the Arts and in the marketing department of the Putnam Berkley Publishing Group. Recently called an “A-list agent” in Entertainment Weekly, Alex represents a diverse list of authors writing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children, including New York Times bestselling authors and winners of awards such as the Edgar, the Newbery, and the O’Henry. An alphabetical sampling of his books and clients include: Rough & Tumble by NFL legend Mark Bavaro The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, soon to be a major motion picture starring Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, and Mia Wasikowska Brothers by Da Chen, New

Peter Rubie, CEO of FinePrint Literary Management, specializes in a broad range of high-quality fiction and non-fiction. In non-fiction he specializes in narrative non-fiction, popular science, spirituality, history, biography, pop culture, business and technology, parenting, health, self help, music, and food. He is a “sucker” for outstanding writing. In fiction he represents literate thrillers, crime fiction, science fiction and fantasy, military fiction and literary fiction, middle grade and some boy oriented young adult fiction. Rubie is a former BBC Radio and Fleet Street journalist and for several years was the director of the publishing section of the New York University Summer Publishing Institute. He was a member of the NYU faculty for 10 years, and taught the only university-level course in the country on how to become a literary agent. Prior to becoming an agent he was a publishing house editor for nearly six years, whose authors won prizes and

Marie Myung-OK Lee is a novelist and essayist. Her novel, Firstborn Son, is forthcoming with Simon & Schuster. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, LA Times, Washington Post, Slate, the UK Guardian, and she is a regular contributor to The Atlantic and Salon. Essays have also appeared in Norton anthologies and in numerous writing textbooks. Lee has also been a Fulbright Fellow (the first recipient of a creative writing Fulbright to South Korea), a judge for the National Book Awards and the RFK Book and Journalism Awards and has been awarded fellowship residencies to Yaddo, MacDowell, and Ledig House. She was the recipient of the MacColl Johnson Fellowship and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fiction Fellowship, has taught at Brown University and currently teaches creative writing at Columbia University. Follow Marie on Facebook and on Twitter: @MarieMyungOkLee share: Digg this

Laura Biagi joined the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency Inc. (JVNLA) in 2009. She is actively building her own client list, seeking adult literary fiction and young readers books (including young adult, middle grade, and picture books). She is particularly interested in magical realism, cultural themes, complex narrative arcs, psychological twists, dystopian/apocalyptic literary fiction, and debut authors. Laura also handles the sale of Australian and New Zealand rights for the agency. She has worked closely with Jean Naggar and Jennifer Weltz on their titles, as well as Jennifer Weltz on the submission of JVNLA’s titles internationally. Laura studied creative writing and anthropology at Northwestern University. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Emerging Artist Award in fiction writing. share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend