D.E. (Dan) Johnson’s literary debut, a historical mystery entitled The Detroit Electric Scheme, was published by St. Martin ‘s Minotaur in September 2010. The sequel, Motor City Shakedown, was published by Minotaur in September 2011. Dan is a history buff who has been writing fiction since childhood, but had to hit his midlife crisis to realize he should get serious about it. He and his wife, Shelly, have always encouraged their children to make their dreams a reality – and it finally occurred to him to do the same. After taking classes, reading everything about writing he could find, and writing for hours every day, he hit on the right subject and genre, and wrote a book that Loren Estleman calls “A LES MISERABLES for the American experience.” The early Twentieth Century, a time of big ambitions, huge achievements, and crushing poverty, holds a special fascination for him. Dan comes by his interest in automotive history honestly. His grandfather

 Heather Webb grew up a military brat and naturally became obsessed with travel, culture, and languages. She acquired degrees in French and Cultural Geography, and put them to use teaching high school French for nearly a decade. Hours of grading papers, dodging “football” riots on the Champs-Élysées, and shoving five hundred pounds of luggage from the train in the south of France did not quell her love of travel, or high school kids. But another passion called! After some soul searching, Heather pursued her dream of writing fiction. Her debut novel BECOMING JOSEPHINE encompasses all that she loves about historical fiction—exotic settings, lush descriptions, and human questions that transcend time and space. Currently, Heather teaches a novel writing course in her community, flexes her skills as a freelance editor, and maintains a blog with writing tips, contests, and author interviews, Between the Sheets. Her memberships in the Historical Novel Society,

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of 12 novels;Lip Service, In Fidelity, Flesh Tones, Sheet Music,Lying in Bed, The Halo Effect, The Delilah Complex, The Venus Fix,The Reincarnationist, The Memorist, The Hypnotist, and The Book of Lost Fragrances. Rose is also the co-author with Angela Adair Hoy of How to Publish and Promote Online, and with Doug Clegg of Buzz Your Book. She is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She runs two popular blogs; Buzz, Balls & Hype and Backstory. Getting published has been an adventure for Rose who self-published Lip Service late in 1998 after several traditional publishers turned it down. Editors had loved it, but didn’t know how to position it or market it since it didn’t fit into any one genre. Frustrated, but curious and convinced that there was a readership for her work, she set up a web site where readers could download her book

Maureen McGowan has always been making up stories–her mother called it lying, her teachers creative talent–but sidetracked by a persistent practical side, it took her a few years to see the light and channel her energy into writing novels. After pummeling her sensible side into submission, she quit her career in finance and hasn’t looked back. Aside from books and writing, she’s passionate about art, dance, films, fine handcrafted objects and shoes. A two-time finalist in the Golden Heart® competition and a finalist in the inaugural Amazon Breakout Novel Competition, her first two books for young adults were released in 2011. Her most recent series is The Dust Chronicles including Deviants (Oct 30, 2012), Compliance (June 4, 2013) and Glory (June, 2014). Translation rights for The Dust Chronicles have sold in three territories and a Hollywood producer is attached. Raised in various Canadian cities, her previous career moved her to Northern

Erin Harris of Folio Literary Management loves to champion the careers of debut authors. Primarily she represents literary fiction, book club fiction, YA, and select narrative non-fiction. She’s always on the look-out for the next break-through voice! More from Erin from Folio’s website: My life in publishing began in 2007, when I interned for the literary agent William Clark of WM Clark Associates. In 2008, I joined the Irene Skolnick Literary Agency, where I first experienced the thrill of advocating for books I believed in and writers I admired. I worked there for four and a half years, representing my own projects and selling subsidiary rights on behalf of the agency. Early on, it became apparent to me that there was a need for agents who could think like writers. I’d studied literature in college, but I was eager to hone my creative and editorial skills. This desire led me

Paula Munier, Senior Literary Agent at Talcott Notch Literary Services has worked for such media giants as Disney, Gannett, Greenspun Media Group, and Quayside. She most recently served as the Director of Innovation and Acquisitions for Adams Media, where she headed up the team responsible for creating and producing both fiction and nonfiction. Her specialties include mystery/thriller, SF/fantasy, romance, YA, memoir, humor, pop culture, self-help, New Age, inspirational, and writing. Paula served four terms as President of the New England chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and is currently VP of that organization. A frequently published journalist, author, copywriter, and ghostwriter, Paula has published countless stories, articles, and essays, as well as authoring/co-authoring more than a dozen books, including Fixing Freddie, 5-Minute Mindfulness, and A Miscellany of Murder. share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend

Madeleine Raffel joined Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency in May 2011 after interning at Russell & Volkening in the summer of 2010. She graduated from Harvard College where she studied art history and social anthropology. As she expands her list of clients, Madeleine is looking for adult fiction and non-fiction projects, as well as young adult and middle grade projects. She is especially interested in YA contemporary fiction with diverse viewpoints, MG adventure with heart and a sense of humor, and commercial women’s fiction with strong characters and effortless writing. In non-fiction, she’s always on the lookout for projects having to do with food, art, or a global perspective. When she’s not reading, Madeleine can be found experimenting with new recipes in her postage stamp-sized Manhattan kitchen. share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend

Evan Gregory is an Associate Agent at the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency, and is currently seeking new clients. He attended Pratt Institute and cut his teeth at the Susan Golomb Literary Agency. In addition to servicing his own clients, Evan manages the subsidiary rights sales for agency clients such as John Scalzi, MaryJanice Davidson, Christine Warren, Gail Martin, and Eric Rohmann. He currently resides in Brooklyn. You can follow him on Twitter @EvanJGregory Currently Looking For: Literary fiction, horror, mystery, thriller, science fiction, fantasy and women’s literature. Not Looking For: Illness memoirs, religious/spiritual fiction/non-fiction, or poetry. Client List: B.V. Larson, Travis Langley, Coscom Entertainment, Patty Blount, Adam Connell, Brian Jay Corrigan, J.M. Frey, Adam Harmon, Robin S. Rosenberg, Patricia S. Bowne.  share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend

Based on Donald Maass’s forthcoming book (September 2012, Writers Digest Books), this intensive hands-on workshop teaches the techniques that give multi-year best selling novels their high impact, resulting in both strong story and beautiful writing regardless of category. Donald Maass heads the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York City, which represents more than 150 novelists and sells more than 150 novels every year to publishers in America and overseas. He is a past president of the Association of Authors Representatives, Inc., and is the author of several books of interest to fiction writers, includingWriting the Breakout Novel, The Fire in Fiction, and The Breakout Novelist (all from Writer’s Digest Books).   share: Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend

Lane Shefter Bishop will conduct a special workshop at the 2012 Backspace Agent-Author Seminar on Thursday, November 1, titled “The Art of the Logline: Selling Your Project with a Single Sentence.” This workshop costs $45, and is not included in your conference registration. Lane is a multi-award winning producer and director who spent nearly a decade working in motion picture development at Walt Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures, among others. Ms. Bishop has received numerous accolades for her work including an EMMY, three Telly Awards, aVideographer Award, a Sherril C. Corwin Award, an Aurora Award, a New York Festivals Award and the DGA Fellowship Award for Episodic Television. Ms. Bishop began her work in the industry at Moxie Productions, where she produced and directed projects for such networks as ABC, Showtime, HBO and MTV. Since then, Ms. Bishop has directed numerous television shows and five feature-length motion pictures. Her favorite project is the feature film THE DAY LABORERS (Los Jornaleros), which received Official Selection in Edward James