• NYC Workshop Leaders
• Publishing House Editors
• Marketing/Publicity Pros

Ibrahim Ahmad is senior editor at Akashic Books. He has acquired and edited dozens of titles for the completely independent Brooklyn-based company, which is dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction, general fiction, crime fiction, and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers. Akashic's enduring commitment to seek out and publish fresh voices is reflected by the diversity and eclecticism of the twenty-five or so books released annually by the company. In addition to its regular publishing program, Akashic hosts a number of other imprints including the Little House on the Bowery experimental fiction line; Chris Abani's Black Goat poetry imprint, which seeks to provide a proportional representation of female, African, and other non-American poets; and the Akashic Noir Series, showcasing original short crime fiction from around the world.

Caitlin Alexander

Caitlin Alexander is a senior editor at the Random House Publishing Group, where she acquires and edits a variety of fiction and nonfiction. Her authors include New York Times bestsellers Michelle Richmond (THE YEAR OF FOG), David Gibbins (THE LOST TOMB), Andy McDermott (THE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS), and Gwen Cooper (HOMER'S ODYSSEY); Angela Davis-Gardner (PLUM WINE and the forthcoming BUTTERFLY'S CHILD), Sally Koslow (the forthcoming WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE), national bestseller Elizabeth Joy Arnold (PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE), and International Thriller Writers Award winner Tom Piccirilli (SHADOW SEASON).

Adrienne Avila

Adrienne Avila is an Editor at Berkley, a division of Penguin, where she acquires a range of fiction and nonfiction. She is interested in general fiction, multicultural fiction and quirky women's fiction, and she has acquired and edited award winning Lorraine Lopez's THE GIFTED GABALDON SISTERS, a [Border's] National Latino Book Club pick. She also acquires in the areas of memoir, women's issues, and lifestyle, among others. Recent non-fiction titles include the New York Times Bestseller and Wall Street Journal Bestseller WILL WORK FROM HOME by Tory Johnson and Robyn Spizman, 365 NIGHTS by Charla Muller with Betsy Thorpe, and the essay anthology IT'S A WONDERFUL LIE: 26 Truths About Life in Your Twenties.

Ginjer Buchanan

Ginjer Buchanan is the Editor-in-Chief, Ace/Roc Books, Ace and Roc being the science fiction and fantasy imprints of Berkley and NAL. She also acquires mysteries, historical fiction, pop culture non-fiction, and an occasional paranormal romance.

Jackie Cantor

Jackie Cantor is an Executive Editor at The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin. Prior to joining Berkley in August 2005, she was a Vice President and Executive Editor at Bantam Dell, where her list included a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction titles in all formats. She is proud to have discovered the New York Times bestselling authors Diana Gabaldon and Eloisa James. Other major authors whose work she has acquired include John Grisham, John Lescroart, Hope Edelman (MOTHERLESS DAUGHTERS), and Boston Globe bestselling author Helen Fremont (AFTER LONG SILENCE). At Berkley, her list of authors includes national bestseller Kate Furnivall (THE RUSSIAN CONCUBINE and THE RED SCARF), Christine Blevins (MIDWIFE OF THE BLUE RIDGE and THE TORY WIDOW), Jennie Nash (THE LAST BEACH BUNGALOW and THE ONLY TRUE GENIUS IN THE FAMILY), Laura Brodie (THE WIDOW'S SEASON), and Patti Delois (BUFFLEHEAD SISTERS).

Tom Colgan

An Executive Editor at Penguin, Tom has worked in publishing for over twenty years in publishing. His specialties are general fiction, category fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and military fiction. Authors he has worked with include Tom Clancy, Ed McBain, Clive Cussler, W.E.B. Griffin, and Jack Higgins.

Brendan Deneen

Brendan Deneen is a former development/production executive for Scott Rudin and Bob & Harvey Weinstein (Miramax/Dimension Films/Weinstein Company), and a former literary and film manager, where he closed dozens of publishing and movie deals. Deneen is currently an Editor at Thomas Dunne Books (a division of St. Martin's Press/Macmillan), where he also launched a film division (Macmillan Films' first project, TEMPEST, was pre-empted by Summit Entertainment, producers of the TWILIGHT movies, and Deneen is an Executive Producer on that film). Additionally, he teaches Writing for Film & Television at Hunter College, teaches How To Write Young Adult Novels for MediaBistro.com, and is also independently producing a number of film and television projects

Emily Griffin

Emily Griffin is an associate editor with Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books), where she began her publishing career in 2003. She edits a wide range of fiction and nonfiction; on the fiction side, her authors include Claire LaZebnik (KNITTING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, THE SMART ONE and THE PRETTY ONE), Zoey Dean (bestselling author of the A-LISTSERIES), and Sally Beauman (THE SISTERS MORTLAND). In terms of nonfiction, she has a special fondness for memoirs with distinctive voices, and will be publishing CORKED, author Kathryn Borel's account of a French wine trip with her father, and a memoir by Michelle Au, MD, about medical residency and motherhood. Emily graduated from Harvard College with a degree in history and literature.

Dana Isaacson

Dana Isaacson, Senior Editor at the Random House Publishing Group, has worked in the book publishing industry for nearly twenty years in various capacities: as abridger, literary agent, writer, online editor and acquisitions and content editor. Prior to Random House, he edited at Pocket Books, St. Martin's Press, and ReganBooks. At Random House, he has worked on a wide variety of titles -- from bestselling commercial fiction (Tess Gerritsen's THE MEPHISTO CLUB, Dianne Emley's THE FIRST CUT) to literary biographies (TOO BRIEF A TREAT: THE COLLECTED LETTERS OF TRUMAN CAPOTE, Jonathan Reynolds' WRESTLING WITH GRAVY) to historical narratives (Gerry Adams' A FARTHER SHORE, Michael Kauffman's AMERICAN BRUTUS).

Jennifer Josephy

Jennifer Josephy began her publishing career working for Bob Gottlieb at Knopf. Later, at Holt, she edited New York Times bestsellers, including FEAR OF FLYING by Erica Jong and OUTRAGEOUS ACTS AND EVERYDAY REBELLIONS by Gloria Steinem. At Dutton, she edited cookbooks by Beatrice Ojakangas, among others, which was followed by another more-than-decade-long stint at Little, Brown, where she edited two #1 New York Times bestsellers, Gloria Steinem's REVOLUTION FROM WITHIN and Kevyn Aucoin's MAKING FACES, among many other works in almost all areas of nonfiction. In 1999, she joined Broadway Books as an Executive Editor.

Lyssa Keusch

Executive Editor Lyssa Keusch acquires primarily commercial fiction for the William Morrow/Avon imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Her main focus is on rich, textured, thought-provoking commercial women's fiction, either contemporary or historical, and high concept, smart thrillers. She launched the careers of New York Times bestselling authors James Rollins and Julia Quinn, with whom she is thrilled to continue to work. Among her other authors are New York Times bestsellers J. A. Jance, Jefferson Bass, Samantha James, and Elizabeth Boyle, award-winners Jamie Freveletti, Sean Chercover, Robin Burcell, and Mary Daheim, and international bestsellers Kathryn Fox and Glenn Cooper. While her list is generally comprised of commercial fiction, she enjoys editing the occasional narrative nonfiction project as well, keeping an eye out for books in which the reader learns something fascinating, on topics ranging from popular science and nature to history to cultural explorations to memoir.

Sally Kim

Sally Kim is a senior editor at Shaye Areheart Books, the literary fiction imprint at The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., where her authors include Lisa Unger (BEAUTIFUL LIES, New York Times bestseller), Lee Martin (THE BRIGHT FOREVER, 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Gillian Flynn (SHARP OBJECTS, 2007 Edgar nominee), and Leah Stewart (THE MYTH OF YOU AND ME). Forthcoming titles include Justin Evans's A GOOD AND HAPPY CHILD, Will Lavender's OBEDIENCE, and novels by Jill Smolinski, Camille DeAngelis, Brian Leung, and Patricia Gaffney. Previously an editor at St. Martin's Press and HarperCollins, she has worked in book publishing for 12 years and was a 2006 Frankfurt Fellow.

Matt Martz

Matt Martz began his publishing career in 2004 and joined St. Martin's editorial staff in 2006. His list is split evenly between crime fiction and narrative nonfiction. His tastes in crime fiction run from explosive thrillers to cozies and all points in between, and they are published under the Minotaur Books imprint. Alongside of commercial fiction, he also publishes narrative non-fiction for St. Martin's in the categories of current affairs, politics, business, and history.

Leis Pederson

Leis Pederson is currently an assistant editor at the Berkley Publishing Group. She acquires commercial fiction, including romance and women's fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and general fiction. Forthcoming titles include THE SHADOW WALKER by Michael Walters, LA VIDA VAMPIRE by Nancy Haddock, and THE DANGEROUS DUKE by Christine Wells.

Christine Pride

Christine Pride is an Editor at Broadway Books, where she publishes a range of fiction, memoir and narrative non-fiction including the New York Times bestseller, TELL ME WHERE IT HURTSs by Nick Trout, the SF Chronicle bestseller THE CRYING TREE by Naseem Rakha, Commonwealth Prize winner, THE END OF THE ALPHABET by SC Richardson and the critically acclaimed MR. SEBASTIAN AND THE NEGRO MAGICIAN, by Daniel Wallace. She loves powerful storytelling and discovering and nurturing exciting new voices.

Rakesh Satyal

Rakesh Satyal is an editor at HarperCollins, where he works with such authors as Paulo Coelho, Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin, and Paul Rudnick. A member of the planning committee for the annual PEN World Voices Festival, he also sings a popular cabaret show in the city. He is the author of the novel BLUE BOY, a gender-bending comedy about a young Indian American boy's fascination with the Hindu god Krishna.

Hilary Rubin Teeman

Hilary is an associate editor at St. Martin's Press. She acquires commercial and literary fiction, historical fiction, thrillers, mainstream romantic suspense, and chick-lit as well as social and cultural histories, narrative non-fiction, popular sociology, playful self-help, and memoir. Recently published and forthcoming titles include: Lenore Hart's BECKY, a novel of the "true life" of Becky Thatcher; Tamar Yellin's THE GENIZAH AT THE HOUSE OF SHEPHER, an award-winning novel of four generations of a Jerusalem family; Lea Jacobson's BAR FLOWER, a gripping memoir of the decadent, destructive life of a Tokyo nightclub hostess; and Lori Uscher-Pines's BUYING THE COW IN THE AGE OF FREE MILK: HOW TO GET YOUR MAN TO PROPOSE; and star of VH1's The Pickup Artist, Mystery's THE MYSTERY METHOD: HOW TO GET BEAUTIFUL WOMEN INTO BED.

Johnny Temple

Johnny Temple is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Akashic Books, an award-winning Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction. Temple won the American Association of Publishers' 2005 Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing; and the 2010 Jay and Dean Kogan Award for Excellence in Noir Literature. He has contributed articles and political essays to various publications, including The Nation, Publishers Weekly, AlterNet, Poets & Writers, and BookForum. He is also the Chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council, which works with Brooklyn's borough president to plan the annual Brooklyn Book Festival in September.

Zachary Wagman

Zachary Wagman is an associate editor at Vintage Books, where he edits and acquires crime fiction, thrillers, general and popular fiction, and pop culture non-fiction. He has worked on the paperback reprints of books by Scott Smith, David Peace, Michael Harvey, Lisa Unger, David Thomson, and Oliver Sacks. Hardcover titles he has edited include SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE by Austin Grossman, SEND by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, and YOUR INNER FISH by Neil Shubin.

Alexis Washam

Alexis Washam acquires and edits literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, and crime and psychological suspense, along with some narrative non-fiction and memoir. Her authors include Christos Tsiolkas, author of the Booker Prize longlisted and Commonwealth Award winning novel THE SLAP; Sophie Hannah, author of the international bestsellers THE WRONG MOTHER and THE DEAD LIE DOWN; Randa Jarrar, author of the Arab-American Book Award winner A MAP OF HOME; and musician and founder of the band Throwing Muses Kristin Hersh, author of RAT GIRL. Current and future projects include THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE by Monique Roffey, shortlisted for the Orange Prize; a new series of mysteries set in Aix-en-Provence, France by M.L. Longworth; and Mozipedia: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MORISSEY AND THE SMITHS by Simon Goddard. She also edits Craig Johnson's series of Walt Longmire mysteries, and has co-edited books by J.M. Coetzee, Julia Alvarez, Janice Y.K. Lee, and Sebastian Barry.

Melissa Broder

Melissa Broder is a Senior Publicist at Penguin Group (USA) in the Berkley/ NAL/ Riverhead/ Perigee division. Most recently, she has worked with such bestselling authors as: Harumi Kurihara (HARUMI'S JAPANESE COOKING), Kate Jacobs (THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB) and Sloane Crosley (I WAS TOLD THERE'D BE CAKE). Melissa began her journey in literary publicity at Tor/Forge, an imprint of what was then Holtzbrinck publishers (now Macmillan). Melissa holds a BA in English from Tufts University and is currently getting her MFA in Poetry at The City College of New York, where she is the recipient of The 2008 Stark Poetry Prize in Honor of Raymond Patterson and The 2008 Jerome Lowell Dejur Award in Creative Writing.

Susan Schwartzman

Susan Schwartzman has been in the publishing field for more than 20 years. She began her career in book publicity in 1992 as a freelance in-house book publicist, working for major publishers, including Workman Publishing, William Morrow, Penguin-Putnam, Harcourt Brace, Villard, Wiley, Avon Books, Simon & Schuster, Warner Books, Red Dress Ink, New American Library, and Downtown Press. As an independent book publicist, Susan has promoted a wide variety of literary and commercial fiction and nonfiction titles. Her business, Susan Schwartzman Public Relations, has provided major media placements for her clients in major media throughout the country.

Susan Breen

Susan Breen is the author of the novel THE FICTION CLASS, discovered at the New York Pitch and published by Plume, an imprint of Penguin Group. Her novel was also published by Headline Review (in the UK), Wheeler Publishing (large print) and is a selection of Reading Group Choices. Susan has been a finalist for the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel and the James Jones First Novel Fellowship Competition. Her stories have been published by a number of literary magazines, among them North Dakota Quarterly, The Chattahoochee Review and American Literary Review. Susan teaches beginning and advanced fiction classes at Gotham Writers' Workshop; she is also a contributor to The Writer and Writer's Digest.

Ann Garvin

Ann Garvin is the author of ON MAGGIE'S WATCH (Berkley Penguin November 2010) that was published as a result of the New York Pitch. She is an award winning short story writer with a host of fiction and nonfiction publications ranging from The Potomac Journal to Health Psychology. A compelling and humorous speaker, Ann is a literary crowd-pleaser.

Michael Neff - Director

Michael Neff is the creator and director of the New York Pitch Conference, as well as an agent with AEI in Los Angeles. He is a fiction editor, writer, teacher, and publisher. He is the creator and director of WebdelSol.Com, a literary and cinema arts community, and one of the largest publishers of periodical contemporary lit on the WWW. He publishes several highly acclaimed national literary magazines including 5_Trope, In Posse Review, La Petite Zine, Perihelion, and The Potomac, and also edits the "Paris Review of the Internet," Del Sol Review. His own work has appeared in such classic literary publications as The Literary Review, North American Review, Mudlark, Quarterly West, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Conjunctions, and American Way Magazine. His novel, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, is out from Red Hen Press.

Charles Salzberg

A typical day for Charles involves reading, editing, and evaluating novel manuscripts of all genres for students and a wide variety of clients. He has also published books with or edited for the likes of Viking/Penguin, Dell, Simon and Schuster, Henry Holt, St. Martin's, M. Evans, and Hyperion, as well as agencies like Trident Media Group, Peter Rubie Agency, Graybill & English, and the Spieler Agency, among others. Charles has ghostwritten several books, fiction and nonfiction, and his own detective novel is awaiting publication. currently, he teaches at Sarah Lawrence, The New York Writers Workshop, and the Writer's Voice. He is a founding member of the New York Writers Workshop. An interview with him can be found here His novel, SWAN'S LAST SONG, was rexently published.

Rachel Sherman

Rachel is the author of the short story collection The First Hurt (Open City Books), a finalist for the International Frank O'Connor Short Story Award and one of the 25 Books to Remember of 2006, chosen by the New York Public Library. She has published fiction in such magazines as McSweeney's, Open City, Post Road, Conjunctions, and Story Quarterly, and in the book Full Frontal Fiction: The Best of Nerve Anthology. She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia and teaches fiction classes at Gotham Writers Workshop and for the New York Writers Workshop at the JCC in New York.

Tina Wexler

Tina Dubois Wexler is in International Creative Management's literary department. She represents authors in the adult and children's marketplace and is specifically looking for upmarket woman's fiction, narrative nonfiction (including memoir), cookbooks, and YA fiction. Her authors include Helen Brenna, Donna Gephart, Sanjay Patel, Ani Phyo, Susan Runholt, Laurel Snyder, Erin Torneo, and Anne Ursu (children's market only). Before joining ICM, she was with the Karpfinger Agency and the Ellen Levine Literary Agency. She has an MFA in poetry and is originally from Southern Maine.

NOTE: New York Pitch Conference faculty are subject to change as circumstances dictate, however, new editors and/or workshop leaders will be substituted who are just as qualified and diverse in taste.

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