the muse & the marketplace 2010

bios of contributors

Click on the names below to learn more. Author bios will be posted by February 19th, 2010.

editors

Jofie Ferrari-Adler*, Grove/Atlantic
Jofie Ferrari-Adler is a senior editor at Grove/Atlantic, where he acquires and edits both fiction and nonfiction. Previously he worked as an editor at Viking Penguin, the independent house Four Walls Eight Windows, and as a bookseller. Recent titles include Karl Marlantes’s Matterhorn, William J. Bernstein’s A Splendid Exchange, Andrew Ferguson’s Land of Lincoln, Joe McGinniss Jr.’s The Delivery Man, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin’s The Last Stand of Fox Company, Christopher Beha’s The Whole Five Feet, Tim Flannery’s Now or Never, and David Kinney’s The Big One. Jofie serves on the AAP’s International Freedom to Publish Committee and is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers magazine.
Reagan Arthur*, Reagan Arthur Books
Reagan Arthur is Vice President and Editorial Director of Reagan Arthur Books, an imprint of Little, Brown. She began her publishing career at St. Martin’s Press, and also worked for Picador USA. Writers she has worked with since arriving at Little, Brown include Kate Atkinson, Kate Braestrup, Tony Earley, Joshua Ferris, Elin Hilderbrand, Elizabeth Kostova, Denise Mina, George Pelecanos, Josh Bazell, Kathleen Kent, and Joanna Scott.
Pamela Dorman*, Viking Penguin
In her more than twenty years at Viking Penguin, Pamela Dorman acquired and edited the multi-million copy #1 bestsellers The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, The Memory-Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding and The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard, which was the first selection of the Oprah Book Club, along with many other fiction and non-fiction bestsellers.   In 2006, she became Vice-President, Editorial Director of Voice, a new imprint for women at Hyperion, where she acquired and edited the fiction bestsellers The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance by Katherine Howe and The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff, and edited Candace Bushnell’s One Fifth Avenue.  She also acquired and edited the bestselling memoirs The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, and Perfection by Julie Metz.  She rejoined the Penguin Group in 2008 to found her eponymous imprint, Pamela Dorman Books, where her inaugural hardcover, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, was selected to launch the Sam’s Club National Book Club. Other new titles from Pamela Dorman Books include The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale, about a girl in eighteenth-century London who becomes apprenticed to a mysterious fireworks maker; and a major international bestseller, The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano that has already sold more than one million copies in his native Italy, where it won the prestigious Premio Strega award. She began her publishing career at St. Martin’s Press.  Dorman is a summa cum laude graduate of Wesleyan University.
Amy Einhorn*, Amy Einhorn Books
Amy Einhorn Books’ mission-statement is to publish books that hit that sweet-spot between literary and commercial.  Launched in February 2009, the imprint’s first title published was The Help by Kathryn Stockett, a debut novel that was a #1 New York Times bestseller. It was named USA Today’s Book of the Year, and has sold over a million copies in hardcover, receiving critical acclaim from NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, People, and many more.  With a boutique list of only 10-12 titles a year, Amy Einhorn Books is backed by the marketing and publicity might of the most successful commercial publishing house in the business, G.P. Putnam’s Sons.  Amy Einhorn Books publishes fiction, narrative nonfiction and commercial nonfiction.  Upcoming titles include The Postmistress by Sarah Blake,  This is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson, The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni and The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees.  Some of Amy’s past New York Times bestsellers include I Like You by Amy Sedaris, The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks, Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston, Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman, and the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Red Hat Society by Sue Ellen Cooper. Amy has been in publishing for over 20 years, and was the Editor-in-Chief of Grand Central Publishing, Editorial Director of Washington Square Press, and worked at Poseidon Press, Villard, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Jeanne Leiby, The
 Southern Review
Jeanne Leiby is an associate professor of English at LSU and editor of The
 Southern Review, which publishes the best literary fiction, 
poetry, and creative nonfiction. Poems and fiction are selected with careful
 attention to craftsmanship and technique and to the seriousness of the
 subject matter. Although willing to publish experimental writing that 
appears to have a valid artistic purpose, The Southern Review avoids s
extremism and sensationalism. We do not typically publish genre fiction. Jeanne Leiby is also the author of a story collection titled Downriver, published by Carolina Wren Press and winner of the Doris Bakwin Prize. Her stories have appeared in Fiction, Indiana Review, and New Orleans Review, among other
 journals.
Christine Pride*, Broadway Books
Christine Pride is an Editor at Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc. where she acquires and edits a range of fiction (Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace, The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha, The End of The Alphabet by CS Richardson), memoir (Rattled! by Christine Coppa, The Geography of Love by Glenda Burgess), narrative non-fiction (Teaching Hope by Erin Gruwell, If It Takes A Village, Build One by Malaak Compton Rock) and animal stories (Love is the Best Medicine by Dr. Nick Trout). While her tastes and interests are very diverse, she is committed to finding and nurturing projects that feature strong story-telling and emotional resonance. Christine attended the University of Missouri’s prestigious broadcast journalism program and worked in non-profit management before embarking on career in book publishing.
Ladette Randolph, Ploughshares
Ladette Randolph is editor-in-chief of the literary journal Ploughshares and a professor at Emerson College. Prior to joining the staff at Ploughshares she was an editor and associate director at University of Nebraska Press, and prior to that managing editor of Prairie Schooner. She is the author of the novel A Sandhills Ballad and the award-winning short story collection This Is Not the Tropics and the editor of two anthologies, A Different Plain and The Big Empty. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Rona Jaffe grant, the Virginia Faulkner Award, a Best New American Voices citation, and three Nebraska Book Awards. Ploughshares is well known for its fiction, with work frequently reprinted in both Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart prize volumes. Known for its program of inviting established writers to guest edit each of the three issues it publishes each year, the magazine is committed to maintaining high quality while also showcasing diverse literary tastes in each issue. Half of each issue is solicited from the guest editor, and the remaining half comes from submissions made directly to the magazine. Ploughshares tends not to publish a lot of experimental fiction, nor do they publish genre fiction. As a former book editor, Randolph conceived of and acquired manuscripts for the award-winning series American Lives (memoirs) and Flyover Fiction (novels and short story collections).
Nathaniel Rich*, The Paris Review
Nathaniel Rich is the fiction editor of The Paris Review, where he has worked for the past five years. Before that he worked on the editorial staff of The New York Review of Books. He's also the author of two books, including a novel, The Mayor's Tongue, and has written essays on literature and film for Vanity Fair, Slate, and Lapham's Quarterly, among other publications. His website is www.nathanielrich.com. When asked what The Paris Review is looking for submission-wise, Rich answers, "to be surprised," and quotes William Styron from the inaugural issue: "The Paris Review should welcome these people into its pages: the good writers and good poets, the non-drumbeaters and non-axe-grinders. So long as they're good."
Christina Thompson, Harvard Review
Christina Thompson is the editor of Harvard Review and a lecturer in the Writing Program at Harvard University Extension. She is the recipient of a 2010 NEA Fellowship and a 2010 grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council. Her essays and criticism have been published in Vogue, The American Scholar, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers and journals. She is the author of a memoir entitled Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All (Bloomsbury, 2008). More info at www.comeonshore.com.

literary agents

Richard Abate*, 3 Arts Entertainment
Richard Abate has been a literary agent for over fifteen years. He recently joined 3 Arts Entertainment, a premier management company based in Los Angeles, to begin their literary division. He works with many literary writers such as Kate Christensen (a PEN/Faulkner winner), Sana Krasikov (2009 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature winner), Oscar Casares, Chuck Hogan (Hammett Award winner), Dale Peck, Calvin Baker, Attica Locke, and young adult mega stars Lisi Harrison and Melissa De La Cruz. He also works with award-winning non-fiction writers including Evan Wright (two-time National Magazine Award winner), Jeff Tietz (National Magazine Award nominee), Tara Bray Smith, Anthony Flint, Tina Cassidy, Pulitzer Prize winner Tamara Jones, historians James Swanson and Mitchell Zuckoff, Brian McGrory of the Boston Globe, National Book Award nominee David McCumber, music writer Anthony Bozza, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Snyder, and NPR journalist Farai Chideya. He has also worked with top creative talent in other fields, such as Guillermo Del Toro, Tim Kring (creator and executive producer of Heroes), and Howard Gordon (executive producer of 24). Richard has a bachelor’s degree in European History from the University of Maryland and a doctorate in American Studies from NYU.
Jenni Ferrari-Adler*, Brick House Literary Agents
Jenni Ferrari-Adler is an agent at Brick House Literary Agents. Jenni specializes in representing novels, food narrative and cookbooks, and narrative nonfiction. Recent sales include the debut literary novel A Wonderful Sight From the Air by Sarah Gardner Borden to Vintage, the food memoir Four Kitchens by Lauren Shockey to Grand Central, and the cookbook Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Boston-based journalist Maria Speck to Ten Speed Press. Jenni holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan and a BA from Oberlin College. She taught creative writing at the University of Michigan and the Gotham Writers Workshop. She has worked as a reader for The Paris Review, and a bookseller at Housing Works. Her short fiction and food writing have been published in numerous magazines. She is the editor of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant (http://www.aloneinthekitchen.com/) and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She is looking for projects with wonderful writing and a new take on an interesting topic. Some books she’s loved recently: Look At Me by Jennifer Egan, The Great Man by Kate Christenson, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow, The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn, One L by Scott Turow, and Heat by Bill Buford.
Miriam Altshuler, Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency
Miriam Altshuler established her own agency in 1994 after twelve years as an agent at Russell & Volkening. Her list focuses on literary commercial fiction and nonfiction, but most important to her are the quality of the writing and how the subject is approached.

The range of fiction writers she represents includes Robb Forman Dew, winner of the National Book Award for Dale Loves Sophie to Death (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); Alice Lichtenstein, whose second novel, Lost, will be published this spring by Scribner, Doug Trevor, whose stories have appeared in The Best American Non-Required Reading, Glimmer Train and The Paris Review, and whose collection, The Thin Tear in the Fabric of Space, won the Iowa First Fiction Award in 2005; Jennine Capo Crucet, winner of the 2009 Iowa First Fiction Award for her collection, How to Leave Hialeah; and Walter Dean Myers, two-time National Book Award finalist, first Michael Printz award winner, and New York Times best-selling author of Monster. Her nonfiction authors include Andrew Carroll, New York Times best-selling author of War Letters (Scribner) and Operation Homecoming (with the National Endowment of the Arts, Random House); Harriet Brown, whose forthcoming memoir with HarperCollins, Brave Girl Eating, is based on her New York Times Magazine article; New York Times best-selling author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (Dogs Never Lie About Love), and his newest book about the choices behind the foods we eat, The Face On Your Plate (W.W. Norton); New York Times columnist Alina Tugend and her forthcoming book about making mistakes, The Right To Be Wrong (Riverhead); Janna Malamud Smith, author of the 2003 New York Times Notable Book A Potent Spell (Houghton Mifflin), and her memoir of her father, the late Bernard Malamud, My Father is a Book (Houghton Mifflin); B.U. professor, YA novelist, and acclaimed author of Sex and the Soul and The Possibilities of Sainthood, Donna Freitas; and Wednesday Martin, author of Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do (Harcourt Houghton Mifflin).
Julie Barer, Barer Literary
Julie Barer established her own agency in 2004 after six years at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Barer Literary is a full-service boutique agency that represents a variety of writers across a literary spectrum, with an emphasis on fiction.  Clients include National Book Award finalist Joshua Ferris (Then We Came to the End and The Unnamed), award winning short story writer Gina Ochsner (People I Wanted To Be and the forthcoming Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight), and bestselling historical novelist Kathleen Kent (The Heretic’s Daughter). Writing by her clients has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Best American Non-Required Reading, New Stories From the South, Best New American Voices, Tin House, Granta and various other publications, and has received numerous awards and honors, including grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award, the Los Angeles Times First Book Award, the National Book Award finalist medal, the Flannery O'Connor Award and the Orange Prize and Guardian First Book Award long lists. Forthcoming books include Helen Simonson’s debut novel Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand (Random House), City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris (Little, Brown & Co.) and The Great Penguin Rescue by Dyan DeNapoli (Free Press). Before becoming an agent Julie was a bookseller at Shakespeare & Company in New York.
Eve Bridburg, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth
After graduating with a Masters in Creative Writing from Boston University, where she studied with Margot Livesey, Leslie Epstein, and Ralph Lombreglia on a teaching fellowship, Eve Bridburg founded Grub Street Writers. She joined Zachary Shuster Harmsworth as an agent in the fall of 2005.  Eve’s most recent sales include: Blogger Matt Logelin’s Adventures with Maddy to Grand Central at auction, Shana Noyes's Get to Know Me pre-empted by Stewart, Tabori and Chang, twenty-one-year-old Jake Ritari’s debut novel Taroko Gorge to Unbridled Books, and Ann Garvin’s debut novel On Maggie’s Watch to Berkley Books Penguin.  Her clients include Muse 2010 guest Donovan Campbell, author of New York Times bestseller Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood (Random House), Psychologist Anthony Rao, author of The Way of Boys (William Morrow), world-renowned obesity expert Jim Levine, author of Move a Little, Lose a Lot: New NEAT Science Reveals How to Be Thinner, Happier, and Smarter (Crown), and Kirsten Menger-Anderson, author of the critically acclaimed short story collection, Doctor Olaf Van Schuler’s Brain (Algonguin). As an agent, Eve represents both fiction and nonfiction.  She is actively seeking new works of literary and up-market fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction.  She is also interested in nonfiction of all stripes, but is particularly moved by history, politics, motherhood, and health and wellness.
Regina Brooks, Serendipity Literary Agency LLC
Regina Brooks is the founder and president of Serendipity Literary Agency LLC, based in Brooklyn, New York. Her agency has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature, including: three-time National Book Award finalist, the Coretta Scott King Honor, and the 2006 Michael Printz Honor Award-winning author Marilyn Nelson; winner of the 2008 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award, Sundee Frazier; Nina Jablonski; and Marjorie Greenfield (The Working Women’s Pregnancy Book). Brooks also has a talent for identifying new voices and potential authors like Derrick Barnes, whose first novel, The Making of Dr Truelove, won an American Library Association Award. Serendipity was hailed by Writer's Digest magazine as one of the top 25 literary agencies in 2004. Prior to opening her own agency, Ms Brooks held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons (where she was not only the youngest but also the first African-American editor in their college division) and McGraw-Hill. She is the author of the children's book, Never Finished! Never Done! (Scholastic, 2004) and Writing Great Books for Young Adults (Source Books 09). Brooks is also on the faculty of the Harvard University publishing program. Her recent sales include: In the Black: Retirement Planning Guide for African Americans (Harper Collins), Handle Your Entertainment Business (Hachette); Wishing: How to Fulfill Your Dream (Beyond Words/Atria), Girligami (Watson Guptil), Beautiful Ballerina (Scholastic), Imperfections (Clarion), and Sweethearts Of Rhythm (Random House).  She is a regular speaker at writer’s conferences and is interested in new and emerging writers. www.serendipitylit.com
Elyse Cheney*, Elyse Cheney Literary Associates LLC
Elyse Cheney has been a literary agent for fifteen years, beginning at a small firm, Connie Clausen Associates, and then moving on to Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for ten years. In January 2005 she opened her own company. She studied English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, with a minor in business at the Wharton School and a minor in Art History. Cheney's writers include journalists from all the top magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, Harper’s, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Recently published nonfiction and memoir books include Warren St. John’s Outcasts United, Justin Fox’s The Myth of the Rational Market, and Reza Aslan’s How to Win a Cosmic War; Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz, Mockingbird Years and Are You Happy? by Emily Fox Gordon, and Ask Amy columnist Amy Dickinson's New York Times bestselling The Mighty Queens of Freeville. Cheney was also the agent for Dave Eggers’ bestselling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Cheney's fiction interests range from the literary to the commercial. She represents Jess Row, author of The Train to Lo Wu, Stegner fellow Suzanne Rivecca, Benjamin Kunkel, author of the highly acclaimed Indecision, and Nathaniel Rich, author of The Mayor's Tongue. She was also the agent for Sister Souljah’s classic novel The Coldest Winter Ever, and is increasingly interested in commercial fiction, thrillers and women’s fiction.
Elizabeth Evans*, Jean V. Naggar Agency
Elizabeth Evans joined the Jean V. Naggar Agency in January, 2010. Previously, she worked for six years with Kimberley Cameron & Associates (formerly the Reece Halsey Agency). Elizabeth specializes in nonfiction, including memoir, current affairs, pop culture, relationships, journalism, history and popular science. She also represents select titles in up-market women’s fiction, mysteries and young adult novels. She enjoys working closely with her authors to fine-tune their proposals and especially loves launching new authors’ careers. She is always on the lookout for stories of adventure, and books that aspire to foster knowledge and understanding. Elizabeth does not represent thrillers, children's books, essay anthologies, poetry, short fiction or screenplays.
Stephany Evans*, FinePrint Literary Management
Stephany Evans, President of FinePrint Literary Management, began agenting in 1990. In 1992 she formed her own agency while serving as editor for wellness and personal growth magazine Free Spirit. For twenty years, she has represented nonfiction writers in the areas of health and wellness, lifestyle (including home renovating, decorating, food & drink, and sustainability), spirituality, memoir and narrative nonfiction. Her clients span an unusual spectrum from meditation 'sitters' to ultra-runners. In fiction, she represents a range of women's fiction, from literary to romance, including mystery, paranormal, and suspense, and the occasional novel not aimed at chicks. Stephany is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives, the Women's National Book Association, and Romance Writers of America, and member and former co-chair of New York Women in Publishing. She splits her time between her offices in New York City and Marfa, Texas.
Sorche Fairbank, Fairbank Literary Representation
Since establishing Fairbank Literary Representation in 2002, Sorche Elizabeth Fairbank has had the pleasure of working with a dynamic and varied list, representing best-selling authors, Edgar recipients, award-winning journalists, and of course plenty of one of her favorite kinds of client -- the first-time author. Her tastes in novels tend toward literary fiction, international voices, and women's voices, and the occasional mystery/suspense novel. On the nonfiction side, she is most likely to take on books that tackle current events and societal issues with a narrative treatment. She has a strong interest in women's voices and class and race issues, popular science, quality lifestyle books (food, wine, craft, and home design), and humor(!) and pop culture, which have been exceptionally strong sellers lately. Subjects and genres not of interest include: sci-fi and fantasy, children’s and YA, self-help, romance, sports fiction, or generally anything that opens with a dream scene and/or exhaustive descriptions of weather. Unless, of course, it’s really really REALLY good.

Authors and books represented by Fairbank Literary include: O. Henry Prize winner Charlotte Forbes; Pulitzer nominee and LA Times Cairo Bureau Chief Jeffrey Fleishman; Matthew Frederick and his best-selling 101 Things I Learned In _______ School series; the estate of Robin Moore (The French Connection, The Green Berets); Xaviera Hollander (The Happy Hooker); journalist Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks); Darci Klein (To Full Term, A Mother's Triumph Over Miscarriage); Jonathan McCullough's A Tale Of Two Subs; syndicated cartoonist and Georgia Author of the Year Man Martin (Days of the Endless Corvette and Paradise Dogs), Edgar-winner and host of Anatomy Of A Mystery, Rex Burns; Robert McKinnon (Actions Speak Loudest, a collection of essays by such luminaries as Jimmy Carter, Paul Simon, Dave Eggers, Mia Hamm, Richard Louv); essayist Jessica Handler; and Eudora Welty prize in Fiction winner Miroslav Penkov and his debut collection Bulgari, a country, in stories, forthcoming from FSG. Updated information on Sorche Fairbank and Fairbank Literary, their clients, and recent deals can be found at www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/SorcheFairbank.
Lisa Grubka, Foundry
Lisa Grubka spent six years at the William Morris Agency before joining Foundry in summer 2008, and represents both fiction (literary, young adult, and women's) and non-fiction (pop culture, food, and narrative). Lisa has worked with a broad variety of authors, from debut novelists to Food Network stars. She takes a very hands-on approach in working with her authors, and is a thorough editor, ensuring the best possible proposal or manuscript. In addition to representing her authors, she also managed magazine/serial and audio rights for William Morris. She began her career at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Associates
PJ Mark has worked in the publishing industry for sixteen years, as an international book scout, a journalist covering the book publishing industry, and as a literary agent since 2002. His clients include Dinaw Mengestu (The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Award for First Fiction, the Guardian First Book Award, the Prix du Premier Roman, and a “5 Under 35” writer by the National Book Award Foundation, 2007); Samantha Hunt (The Seas; The Invention of Everything Else, shortlisted for the Orange Prize; a “5 Under 35” writer by the National Book Award Foundation, 2006); Josh Weil (The New Valley; a “5 Under 35” writer by the National Book Award Foundation, 2009); Ed Park (Personal Days, a TIME magazine book of the year and finalist for the John Sargent Award for First Novel); Sarah Manguso (The Two Kinds of Decay, recipient of The Rome Prize); Craig Thompson (Blankets; recipient of three Harvey Awards, two Eisner Awards, and the 2005 Critics Choice at Angouleme); and others. His clients have been published in The New Yorker, Granta, the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Harper's, and elsewhere. They have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism, Lannan Foundation fellowships, the MacArthur Foundation Grant, The Narrative Prize, and Fulbright fellowships. They have also been finalists for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Young Lions Fiction Award and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award.
Rebecca Oliver*, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment
Rebecca Oliver moved over to the William Morris Endeavor Entertainment book department when the two companies merged in June 2009.  Previous to joining Endeavor as an agent in 2007, she worked in book publishing, first at St. Martin’s Press followed by Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books) as the Associate Director of Subsidiary Rights.  At WME her client list is diverse and ranges from practical non-fiction (Tracy Anderson, The 30-Day Method Kick Start; Nicole Williams, Girl on Top) to memoir (Eric Poole, Where's My Wand; Janna Cawrse Esarey, The Motion of the Ocean; Michael Cooper, Displaced) to both commercial and literary fiction.  Fiction clients include New York Times bestselling author Brunonia Barry (The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places); Susan White, author of the Target book club pick A Soft Place to Land; historical novelist Kamran Pasha (Mother of the Believers and Shadow of the Swords); and women's fiction author Ellen Block (The Language of Sand).
Denise Shannon, Denise Shannon Literary Agency
Denise Shannon heads her own literary agency in New York City, which she started in 2002.  She has also held positions at Alfred A. Knopf, St. Martin’s Press and ICM.  Representative titles: Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose, Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart, The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen, Alternatives to Sex by Stephen McCauley, The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle and Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak, and Astonishing Luck on Our Way to Love and Motherhood by Carey Goldberg, Beth Jones and Pamela Ferdinand.
Janet Silver*, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth
Janet Silver, the Literary Director of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth agency, brings more than three decades of experience as an acclaimed editor and publishing executive to her work as a literary agent. She joined the agency after 25 years at Houghton Mifflin Company, where she was Vice President and Publisher. Throughout her long career, Silver has remained committed to supporting exceptional writers of literary fiction and narrative nonfiction.  Her clients benefit from both her in-depth knowledge of the publishing process and her industry-wide reputation as the renowned editor of many celebrated writers, including Philip Roth, Tim O'Brien, Jhumpa Lahiri, Cynthia Ozick, Monique Truong, and Jonathan Safran Foer.  As a publisher, she oversaw the release of such groundbreaking works as Beautiful Boy by David Sheff and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.  Silver’s clients at ZSH are writers recognized for their original voices, narrative skill, and proven expertise.  Recent major sales include the memoir Wild by novelist Cheryl Strayed (Knopf), recounting her solo trek on the Pacific Crest trail; Brian Christian’s The Most Human Human (Doubleday), an inside look at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence; and award-winning writer Michael Byers’ Percival’s Planet (Holt), a novel based on the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
Rachel Sussman*, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth
Rachel Sussman graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University with a B.A. in English literature. She has worked as an editor at Scribner, where she edited a wide range of fiction and nonfiction, including Dawn Raffel's debut novel, Carrying the Body; Naama Goldstein's debut short story collection, The Place Will Comfort You; Thomas Webber's memoir Flying Over 96th Street; Louis Edwards's novel Oscar Wilde Discovers America; and Jennifer Vogel's memoir Flim-Flam Man. After four years at Scribner, Rachel moved to London, where she worked as an editor with The Literary Consultancy and edited for various U.K. publishing houses on a freelance basis. Rachel joined Zachary Shuster Harmsworth as an agent in the summer of 2005. Some of her recent sales include Two Kisses for Maddy, a memoir by blogger Matt Logelin (Grand Central Publishing); Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight about Animals by Western Carolina University professor of psychology Hal Herzog (HarperCollins); I Thought You Were Dead, a novel by Peter Nelson (Algonquin); Sharp Notes, a personal narrative blending memoir, travelogue, and history by New York Times reporter Doreen Carvajal (Riverhead); and Virtually You: How Online Life is Transforming Offline Reality by Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, Director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine (Norton).
Mitchell Waters, Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Mitchell Waters has been an agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd. for fifteen years.  He represents an eclectic group of authors of fiction and non-fiction.  He is particularly interested in literary fiction, but is not averse to strong plots and some humor.  Recent and forthcoming titles include Lake Overturn by Vestal McIntyre (winner of the 2010 Grub Street Book Prize), Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford, The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier, The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet by Myrlin A. Hermes, Probation by Tom Mendicino, Mile-High Fever by Dennis Drabelle, The Conversion by Joseph Olshan, Cloris by Cloris Leachman, The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper and A Voice from Old New York by Louis Auchincloss.
Elisabeth Weed, Weed Literary LLC
Elisabeth Weed is committed to working with writers on individual titles and for the long term. She is dedicated to developing her authors’ careers by guiding them as they fine-tune their work, and build platforms in their areas of expertise. Elisabeth is interested in discovering new voices in up-market fiction, with literary echoes. Drawn to high-concept work and great writing, her list includes best selling and nationally recognized authors, including Martha Moody, Allison Winn Scotch, Lynne Griffin, Trish Ryan, Sara Barron, Therese Walsh and Megan Kelley Hall. For more information, visit www.weedliterary.com.
*first time at the Muse and the Marketplace conference!