Here's Your Chance to Pitch!

Do you have a mystery you'd like to pitch?  How about an article about the weekend getaway in New Harmony?  Maybe you're ready to find a home for the children's book you just revised for the third time.  With over a half-dozen editors and agents set to attend the Just Write! Conference, it's the perfect opportunity for you to find just the right person to tell about your project.  April 9th is your chance to pitch!


Here's some information you might find helpful about each of our editors and agents to help with your pitch homework prior to the conference.


Lia Brown, Editor, Avalon Books.  Launching her career in publishing as a high school intern at Starlog magazine, Lia has spent the last twenty years working on a variety of fiction and nonfiction topics and genres at several publishing houses.  Avalon publishes "family friendly" romance, historical romance, mysteries, and Westerns.  No erotica or heavy violence.


Krista Goering, Agent, The Krista Goering Literary Agency.  Krista is an attorney-at-law and literary agent who lived in New York prior to moving to the Midwest when she married a Kansas City area businessman.  She has worked as a freelance writer, published a regional magazine, acted as editor-in-chief of a law journal, and practiced law.  Krista represents both nonfiction and fiction writing.


Margaret Mincks, Associate Editor, Spider Magazine for Children.  After graduation from the University of Virginia, Margaret moved to Chicago to pursue her career in writing, editing and improvisational comedy.  She selects content for Spider, edits fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, and writes features for both the magazine and its corresponding website.  Spider, a branch of the Cricket Magazine Group, is a Parent's Choice Gold Award winning-magazine for 6- to 9-year-olds.


Kristin Nelson, Agent, The Nelson Literary Agency.  Since forming the agency in 2002, Kristin has sold over 100 books to all the major publishers.  

She has landed several film deals and has contracted foreign rights on behalf of her clients in many territories. Kristin specializes in representing commercial fiction (mainstream, women’s fiction, romance, science fiction, fantasy, young adult & middle grade) and literary fiction with a commercial bent. In general, she does not handle nonfiction projects with the exception of an occasional memoir.

Kathleen Ortiz, Associate Agent and Foreign Rights Manager, Lowenstein Associates.  Kathleen, a former high school visual media instructor, started her publishing career at Ballinger Associates as an editorial assistant and interactive media designer.  She's currently looking for fiction and nonfiction children's books, specifically young adult, middle grade and chapter books.  More info about Kathleen can be found in an earlier blog post.

Marcy Posner, Agent, Folio Literary Management.  Marcy has spent a lifetime in books, working briefly as a librarian before beginning her career in publishing.  She's looking for middle grad and young adult fiction, commercial women's fiction, historical fiction, biography, history, health, and lifestyle; also, especially thoughtfully-written commercial novels, thrillers with international settings, and narrative non-fiction.  Marcy is not interested in genre romance and mysteries, memoirs, traditional fantasy, or science fiction.

Deborah Reinhardt, Managing Editor, AAA Midwest Traveler.  Serving as M.E. for AAA Midwest Traveler for nearly two decades, Deborah is well-respected not only as the editor of a well-known regional publication, but also as a travel writer.  In 2009, she launched AAA Southern Traveler for AAA members in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.  The combined circulation for both magazines reach a total of 700,000 AAA households.

Susan Swartwout, Editor and Publisher, Southeast Missouri State University Press.  Susan and SEMO Press  

produce full-length books, three annual writing contests, and Big Muddy:  Journal of the Mississippi River Valley, an interdisciplinary magazine.  Susan has published two collections of poetry and her poems and short stories have been published in numerous literary journals.  It's a good idea to take a look at their catalog at http://www6.semo.edu/universitypress/books/Full_Catalog.htm to see the titles they've published.