Writing Away Weekend Virtual Retreat

Amy Collins is an agent with the Talcott Notch Literary Services agency. She has more than 30 years in the publishing industry as a book buyer, Sales Director for a large non-fiction publisher, and the founder and President of New Shelves Books, one of the largest book sales and marketing companies in the US. Collins is a USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL bestselling author and has spent her career working with Barnes & Noble, Target, Costco, Books-A-Million, Wal-Mart, as well as bookstores and libraries. As well as an agent, Collins is a trusted expert, speaker, and recommended publishing consultant for some of the largest book and library retailers and wholesalers in the publishing industry. In her agent role, Collins focuses on non-fiction/ history, historical fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi. She can be reached at amysadvice.com.

Amy Collins has taught and spoken at many of the publishing industry’s top festivals and conferences, including Publisher’s Weekly’s BookCon, Keynoting at Scottish Writer’s Conference, Oklahoma Writer’s Conference, Author U, AAPS, Dublin Writers Conference, BAIPA, IBPA’s Publishing University, Dallas Book Con, NY PitchFest, PALA, St. Louis Writer’s Conference, Writers Digest Annual and Novel Conferences, Henderson Writers Conference, DFWCon, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference, and many others.

When not in the office, her focus is on the working poor and poverty elimination, and she spends a great deal of time personally and professionally working with and training women from disadvantaged backgrounds.  A member of several charitable and political organizations, she donates not only her time but a portion of her company’s profits to grant-based charities that work to alleviate the cycle of poverty. Amy is currently working while traveling and living in a spacious motorhome with two dogs and a husband, living life to the fullest.

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Eric Smith is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency with a love for young adult books, literary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and non-fiction. He’s worked on award-winning and New York Times bestselling titles, and began his publishing career at Quirk Books. A frequent blogger, his ramblings about books and the publishing industry regularly appear on Book Riot, Paste Magazine, and Publishing Crawl. He also occasionally writes books when he finds the time, like his latest, Don’t Read the Comments (Inkyard Press).

Dani Segelbaum joined the Carol Mann Agency in 2021 as a literary agent and subrights manager. She is interested in both fiction and non-fiction. Dani is seeking non-fiction titles with an emphasis on politics, women’s issues, popular culture, and current events. Dani also loves memoir, narrative non-fiction, lifestyle, and cookbooks. In fiction, she is looking for literary and upmarket adult fiction including debut, historical, rom-coms, mysteries, and women’s fiction. In both fiction and non-fiction, Dani hopes to work with authors from diverse backgrounds to tell stories that are important to them. She loves compelling narrators and is drawn to writing that is voice-driven, highly transporting, and features unique perspectives and marginalized voices.

Katie Reed is a literary agent and developmental editor with Andrea Hurst and Associates. She began her career in publishing with Andrea Hurst while pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in English and has worked in the industry for over a decade. As a literary agent, Katie loves discovering new talent, building lasting connections with her authors, and working diligently to represent books readers will love.

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Katie is working on building her list with compelling, standout, projects to champion. She is especially drawn to books with deep, relatable themes that seep through the pages and make readers think about their own world in a new light. She is open for submissions in the following genres:

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• Commercial Women's Fiction, especially with a strong romantic subplot. 

• Upmarket Fiction that combines a unique, propulsive plot with poignant, introspective writing, like Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt or Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (my favorite book of 2022!)

• Historical Fiction that adds something new to the genre (think Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus).

• Women’s Suspense/Psychological Thriller with a female protagonist (a la Alice Feeny or Gillian Flynn).

• Retellings, or a modern spin on an old classic, similar to Circe by Madeline Miller or The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah.

• Voice driven YA Suspense with a fresh hook (loved The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart).

• YA Fantasy with a high concept, like the Caraval series by Stephanie Garber, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, or anything by Sarah J. Maas. (High concept means it has an original, identifiable premise--like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--and wide audience appeal.)

Elizabeth Kracht joined Kimberley Cameron & Associates in the fall of 2010 to broaden her perspective on the publishing industry. She represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction, and brings to the agency experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist and writer.

Elizabeth's career in publishing took root in Puerto Rico where she completed her BA in English and worked as a copyeditor for an English-language newspaper. When she returned to the mainland she found her "vein of gold" in book publishing. She thrives on working closely with authors to build their careers.

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Elizabeth's eclectic life experience drives her interests. She appreciates writing that has depth, an introspective voice, and is thematically layered. Having lived in cities such as New York, San Francisco and San Juan, Puerto Rico, she is compelled by multicultural themes and characters and is drawn toward strong settings.

In fiction, she represents literary, commercial, women's, thrillers, mysteries, historical, and crossover YA. In nonfiction, she is interested in high concept, health, science, environment, prescriptive, investigative, true crime, voice- or adventure-driven memoir, sexuality, spirituality, and animal/pet stories.

Writers,

It is extremely important that you only pitch the agents that represent your genre of writing. We encourage you to look over the agents' individual preferences and choose to pitch the ones that are seeking your materials. This will save us all time and energy, and also allow you to put your best foot forward.

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Thank you!

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