2025 Conference Schedule

Sam Hiyate is the founder and CEO of The Rights Factory, a sixteen-agent firm that represents authors in all areas of fiction and non-fiction. Sam comes to KWC both because he is eager to find new writers to represent on his own, and on behalf of the many agents of The Rights Factory. Sam and his firm are known for working closely with their debut clients, helping them to prepare their works to have the best chance of successful publication.

Sam is keen to discover new voices and help them build lasting careers. In the past two decades with The Rights Factory, his hundreds of book deals have resulted in many bestsellers such as MORE, the memoir by Molly Roden Winter, This One Summer, the graphic novel by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, non-fiction such as Healthy AF (Ditch the Diet) by Oonagh Duncan and The Myth of Capitalism by Jonathan Tepper and Denise Hearn, and fiction such as Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close and The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer.

The host of the podcast Agent Provocateur, Sam also teaches publishing (Toronto Metropolitan University) and Creative Writing (University of Toronto). Before The Rights Factory, Sam ran the literary division of The Lavin Agency in 2003, building a client list and completing his first deals.

Learn more at The Rights Factory and Agent Provocateur

Angeline Rodriguez joined WME after an editorial career at Penguin Random House and Hachette Book Group. She has worked with a variety of fiction in genre, upmarket commercial, and literary categories, as well as select platform-driven nonfiction.  She is looking to work with writers that have a keen sense of worldbuilding in both real and surreal landscapes and is particularly passionate about highlighting underrepresented voices in new ways. Her clients include Casey McQuiston, Nnedi Okorafor, and Erin Somers, among others.

WMEbookdepartment.com/Angeline-Rodriguez

April Bosshard has been referred to as a “story whisperer” and a “story genie” because of her keen awareness of story principles and deep understanding of the writer’s craft. She’s helped hundreds of writers deal with the complex issues of story-creating and sticking to the writing process.

April holds a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television from The University of British Columbia and has worked on feature films, documentaries and TV shows. She has written novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction essays for traditional and independent markets, which include publications in the US, UK, and Canada. She’s contributed to four traditionally published books on journaling and creativity coaching, including The Great Book of Journaling, How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness, Creativity, Meaning, and Purpose, (Mango/Conari, 2022). She’s also written indie published fiction under pen names in the genres of young adult, new adult, racy romance, and cozy mystery.

April is a skilled facilitator and has led workshops in Canada, the US, France, and Mexico. Through her coaching services business, Deep Story Design, she develops and maintains online courses and programs while working with individual clients as both a story coach and developmental editor.

Learn more at deepstorydesign.com

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.

talcottnotch.net/agents/amy/

Ryan Harbage 

Ryan founded The Fischer-Harbage Agency in January, 2007 and has placed books for six #1 New York Times bestselling authors. Ryan’s clients include Miranda Esmonde-White, author of the New York Times bestseller Aging Backwards and host of public television’s #1 fitness show, “Classical Stretch,”; Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Halsey, author of the New York Times bestselling poetry collection I Would Leave Me If I Could; Sunny Hostin, co-host of “The View” and bestselling author; iconic musician and New York Times bestselling author Robbie Robertson; New York Times bestselling memoirist and animal communications pioneer Christina Hunger; MSNBC anchor and author of The Likeability Trap Alicia Menendez; New York Times bestselling memoirist and producer Janet Mock; American Booksellers Association “Book of the Year” winner and New York Times bestselling novelist J. Ryan Stradal; He represented Gérard de Villiers until the author passed away–his S.A.S. series has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide. Books represented by the agency have received many accolades, among them: the American Bookseller’s Association Indies Choice Book of the Year Award, American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book, Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award, Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, Nautilus Book Award, The Palmer Prize, Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, Women’s Way Book Prize; and finalists for the Desmond Elliot Prize, the Thurber Prize, Books for a Better Life Award, Goodreads Best Books of the Year, Lamda Award, Langum Prize in Historical Fiction, and The National Book Award (fiction).

He was an editor at Simon & Schuster where he helped create and launch a new imprint, now Gallery Books. He also worked as an editor for Little, Brown & Company as well as Penguin Random House (where he edited books for Plume, Dutton, and Viking). He acquired and edited the Pulitzer Prize winning Boston Globe Spotlight Team’s Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church, which informed the movie Spotlight, winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as Peter Singer’s New York Times bestseller The President of Good & Evil: Questioning the Ethics of George W. Bush. He has also worked with numerous other bestselling authors, including Farah Ahmedi, Michael Connelly, Matthew Diffee, John Feinstein, Malcolm Gladwell, Brad Listi, and Danny Wallace.

For twelve years, Ryan taught courses on writing book proposals and fiction at The New School University’s MFA Program, Pratt Institute, and Mediabistro. He addresses writers regularly at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, New York University’s MFA program, the New School’s MFA program, and has spoken at many other venues including the Columbia Publishing Course, Aspen Summer Words, Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA program, The Colgate Writers’ Conference, Miami Writers Institute, The New Orleans Writers Conference, and The Writers’ League of Texas, among others. He has been quoted on writing and publishing in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Poets & Writers, Publishers Weekly and on “Good Morning America,” among other outlets. Ryan is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, The Radcliffe Publishing Course, and the Master of Fine Arts program in writing and literature at Bennington College. He lives with his family in Brooklyn.

Learn more about Ryan at fischerharbage.com

Thao Le represents children’s, YA, Romance, and Sci-fi/Fantasy. She enjoys clever, heartfelt, and commercial middle grade and YA in prose or graphic novel format and across genres. Thao’s clients include New York Times and Indie bestselling authors such as Ali Hazelwood, Thea Guanzon, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye, Jessie Sima, Jessica Kim, and more…

In the Adult SFF realm, she’s a fan of contemporary fantasy, near future science fiction, and romantic fantasy. In romance, her favorite tropes are: hate-to-love/enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, forbidden/doomed romance, fake dating/marriage of convenience, grumpy/sunshine, mistaken identities, and she is a sucker for beta second male leads who steal the show (and hopefully the heroine’s heart!). If you can make her think of her favorite Asian Dramas then you’re on the right track!

In general, she’s a fan of high concepts that feel fresh and exciting. She’s especially drawn to character driven stories about family and friendships from the POV of diverse protagonists. She’s a fan of characters who are passionate about the arts, STEM, activism, and geeky fandoms. She’s a big reader of fanfiction and love that style of bingeable writing. She adores stories with a touch of magic and whimsy, and is a lifelong fan of mythology and fairytales. She’s interested in all things gothic, cottagecore, and dark academia.

Though she has represented them in the past, she is currently NOT looking for picture book writers at the moment.

While she enjoys GRRM and Tolkien, she is not the best agent for adult epic fantasies unless it’s particularly character driven.She is also not the best fit for any military, alien invasion stories, or hard science fiction. She is also not the best person for most action thriller stories involving cops, spies, or corporate espionage.

Learn more at www.dijkstraagency.com

Aram began his career in film and tv before moving to one of the major publishing houses. At age 26, he launched a book scouting agency where he represented U.S. film/tv companies and international publishers, guiding them to option and acquire a Who’s Who of future prize-winners and bestsellers including Brit Bennett, Emma Cline, Hernan Diaz, Anthony Doerr, Angela Duckworth, Lena Dunham, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Alex Honnold, Patrick Radden Keefe, Timothy Snyder, Jeff VanderMeer and Michelle Zauner among many others.

In 2023, Aram moved to Massie & McQuilkin and the literary agent’s side of the table. Massie & McQuilkin represent a spectacular group of prize-winning and bestselling novelists, journalists, academics and social critics. From fiction writers like Jesmyn Ward, Tom Perrotta, Kelly Link, Jonathan Escoffery, Lydia Millet and Anthony Veasna So to serious reporting, criticism, history and memoir by Roxane Gay, Jacob Soll, Natasha Trethewey, Vincent Bevins, Jing Tsu and Victor Luckerson among many, many others.

Learn more at www.mmqlit.com

Sabrina Taitz joined WME in 2015. She represents upmarket and commercial fiction, as well as a broad swath of nonfiction, ranging from memoir to lifestyle to cookbooks. Her list includes New York Times bestsellers, B&N Book Club selections, Amazon Book of the Month selections, an ALA Award winner, a William C. Morris Award winner, and a Best American Writing selectee. Sabrina is looking for propulsive and dynamic writing that keeps her turning the pages. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and daughter.

wmebookdepartment.com/sabrina-taitz

Samantha Fabien is a literary agent at Root Literary, representing award-winning and bestselling authors. Samantha is interested in high-concept, commercial and upmarket fiction with all-or-nothing stakes for adult, young adult, and middle-grade readers. Belonging to several intersectional identities and surrounded by an equally diverse community, Samantha has a deep-held passion for stories that feature, highlight, and uplift marginalized and underrepresented voices.

Her background includes a Bachelor’s in PR and Journalism from Seton Hall University and a certificate from the Columbia Publishing Course. Previously, she was the International Rights Manager at LDLA and also interned and worked at various agencies, such as Ayesha Pande Literary and Writers House

Samantha also works and volunteers with various organizations, including Gotham Writers and the New York Writing Room. Currently, Samantha serves as a co-director of the Mentorship Committee within LAOC, devoted to increasing the promotion and retention of historically underrepresented groups, particularly people of color, in the agenting profession.

Learn more at samanthafabien.com

Jenny Xu is a Senior Editor at Atria Books. She began her career at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and was most recently an Editor at Harper and Ecco. Jenny acquires a broad range of literary and commercial nonfiction and the occasional poetry collection, with a particular focus on illuminating more overlooked aspects of history and culture, and work that balances the personal with broader narratives. Prior to Atria, she acquired and edited bestselling and award-winning titles including Rise: A Pop History of Asian America by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Phil Wang; You’re That Bitch by Bretman Rock, The Big Reveal by Sasha Velour, The High Desert by James Spooner, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On by Franny Choi, and Whiskey Tender by Deborah Taffa. She mentors through PoC in Publishing and Representation Matters.

Areas of Interest: Narrative Nonfiction, Memoir, Essays, Cultural Criticism, Illustrated/Graphic Nonfiction, Revisionist History, Humor, Pop Culture, Food Writing, Poetry, Marginalized and Underrepresented Communities

Authors Include: Lorelei Lee, Stephanie Krzywonos, Lenika Cruz, Tiana Clark, Elissa Washuta

Learn more at editors.simonandschuster.com

Liz Moore is a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. Her first novel, The Words of Every Song (Broadway Books, 2007), centers on a fictional record company in New York City just after the turn of the millennium. It draws partly on Liz’s own experiences as a musician. It was selected for Borders’ Original Voices program and was given a starred review by Kirkus. Roddy Doyle wrote of it, “This is a remarkable novel, elegant, wise, and beautifully constructed. I loved the book.”

After the publication of her debut novel, Liz obtained her MFA in Fiction from Hunter College. In 2009, she was awarded the University of Pennsylvania’s ArtsEdge residency and moved to Philadelphia.

Her second novel, Heft, was published by W.W. Norton in January 2012 to popular and critical acclaim.Of Heft, The New Yorker wrote, “Moore’s characters are lovingly drawn…a truly original voice”; The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “Few novelists of recent memory have put our bleak isolation into words as clearly as Liz Moore does in her new novel”; and editor Sara Nelson wrote in O, The Oprah Magazine, “Beautiful…Stunningly sad and heroically hopeful.” The novel was published in five countries, was long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and was included on several “Best of 2012” lists, including those of NPR and the Apple iBookstore.

Moore’s short fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in venues such as Tin House, The New York Times, and Narrative Magazine. She is the winner of the Medici Book Club Prize and Philadelphia’s Athenaeum Literary Award. After winning a 2014 Rome Prize in Literature, she spent 2014-15 at the American Academy in Rome, completing her third novel.

That novel, The Unseen World, was published by W.W. Norton in July of 2016. Louisa Hall called it “fiercely intelligent” in her review in The New York Times; Susan Coll called it “enthralling . . . ethereal and elegant . . . a rich and convincing period piece” in her review in the Washington Post. The Unseen World was included in “Best of 2016” lists by The New Yorker, the BBC, Publishers Weekly, Vox, Google Play, and Audible.com, among others.

Moore’s fourth novel, Long Bright River, was published by Riverhead Books in January 2020. It was an instant New York Times bestseller and has become an international bestseller as well, with translations to be published in 21 territories to date. Long Bright River was a Book of the Month Club pick and the January selection for the Good Morning America book club. In addition, it launched the New York Times’s Group Text monthly feature. Barack Obama selected Long Bright River as one of his favorite books of 2020.

A limited-series adaptation of Long Bright River—co-created, executive produced, and co-written by Moore, and starring Amanda Seyfried—will premiere on Peacock in 2025. Both The Unseen World and The God of the Woods have been optioned by Sony Pictures Television, with Moore in a writing/producing capacity.

Liz Moore lives with her family in Philadelphia and is Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Temple University.

Learn more at www.lizmoore.net

Cecilia “CeCe” Lyra is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency representing adult fiction and nonfiction. A longterm strategic thinker, CeCe prioritizes the creative reach and sustainable longevity of her authors’ careers, and she is especially looking for clients with whom she can build fruitful, lasting relationships. CeCe believes that stories are empathy generating machines capable of healing, connecting, and enacting true change. She is particularly drawn to books centered around power (dynamics, imbalance, rise & fall), identity (perception, exploration, intersectionality), and dysfunction (familial, societal, cultural) told with originality, nuance, and authenticity.

cecelyra.com

Kirby Kim represents both literary and commercial authors. He’s most interested in receiving manuscripts that straddle the fence a bit, with upmarket expression combined with a genre element or plot device (Adam White, Ling Ling Huang, Sierra Greer). When it comes to straight literary work, he’s alternatively drawn to rich, sweeping stories that try to encompass a time or a place (Malcolm Brooks) or tightly written, narratively innovative stories or voices with award potential (Gina Apostol). His commercial interests include thrillers (James A. McLaughlin), mysteries (Matthew Sullivan), speculative fiction (Ted Chiang), and horror (Nick Cutter).

He also represents a range of nonfiction working with leaders and journalists in the areas of science (Dan Werb), culture and current affairs (Lauren Etter). He’s also known for representing pop culture, in particular music (Common) and comedy (Dave Hill).

A native of Los Angeles, California, Kirby attended Pomona College and got his JD at UC Hastings College of the Law. Kirby is currently a board member of the Asian American Writers Workshop. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and two kids.

Lean more about Kirby at www.janklowandnesbit.com

Wendy Sherman has been in publishing more years than she cares to admit. She has held senior, executive positions at Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Henry Holt where she was Associate Publisher. During her time at these major publishing houses, she worked in the areas of subsidiary rights, marketing, sales, and editorial. She left to pursue her dream of becoming a literary agent and founded Wendy Sherman Associates Literary Management in 1999.

Wendy loves voice and story-driven fiction that hits that sweet spot between literary and mainstream. She has a passion for Southern voices, suspense with a well-developed protagonist, and has a weakness for family secrets, mother-daughter relationships, and realistic love stories.

She is also interested in non-fiction with a unique twist by authors with a strong, well-developed media platform. Areas of interest include memoir, narrative non-fiction, practical and prescriptive, self-help and popular psychology, parenting, lifestyle, pop-culture, health, wellness, and spirituality, and and just about anything to do with food or dogs.

Wendy is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and the Women’s Media Group.

Wendy Sherman Associates, Inc. is the home of award-winning writers and bestselling books. With a unique perspective on the publishing process, and an invaluable blend of experience in editorial, acquisitions, sales, marketing, and contract negotiations, we offer our clients a comprehensive strategy for navigating the publishing terrain. Our office is based in New York City, but we are a bi-coastal establishment with agents in San Francisco and Seattle. As a full service agency, we also partner with major film and television agents in Los Angeles.

With a long-standing tradition of attracting and identifying quality material and a strong knowledge of market trends, we have proven success discovering first time authors as well as managing  the work of those with established careers. We pride ourselves on cultivating long-term relationships with clients as well as with publishers throughout the world.

Learn more at wsherman.com

Grant Faulkner is the co-founder of 100 Word Story, the co-host the Write-minded podcast, and an executive producer on America’s Next Great Author.

He has published three books on writing: The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story; Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo; and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide.

He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story.

His “flash novel,” Something out there in the distance, a collaboration with the photographer Gail Butensky, is coming out in September 2025 with the University of New Mexico Press.

His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton’s Flash Fiction America; New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction; and in several editions of the annual Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction anthologies.

His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Lit Hub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. 

Jean Kwok is the award-winning, NYT and international bestselling author of The Leftover Woman, Searching for Sylvie Lee, Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in more than twenty countries and taught in schools across the world. She was one of twelve contemporary authors asked by the Agatha Christie estate to write an original, authorized Miss Marple story. All of her novels are in development for film and television. The Leftover Woman was a Good Morning America Book Club Buzz Pick, CBS New York Book Club Top 3 Pick, Book of the Month Pick, and a LibraryReads Top 10 Pick selected by library staff across America. An instant New York Times bestseller, Searching for Sylvie Lee was chosen for the Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club. She has appeared on The Today Show and Good Morning America, and spoken at many schools and venues including Harvard, Columbia and Talks at Google. A television documentary was filmed about Jean and her work. She divides her time between the Netherlands and New York City.

Learn more about jean at jeankwok.com

To learn more about Meg
visit her website:
megwolitzer.com

Rebecca Makkai is the author of the New York Times bestselling I Have Some Questions For You as well as four other works of fiction. Her last novel, The Great Believers, One of the New York Times’ Best Books of the 21st Century, was a finalist for both the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and the 2018 National Book Award, and was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize among other honors. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Rebecca teaches graduate fiction writing at Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and the Bennington Writing Seminars, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Rebecca’s work has  been translated into over 20 languages, and her short fiction has been anthologized in The Pushcart Prize XLI (2017), The Best American Short Stories 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2016 and 2009, New Stories from the Midwest and Best American Fantasy, and featured on Public Radio International’s Selected Shorts and This American Life.

Rebecca has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council, as well as residencies at Yaddo, Ucross, and Ragdale. She was awarded the 2020 Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature.

Learn more at rebeccamakkai.com

John Searles is the best-selling author of the novels Her Last Affair, Help for the Haunted, Strange but True and Boy Still Missing. 

Hailed as “riveting” by The New York Times and “hypnotic” by Entertainment Weekly, Boy Still Missing inspired Time magazine to name him a “Person to Watch,” and the New York Daily News to name him a “New Yorker to Watch.” His second novel, Strange but True was praised as “sinister and complex” by Janet Maslin of The New York Times, “extraordinary” by Publishers Weekly, and was named best novel of the year by Salon. Help for the Haunted was named a Boston Globe Best Crime Novel of the Year, an Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Must List, and won the American Library Association’s Alex Award. John’s most recent novel, Her Last Affair, was named a Best New Book by People magazine and praised as “a tense, intricately woven tale of heartbreak, retribution and redemption” by Publishers Weekly and “a twisted thriller that explores despair and loneliness with cinematic flair” by Kirkus Reviews.

In 2019, Strange But True was adapted for film by the producers of La La Land and released in theaters nationwide by Lionsgate. Now streaming on HBOMax and Amazon Prime, the film stars the award-winning ensemble cast of Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Brian Cox, Blythe Danner, Nick Robinson and Margaret Qualley. The movie was praised as “suspenseful and haunting” by The Hollywood Reporter and “a twisty tale of tragic secrets” by the Los Angeles Times.

John has appeared regularly on morning programs like NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, Live! With Regis & Kelly, NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and CNN to discuss his books.

For 23 years, John was the books editor of Cosmopolitan, also serving as the magazine’s brand director, executive editor, and editor-at-large.  His personal and travel essays, book and restaurant reviews have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post and numerous other magazines, newspapers and websites. He has a master’s degree in creative writing from New York University and lives in NYC.

Learn more at john-searles.com

David Paul Kirkpatrick is an acclaimed writer, producer, and former studio executive with a career spanning over four decades in the entertainment industry. As the former President of Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group and Production President of both Walt Disney Studios and Touchstone Pictures, David has overseen the production of numerous iconic films that have shaped modern culture, including Indiana Jones, and Star Trek. He has developed countless Academy Award winning movies including Ordinary People, Elephant Man, Witness, Terms of Endearment, and Forest Gump.  Beyond his work in Hollywood, he is a passionate advocate for storytelling and the founder of the MIT Center for Future Storytelling, Story Summit, a unique writers’ school that nurtures creative voices across the globe, and the Write a Great Story Foundation.  David’s work continues to inspire through his dedication to storytelling, mentoring, and his innovative creative projects that blend history, fantasy, and spirituality.

“With a belief that the power of story changes us and moves us, Patti’s historical fiction, SURVIVING SAVANNAH, WILD SWAN, and BECOMING MRS. LEWIS explores the untold stories of the past that affect us now.” (writing as Patti Callahan)

SURVIVING SAVANNAH, a new historical fiction, based on the true story of the Steamship Pulaski wreck, known as “The Titanic of the South” was released March 9, 2021.

The new podcast series, “The Untold Story Behind Surviving Savannah” is an in-depth exploration into the fascinating stories explored in her novel, Surviving Savannah. The podcast series (03/21) includes interviews with some of the foremost experts on the myth and lore of Savannah, shipwreck treasure hunting, the hidden stories in museums, and the astounding real-life family story that inspired the novel. Trailer and Episodes One-Six, available now. 

WILD SWAN, a novella following the fiery life of one of history’s greatest heroines and the mother of modern nursing: Florence Nightingale by Patti Callahan was released December 2020, as an Audible Original performed by the award-winning narrator, Cynthia Erivo.

BECOMING MRS. LEWIS—The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis was released in an expanded edition, March 2020.  The author is also the host of the popular seven-part original “Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast Series”—the podcast audiobook collection including bonus material was released in January 2020. 

ONCE UPON A WARDROBEis another tenderly imagined and enchanting story that pulls back the curtain on the early life of C. S. Lewis from Callahan— October 19, 2021, and available now—published by Harper Collins’ new imprint —Harper Muse as their debut novel. 

REUNION BEACH, Stories Inspired by Dorothea Benton Frank, a collaboration and tribute was released April 27, 2021.  Patti joins a group of bestselling authors to present a moving anthology to pay tribute to the legendary NYT bestselling author and her literary legacy.

Patti Callahan is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast, featuring New York Times bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Kristin Harmel. With endless stories and special guests, they are LIVE every Wednesday at 7 pm ET on the Friends and Fiction Facebook group page, their YouTube Channel, and Parade Magazine Facebook page. You can follow them on Instagram and, for weekly updates, subscribe to their newsletter.

In a recent essay series partnership with Parade Magazine, each Wednesday viewers get a new “life lesson” from one of the FF writers on Parade.com as well as a chance to discuss the themes later that evening on Facebook Live.

A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.

​THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA: Her newest novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, is set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey, and will be released on May 2nd, 2023 with Simon & Schuster Atria.

She’s spent countless hours, and yet not nearly enough hours, wondering and reading and talking about C. S. Lewis, Joy Davidman, and their life together.

Ariel Lawhon  is a critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Her novels include: The Frozen River, Code Name Hélène; I Was Anastasia; Flight of Dreams; The Wife The Maid and The Mistress; When We Had Wings (co-written with Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner); and Barriers to Entry an Amazon Original Short Story. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Good Morning America Book Club, Library Reads, One Book One County, Indie Next, Costco, Amazon Spotlight, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. She splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

Learn more at www.ariellawhon.com

Lyn Liao Butler is a Taiwanese American author of thrillers, upmarket fiction, and rom-coms. Her thriller, Someone Else’s Life, was an instant Amazon bestseller and her second book Red Thread of Fate was a finalist in the WFWA Star Awards for 2023. Before becoming an author, she was a professional ballet and modern dancer, and is still a fitness and yoga instructor.

Lyn divides her time between New York and Kauai with her FDNY husband, their son, two rescue dogs, and a myriad of foster dogs. When not writing, you can find her sewing for her Etsy shop and trying complicated yoga poses on a stand-up paddle board. So far, she has not fallen into the water yet.

Learn more at lynliaobutler.com

Jynne Dilling is the Vice President and Deputy Publisher of Riverhead Books where she oversees the publishing campaigns for many prize-winning writers, including Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, Booker Prize winner Marlon James, Pulitzer Prize winner Hernan Diaz, and three-time National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff. She also acquires and edits select prize-winning books for Riverhead, including recent works by bestselling writers Katherine May, Patricia Lockwood, and Pico Iyer.

She was the Antarctica Artist in Residence, for which she was featured on the cover of Poets & Writers, and her nonfiction and poetry has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Slate, Glamour, Food & Wine, PBS Newshour, and The Antarctic Sun, among other places.

Learn more at www.penguin.com

Her work includes six books: Falling Through the Earth (2006), Angelology (2010), Angelopolis (2012), The Fortress (2016), The Ancestor (2020), and The Puzzle Master (2023). The Puzzle Box is forthcoming in 2024. She is the recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Society of America award, the Dana Award in the novel, and The New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year for her first book. In addition to being published in The New York Times Book Review, she has also been published in The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine, and Tin House. Her writings have been widely anthologized.

Learn more at danielletrussoni.com

Ali Hazelwood is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her three feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

Learn more at alihazelwood.com

Our expertise in women’s fiction, romance, science fiction/fantasy, and mystery/suspense makes us uniquely suited to introduce a new generation of popular novelists and to reinvigorate the publishing programs for established bestselling authors. Known for being at the forefront of trends, Berkley continues to develop authors and acquire books on the cutting edge of genre fiction. Berkley’s history of publishing in all formats and commitment to actively promoting the backlist means we remain focused on a book throughout its life. . . and on our author for an entire career.

Learn more at penguin.com/tom-colgan-vice-president-editorial-director

Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, The Editor, named by NPR as one of the Best Books of 2019, The Guncle, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for 2021 Novel of the Year and winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, The Celebrants, a TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club pick, and USA Today Bestseller The Guncle Abroad. His fiction has been published in twenty languages.

Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College and currently resides in Palm Springs with his husband, the writer Byron Lane, and two rescue dogs.

Learn more at www.stevenrowley.com

Janelle Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels I’ll Be You, Pretty Things, Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This Is Where We Live, with What Kind of Paradise coming in June 2025. Her books have been sold in two dozen countries around the world. Pretty Things – named a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon – is currently being adapted for television by Peacock and Fifth Season.

Her journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, Wired, Self, RealSimple, The Los Angeles Times, and numerous other publications. Previously, she worked as a senior writer at Salon, and began her career as a staff writer at Wired during the dotcom boom years, working on seminal Web sites like HotWired and Wired News. In the 1990s, she was also the editor and co-founder of Maxi, an irreverent (and now, long-gone) women’s pop culture Webzine.

A native of San Francisco and graduate of UC Berkeley, she has since defected to Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband Greg and their two children.

Learn more at www.janellebrown.com

Jeanine Cummins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of five books including her latest, Speak to Me of Home and American Dirt, which was an Oprah’s Book Club and a Barnes & Noble Book Club selection, as well as a #1 Indie Next pick. She is published in more than forty countries. Her other works include the memoir A Rip in Heaven and the novels The Outside Boy and The Crooked Branch. She lives in New York with her husband, their two daughters, and their dogs.

Learn more at www.jeaninecummins.com

Priya Parmar’s novel, Vanessa and Her Sister was recently chosen as a New York Times Book Review ‘Editor’s Choice’ selection, an Entertainment Weekly ‘Must List’ pick, a People Magazine ‘Book of the Week’, and as an editor’s pick for: O Magazine, Oprah.com, Vanity Fair, Elle Magazine, New York Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, US Weekly and USA Today and Priya was chosen for the Barnes and Noble ‘Discover Great New Writers’ 2015 program.

Educated at Mount Holyoke College, The University of Oxford and The University of Edinburgh, she is the author of one previous novel, Exit the Actress. Priya divides her time between Kauai and London.

Priya is also the co-author of the wildly successful musical Sylvia, which debuted last year at London’s Old Vic theater.

Tim Seibles was born in Philadelphia in 1955. He was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2016 to 2018. His poems engage many aspects of life, from the romantic to the sociopolitical to the mystical. He is a former National Endowment for the Arts fellow and Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center fellow.

His seven books include Hurdy-Gurdy, Hammerlock, Buffalo Head Solos, and Fast Animal, a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award, winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and the Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Poetry. One Turn Around the Sun, an extensive examination of his immediate family was released in 2017.

In the last year, Tim has also written poems for two monuments. One in Norfolk, dedicated to the Norfolk 17 who began the fearful process of integrating Virginia public schools, the other for an installation in Dallas, Texas, that addresses the many race-based lynchings that took place there.

His poems have appeared in several anthologies. Among them: In Search of Color Everywhere, Seriously Funny, Uncommon Core, This is The Honey, and Villanelles. Seibles’ works have also been featured in Best American Poetry 2010, 2013, 2023. His latest collection, Voodoo Libretto: New & Selected Poems was published by Etruscan Press in 2020.

Learn more at www.timseibles.com

Curtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of seven novels: Prep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife, Sisterland, Eligible, Rodham, and Romantic Comedy, which was picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Her first story collection, You Think It, I’ll Say It, was published in 2018 and also picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, and her second story collection, Show Don’t Tell, was published in 2025. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, optioned for television and film, and translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Esquire, and in the Best American Short Stories anthology, of which she was the 2020 guest editor. Her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and on “This American Life.” Curtis has five times been a “Jeopardy!” answer and once been a Word Search puzzle.

Learn more at curtissittenfeld.com