Meet The Faculty Members Who Make Everything Possible

Marilyn R. Atlas is a literary manager and award-winning producer. Among her credits as film producer are “Real Women Have Curves” for HBO, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance; “A Certain Desire,” starring Sam Waterston; and “Echoes,” which won the Gold Award at the Texas International Film Festival.

Amy Elizabeth Bishop joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret as a literary agent and assistant in 2015 after interning for them in 2014. She represents a wide variety of adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as YA and middle grade. Before diving into the world of publishing, she graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a degree in Creative Writing. Though she grew up upstate, she currently resides in Astoria, Queens. You can find her on Twitter @amylizbishop.

Kat Brzozowski is an Editor at Swoon Reads/Feiwel & Friends. She acquires YA for Feiwel & Friends and edits crowdsourced YA manuscripts for Swoon Reads. She has worked on a wide range of young adult fiction, including new Fear Street books in R.L. Stine’s best‐selling series, which has sold over eighty million copies worldwide.

Esther Cajahuaringa is an editor at Sterling Children's Books. As a former educator and non-profit organizer, Esther draws upon her experiences working directly with kids when thinking about today’s readers. She has had the pleasure of working with creators such as Joe Cepeda, David Goodner, Jyoti Rajan Gopal, Rhode Montijo, Andrea Tsurumi, and Mo Willems to name a few.

Linda Camacho joined Prospect Agency in 2015 after a decade in publishing. After graduating from Cornell University, Linda interned at Simon & Schuster and Writers House literary agency, and worked at Penguin and Random House before making the leap to agenting. She has an MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and has broad reading tastes.

Danielle has worked in publishing for sixteen years. Formerly an editor, she joined Upstart Crow when it was founded in 2009, specializing in young adult and middle grade fiction, as well as cookbooks, select nonfiction, and literary and upmarket fiction for adults. Thanks to her extensive editorial background, she enjoys working closely with authors to develop projects. She welcomes first-time authors with a unique voice and point of view.

John M. Cusick is an agent with Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management, representing picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels. He is also the author of GIRL PARTS and CHERRY MONEY BABY (Candlewick Press), as well as a regular speaker at writers conferences. John is doing query and partial manuscript critiques. Members can schedule one with him here.

Molly Cusick is a former editor and agent, and works on Young Adult, Middle Grade, and picture book projects, as well as select adult fiction and nonfiction.

Rachel Diebel is an editor at Feiwel & Friends (an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group), acquiring middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels. Throughout her career, she has worked on multiple New York Times bestsellers, as well as celebrity projects including books by Lili Reinhart, Jimmy Fallon, and the forthcoming Natalie Portman’s Fables.

Melissa Edwards joined Stonesong as a literary agent in August 2016. Previously, she was a literary agent at the Aaron Priest Literary Agency, where she managed the foreign rights for a 40-year backlist. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt Law School, Melissa began her career as a litigation attorney before transitioning into publishing.

Julie Falatko writes about misunderstood characters trying to find their place in the world. She is the author of Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book), illustrated by Tim Miller (Viking, 2016); the upcoming Snappsy the Alligator and his Best Friend Forever (Probably) (Viking, 2017); The Society of Underrepresented Animals, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Viking, 2018).

Erica Finkel, Abrams Books, hails from Maryland and studied English Literature at Tufts University in Boston. After graduation, she taught English in a teeny town in France, then returned to Boston to earn an MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College. She moved to New York to take a job at Abrams Books in 2010 and has been there ever since.

Ali Fisher is an editor in the children’s and young adult division of Tor/Forge Books. She’s been with Tor since September 2013. In the two years preceding her move to Tor, Ali marketed Macmillan’s adult trade list to librarians. Ali spent her formative years traveling from Seattle to Sevenwaters to Middle-earth and back. Her current literary expeditions depart from Brooklyn.

Caitie Flum joined Liza Dawson Associates in July 2014 as assistant and audio rights manager, as well as taking on her own clients. She graduated from Hofstra University in 2009 with a BA in English with a concentration in publishing studies. She interned at Hachette Book Group and Writers House. She was an Editorial Assistant then Coordinator for Bookspan.

President of GH Lit Mgmt, Renee C. Fountain is a publishing industry veteran a former reviewer for Kirkus, NY Journal of Books, and spent five years with the CW Television Network as a book scout and story analyst. Renee is interested in developmental editing and critiquing all types of non-fiction, and most fiction, especially: YA, adult thrillers, rom-com, mystery, horror, fantasy (urban, dark, magical realism).

Brian Geffen is an editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. He has worked with wonderful authors such as Julie C. Dao, Gregory Zuckerman, John Flanagan, Heather Kassner, Remy Lai, Katy Rose Pool, Rocky Callen, Christian McKay Heidicker, and Andrew Maraniss, among others. Brian acquires a wide variety of young adult and middle-grade fiction, particularly fantasy, realistic contemporary, and action/adventure, as well as graphic novels.

Leticia Gomez is a literary/film/television agent who specializes in bringing culturally diverse voices to the forefront. She has helped her clients secure deals with the largest publishers in the world and seen several of her projects successfully optioned for film and television rights.

Stacey Graham has worked both sides of the literary door as a humor writer with the wickedly funny Zombie Tarot, author of three books, screenwriter, ghostwriter, and short story writer. She loves working with writers at all stages of their careers and uses her experience in authorship to help navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of publishing for her clients. She is currently looking to expand her list with snappy Rom-Coms, hilarious/spooky middle grade, and weird nonfiction.

I represent a wide range of fiction and non-fiction projects: Romance, fantasy, science fiction, pop-culture, science, and more. I am LGBTQ-friendly and am looking for works with diverse characters in a way that is not appropriation.

Alyssa Jennette joined Stonesong Literary in June 2015 after interning at Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency. She graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Illustration. As a result, she has unique insight and expertise when it comes to design-heavy or illustrated works.

Aneeka Kalia is an Editorial Assistant at Viking Children’s Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House). She works on Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult Fiction and Narrative Nonfiction with a particular interest in sports (although definitely open to other categories). Aneeka likes humor in stories for all ages, contemporary/realistic fiction in the Middle Grade and Young Adult spaces, and character-driven picture books. Prior to working at Viking, Aneeka was an Editorial Intern at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and graduated from Connecticut College in 2016.

Fiona represents children’s and YA books, from picture books to older teenage, split about 70/30 fiction/nonfiction. Likes: Unreliable narrators, MG stories with real children in an imaginary world, and feelgood YA. Enjoy elements of cycling, suspense, mysteries, plots that go awry, humor. No rhyming picture books, poetry, or faith-based works.

Carina Licon is an Editorial Assistant at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. She is interested in middle-grade and YA with a focus on books featuring underrepresented stories and voices.

Vivian Lee is a writer and book editor. Her book list includes Matthew Salesses' The Hundred-Year Flood, Viet Dinh's After Disasters (PEN/Faulkner Finalist), Naima Coster's Halsey Street (Kirkus Prize Finalist), and Harold Schechter's Hell's Princess (A Washington Post Bestseller). She specializes in literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, true crime, memoir, essays, long-form reporting. In both fiction + nonfiction, she is interested in a strong story and narrative dealing with identity and relationships.

Kayla Lightner is an assistant and junior agent at Ayesha Pande Literary in Harlem, NY. Prior to joining the wonderful APL team, Kayla worked at Liza Dawson Associates. A Georgia native, she earned her B.A. in English from Vassar College. An adventurous reader, Kayla loves stories—across commercial fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction—that masterfully straddle the line between story-telling and teaching her something new. In terms of literary tastes, she loves to work with speculative fiction (SFF, horror, and magical realism), literary and upmarket family sagas, short story collections, humorous essay collections, and memoirs. When Kayla’s not reading, she can be found writing, performing stand-up, and reminiscing on her rugby days.

Cecilia Lyra is an agent at P.S. Literary actively acquiring adult fiction and nonfiction. She is particularly drawn to stories centered around dysfunctional families, ethical or moral dilemmas, and taboo subjects. She adores reading about protagonists who grew up straddling two opposing worlds and appreciates subtle storytelling, with characters who are nuanced and flawed, as opposed to overwritten and nice.

Em is an agent at Ladderbird Literary with a background in Foreign and Sub-rights. She is looking for genre-blending commercial queer SFF in YA/MG/Adult/Graphic Novels with a particular focus on BIPOC authors and authors of marginalized identities.

Sarah LaPolla has over a decade of experience in the publishing industry. Starting in the foreign rights department at Curtis Brown, Ltd. in 2008, and later as an agent at Bradford Literary Agency, Sarah has primarily represented Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction in a variety of genres featuring complex, diverse characters who often challenge the status quo and address timely issues. Sarah has an MFA in Creative Writing (Nonfiction) from The New School and a BA in Creative Writing from Ithaca College. In 2020, she started Next Chapter Editorial & Consulting. You can follow her on Twitter at @sarahlapolla.

Caitlin McDonald is an agent at Donald Maass Literary Agency, where she represents adult and young adult fantasy and science fiction as well as select nonfiction titles.

Kate Meltzer is an editor at Roaring Brook Press, a division of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. She has worked with bestselling and award-winning authors such as Marie Lu, Melissa de la Cruz, and Matt de la Peña, among others. Kate acquires projects across genres for younger readers of all ages, ranging from original board books to picture books, middle-grade, and YA. She is particularly interested in coming-of-age stories, speculative fiction, immersive fantasy, rom-coms, and ugly-cry love stories. According to IMDb, she’s an actress known for The Last Five Years (though she thinks her cameo as “Handelman Twin #1” barely counts). When she’s not reading or editing, she can be found searching the streets of New York for the perfect croissant.

Penny Moore is a Senior Agent at Aevitas Creative Management who represents mainly children’s literature: chapter books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels. She also represents select upmarket adult titles with smart hooks in romance, women’s fiction, and SFF.

emmy (they/them) represents across age categories + genres, specializing in identity-driven works. They work in both fiction and non-fiction, from PB to adult, including commercial, upmarket, book club & literary. They specialize in contemporary books grounded in reality, with and without speculative elements. Mystery, thriller, suspense, romance, romcom, women’s fiction, LGBTQ2S+, magical realism, fabulism, horror, graphic, narrative non-fiction, true crime, religion + spirituality, humanities + science.

Kiana is an agent at Donald Maass Literary and focuses primarily on YA Contemporary, but she'd love to work with low/high Fantasy and Sci-fi, and is HUNGRY for queer and POC voices, especially if the narrative is as much driven by the main character(s) as by a high-concept plot. She's also looking for an achingly bittersweet queer love story with thriller or genre spin, and adult thrillers, romance, and upmarket genre fiction.

Monica Odom is the founder of Odom Media Management. Monica earned her Masters in Publishing: Digital & Print Media from New York University in 2014, and has a B.A. in English from Montclair State University.

Larissa Melo Pienkowski is a literary agent at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, the assistant publisher of Dottir Press, and a freelance editor. As a Latinx, mixed-race bookworm, she's passionate about #OwnVoices stories, uplifting marginalized voices, and reading across genres, especially YA, MG, literary fiction, and narrative nonfiction. She earned her BSW at Simmons College and her MA in Publishing and Writing at Emerson College, and makes pottery in her free time (when she’s not reading, that is).

I am a former editor at HarperCollins with experience working in both nonfiction and fiction, including romance, mystery, commercial fiction, wellness, business and politics. I have a BA in English Literature and Language from Smith College and a Copyediting Certificate from the UC San Diego Extension.

Quressa Robinson is an Associate Agent with D4EO Literary agency actively building her client list. Formerly she was an acquiring editor for St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers where she edited both fiction and nonfiction. Her acquisitions include CERTAIN DARK THINGS (a Publishers Weekly Fall Announcement Top 10 Pick and October B&N Staff Pick).

Hannah Robinson is an editor of practical nonfiction at Tiller Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Hannah enjoys commercial women’s fiction, self-help, pop science, psychology, social psychology, health and wellness, advice and relationships, spirituality, and memoir.

Kaitlyn loves helping authors and illustrators bring their beautiful books into the world. She's the proud creator and co-host of the Kidlit Fall Writing Frenzy Contest and also co-creator and co-host of the Spring Fling Kidlit Contest and Kidlit Zombie Week.

Saba Sulaiman is an agent at Talcott Notch Literary Services, a boutique agency located in Milford, CT. She holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MA from the University of Chicago, where she studied modern Persian literature. She is looking primarily to build her Middle Grade and Young Adult lists, and is particularly interested in contemporary realistic stories.

Katharine Sands is a literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Katharine Sands has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books. She is the agent provocateur of Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, a collection of pitching wisdom from leading literary agents. Recently contributed “Grey is the New Black” to Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey.

Amanda Shih is an Assistant Editor at TarcherPerigee, where she publishes nonfiction ranging from illustrated and gift books to practical lifestyle and self-help titles. Prior to TarcherPerigee, she worked briefly with Folio Literary Agency, Dutton Books, and Grove Atlantic, among others. Find her on Twitter at @amandashih, where she sometimes remembers to tweet about publishing.

Jessica Sinsheimer has been reading and campaigning for her favorite queries since 2004. Now an agent at Context Literary Agency, she’s known for #MSWL, ManuscriptWistList.com, #PubTalkTV—and for drinking far too much tea.

Eric Smith is a literary agent at P.S. Literary, with a love for young adult books, sci-fi, fantasy, and non-fiction. He began his publishing career at Quirk Books in Philadelphia, working social media and marketing on numerous books he absolutely adored. Eric completed his BA in English at Kean University, and his MA in English at Arcadia University.

Stephanie Stein is an Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, where she has worked with a range of authors including Kiera Cass (The Selection), Erin Hunter (Warriors), Cynthia Hand (The Last Time We Say Goodbye), Marissa Burt (A Sliver of Stardust), and Anna Priemaza (Kat and Meg Conquer the World).

I am on the editorial team at Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers. Across the board, in fiction, I am relationship-driven! Fierce platonic friendships, flirty and funny love stories, cool siblings or cousins, dynamic parent/child interactions—I want the characters behind the wheel.

Jessica is always on the hunt for new and diverse projects and is most interested in all genres of romance. She’s drawn to fun, fresh voices, and character driven stories that keep a reader turning the page needing to know what happens next. Independent heroines are a must, in addition to well realized heroes who aren’t alpha-holes. Some of her favorite authors include: Kristen Ashley, Jennifer Armentrout, Jeaniene Frost, Amy Harmon, and Colleen Hoover.

Samantha is an agent at Thompson Literary, after spending six years at Writers House. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2012 with a B.A. in English with a concentration in creative writing. She interned at Rowman & Littlefield and Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency before landing at Writers House in 2013 with an internship. There, she was the assistant to CEO, Amy Berkower and then to founder, Al Zuckerman. She also briefly worked as an assistant at The Agency Group. She has been lucky enough to work with a variety of best-selling and award-winning authors across all genres. She is now in the process of actively building her client list.

Jennifer joined the Seymour Agency in April 2016, where she has quickly moved up the ranks to Literary Agent. Jennifer has always loved helping fledgling authors become NYT bestsellers, and she’s ready to be a relentless champion for her own clients’ work.

Stephanie Winter is an agent at P.S. Literary. She loves adult, YA, and MG fiction, plus graphic novels. She’s actively seeking titles with diverse and inclusive representation that offer smart, culturally aware, and enriching narratives. For young readers, Stephanie loves adventure, light SFF, and STEAM. In the adult space, she appreciates all kinds of fiction, especially rom-coms, thrillers located outside the home, and LGBTQ+ stories that bring joy. She also acquires select non-fiction for all ages.