Meet The Faculty Members Who Make Everything Possible

Our faculty members are top agents, editors and authors–chosen for their kindness, brilliance, and creative teaching styles. We provide direct access to these professionals who give you the thought, time and care you deserve.

Meet The Faculty

We offer world-class publishing instruction–and personalized editorial feedback–from the comfort of your home.

Unlike traditional conferences, you simply need a computer, a tablet, or even your smartphone to log in and enjoy the very best instruction from some of the top minds in the literary community. Every Manuscript Academy program is designed give you the full educational and networking value of a traditional writing conference, but without the hassle of travel, paying for meals out, or arranging childcare.

Laura Barbiea

Laura Barbiea is a social media manager at Alloy Entertainment, a publishing arm of Warner Brothers Entertainment. Talking about Young Adult books “on the interwebs” is her specialty. In addition to her experience at Alloy, Laura is a creative entrepreneur (actor/producer/extraordinaire!), who has experience building a brand on a personal level.
Regina Brooks

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. Writer’s Digest magazine named Serendipity Literary Agency as one of the top 25 literary agencies in 2004.
Alicia Clancy

Alicia Clancy is an Assistant Editor at St. Martin’s Press, where she works on a range of projects from young adult fiction to women’s fiction to photo books about raccoons! She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in English Literature, and moved immediately to NYC to pursue a career in publishing.
Jalissa Corrie

Jalissa Corrie is a Marketing & Publicity Assistant at Lee & Low Books. A former editorial intern at Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Jalissa loves to edit, critique, and talk all things publishing as well as write YA science fiction. When she isn’t reading or writing, you can find her at writing workshops and publishing events across NYC.
Jaime Coyne

Jaime Coyne, Assistant Editor, St. Martin’s Press. Jaime began her career in Marketing at Macmillan in 2012. After two and a half years, she transitioned to her dream job in the Editorial department of St. Martin’s Press. Jaime is interested in a wide range of fiction and narrative nonfiction, both adult and YA. While she is looking for both literary and upmarket fiction, she is not the best fit for hard genre fiction.
Stephanie Fretwell-Hill

Stephanie Fretwell-Hill started her publishing career in 2004 at Walker Books Ltd. in London, where she sold foreign language rights. Working in a design-led company with legendary artists such as Helen Oxenbury and Lucy Cousins sparked her love of illustration, while her sales role gave her an international perspective on children’s publishing.
Jilly Gagnon

Jilly Gagnon is currently based in Chicago, but is originally from Minnesota, a fact she’ll likely inform you of within minutes of meeting you. In the past, Jilly has written humor, news, essays, and op-ed pieces for Newsweek, Elle, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Onion, The Toast, and Boston’s alt-weekly, The Dig, among others. She writes both comedy and young adult fiction.
Erik Hane

Erik Hane is an agent at Red Sofa Literary, as well as a freelance editor and writer based in Minneapolis. Since graduating from Knox College and the Denver Publishing Institute in 2012, he has worked as an assistant editor at Oxford University Press and then as an acquiring editor at The Overlook Press.
Hannah Haney

Hannah Haney is a contributor to Writer’s Digest Online and the Managing Editor for Relief Journal. She has been published with Writer’s Digest and The Cincinnati Enquirer. She is passionate about the power of literature and writing and the way they can communicate truth about the human condition.
Elizabeth Ross Holmstrom

Elizabeth Ross Holmstrom is the founder of BreakTogether. Elizabeth has twenty years of experience designing and implementing health and wellness programs for local, large and national employers. She was most recently VP, Health and Wellness at TD Bank, leading employee health and engagement improvement strategies in the US.
Julie True Kingsley

Julie True Kingsley is the co-founder of The Manuscript Academy. She has over twenty years of experience in education teaching everything from preschool to grad school. She currently teaches New Media & Writing for Media at a small local college. She is the co- founder and SCBWI’s Writing Retreat on Squam, and a past facilitator of SCBWI’s fabulous Whispering Pines Retreat.
Hazel Mitchell

Hazel Mitchell has always loved drawing and still cannot be reliably left alone with a pencil. She has illustrated several books for children including Imani’s Moon, One Word Pearl, Animally and Where Do Fairies Go When It Snows? ‘Toby’ is her author-illustrator debut from Candlewick Press.
Norma Perez-Hernandez

Norma Perez-Hernandez is an acquiring editorial assistant at Kensington Publishing Corp. She has worked on a variety of projects, including fiction, romance, mysteries, thrillers, and non-fiction. A New York City native, Norma studied English literature at the Macaulay Honors College at The City College of New York and is a graduate of the Publishing Certificate Program at City College.
Adriann Ranta Zurhellen

Adriann Ranta Zurhellen is an agent at Foundry Literary + Media. She represents New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors, journalists, illustrators, and graphic novelists, as well as cultural commentators, stuntwomen, makeup artists, and many other pioneering creative thinkers and leaders in their fields.
Dr. Uwe Stender

Literary Agent Dr. Uwe Stender is a Full Member of the AAR (Association of Authors’ Representatives). He is interested in all kinds of commercial fiction, especially Young Adult, Middle Grade, Mysteries, and Women’s Fiction. He is also interested in all kinds of non-fiction projects. But surprise him, his tastes are eclectic, and he may just love what you wrote!
Roseanne Wells

Roseanne Wells joined The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an associate agent in 2012. Previously with the Marianne Strong Literary Agency, she has also worked as a proofreader and a special sales/editorial assistant. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with degrees in Literature and Dance.
Erin Wicks

Erin Wicks is an associate editor acquiring narrative fiction, nonfiction, and memoir for the Harper and Harper Perennial lists at HarperCollins Publishers. Her current authors include Sarah Gerard (Binary Star), Karen Rinaldi (The End of Men), Ami McKay (The Witches of New York), Rachel B. Glaser (Paulina & Fran), and the estate of Eleanor Clark.
Laura Zats

Laura Zats is an agent at Red Sofa Literary, where she represents middle grade and young adult fiction, as well as adult science fiction, fantasy, romance, and erotica. Originally coming to publishing through editorial, she has worked with traditional and indie authors across the globe. Laura is one half of the podcast Print Run, which every week seeks to reveal a never-before-seen side to publishing.