Speakers
Speakers include literary agents, editors, publishers, and other professionals from the publishing industry. Below are the biographies for each speaker; check this page regularly as we’ll continue to add new guests.
For literary agents’ MSWL (manuscript wish list), please refer to their individual agency’s sites.
Speakers are listed in alphabetical order, by first name.
Amanda Orozco
Before joining Transatlantic, Amanda Orozco gained a breadth of experience in academic publishing, publicity, subsidiary rights, and agenting. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Physiological Science and an English minor and worked as a fine art instructor and freelance editor for several years before moving to New York to complete the NYU Masters of Science in Publishing: Digital and Print Media. While at NYU, she worked at the National Book Foundation, Shreve Williams Public Relations, and The Gernert Company; she was also selected to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Beijing International Book Fair. Upon graduating from NYU in 2019, she worked in Subsidiary Rights at Little, Brown, where she helped sell rights for authors such as Michael Connelly, Elin Hilderbrand, and Sarah Knight, until discovering agenting was her true calling. She worked at Park & Fine Literary and Media before moving back to Los Angeles, where she is now excited to build her list at Transatlantic. Amanda has been a member of PoCinPub since 2018 and currently works for Dryland, the literary journal born in South Central, where she aims to amplify marginalized voices from the literary underground.
Amy Elizabeth Bishop
Amy Elizabeth Bishop joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2015, after completing an internship with them in 2014. Before diving into the world of publishing, she graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a degree in Creative Writing. She had a brief stint as the subsidiary/financials assistant, then transitioned into assisting Jane Dystel and serving as the office manager. Amy currently oversees digital projects and social media for the agency, in addition to cultivating her own list. She grew up in upstate New York and has now made the traitorous switch to downstate living. She is interested in upmarket/literary fiction, bookclub fiction, literary suspense. In terms of nonfiction, she’s interested in history (with a special place for untold or overlooked stories about women or people of color), science, current affairs, cultural criticism, investigative deep dives, and prescriptive work for a millennial audience. Across the board, she is looking for work from BIPOC authors.
Anjali Singh
Anjali Singh started her career in publishing in 1996 as a literary scout. Formerly Editorial Director at Other Press, she has also worked as an editor at Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Vintage Books. She is best known for having championed Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis after stumbling across it on a visit to Paris. She has always been drawn to the thrill of discovering new writers and among the literary novelists whose careers she helped launch are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Samantha Hunt, Preeta Samarasan and Saleem Haddad. As an agent she represents Bridgett Davis, author of the acclaimed memoir The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers; Susan Abulhawa, bestselling author of Mornings in Jenin and Against the Loveless World; Nawaaz Ahmed, author of the debut novel Radiant Fugitives and Rachel Harper, author of The Other Mother. Her graphic novel list includes Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez’ Wake: The Hidden History of Women-led Slave Revolts and Gillian Goerz’ Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer as well as forthcoming works by Deena Mohamed, Steenz, Salman Toor, Fouad Mezher and Tessa Hulls. She is on the lookout for character-driven fiction or non-fiction works that reflect an engagement with the world around us and graphic novels for all ages. She grew up between New Delhi and Alexandria, VA, graduated from Brown University and holds a diploma in French language and literature from the Sorbonne. She is a devoted New Yorker but still manages to spend a great deal of time in Rhode Island.
Carrie Pestritto
Carrie Pestritto worked at Writers House and Prospect Agency before becoming part of the LDLA team. She earned her BA in English, cum laude, from Amherst College in 2009, also spending a year studying abroad at St. Catherine's College, Oxford University. As an agent, she loves the thrill of finding new authors with strong, unique voices and working closely with her clients. Carrie always strives to help create books that will introduce readers to new worlds and is drawn in by relatable characters, meticulous world-building, and unusual, compelling premises.
Christina Morgan
Christina Morgan has over a decade of professional book publishing experience, including editorial positions at Amistad/HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and as an agent for Curtis Brown Ltd. At Amistad she was a part of a team that published numerous New York Times bestsellers including CONFESSIONS OF A VIDEO VIXEN, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, and ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN. At HMH she worked with some of the world’s most esteemed authors, including Umberto Eco, Amos Oz, Gunter Grass and Alice Walker. Prior to working in book publishing she worked as a journalist, writing for numerous magazines and newspapers. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Columbia Publishing Course. What She's Looking For: Christina is primarily interested in literary fiction, crime fiction, and narrative non-fiction in the categories of pop culture, sports, current events and memoir.
Desiree Wilson
Desiree Wilson is a literary agent at The Bent Agency representing horror and fantasy for adults, young adult, and middle grade readers. A former freelance publishing consultant, Desiree has worked as associate editor at Oni Press and is currently an adjunct publishing instructor at Portland State University. Their background includes a master's degree in Book Publishing and a post-baccalaureate in Comic Book Studies from Portland State University, as well as internships with companies like Dark Horse Comics, Catapult/Counterpoint Press. Desiree has a passion for graphic narratives that play with the comics medium, stories in prose and illustration that speak to the multi-faceted experiences of BIPOC and marginalized communities without focusing on trauma, and allegorical stories help younger readers explore difficult topics and emotions safely through fictional worlds.
Eric Smith
Eric Smith is a literary agent at PSLA, 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).
Hafizah Geter
Hafizah Geter is an award-winning Nigerian-American poet, writer, and editor born in Zaria, Nigeria. She grew up in Akron, Ohio and Columbia, South Carolina and received her BA in English and economics from Clemson University and an MFA in poetry from Columbia College Chicago. Before joining Janklow, Hafizah was most recently an Editor at Little A and Topple Books, where her list included Hari Ziyad’s BLACK BOY OUT OF TIME, Susan Bernhard’s WINTER LOON, William Dameron’s THE LIE: A MEMOIR OF TWO MARRIAGES, CATFISHING & COMING OUT, Precious Brady Davis’s I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ME, Bobi Conn’s THROUGH THE SHADOW OF THE VALLEY, Marco Rafalà’s HOW FIRES END, a 2020 Connecticut Book Award finalist and honorable mention, and Melissa Faliveno’s TOMBOYLAND which was named one of New York Public Library and NPR’s Best Books of 2020.
Iwalani Kim
Sanford J. Greenburger & Associates
Iwalani joined Sanford J. Greenburger Associates in 2018 after interning at Ayesha Pande Literary, Don Congdon Associates, and Kweli Journal. She was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i and graduated from Vassar College with degrees in Political Science and German Studies. As the senior assistant and foreign rights liaison to agency president Heide Lange, Iwalani has the pleasure of working with Heide’s extraordinary clients such as Dan Brown and Brad Thor. She continues in that role as she builds her own list, further honing her negotiation and editorial skills under Heide’s mentorship.
Jade Wong-Baxter
Frances Goldin Literary Agency
Jade Wong-Baxter joined the agency in 2021. She previously worked for three years at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents as a junior agent and foreign rights associate. A graduate of Vassar College, Jade got her start in publishing at Writers House, W. W. Norton, and Folio Literary Management. She is looking for adult literary/upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction, with an emphasis on narratives by and about people of color, as well as the perspectives of marginalized identities. Her other areas of interest include magical realism, memoir, cultural criticism and Asian-American history.
Jenny Xu
Ecco (Harper Books)
Jenny Xu (she/her) joined Harper Books and Ecco in 2021. She edits and acquires poetry for Ecco and nonfiction for Harper, with a particular focus on marginalized and underrepresented voices. Recent and upcoming projects include The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On by Franny Choi, Rise by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang, and The High Desert by James Spooner. She is on the board of MassLEAP, and mentors through Representation Matters and POC in Publishing.
Joanna Cárdenas
Senior Editor Joanna Cárdenas has worked on such critically-acclaimed and award-winning books as The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez and Stand Up Yumi Chung by Jessica Kim. She is on the board of Latinx in Publishing, a nonprofit organization that promotes literature by, for, and about Latino/a/x people. Joanna is also co-founder of the Representation Matters Mentor Program for aspiring editors of color. In 2015, she was an honoree of Publishers Weekly’s Star Watch, which identifies book publishing talent making waves in the industry. She is looking for books across age categories, genres, and formats that center joy, creativity, and imagination; explore our roles as global citizens; use comedy to deconstruct big life questions and events; and celebrate romantic and platonic love.
Kathleen Ortiz
Kathleen Ortiz is a Literary Agent who has over a decade of experience in the industry, both as an agent and international licensing expert. She focuses on brands for adults and children that bring humor and joy and inspire others in life — a visual component is a huge bonus. For both fiction and non-fiction, Kathleen loves looking beyond the book – while the story is most important, she likes to find other opportunities for her clients to help expand their platform and compliment their books. She’s worked in licensing everything from stationery to calendars to greeting cards and more. While she’s based in the West Coast, her skymiles argue that she lives in NYC half the year.
Kiana Nguyen
Kiana Nguyen joined Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2016, where she assisted several agents, and is now building her own client list. She is seeking YA fiction across genres, particularly those with POC and queer voices. She is also interested in Adult romance and domestic suspense thrillers.
Krishan Trotman
Hachette Book Group
Krishan Trotman is the Vice-President, Publisher of Legacy Lit. She joined Hachette Books in 2016. In 2020 she launched Legacy Lit, an imprint dedicated to books that give voice to issues, authors, and communities that have been marginalized, underserved, and overlooked. This includes BIPOC authors, all women, and any group that they believe deserves a spotlight. The imprint is committed to promoting equality, equity, and inclusion for all people. The books are bold, mission-driven commercial works. Social justice and empowerment are Trotman’s passion. She likes to work with authors who are candid, bold, and, in their own unique way, not afraid to shake things up. Her authors have included a range of award-winning and New York Times bestsellers, including: congressman John Lewis’ Across That Bridge; journalist Stephanie Land’s Maid; MSNBC political analyst Malcolm Nance’s The Plot to Destroy Democracy; New York Times columnist Lindy West’s The Witches Are Coming and Shit Actually; UFC’s Mixed Martial Artist Paige VanZant’s Rise; Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad’s Proud; radio and TV host Zerlina Maxwell’s The End of White Politics; TV personality Ed Gordon’s Conversations in Black; journalist Talia Lavin’s Culture Warlords; Vanity Fair writer Nancy Jo Sales ’ forthcoming memoir Nothing Personal; BRAVO’s Million Dollar Listing star Ryan Serhant’s Sell It Like Serhant and Big Money Energy; Morning Joe’s cohost Mika Brzezinski’s Earn It! and Comeback Careers; The Today Show’s cohost Al Roker’s You Look So Much Better in Person; and empowerment coach Gina DeVee’s The Audacity to Be Queen, to name a few. Krishan has been featured in the New York Times, Essence Magazine, New York Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, Salon, Shondaland, Cheddar TV, MSN, CSPAN, and more. She is the self-described Beyoncé of Books, and mom to her son Bleu.
Linda Camacho
Linda was always a fan of escaping into a good book, so the fact that she gets to make it her career is still surreal. She graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in Communication and has seen many sides of the industry. She’s held various positions at Penguin Random House, Dorchester, Simon and Schuster, and Writers House literary agency until she ventured into agenting at Prospect. She's done everything from foreign rights to editorial to marketing to operations, so it was amazing to see how all the departments worked together to bring books to life. Somewhere in between all that (and little sleep), Linda received her MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Now at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency, Linda continues to work with colleagues and clients who inspire her every day in both the children’s and adult categories.
Lisa Lucas
Pantheon (Penguin Random House)
Lisa Lucas is the Senior Vice President & Publisher of Pantheon and Schocken Books at Penguin Random House. Previously, Lucas was the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation for five years. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as the Publisher of Guernica, a non-profit online magazine focusing on writing that explores the intersection of art and politics with an international and diverse focus. Prior to that, she served as Director of Education at the Tribeca Film Institute, on the development team at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and as a consultant for the Sundance Institute, San Francisco Film Society, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and ReelWorks Teen Filmmaking. Lucas also serves on the literary council of the Brooklyn Book Festival. Since she took over Pantheon in 2021, Lisa has begun working with authors such as Gabe Fowler, Szilvia Molnar, Raoul Peck, Sanghera Santham, and Art Spiegelman.
Loan Le
Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
Loan Le is an editor at Atria Books, a Simon & Schuster adult imprint, and she acquires dark, atmospheric upmarket and “literary plus” fiction, or literary fiction with genre elements like horror, mystery, suspense/thriller, and/or folklore. Her authors include Sarah Langan, Louise Candlish, Carolyn Huynh, Meredith Westgate, Kevin Chong, Luke Dumas, Shea Ernshaw, and Jennifer Fawcett. She is also the author of A Phở Love Story, a YA rom-com that earned praise from NPR, POPSUGAR, Bustle, and Buzzfeed. She holds an MFA degree in fiction from Fairfield University, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree. A Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, Loan has had her short stories appear in CRAFT Literary, Mud Season Review, and more. When she’s not writing young adult novels, she’s writing ghostly, dark adult fiction, watching slow-burn K-Dramas, and listening to BTS. Visit her website at writerloanle.com and find her on Twitter @loanloan and Instagram @loanloanle.
Mariah Stovall
Mariah Stovall joined Trellis Literary Management after agenting at Howland Literary and Writers House. Prior to that, she worked on the other side of things, at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and at Gallery Books. She is actively seeking writers with strong voices and intersectional and interdisciplinary perspectives. She works on adult literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, essay collections and memoir. Mariah is a graduate of Pitzer College, of the Claremont Colleges, where she studied English and World Literature with a minor in Linguistics. She volunteers for VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts. She has written fiction and nonfiction for Ninth Letter, Hobart, Joyland, The Paris Review, Poets & Writers, Literary Hub and more.
Marisa Cleveland
Marisa Cleveland joined The Seymour Agency as an author in 2009. In June 2020, Marisa started signing her own authors who write in the children’s, general fiction, and nonfiction spaces. She’s looking for a manuscript she can’t put down until the last page and can’t stop discussing. Voice is definitely key for her. If she’s going to sign (and sell) someone or recommend someone, then the writer’s voice has to speak to her. She has to be able to listen (vocally and on the page) to that writer through revisions and edits and book after book. She wants to find characters she wants as her best friends and partners-in-crime long after the story ends, whether it’s in this world or an alternate universe.
Monica Odom
Monica Odom founded her own agency in 2019, after working in publishing for nearly a decade, including roles as agent at Liza Dawson Associates and Bradford Literary Agency. She earned her M.S. in Publishing: Digital & Print Media from New York University, and has a B.A. in English from Montclair State University. She was also schooled in bookselling and event coordinating at her local indie, Watchung Booksellers. Monica is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents where she serves on the Board, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and co-chairs the Communications Committee. She is President of the DEI non-profit Literary Agents of Change. She has also served on the WNDB Walter Grant Judging Committee, and is dedicated to the holistic and intentional expansion of intersectional diversity, equity and inclusivity in the publishing industry. She is a frequent guest at writers’ conferences, publishing institutes and universities, delivering keynotes, speaking on panels, and conducting workshops.
Nadxieli Nieto
Nadxieli Nieto is the Executive Editor at Flatiron Books. She is looking for upmarket and literary fiction, YA, and select nonfiction, with a focus on work by Latinx and BIPoC. Her authors at Flatiron include María Amparo Escandón, John Manuel Arias, Rasheed Newson, Wendy Chin-Tanner, Erica Berry, and Ben Austen. She is drawn to innovative, language-driven work in fiction, and idea-driven, researched nonfiction on culture, feminism, immigration, and the environment. Authors she’s previously edited and published include Carmen Maria Machado, Lilliam Rivera, Yuri Herrera, Danielle Evans, Leslie Jamison, Laura van den Berg, Rion Amilcar Scott, Stephen Graham Jones, Helen Phillips, and Amber Sparks. Nieto was previously Director of the Literary Awards Program at PEN America, and is on the board of Latinx in Publishing.
Penny Moore
Penny Moore represents standout authors such as Morris Award Finalist, Akemi Dawn Bowman, author of titles, Starfish and Summer Bird Blue; Beth Evans, author/illustrator of I Really Didn’t Think This Through; Nicki Pau Preto, author of Crown of Feathers; Lyla Lee, author of The Mindy Kim Series; and Katie Zhao, author of The Dragon Warrior. Moore graduated from the University of Georgia with a double degree in Linguistics and Japanese Language & Literature. During her time as an undergraduate, she also studied comparative literature at top universities in Japan and South Korea. Penny joined Aevitas in 2018, starting in the industry as an assistant/associate agent at FinePrint Literary Management in 2014, then joining Empire Literary as an agent two years later, where she built out the children’s portion of the agency’s list. Moore mainly represents children’s literature, including picture books, middle grade, and young adult. She also has an interest in select platform nonfiction projects that speak to younger audiences. Though she’s interested in all genres, she’s specifically seeking inventive works featuring breakout voices and compelling plot lines that will make young readers feel seen and heard for the first time.
Priya Doraswamy
Priya Doraswamy’s love for books, people, and background in law makes her career as a literary agent the perfect fit for her passions and talents. Priya enjoys working with publishers and writers from around the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and India. Although physically in the EST, her work hours are zone-free. She does admit to occasionally losing track of time zones and waking a writer with an early morning phone call. Priya has been an agent for several years and has sold several books worldwide. She is drawn to all genre of fiction and nonfiction. Prior to her agency career, she was a practicing lawyer in the United States. Originally from Bangalore, India, Priya immigrated to the New York area many moons ago. For a period of time she relocated with her family to Singapore, and there, began her career as a literary agent. She founded Lotus Lane Literary in May 2013, and continues her journey with writers and publishers.
Quressa Robinson
Quressa Robinson joined the Nelson Literary Agency in 2017 after working at a previous agency and as an editor for five years. She is originally from San Francisco but has been living in New York City for over a decade. As a New York based agent, she is eager to build her MG, YA, and Adult lists. Quressa is also a member of the 2017-2020 WNDB Walter Grant Committee and holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction from Columbia University. In 2020, she was named a Publisher's Weekly Star Watch finalist. In 2021 she was named an influential gatekeeper in Book and Film Globe’s inaugural Publishing Power 30 list alongside phenoms like Reece Witherspoon, Celeste Ng, and Lisa Lucas.
Saba Sulaiman
Talcott Notch Literary Services
Saba Sulaiman was born to Pakistani immigrants in Sri Lanka. She studied Economics and Middle Eastern Studies at Wellesley College, and modern Persian Literature at the University of Chicago, where she helped edit the department's Center for Middle Eastern Studies's academic journal. After a stint at Sourcebooks as an editorial intern, she joined the Talcott Notch Literary Services. She believes that being an author is an entrepreneurial endeavor, and she sees her role as her clients’ primary advocate as they navigate each and every stage of the publishing process. She is also committed to highlighting marginalized voices with bright careers ahead of them, and compelling stories to tell; stories that demonstrate the true range of perspectives that exist in this world, and address urgent and often underexplored issues with veracity and heart. She is also proud to be on the steering committee for People of Color in Publishing, a grassroots organization working to serve the interests of publishing professionals of color.
Samantha Fabien
Samantha Fabien (she/her) is a literary agent at Root Literary. Before joining the Root team, Samantha worked at Laura Dail Literary Agency as a literary agent and International Rights Manager. Her background includes a Bachelor’s in PR and Journalism, a certificate from the Columbia Publishing Course, and internships/part-time work at Ayesha Pande Literary, Writers House, and Chalberg & Sussman. From these experiences, Samantha has fostered her love for sharing diverse, lasting, and inclusive stories with the world – both in the U.S. and abroad. Samantha can also be found working with events and organizations like DVcon, #Edits4BlackSFF, Gotham Writers, and the New York Writing Room among others. For more information, you can visit her website: www.samanthafabien.com or follow her on social media as @samanthashnh on Instagram and Twitter.
Sandy Lu
Sandy Lu founded Book Wyrm Literary Agency after working as a literary agent for more than a decade at other boutique agencies, including Peter Rubie Literary Agency, Anderson Literary Management, and most notably, the L. Perkins Agency. Born and raised in Taiwan, Sandy’s family moved to New York in her teens, so she understands the struggles of immigrants and those who straddle two cultures all too well. Sandy holds BAs in psychology and sociology from Queens College, with minors in music, business, and Japanese. Prior to becoming an agent, she attended the Ph.D. Program in Social and Personality Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center and worked as a business/operations manager in the theater industry. Sandy’s areas of study and work experience greatly inform her interest in submissions. She is seeking stories that will draw her in with a unique voice, make her miss her bedtime with a thrilling plot, and characters that will stay with her long after she turns the last page. Bonus points if you can make her laugh out loud or unable to hold back tears in public. Sandy especially loves historical fiction and anything dark, twisted, or with a supernatural bent.
Saritza Hernandez
Known as the first literary agent to represent marginalized creators in the digital publishing space, Saritza is a self-proclaimed geek who loves escaping into worlds and stories from all walks of life. Her love of great storytelling is what has driven her work in the publishing industry for the past 18 years and her passion for amplifying queer and BIPOC voices is what continues to drive her today. An avid romance and science-fiction reader, and strong advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, she enjoys fresh voices in YA and adult genre fiction. She specializes in romance and young adult fiction by and for diverse audiences.
Serene Hakim
Prior to joining Ayesha Pande Literary in 2015, Serene worked at Laura Gross Literary Agency in Boston. Serene holds an M.A. in French to English translation from NYU and a B.A. in French and Women’s Studies from the University of Kansas. Born to Lebanese immigrants in the Midwest, she grew up straddling cultures and languages and still feels like a third culture kid. Serene loves to read a variety of genres but is particularly drawn to fiction with strong female voices, both YA and adult fiction and non-fiction with international themes, and LGBTQ and feminist issues. She is always on the lookout for great YA sci-fi and fantasy, realistic YA, and anything that gives voice to those whose voices are underrepresented and/or marginalized. She is especially interested in stories dealing with the Middle East and the variety of immigrant experiences out there. Specifically, she’s looking for writing that explores the different meanings of identity, home, family and parenthood/motherhood. When she’s not reading, she can usually be found trying a new recipe while simultaneously balancing a toddler on her hip.
Sonali Chanchani
Sonali Chanchani is an agent at Folio Literary Management, where she represents literary and upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction. In fiction, she gravitates towards smart, funny novels about identity and coming of age; braided narratives of friendship and family; and nuanced psychological suspense. In nonfiction, she’s looking for reported narratives that speak to larger social, cultural, and political issues. Across the board, she’s particularly interested in character-driven stories that center historically underrepresented voices. Sonali earned her degree in English and Narrative Studies from the University of Southern California and began her career in publishing at Kaya Press.
Soumeya Roberts
Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts joined HG Literary in 2017 after agenting at Writers House and the Susan Golomb Literary Agency, where she was also Foreign Rights Director. Prior to representing authors as a literary agent, Soumeya was a book scout at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. At HG Literary, she represents literary novels and collections, upmarket fiction, and non-fiction, both narrative and prescriptive. Though she is primarily seeking Adult genres, she also represents select, realistic middle-grade and YA. Soumeya is also the Vice President of Foreign Rights and handles international translation licensing on the agency’s behalf. She is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and serves on their International Rights Committee. She is also a member of the Women’s Media Group and the Center for Fiction’s debut fiction prize committee. Originally from the California Bay Area, Soumeya began her career in the editorial department of an independent publisher in San Francisco, and is still drawn to the editorial process and the independent West Coast spirit. She now lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Stefanie Sanchez Van Borstel
Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel is co-founder of Full Circle Literary, an entrepreneur, and mom with 25+ years of experience in trade book publishing. Prior to agenting, she worked in editorial, publicity and trade marketing with Penguin and Harcourt Children’s Books. She enjoys tapping her publicity and marketing background to champion writers and artists. Stefanie represents children’s books from toddler to teen, and select adult nonfiction.
Stephanie Kim
Stephanie Kim is a literary agent with more than a decade of experience in publicity and marketing across the publishing, tech, and media industries. She began her career as an assistant publicist at William Morrow/HarperCollins where she cut her teeth on high-profile campaigns for Neil Gaiman, Laura Lippman, Wiley Cash, and many others. At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Stephanie led publicity for three consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers: What If? and Thing Explainer by xkcd creator Randall Munroe, and Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. Some additional highlights include working on Gabourey Sidibe’s memoir This Is Just My Face, Chinelo Okparanta’s Lambda Literary award-winning debut novel Under the Udala Trees, and comic artist Ariel Shrag’s quirky, irreverent coming-of-age love story, Adam. As an agent, Stephanie is focused on representing authors from diverse backgrounds with compelling stories to tell. She’s interested in narrative non-fiction (memoir, pop culture, self-help) as well as select voice-driven fiction. Some of her favorite books include Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, The Color of Water by James McBride, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Exhalation by Ted Chiang, and anything by John Green. Stephanie is based in the Los Angeles area. In her free time, she co-hosts rePEAK — a podcast exploring remakes, reboots, and revivals — where she rants about celebrity gossip, book-to-film adaptations, and all things pop culture.