... with a conference run by who? What qualifications do they have?
Since you asked, I'll tell you then. The "qualifications" of the following people were far more valuable to me than Deborah Doyle or Orson Scott Card, but perhaps that is because I am not part of that genre? And I wished to talk to editorial professionals, not just writers. I find that writers/authors have a stove-piped vision of publishing, whereas good agents and senior acquisition editors have a more useful, broader view.
As follows, and I want to emphasize that I had as much time as I needed with all of these people to discuss aspects of my novel from top to bottom. Susan Breen was selfless with her time and fantastic. Everyone loved her. I learned so much from her about my novel and my own writing. What I learned turned me around. The workshop aspect of the pitch conference was invaluable to me, then came the talks with the editors about my work.
My workshop leader, Susan Breen:
Susan Breen is the author of the novel THE FICTION CLASS, discovered at the New York Pitch and published by Plume, an imprint of Penguin Group. Her novel was also published by Headline Review (in the UK), Wheeler Publishing (large print) and is a selection of Reading Group Choices. Susan has been a finalist for the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel and the James Jones First Novel Fellowship Competition. Her stories have been published by a number of literary magazines, among them
North Dakota Quarterly, The Chattahoochee Review and
American Literary Review. Susan teaches beginning and advanced fiction classes at Gotham Writers' Workshop; she is also a contributor to
The Writer and
Writer's Digest.
My first editor, Jackie Cantor who I lunched with afterwards:
Jackie Cantor is an Executive Editor at The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin. Prior to joining Berkley in August 2005, she was a Vice President and Executive Editor at Bantam Dell, where her list included a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction titles in all formats. She is proud to have discovered the New York Times bestselling authors Diana Gabaldon and Eloisa James. Other major authors whose work she has acquired include John Grisham, John Lescroart, and Hope Edelman (MOTHERLESS DAUGHTERS). At Berkley, her list includes the nationally bestselling authors Kate Furnivall (THE RUSSIAN CONCUBINE, THE WHITE PEARL), Kate Quinn (MISTRESS OF ROME, EMPRESS OF THE SEVEN HILLS), Laura Brodie (THE WIDOW'S SEASON, ALL THE TRUTH), Lucy Dillon (LOST DOGS AND LONELY HEARTS, WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS) and Lucy Ferriss (THE LOST DAUGHTER).
Caitlin Alexander, who was available for ongoing consultation and who I hung with at happy hour:
Caitlin Alexander is freelance editor in New York. As a senior editor at Random House Publishing Group she acquired and edited a variety of projects including New York Times bestsellers Michelle Richmond (THE YEAR OF FOG), David Gibbins (THE LOST TOMB), Andy McDermott (THE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS), and Gwen Cooper (HOMER'S ODYSSEY); Angela Davis-Gardner (PLUM WINE), and International Thriller Writers Award winner Tom Piccirilli (SHADOW SEASON).
And my second editor, Lyssa Keusch, who was wonderful:
Executive Editor Lyssa Keusch acquires primarily commercial fiction for the William Morrow/Avon imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Her main focus is on rich, textured, thought-provoking commercial women's fiction, contemporary or historical fiction, and high concept, smart thrillers and suspense. She has launched the careers of New York Times bestselling authors James Rollins and Julia Quinn, with whom she is thrilled to continue to work. Among her other authors are New York Times bestsellers J. A. Jance, Jefferson Bass, Samantha James, and Elizabeth Boyle, award-winners Jamie Freveletti, Sean Chercover, Robin Burcell, and Mary Daheim, and international bestsellers Kathryn Fox and Glenn Cooper. While her list is generally comprised of commercial fiction, she enjoys editing the occasional narrative nonfiction project as well, keeping an eye out for books in which the reader learns something fascinating, on topics ranging from popular science and nature to history to cultural explorations to memoir.
My third editor, Dana Isaacson, one of the most helpful and knowledgeable professionals I've ever spoken to:
Dana Isaacson, Senior Editor at the Random House Publishing Group, has worked in the book publishing industry for nearly twenty years in various capacities: as abridger, literary agent, writer, online editor and acquisitions and content editor. Prior to Random House, he edited at Pocket Books, St. Martin's Press, and ReganBooks. At Random House, he has worked on a wide variety of titles -- from bestselling commercial fiction (Tess Gerritsen's THE MEPHISTO CLUB, Dianne Emley's THE FIRST CUT) to literary biographies (TOO BRIEF A TREAT: THE COLLECTED LETTERS OF TRUMAN CAPOTE, Jonathan Reynolds' WRESTLING WITH GRAVY) to historical narratives (Gerry Adams' A FARTHER SHORE, Michael Kauffman's AMERICAN BRUTUS).
My fourth editor, Abby Zidle, a real gem:
Abby Zidle is a senior editor at Gallery and Pocket Books acquiring commercial fiction and nonfiction, including romance, suspense, general fiction, women's fiction, memoir, and popular culture titles. Her authors at Pocket include everything from New York Times bestsellers to debut novelists. Prior to working at Pocket, she was an editor for Harlequin's HQN line. She began her career in publishing at Bantam Dell, after abandoning the glamorous life of a Ph.D. student (the only job that pays worse than editorial assistant).
And this agent, Katharine Sands, read my first couple of pages and we hung out later at the New Yorker:
A literary agent with the
Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Katharine 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.