Nalini Akolekar with Spencerhill Associates ltd.
Nalini
Akolekar joined Spencerhill Associates after a lengthy editorial career and
several years in advertising sales. Agenting has provided the perfect
opportunity to combine her editorial instincts with her sales, marketing, and
business experience.
Nalini
currently represents several bestselling authors and has placed books with a
wide range of publishers, from the Big Six to Amazon, Harlequin, indies, and
e-first. Nalini specializes in romance and women’s fiction in the adult
market, but she also loves a good thriller.
Beth Campbell with Bookends LLC
Beth Campbell with Bookends LLC
After
an undergraduate career filled with publishing internships, Beth joined
BookEnds as a literary assistant in September 2012. In addition to managing the
office, she is constantly occupied with building her client list and working
with existing BookEnds authors as the company's rights coordinator.
Beth's
obsession with books began with a distinct fantasy flavor when she was in
elementary school, and she's happily never kicked the genre. Although she has
less free time to read now, she still loves to devour fantasy, YA, and sci-fi
novels whenever she has a spare moment. Other areas of interest include
romantic suspense, women's fiction, and cozy mysteries.
Beth
currently lives in New
Jersey with
her husband and a handful of cats. Outside of reading, her personal hobbies
include drawing, cooking, gaming, and spending far too much time on the
Internet.
And my
current acquiring interests: urban fantasy, soft or dystopian science
fiction, YA and NA, suspense, romance (particularly sharp Regencies and smart
contemporaries), and women's fiction.
Leah Hultenschmidt with Grand Central Publishing
Leah Hultenschmidt with Grand Central Publishing
Leah
Hultenschmidt is the Editorial Director of the Forever and Forever Yours
romance lines at Grand Central Publishing, overseeing nearly 200 titles a
year. Leah has worked with a number of
New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, including Jill Shalvis, Jodi
Ellen Malpas, Rebecca Donovan, Tiffany Snow, Katie MacAlister, Lauren Dane,
Julie Ann Walker, and Jennifer Ashley. She’s currently looking for great
storytellers in romantic suspense, contemporary, historical (especially
Highlanders), and New Adult. She has a particular fondness for dark TV (Game of
Thrones, American Horror Story, Hannibal, Ripper
Street ) and
light ice cream. In 2011, she was named
Editor of the Year by New
York ’s RWA
chapter.
Rhonda Penders-President and Editor -in-Chief for The Wild Rose Press
Rhonda Penders-President and Editor -in-Chief for The Wild Rose Press
Penders is eager to talk to writers and authors
about what The Wild Rose Press can do for them.
She would love for you to approach her and introduce yourself. The Wild Rose Press opened in May 2006 as a romance only small press and epublishing
company. Today the company is home to over 2700 active titles and has expanded beyond
romance. TWRP believes that publishing is a team
effort between editor, author, and publisher. Penders holds tight to that mission statement. She spends part of every day making sure her
authors or “roses” as they are called are happy and well cared for.
Currently, TWRP accepts
mainstream fiction including women’s fiction, historical fiction,
murder/mystery/thrillers and erotica. The company publishes in both electronic and
print. They accept short stories and full length novels.
Peter Senftleben with Kensington Books
Peter Senftleben with Kensington Books
Peter
Senftleben is an associate editor at Kensington Books, where he is building his
own varied and distinguished list. He joined Kensington in 2006 after
sharpening his editorial skills and red pencil while working at literary
agencies. A graduate of Tulane University with a
degree in chemical engineering and math (yes, math), Peter occasionally
indulges the numbers side of his brain with a challenging Sudoku puzzle or by
baking, but he can more often be seen watching trashy television shows. You can
follow him on Twitter at @gr8thepeter.
Peter
is currently acquiring many types of fiction; his interests include: mainstream
and women’s fiction, all subgenres of romance, gay fiction, mysteries,
thrillers, psychological or domestic suspense, upmarket horror, and “new adult”
novels with original themes. Peter is often drawn to quirky, offbeat
projects with distinctive voices, stunning writing, realistic characters, and
stories that will make him LOL (literally), cry in public, scare the bejeezus
out of him, or engage him so deeply that he skips meals. He does not want
to see anything with terrorists of any kind.
Deb Werksman with Sourcebooks
Deb Werksman with Sourcebooks
Deb
Werksman has been Sourcebooks for the past fifteen years, before which she
had her own publishing company. She is the editorial director of romance
fiction and acquires single title romance in all subgenres, as well as
historical and women's fiction. Sourcebooks publishes 8-10 romance titles per
month, in print and ebook formats simultaneously. is the country's largest
woman-owned independent publishing house. We're known for our sales and
marketing, as well as our focus on building authors' careers.
Currently
acquiring: Single title romance in all subgenres (paranormal, historical,
romantic suspense, erotic romance and contemporary romance)
· 90,000 words· Prefer multi-book deals
· Editorial criteria:
A heroine the reader can relate to
A hero she can fall in love with
A world gets created
A hook we can sell with in 2-3 sentences
The author is interested in career development and building her brand