How It Works • Submission Fees • Confirmed Agents • FAQ

SBWC’s Advance Submission program is an opportunity for conference participants to meet agents and editors, and receive individual feedback on their writing.

Agents and editors who have participated in the past return because they enjoy meeting with writers and hearing about their work. They know SBWC attendees consistently offer high-quality writing. Many of our students have gone on to publish their work because of the agents and editors they met during our conference.

If your manuscript is complete and polished, and you think you are ready for an agent to represent your work, read up on our agents and choose those who seem interested in your genre or already represent clients whose work you think is similar to your own.

Advance Submission is your chance to separate yourself from the thousands of other single-space, one-page, letters agents receive each year. Though SBWC has had many success stories in the past, we make no promises of representation, nor further interest in your manuscript. We do, however, hope this is a rewarding and enlightening experience, and at the very least, an opportunity to make a personal and professional connection.

You must be registered for the conference to participate. 

 How it works:

1) Register and choose your readers either online by credit card, or by mail. We expect some agents and editors will fill their schedules quickly, so be sure to register early. You may submit to as many readers as you like.

2) Mail the first 5 pages of your manuscript to the conference by May 4th. If you have chosen multiple readers, you will include a copy for each reader.

3) Once you check into the conference on June 8^th, we will give you the details of the meeting arrangements. Your reader will have read the pages before you meet, and will come prepared to talk about your writing. This is a one-on-one for 10 minutes, a chance for you to get personal feedback from an agent or editor.

 Submission Fees:

The cost for each submission will be $40, and you will be able to sign up beginning March 1st. Once you have signed up with an agent or editor, there will be no refunds given for any reason, so consider your choices carefully.  

Confirmed 2013 Agents:

Kat Brzozowski — editor with Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press
Andrea Brown — Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Erin L. Cox — Rob Weisbach Creative Management
Paul Fedorko — N.S. Bienstock, Inc.
Lucas Hunt — Philip Spitzer Agency
Thao Le — Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
Toni Lopopolo — Toni Lopopolo Literary Management
Taylor Martindale — Full Circle Literary
Amy Rennert — The Amy Rennert Agency
Andy Ross — Andy Ross Literary Agency

Kat Brzozowski - editor with Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press

Kat Brzozowski is an associate editor at Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press, after interning at top literary agencies including Writers House, and Foundry Literary + Media. Her forthcoming acquisitions include Blood Orange, a P.I. mystery set in Santa Barbara, California; Blonde Ops, pitched as The Devil Wears Prada meets James Bond for teens; and The Evidence Room, a police procedural set in the Florida bayou. She is eager to acquire young adult fiction, especially contemporary fiction with a strong female protagonist; light, contemporary YA with a great hook; mysteries, suspense, and thrillers; horror; and sci-fi. She is especially interested in YA with crossover appeal (in the vein of Megan Abbott’s Dare Me). In adult fiction, Kat loves literary mysteries (Tana French and Kate Atkinson are two of her favorites) as well as suspense, thrillers, and smart, commercial women's fiction. She is also interested in narrative nonfiction and pop culture books with wide appeal.

**You do not need to have an agent to meet with Kat.**

Andrea Brown - Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Andrea Brown is the President of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. Founded in New York City in 1981, it was the first literary agency to represent both children's book authors and illustrators. Prior to opening her own firm, Andrea was an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, and worked in the editorial departments of Random House and Dell. In 1990, she moved her literary agency to Northern California. Her literary agency has sold over 2,000 books to just about every publisher, from toddler board books to serious, award-winning young adult.

President of the San Francisco chapter of the Women's National Book Association for four years, she was the National Pannell Award Chair that gives awards to booksellers at the Book Expo Association. She is also a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Andrea has had her own cable television show in New York City, An Afternoon with Children's Books, and has appeared on C-SPAN'S Book Notes, and public television's Authors and Critics.

Some of Andrea's sales include bestselling titles such as MAMA DO YOU LOVE ME (Chronicle), THE BEANIE BABY HANDBOOK and TEACHER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON series (both with Scholastic), the BEVERLY HILLS 90210 series (HarperCollins), the SUNSET ISLAND series (Berkley), Olympic Silver medalist, Sasha Cohen's autobiography, FIRE ON ICE (HarperCollins), Neal Shusterman's DARK FUSION series (Dutton/Penguin), EVERLOST and UNWIND (Simon & Schuster), BRUISER (HarperCollins), and a forthcoming middle grade series with Disney-Hyperion.

Andrea would like to see picture books through young adult, but no rhyme, please.

**For picture books, the full manuscript text (which should not exceed 10 pages) is what I woudl like to see. If you are also an illustrator, you can include two or three illustration samples. I do not need or want to see a picture book in dummy format (i.e., paged out into 32 pages).**

Erin L. Cox - Rob Weisbach Creative Management

Erin L. Cox develops and represents writers for the company, provides publicity expertise to company clients, offers individualized publicity and promotion services for outside clients, and works with corporate clients including Conde Nast Digital and the Frankfurt Book Fair. Erin was most recently Book Publishing Director at The New Yorker where she oversaw book advertising and developed support for books on the business and editorial sides of the magazine. Erin began her career in book publishing in 1999 in the publicity department at Scribner, where she worked with New York Times bestselling authors Frank McCourt, Linda Fairstein, Kathy Reichs, and Al Roker, and critically-acclaimed writers Colm Toibin, Meg Wolitzer, Maile Meloy, and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. In addition to creating and implementing traditional book campaigns, Erin also worked on the publicity team responsible for innovative e-book initiatives for Stephen King and Robert Jordan. In 2005, Erin was named Associate Director of Publicity at HarperCollins, where she worked on bestsellers by Lisa Scottoline, Janet Evanovich, and Tony Hillerman, among others.

Erin represents literary fiction and narrative nonfiction in the areas of memoir, history, pop culture, fashion, and psychology.

Paul Fedorko - N.S. Bienstock, Inc.

Having built his career on both the publishing and literary agency sides of the book business, Paul brings expertise working directly with established authors, new writers and personalities on both fiction and non-fiction projects.

Prior to joining Bienstock, Paul had been a literary agent at Trident Media Group for more than five years, ran The Paul Fedorko Agency and spent more than 20 years as a publishing and marketing executive at Bantam Doubleday Dell, Simon & Schuster and William Morrow working with many brand name as well as first-time authors. "Having worked on both sides of the book business, my passion is helping authors develop their projects and partnering them with the right editor and publisher." Born and raised in New Jersey, Paul graduated from St.Peter's College, currently resides in Manhattan and considers himself a native New Yorker.

In general I am looking for fiction ranging from World War II thrillers and British-type mysteries to contemporary mysteries featuring a female PI, plus any fiction set in New York in the 40's or 50's. I would also like to see young adult and adult contemporary fiction, and am always looking for little-known true stories, except true crime.

Lucas Hunt - Philip Spitzer Agency

Lucas Hunt graduated with a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Iowa, where he wrote for The Daily Iowan newspaper, and was accepted into the Poetry Writer’s Workshop. He received an MFA from Southampton College, published his first volume of poetry, Lives, and won a John Steinbeck Award. Hunt’s second volume of poetry, Light on the Concrete, was published in 2011 to critical acclaim. Lucas Hunt is currently a Rights Manager at the Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency in NYC, where he negotiates audio, foreign, digital, film, and domestic print deals. His professional interests are literary fiction, travel, crime, and the humanities. 



Toni Lopopolo - Toni Lopopolo Literary Management

Literary Agent, Toni Lopopolo, has a book-publishing resume that began in 1970 in the publicity dept of Bantam Books, where she publicized authors: Philip Roth, Barbara Cartland, Louis L'Amour, plus. When Macmillan offered Toni the title of Executive Editor, she published Judy Mazel's Beverly Hills Diet, Elvis 56 by Al Wertheimer among other hits. Next, Toni became executive editor for St. Martin's Press: 1981 to 1990, published Hot Flashes, Barbara Raskin, Rich and Famous, Kate Coscarelli, plus Elsa Lanchester, Herself, by Elsa Lanchester, & many more.

In 1991, Toni opened Literary Management, sold books for authors Shelly Lowenkopf, Sol Stein, Lee Silber, Lillian Glass, Steve Duno, Nancy Baer, and others. Known for her Fiction Bootcamps, she uses unique methods that help first novelists master skills needed to write successful fiction, and helps nonfiction writers produce compelling narrative nonfiction, using fiction techniques. Toni’s noted for her popular lecture: The Ten Most Common Mistakes First Novelists Make. Toni Lopopolo Literary Management is located in Alexandria, Va. & Santa Barbara, CA.

Toni scouts novels for women over 45, Latina fiction, noir thrillers. Nonfic: personal journey, health, and business. 



Thao Le - Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

Thao Le assists with foreign rights, finance, and contracts at the Dijkstra Agency. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego with a double major in Econ-Management Science and Chinese Studies. While interning at the agency during college, she realized where her true love lies -- books -- and joined the agency full-time in the spring of 2011.

Thao is selectively building her list and is currently looking for adult and YA soft science fiction, fantasy, and horror and all of their sub-genres. Her taste for speculative fiction is eclectic and she enjoys both gritty, dark narratives like Anne Bishop's Black Jewel series and fantastically quirky stories like Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She is also looking for light-hearted, funny, and moving contemporary YAs with a raw, authentic teen voice. She's particularly drawn to unique characters, smart-mouthed dialogue, and strong plots that can balance romance and action. She's always on the lookout for the type of stories that make you stay curled up in bed, turning page after page even after the sun has come up.

Thao is specifically not interested in: biographies, business books, cookbooks, picture books, poetry, religious/spiritual books, screenplays, self-help, short stories, or travel books.

Taylor Martindale - Full Circle Literary

Taylor Martindale is a literary agent with Full Circle Literary, actively acquiring fiction and nonfiction projects. She began agenting with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and is a graduate of The College of William and Mary, where she studied English and Hispanic Studies.

Taylor is looking for young adult fiction, literary middle grade fiction, women’s fiction, and select nonfiction projects. She is interested in finding unique and unforgettable voices in contemporary, historical and/or multicultural novels. She is looking for books that demand to be read whether the stories are light-hearted or address important issues (she adores both). More than anything, Taylor is looking for character-driven stories that bring the world vividly to life and voices that refuse to be ignored. When considering nonfiction projects, Taylor uses much the same approach, and hopes to find authors with fresh ideas and perspectives, with writing that is accessible, entertaining, and compelling. 



Amy Rennert - The Amy Rennert Agency

The Amy Rennert Agency specializes in books that matter. Amy has spent more than twenty-five years in the publishing business, pursuing her passion for the written word. The agency represents a select group of quality fiction and nonfiction writers--many of them award-winners--and dozens of agency books have been New York Times and national bestsellers. She provides careers management for established and first time authors and her breadth of experience in many genres enables her to meet the needs of a diverse clientele.

Amy is a strong advocate throughout the publishing process. Her authors range in age from fourteen to ninety-seven and include Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk, singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Tom Lichtenheld, Patti LuPone, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Jacqueline Winspear, author of the New York Times bestselling Maisie Dobbs series, and novelist Amy Franklin-Willis, an alumna of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

Amy represents literary and commercial fiction, mystery, narrative nonfiction especially memoir, and reportage. She also represents picture books.

**For picture books, the full manuscript text (which should not exceed 10 pages) is what I woudl like to see. If you are also an illustrator, you can include two or three illustration samples. I do not need or want to see a picture book in dummy format (i.e., paged out into 32 pages).**

Andy Ross - Andy Ross Literary Agency

Andy Ross opened his literary agency in January, 2008. Prior to that, I was the owner for 30 years of the legendary Cody's Books in Berkeley. The agency represents books in a wide range of subjects including: narrative non-fiction, science, journalism, history, religion, children's books, young adult, middle grade, literary and commercial fiction, and cooking.

I am eager to represent projects in most genres as long as the subject or its treatment is smart, original, and will appeal to a wide readership. In narrative non-fiction I look for writing with a strong voice and robust narrative arc. I like history, science, journalism, and books that tell a big story about culture and society by authors with the authority to write about their subject. I am also seeking projects in all areas byscholars who are at the top of their field and who are committed to writing in style and content for a general audience.

For literary, commercial, and children's fiction, I have only one requirement -- simple, but ineffable -- that the writing reveal the terrain of that vast and unexplored country, the human heart.

I am a member of the Association of Author Representatives (AAR).
Website: www.andyrossagency.com
Blog: "Ask the Agent" www.andyrossagency.wordpress.com