Want/need professional advice and criticism from publishing professionals? Here is your chance to have a one-on-one discussion about your work, the publishing market and getting an agent/book contract.

1. Email us an attachment of a short story, novel excerpt with 1-paragraph synopsis or book proposal (20-page limit). Include your name, contact information and a short bio. Please specify whether you’d like to speak to an editor, an agent or both.

2. If your proposal is chosen, The Workshop will forward your proposal to the appropriate editor/agent who will read your work in advance and be prepared to offer personal feedback. Payment is due upon acceptance.

3. Come on time to your assigned 1/2 hour meeting and ask whatever you want.

$65 general, $50 Workshop members. You may submit your work for an appointment with both an agent and editor ($120 discounted total for both, $90 for members). Accepted on a rolling basis until filled. Those with chosen proposals will be notified in advance. The Workshop will do the pairing. Open to individuals from all different levels of writing, ethnic backgrounds and literary interests.

Editors:
Joel Ariaratnam, The New Press
Panio Gianopoulos, Bloomsbury Group
Leah Heifferon, Random House
Sally Kim, Random House
Patrick Price, Simon and Schuster
Nathaniel Rich, The Paris Review

Agents: PJ Mark, McCormick & Williams Literary
Devin McIntyre, Mary Evans Inc.
Ayesha Pande, Lyons & Pande International

Joel Ariaratnam is an assistant editor at The New Press where he has worked with authors such as Studs Terkel, Lore Segal, and Cornel West, among others. Born in Canada and of Sri Lankan descent, he was trained as a mathematician and got his PhD in chaos theory before working in publishing. His interests lie in the areas of science, popular culture, politics, and current affairs.

Panio Gianopoulos has worked in publishing for eight years, starting out at Crown Publishers, then Talk magazine, and since 1999, Bloomsbury. Some recent books he has acquired are Yes You Can!, a very fun and amusing investigation into the motivational industry; IPod Therefore I Am, a techy/musical memoir; and Kuraj, an epic literary novel about a nomadic Mongolian girl uprooted during World War II who must adjust to life in post-war Germany. Other titles he has edited include Ghost Town by Patrick McGrath, the upcoming Winterwood by Patrick McCabe, How to Survive a Robot Uprising (a tongue-in-cheek survival guide by an actual roboticist), Anthony Bourdain’s The Nasty Bits and Send in the Idiots (a memoir about autism by an autistic man). His interests include literary novels, pop culture, humor/illustrated, science and technology, food and psychology.

Leah Heifferon is an assistant editor at Vintage/Anchor Books, where she has worked with such authors as John Banville, P.D. James, Donna Tartt, Alexander McCall Smith, Jonathan Lethem, Maxine Hong Kingston, James Ellroy, Anchee Min, Bret Easton Ellis, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and Marjane Satrapi. She graduated magna cum laude with honors in English from Georgetown University, where she was a Writing Center tutor. She has also worked at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency and at Grove Press. Her articles have appeared in Washington Business Forward and In Style magazine.

Sally Kim is a senior editor at Shaye Areheart Books, the literary fiction imprint at The Crown Publishing Group, where her authors include Lisa Unger (Beautiful Lies), Leah Stewart (The Myth of You and Me), Lee Martin (The Bright Forever), Leslie Larson (Slipstream), and Gillian Flynn (Sharp Objects). Previously an editor at St. Martin’s Press and HarperCollins, she celebrated her 10-year anniversary in publishing in 2005.

PJ Mark is a literary agent with McCormick & Williams, where he represents literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, pop culture and graphic novels. He has worked in publishing for 11 years, including as a book scout for foreign publishers and Hollywood film companies, and, briefly, as a journalist covering the book publishing industry.

Devin McIntyre is a literary agent at Mary Evans Inc. where he has worked for the past three and half years. He handles foreign rights and subrights for the agency as well as pursuing his own client list. He is looking for a mix of smart, vibrant fiction and non-fiction, particularly literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, pop culture, graphic novels, and multicultural perspectives.

Ayesha Pande launched Lyons & Pande International last fall with her partner Jennifer Lyons. She was previously and editor for 15 years, including stints at Crown Publishers and at HarperResource. In 2001 she moved to Farrar, Straus & Giroux as a senior editor, where she acquired and edited a range of literary fiction and nonfiction, including the PEN Hemingway-winning GraceLand by Chris Abani. She is interested in considering high quality projects in all different genres. She represents clients who write literary fiction, narrative nonfiction and young adult fiction, as well as historians and journalists.

Patrick Price is an editor at Simon Spotlight Entertainment (SSE), where he enjoys developing an eclectic list that both entertains and challenges readers, including He’s Just Not That Into You and the upcoming titles Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay and Psychic Junkie. A self-professed pop culture junkie, he has worked in publishing for 12 years as a publicist, ICM literary agent assistant, published author and editor.

Nathaniel Rich is the associate editor of The Paris Review. A graduate of Yale University, he worked on the editorial staff of The New York Review of Books before joining The Paris Review this year under the new editor, Philip Gourevitch. He is the author of San Francisco Noir, a book on the city and film noir, and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, Slate, and The Los Angeles Times Book Review. At The Paris Review he is looking for unconventional, surprising, and vibrant writing by both new authors and old masters.

Poets & Writers is pleased to co-sponsor this event with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.