Saturday, April 25, 2026, 8:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. PT
We are proud to share that this year’s line up of agents and publishers is the best in Pitch-O-Rama’s history! This is your chance to present your book concept to top publishing professionals; every year book deals are signed with several Pitch-O-Rama attendees!
Pitch-O-Rama is just around the corner. Listed below are the bios of the superstar agents and publishers. One of them may be the person who offers you a book deal!
Ready to register? Click here! –> Visit this page to register and secure your spot for Pitch-O-Rama 2026!
Meet the Agents and Editors for Pitch-O-Rama 2026:
Andy Ross opened his literary agency in January 2008. Before that, he 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. However, he is 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 non-fiction, he looks for writing with a strong voice and robust narrative arc by authors with the authority to write about their subject. For literary, commercial, and children’s fiction, he has only one requirement– simple, but ineffable–that the writing reveals the terrain of that vast and unexplored country, the human heart. www.andyrossagency.com, www.andyrossagency.wordpress.com
Zeynep Sen graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing. Following graduation, she honed her skills as an agent at the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency. A few years later, Zeynep moved to WordLink Literary Agency, where she now works as a senior agent and foreign rights agent. At WordLink, Zeynap represents her own lists of authors.
She primarily focuses on non-fiction works and Young Adult books.Her list of authors include Nabila Ramdani, Jaha Dukureh, Erik Edstrom, Elvira Gonzales, Elora Dodds, Airy Sindik, and Asli Pelit. Fluent in Spanish and Turkish, Zeynep is drawn to literary and historical works of fiction and narrative non-fiction of international appeal.
Randy Peyser sells non-fiction manuscripts in all genres and speaks nationally about how to earn book deals. She also serves as faculty for CEO Space International, where she teaches about writing book proposals. She is the author of The Write-a-Book Progra; Crappy to Happy as featured in the move Eat, Pray, Love; and The Power of Miracle Thinking.
Her clients’ books have appeared in Oprah, Time Magazine, the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, in airport bookstores, Office Max and FedEx stores, and on Hallmark TV. Her work is featured in: Healing the Heart of the World, The Marriage of Sex and Spirit, Secrets of Shameless Self-Promoters, and the national bestsellers, Networking Magic Guerilla Publicity and The Profit of Kindness.
Kat Neff, Senior Publicist at Llewellyn Worldwide, the oldest and largest publisher in the mind/body/spirit genre, has over 20 years of experience in book publishing. She has helped countless authors achieve national and international media bookings by creating successful broadcast, online, and print media publicity. Kat is also a frequent speaker on various aspects of book publishing. A long-time publishing professional, Neff has worked as Associate Editor and Marketing Manager at Cleis Press & Viva Editions, Insight Editions, and Red Wheel Weiser & Conari Press.
Eric Lincoln Miller is the founder of 3ibooks Literary Agency in Reno, Nevada.3ibooks is a different kind of literary agency that solely focuses on authors and their needs. Their agency looks for fiction of any genre (romance, horror, mystery/crime, women’s fiction, erotica, science fiction, historical, and fantasy).
Other genres of interest are picture books, young readers, intermediate, and young adult fiction and nonfiction. Additionally, 3ibooks are also interested in art, photography, film and TV, business, mind-body-spirit, and memoirs.
Brenda Knight began her career at HarperCollins, working with luminaries Paolo Coelho, Marianne Williamson and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year in 2015. Knight is the author of Random Acts of Kindness, The Grateful Table and Women of the Beat Generation, which won an American Book Award. Knight is Publisher at Books That Save Lives, a division of Jim Dandy Media and acquires for all genres.She teaches at the San Francisco Writers Conference and serves as President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, and resides in the SF Bay Area.
A well-established agent, who began her career as an editor at major publishing houses, Rita Rosenkranz represents almost exclusively adult non-fiction titles. Her wide-ranging list includes health, history, parenting, music, how-to, popular science, business, biography, sports, popular reference, cooking, writing, humor, memoir, spirituality, illustrated books and general interest titles. She represents first-time as well as seasoned authors, and looks for projects that present familiar subjects freshly or lesser-known subjects presented commercially. Rita works with major publishing houses, as well as regional publishers that handle niche markets. She is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA), The Authors Guild, and Women’s Media Group.
Celebrating 48 years working in publishing, John Willig often says to friends that his career actually began as a Newsday paperboy growing up on Long Island, New York. After graduating from Brown University, his first job was as a sales representative in academic publishing. He soon began work as a marketing manager and then editor for HarperCollins where he published in 1984 one of the first books on AI Artificial Intelligence: Tools, Techniques and Applications by Tim O’Shea and Marc Eisenstadt. As his interests moved to trade publishing, he became an executive editor at Prentice Hall for business books. While at P-Hall, John enjoyed working with such authors as Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler and Jim Collins. He acquired and edited Jim’s first book Beyond Entrepreneurship which now has a new edition B.E. 2.0. In 1991 he decided to become a literary agent to work more closely with writers. Throughout his career as an editor and agent, John has successfully negotiated over 850 publishing agreements and worked with many award-winning authors. John participates at many industry events including the Writer’s Digest and ASJA conferences.
Throughout her career, Jen Newens has been an author, editor, and publisher, giving her experience in all sides of the publishing business. In her new role as agent, Jen applies her 360-view of the publishing world, seeking out original voices and developing exciting new talent in children’s literature and adult nonfiction categories.
Katharine Sands has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books including fiction, memoir and non-fiction. Among the books she represents are: The Apothecary’s Curse, nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in the First Novel category by Barbara Barnett and its sequel, Alchemy of Glass; Girl Walks Out of a Bar, a memoir by Lisa Smith that was featured by People Magazine as Notable Nonfiction and I’m Speaking: Every Woman’s Guide to Finding Your Voice and Using It Fearlessly by Jessica Doyle-Mekkes. Katharine likes books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks, which might be at issues, life challenges or popular culture. When reading fiction, she wants to be compelled and propelled by urgent storytelling and hooked by characters. For memoir, femoir, and himoir, she likes to be transported to a world rarely or newly observed. 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.
Paul S. Levine “wears two hats:” he is a lawyer (www.paulslevine.com) and a literary agent (www.paulslevinelit.com). Mr. Levine has practiced entertainment law for more than 40 years and established his first solo practice in 1992. Seeing an underserved niche on the West Coast, he decided early on to focus on serving book authors. This naturally evolved into his work as a literary agent. Seeking to expand the range of services he could offer his clients to include the representation of books, Levine opened The Paul S. Levine Literary Agency in 1996, which he has recently expanded. Whether he is considering fiction or non-fiction, Levine will not take on a project unless he feels certain he can sell it. With a preference for politically and socially important works, he represents more than 200 book authors, the vast majority of whom are new, unpublished, or self-published writers. For Levine, the most rewarding moment is holding his client’s published book in his hands at a well-attended book signing and seeing the smile on his client’s face. Enjoying public speaking and teaching, Levine presents extensively at writers’ conferences throughout the country and at entertainment law-related classes and seminars.
As the founder of Muse Literary Publishing, an independent traditional publisher (we refer to ourselves as a Small Press) that represents emerging authors, Patricia Fors combines her passion for literature with her expertise in international business, fundraising/nonprofit and strategy. She has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Business Administration and Management from Elmhurst University, where she honed her skills in negotiation, marketing, and leadership.
With over thirty years of experience, she has established strong relationships with business leaders, nonprofits, editors, and publishers, and secured multiple deals and awards for her clients. She also mentors aspiring writers and participates in various literary events and organizations. Her mission is to amplify the voices and stories of our world, and support a diverse literary landscape with a heart perspective. We focus on bringing ground breaking fiction and life altering non fiction to the world. We accept un-agented submissions via our email: Submissions@MuseLiterary.com.
Georgia Hughes is the editorial director at New World Library, publisher of the Joseph Campbell Library and The Power of Now. She acquires and edits nonfiction books in the areas of spirituality, sustainability, animals, business, women’s issues, and personal growth.Recent acquisitions include, Spiritual Envy by Michael Krasny, Dreaming the Soul Back Home by Robert Moss, Dogs and the Women Who Love Them by Allen and Linda Anderson, Right-Brain Business Plan by Jennifer Lee, and The Practicing Mind by Thomas Sterner.
Daniel Roth is the former Vice President of New Business Development at HarperCollins and Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster. Helping writers find their story!
Stacey Lewis is Vice President, Director of Publicity, Marketing and Sales at City Lights Booksellers & Publishers where she has worked for over 30 years, collaborating with writers such as Tongo Eisen-Martin, Jewelle Gomez, and Karen Finley, among many others. She got her start in the Bay Area book world with Heyday Books in Berkeley. Stacey directed programming for the Northern California Book Publicity and Marketing Association, and has spoken about her work at UC Berkeley, UCSC, USF, on panels convened by the National Book Critics Circle, and on CSPAN among other media. She recently served on the Events Committee of Bay Area Women in Publishing. On a number of occasions, she has shared anecdotes at the Porchlight Storytelling Series in San Francisco. Originally from Rockland County, New York, she is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and the Stanford Publishing Program. She lives in Berkeley, CA with her family.
Arnie Kotler cofounded Parallax Press in Berkeley in 1985 and helped craft the lectures and writings of Thich Nhat Hanh and other spiritual peace activists into landmark books. Jodie Evans, cofounder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace, told Publishers Weekly, “Arnie has an unerring instinct for agents of change, and he has been able to deliver their messages.” In 2005, Arnie founded Koa Books in Hawai‘i to publish works on personal transformation, social justice and indigenous cultures. He has worked with a variety of mostly nonfiction authors including JoannaMacy, Sulak Sivaraksa, Maxine Hong Kingston’s veterans writing group, Robert A. Johnson, Deena Metzger, Petra Kelly, Wes “Scoop” Nisker, Jack Kornfield, David Harris, Maha Ghosananda, Mayumi Oda, Margaret Trost, Cuong Lu, and Kahikāhealani Wight.
Sophia Lawson is Editor at Jim Dandy Publishing, a house dedicated to diversity. Specializing in fiction, children’s books, memoir, personal growth, gift books, and graphic novels, she leads the Editorial Board. Passionate about literary excellence, Sophia champions compelling stories and discovers fresh voices to deliver impactful books to readers worldwide.
Lisa Diane Kastner is the Founder of Running Wild, LLC, a content creation, distribution, and licensing company. Featured in FORBES and several other publications, she’s been named to multiple “Best of”s. A writer and editor for more than twenty years, she has identified talent like the multimillion selling, global phenomenon Jamie Ford’s “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet”, Reuben “Tihi” Hayslett’s “Dark Corners” which was named one of the best of the year by Kirkus Reviews, and Shay Galloway’s completely groundbreaking “The Valley of Sage and Juniper”, among many others. She has been mentored by such legends as the National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prizewinner Percival Everett; multiaward winning and NYTimes bestseller Jonathan Maberry; and multi-award winning and NYTimes bestseller Jackie Mitchard. Lisa began Running Wild with the belief that we can change the world through story. A noted author in her own right, Lisa was a Drexel Scholar, obtained her BS from Drexel University, her MBA from Pennsylvania State University, and her MFA from Fairfield University. Find out more about Lisa and Running Wild.
Michael Larsen co-founded the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in 1972. For over four decades, the agency sold hundreds of books to more than 100 publishers and imprints. Mike loves helping all writers. He gives talks about writing and publishing and does author coaching. He wrote How to Write a Book Proposal and How to Get a Literary Agent, and co authored Guerilla Marketing for Writers. Mike served as co-director of the San Francisco Writers Conference and the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference.
Mary E. Knippel is an intuitive writing mentor, international speaker, best-selling author, and journalist for over 35 years. She helps women bring their transformational stories to life in the international bestselling Amazon collaboration book series “Written In Her Own Words-Wise Woman Wisdom”. Mary guides her clients through every aspect of the writing journey, from identifying their story to crafting and editing it into their chapter to bringing their stories to the world. She believes everyone has a unique story to tell and encourages daily journaling. Her memoir, “The Secret Artist-Give Yourself Permission to Let Your Creativity Shine,” came about as she shared how she coped with her breast cancer experiences. You can learn more about how to become an author in the next collaboration book, attend one of her workshops, join her at the next Elite Women’s Writing Retreat, or sign up to receive writing tips on her website: https://
Megan Mary is an international bestselling author, host of Women’s Dream Enlightenment Podcast, founder of Inner Realms Publishing, and Literary Ladies, a free book marketing community for women authors. Her metaphysical trilogy, Witches of Maple Hollow, blends the genres of mystery, fantasy and speculative fiction: Book 1: The Dream Haunters, Book 2: The Dream Mirrors & Book 3, The Dream Dimensions.
In addition to a career spanning over twenty-five years creating, managing and marketing websites, she holds an MA in English Literature, MSc in Metaphysical Sciences, and is pursuing her PhD in Metaphysical Counseling. Holding a certification in Online Teaching and Learning, she regularly mentors other women authors as well as provides book marketing services. She is a member of the SF Chapter of the WNBA, the Author’s Guild, the International Association for the Study of Dreams, the Coalition for Visionary Resources, MMM (Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem) Writers, and the Eastern Idaho Writer’s League. An expert guest on over 100 podcasts, she has been featured in Publisher’s Weekly, BookLife, Authority Magazine, Parade Magazine, and VeryWell Mind. She lives in Idaho with her husband and two cats.
Ready to register? Click here! –> Visit this page to register and secure your spot for Pitch-O-Rama 2026!
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