I scout for Imagined Interprises, Inc. They are a small publishing house with 5 authors now.

• Looking for:
  Anything in the Sci-fi, Fantasy, or Horror genres. If someone pitches to me something I think would interest them, I facilitate the meeting between the two parties.

Claire Gerus has been Editor-in-Chief of two publishing houses, worked for seven major publishers, including Harlequin, Rodale, Random House, Doubleday, John Wiley, Kensington, and Adams Media, written articles for U.S. and Canadian magazines and newspapers, and taught corporate communications to such clients as IBM, Kelloggs, Mutual of Omaha, and Procter & Gamble. In 1996, she established a thriving business as a New York literary agent, selling publishers books on a variety of subjects: business, history, memoirs, religion, health, spirituality, psychology, politics, pop culture, and women's studies.
She sold a 3-million copy health bestseller and brought film star Esther Williams' story to Simon & Schuster. It went on to become a New York Times bestseller.
In 1999, she joined Kensington Publishing in New York and founded TwinStreams Books, a complementary healing imprint. Later, as Executive Editor at Citadel Press, she acquired and edited titles on celebrity biography, self-help, relationships, spirituality, new age, diet, Judaica, and health.
From 2001-August, 2002, she was Executive Editor at Adams Media, where she published the first biography of Laura Bush. She also published a wide range of new age, business, self-help, and inspirational books.
She is presently working as a literary agent and book development consultant. Among her clients are an ex-CIA agent, three psychologists, a policewoman, a District Attorney, an Assistant Attorney-General, a business communications consultant, a women's safety advocate, a best-selling psychologist,the Wall Street Journal's Soviet specialist, a former Miss Connecticut and inspirational columnist, a diabetes spokesperson and many more with equally fascinating backgrounds!

• What Claire is looking for in book projects:
  Claire is always interested in projects that can change readers' lives for the better. She is open to assisting authors as an agent, a book developer, or an editor. She is now focusing on nonfiction projects for all ages.

Brittany Howard is a Jr. Agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency, actively building her client list. She is all about experiences. She's lived in small towns, big cities, and traveled the world. She has a degree in theatre and is currently pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing. When reading, she loves to be introduced to new and interesting people and places.

• Looking for:
  A strong voice, good storytelling, and fascinating relationships between characters—romantic or otherwise. More than anything, she loves when a book surprises her.
  Her first love is YA—from High Fantasy to Paranormal to soft Sci-Fi to Contemporary—she loves it all. She also likes high concept, adventure themed, and funny MG, but a strong voice is MUST for her in MG. For adult fiction, she prefers stories that are a romance at heart—Contemporary, Paranormal, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Historical are all genres she's been known to enjoy. Anything with theatrical or artistic or interesting historical elements will probably catch her eye, too. She's willing to look at Picture Books, but is very selective.

The Finest in Nautical and Historical Fiction and Nonfiction, Fireship Press is a fast-growing online publisher dedicated to Nautical and Historical Fiction and Nonfiction. We publish a wide range of works from Age of Sail, Medieval and Renaissance histories, Westerns and Civil War fiction. More recently, we have added Cortero Imprint, a new line that publishes Fantasy, Murder Mysteries, Thrillers, and Biographies and Instructional Books.
Fireship Press was founded by author and publisher Thomas Grundner and continues to maintain its offices in Tucson, Arizona.

• What we are looking for:
  We are interested in publishing new authors and are actively seeking writers interested in furthering their writing ambitions. All of our books are published in multiple formats—including print on demand and e-books (covering all the current e-book versions). We work with distributors in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Authors write books because they want them to be read, but many soon find themselves frustrated and discouraged by having to play the games that literary agents and traditional publishers wish to play. Many authors simply do not have the time, or the patience, for agents who express an interest and ask for a copy of the manuscript, only to never be seen or heard from again. Others can become discouraged with endless rejection letters, despite the fact their manuscripts were well written and professionally edited. Those authors who are fortunate enough to land an agent and a traditional publisher will often find they have to wait months, even years, before seeing their work in print. Gayle Martin founded Good Oak Press as an alternative for those authors who wish to produce a quality book without having to jump through all the hoops.
Gayle Homes Martin graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor's Degree in art. She studied graphic design at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, California and she was as a free lance graphic designer in Denver, Colorado. An author in her own right, Gayle Martin has been writing and designing books since 2005.
Her awards and accomplishments include:
Unsung Heroine of the Year—Denver Advertising Federation. For the design and layout of DAF Today, a monthly insert in Advertising and Marketing Review, a Colorado trade publication, and for writing the graphic standards manual for DAF Today.
Finalist 2007 Indie Book Awards of Excellence Unpublished manuscript—Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War: a Luke and Jenny Adventure.
Honorable Mention—2007 Hollywood Book Festival Gunfight at the O.K. Corral: a Luke and Jenny Adventure

• Looking for:
  Authors who wish to produce a quality book without having to jump through all the hoops.

Red Willow Publishing is a print and digital publishing company that publishes niche nonfiction. Authors submit their manuscript for review and if accepted, Red Willow provides editing, print and cover design, e-book conversion, and distribution. We work in partnership with the author, providing tools for marketing success.

• We are accepting:
  Manuscripts in most nonfiction fields and focus on business, success, motivation, self-help, psychology, finance, health, and other genres that have a high sales potential. We are looking for partnerships with authors that are willing to work actively as marketing partners. Some indicators we look for include a website, a mailing list, and active participation in social media.

Unfortunately Lynn can't be at our conference this year. We are looking for someone to replace her. Stay tuned!

Terrie Wolf has traveled the world in search of good stories and great books. As a member of the international media, an award-winning journalist and promotions specialist, Terrie has learned what it takes to write well, get accepted and develop notoriety; not necessarily in that order! She is happiest when given the opportunity to pitch softly, edit gently and market fiercely. Terrie joined AKA in September of 2009 as the Foreign Rights Specialist in addition to her other talents. Wolf Literary Services and Anita Kushen and Associates merged in October 2009. They are located near Denver, Colorado.
Terrie mastered her skills in the literary world from inside the offices of several large companies, which include CBS, NBC, and Hobson's Press. She studied English Literature at Cambridge University, Creative Writing at NYU and Journalism at CU-Denver.
Terrie's credits include the EMMY, Queen's Service Award (UK), La Voz y Papel (Spain), and Young Journalist of the Year.

• Looking for:
  Terrie represents the books we share; the books which make us grow.
  Fiction: Inspirational (Things of Faith), Multi-Cultural, Women's, Children's (all), Romance (all), and Westerns.
  Non-fiction: Culinary/Cookbooks, Humor, Memoir, Religion, Music and Nature.

Alice Volpe has held the positions of book publicist, staff writer, editor and publisher, and opened Northwest Literary Agency in the 1980's to help bridge the chasm between lone author and remote, corporate publisher. Her clients include J.A. Jance, Carola Dunn, Judith Smith-Levin, J. Carson Black, Lee Lofland, Jeffrey Layton and others.