Workshop Home About Algonkian Are We Better? Agent Interviews Need to Know Student Work Authors Studied The Seven Reasons Our Faculty The Shop Director Contact Search Publisher's Weekly

Short Story and Novel Workshops Phone: 703-262-0969    For New and Established Writers  Algonkian Agent Interview Series It is our intention with this interview series to deliver valuable and realistic publishing advice to the writer community, and just as importantly, to put a human face on the world of publishing. As you will see below, the best agents possess not only superior market knowledge and business skills, but a true passion for the literary arts. More to come in the months ahead. On The Literary Coast Betsy Amster is president of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, a literary agency in Los Angeles. Before opening her agency in 1992, she spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage and two years as editorial director of the Globe Pequot Press. A frequent instructor in UCLA Extension's Writers Program, Amster also runs publishing workshops at The Loft, the acclaimed literary ... [more] Time Enough for Literature Lisa Bankoff has been a major force on the literary book scene for twenty years as an agent for International Creative Management (ICM), her first four years spent assisting the late, great Jed Mattes. Prior to this she worked for several book publishers that included stints in production ... [more] Best In The West Elise Capron works for the Sandra Dijkstra Agency in California which represents over 100 authors around the world and was proclaimed "the most powerful literary agency on the West Coast" by the LOS ANGELES TIMES. Elise manages agency book sales, handles first serial rights, and works with both unsolicited and solicited project submissions. She specializes in literary fiction, women's fiction, and short stories. [more] A View From The Top Robert Gottlieb started Trident Media Group, LLC, in September, 2000. The organization specializes in all areas of representation in regards to intellectual property. Mr. Gottlieb discovered Tom Clancy and represented the sequel to "Gone With The Wind." Mr. Gottlieb also represents entities such as the Frank Herbert Estate ... [more] Poise, Tenacity, and Clancy Deborah Grosvenor has worked in the book publishing industry for over twenty years, both as an agent and editor. As an editor, she acquired and edited several hundred nonfiction books, although her best-known acquisition was a first work of fiction, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy, when she was director of book acquisitions and subsidiary rights at the Naval Institute Press. [more] A Man For All Genres Jeff Kleinman is a literary agent and attorney with the prestigious east coast agency of Graybill & English in Washington, D.C. His recent sales include THE GROVE to Warner Books for six figures and bonuses, film options pending. Also, Ron McLarty's MEMORY OF RUNNING, was recently sold by Jeff to Viking/Penguin for over $2 million. As an agent, his taste varies widely ...[more] Passion and Class Ellen Levine began her career with two publishers: New American Library and Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). She then worked at two other agencies before forming the Ellen Levine Literary Agency in 1980. Since then, Ellen has acquired a reputation and a client list second to none in the industry. The authors she represents include Garrison Keillor, Jane Heller, Michael Ondaatje ... [more] The First Five and Beyond Noah Lukeman is President of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd, which he founded in 1996. His clients include multiple winners of the Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, Pushcart Prize and O. Henry Award, National Book Award finalists, Edgar Award finalists, Pacific Rim finalists, multiple New York Times bestsellers, national journalists, major celebrities, and faculty of universities ranging from Harvard to Stanford. [more] Only The Best Donald Maass is president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York, which he founded in 1980. He represents more than one hundred fiction writers and sells more than one hundred novels per year to top publishers in America and overseas. Recently, he obtained six-and-seven-figure advances from publishers such as Warner, Ballantine, Penguin Putnam and others ... [more] Agent With A Vision Erin Reel wanted to build a Los Angeles agency that bypassed the film business and got books published. And she wanted to build an agency that was above all else - ethical and professional. In the words of one seasoned writer, "It's almost considered a right of passage for new writers in L.A. to get screwed in their first contract." Erin committed herself to changing that norm with ERLA ...[more] = TOP OF PAGE = Web del Sol/Algonkian Workshops 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 443 Washington, D.C. 20006 algonkian@webdelsol.com Phone: 703-262-0969