Do you have an idea for a book? A manuscript you’re trying to publish? This is your chance to put your creativity to the test! Come give a one-minute elevator pitch to a panel of experienced editors and agents for real-time Shark Tank-style feedback, or come to watch how it’s done. Book pitching has never been this fun!
Ready to pitch? Fill out this form , then add your name to the Pitch List.
Psst, use these Pitch Tips to sharpen your pitch.
$25 or FREE for Paragraph Members*
Our judges:
RICA ALLANNIC (literary agent) joined the David Black Literary Agency in 2017 after a sixteen-year career as a nonfiction editor, first at Scribner (Simon and Schuster) and then Clarkson Potter (Penguin Random House), where she became Vice President and Executive Editor and worked with authors including David Chang of Momofuku; Christina Tosi of Milk Bar; French blogger and tastemaker Mimi Thorisson (now a client); bestselling author Luke Barr; and Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. A graduate of the New York City public school system and Yale University, Rica cooked professionally at Daniel and Picholine before entering the publishing industry. She brings her love of food and everything French as well as her Puerto Rican heritage to her role as a literary agent and is interested in cooking, narrative nonfiction, popular culture, history, science, and select memoir projects, as well as in helping authors from diverse backgrounds tell stories that are important to them.
BRENDA COPELAND (editor) is an editor with more than twenty years’ experience at the big five publishers and over ten years’ experience as an adjunct professor in the graduate publishing program at NYU. She has published a robust list of fiction and non-fiction, quality books with strong commercial appeal, including The Good House by Ann Leary, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks, and A Big Little Life, Dean Koontz’s first non-fiction book. Now an independent editor, she works closely with authors through all stages of the writing and publication process, helping them reach their creative potential.
DANA ISAACSON (editor) works with major publishers, literary agents, published writers and debut writers. In addition to conceptual editing and line-by-line edits, he has book-doctored numerous projects and ghost-written novels. Most recently at Penguin Random House, Dana has also worked at Pocket Books/Simon and Schuster and ReganBooks/HarperCollins. His experience in New York City book publishing includes editing both fiction and non-fiction. He has abridged books and worked as a literary agent. Dana’s writing has appeared in The New York Observer, the New York Times (syndicated in Palm Beach Post, Seattle Times and Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and the Racine Journal Times. Dana also blogs on the website CareerAuthors.com—named by Writer’s Digest in 2020 as the #2 “Best Writing Advice Website.” He has a BA from the University of Wisconsin and lives in New York City’s East Village.
*Paragraph Members: look for Zoom link in your inbox (check spam/promotions) a few days ahead of this event.