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!
Paragraph Members: you will be auto-registered for this event for free.
Tips for pitching your book at Pitch Wars (and in general). Our judges:
Claudia Cross, Literary Agent with Folio Literary Management. Advocate, adviser, ally, coach, counselor, and negotiator: an agent, at times, can play one or all of these roles in the literary life of an author. In responding to the changing needs of the writers she represents, Claudia brings to each a high level of individualized attention. She began her career at William Morris, and then joined Sterling Lord Literistic, where she worked for just over a decade before joining Folio and becoming a partner. She has worked with a range of authors in both fiction and nonfiction, from CEOs, chefs and debut writers to New York Times bestsellers. Among the diverse clients she represents are the literary Estate of Mother Teresa; entrepreneur and designer Emily Ley; art historian and Renoir scholar Barbara Ehrlich White; and novelists Rachel Gibson and Christina Lynch.
Brenda Copeland 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.