Our first agent revealed!

Kim Lionetti joined BookEnds, LLC as a literary agent in 2004 after working eight years as an editor at Berkley Publishing. On both sides of her publishing career, Kim says she’s heard hundreds of pitches—"some fabulous, some horribly bad and most just plain forgettable." In that time, she’s gotten a pretty good idea of what every perfect pitch needs and how to avoid the awkward silences and blank stares. In her session, “Pitching Dos And Don’ts,” to be held before the welcome reception at The Write Stuff from 7-8 pm on Friday, March 26, Kim will outline for conferees the most common pitching pitfalls and how to avoid them, as well as the best approaches for making a great, lasting impression on a publishing professional.

We were able to make this connection through GLVWG member Katherine Ramsland, who worked with Kim on a few of her books. Here’s what Katherine had to say about the experience:

“I've worked with Kim Lionetti on several projects. She was my editor for THE FORENSIC SCIENCE OF CSI and THE SCIENCE OF COLD CASE FILES, both of which she initiated, and which led to her husband Lance suggesting THE SCIENCE OF VAMPIRES. She loves gruesome stories as much as I do and I was so sad when she left editing to become an agent. I still am. She was always thinking of some project to do, and there aren't many editors like that. The one that we're both proud of was INTO THE DEVIL'S DEN, which she agented for my two co-authors, and which won the New Mexico Book of the Year award last year. I was pleased that she invited me into it and I hope that Kim and I will do something like that again in the future. She has great judgment and whoever gets her as an agent is very lucky.”

Kim, like the other agents and editors attending our conference, will be available to meet with conferees who are ready to pitch either completed fiction or memoir manuscripts or completed nonfiction proposals. One appointment per registered conferee is available at no additional cost on a first come, first served basis. Conferees can select a specific agent or editor on their registration form. Registration opens January 15.

Kim represents women’s fiction, young adult, and most genres of romance (with the exception of inspirational), in addition to mysteries and some nonfiction. You can follow Kim on Facebook or Twitter and learn more about BookEnds at www.bookends-inc.com or www.bookendslitagency.blogspot.com.

We’ll be featuring an interview with Kim in a future post!