Agents and Editors for Virtual Attendees at HNS2025
Review general information about pitching and how to make your pitch a success.
Here are the agents available for you to meet if you are attending the conference virtually:
Rachelle Gardner is a literary agent and owner of Gardner Literary, representing fiction and nonfiction. She’s been an agent for 15 years and currently represents an impressive list of about 50 authors with many bestsellers and award-winners among them. She loves historical fiction, especially stories about little-known women in history (like The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon). Additional favorite subgenres include World War II stories that show us an angle we don’t typically see; historical romance including those with a humorous edge; stories that take us inside well-known historical events; stories with a faith element; and Regency, Tudor, and Victorian stories.
Leticia Gomez is the Editorial Director for Dafina Books, an imprint of Kensington Publishing Corp., which focuses on traditionally publishing high-quality fiction and non-fiction that centers on race, identity, and its impact on our experiences. Prior to joining the Kensington family, Leticia was a prominent literary/film/television agent who specialized in bringing culturally diverse voices to the forefront. Leticia is actively seeking to acquire multicultural historical fiction and nonfiction in all genres and subgenres including historical romantic suspense, alternative history, historical adventure and psychological thrillers, historical mystery thrillers, military history, true crime historical, historical narrative nonfiction and historical biographies.
Shannon Hassan is an agent at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency with over a decade of experience representing authors of upmarket historical, book club, and suspense fiction, young adult and middle-grade fiction. Recent historical novels on her list include: USA TODAY bestseller Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh (Harper Muse), The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods (Doubleday), Daughters of Bronze by A.D. Rhine (Dutton), The Red Car to Hollywood by Jennie Liu (Lerner) and Over and Out by Jenni L. Walsh (Scholastic). She enjoys a range of eras, and looks for historical stories with a fresh perspective and big hook.
Greg Johnson is president of WordServe Literary. He’s been an agent for 30 years and has represented more than 2300 books and negotiated more than 2000 contracts with 125+ publishing imprints. He’s looking for historical novels from any point in American history. He also occasionally finds a biblical historical novel he is passionate about pursuing.
Melissa Rechter is the Editor and Acquisitions Manager at Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press. She joined the team in 2019 and has had the pleasure of working with New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors. She is looking for historical mysteries with a feminist bent or horror in historical periods. She is keen on 19th and 20th-century historical fiction and gothic or atmospheric writing. Some of her authors include Kate Khavari (A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons), Jenny Adams (A Deadly Endeavor), and Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez (a forthcoming historical romantasy, The Ones Time Forgot.)
Verena Rose is the owner of Writer’s Blood Books and formerly the chief financial officer and acquisitions editor for Level Best Books. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association (CWA), the convenor for the CWA North America Chapter, and the Crime Readers Association (CRA). While she loves all mystery subgenres, she has a preferred fondness for historical mysteries. She hosts a podcast: Sunday Tea with V at the Hystery Chronicles where she interviews authors writing historical fiction and mysteries, as well as some true crime and contemporary authors. She is also the Anthony Award winning co-editor of Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible. She is also the former Chair of Malice Domestic, and she is a member of Mystery Writers of America (MWA), Sisters in Crime-National, the Historical Novel Society, and the Jane Austen Society of North America. Verena would be interested in acquiring historical mysteries, series or standalone, in most time periods, but would be particularly interested in Ancient, Victorian, Civil War, and the World War eras. You can contact her at writersbloodbooks@gmail.com.
Alec Shane majored in English at Brown University, a degree he put to immediate use by moving to Los Angeles after graduation to become a professional stuntman. Realizing that he prefers books to breakaway glass, he moved to New York City in 2008 to pursue a career in publishing. Alec quickly found a home at Writers House, where he has been building his own list since 2012. He loves almost any kind of historical fiction, but has an affinity for all things American and Irish history—particularly the American Revolution, the Civil War, and The Easter Rising. He’d also love to find a book about the Maccabees, and despite getting seasick in the bathtub, is always up for a good story set on an old ship. He’s probably not the best fit for The Byzantine or Ottoman Empire, and while he’ll always read a good WWII novel, it’s a pretty saturated market right now. Twitter handle: @alecdshane