2025 Agents / Editors / Publishers
OUR LINEUP
Wayne Arthurson / Literary Agent
Wayne Arthurson is an award-winning Canadian writer/agent of Cree, Quebecois and Scottish descent. He is the author of eight novels and five books of non-fiction. For the past 30 years, Wayne has worked in journalism, communications, advertising, as a musician and a literary agent with The Rights Factory. He spent three and half years as a member of the Edmonton Arts Council and was a founding board member of Edmonton Litfest. Wayne is actively seeking works by Indigenous writers and has a small list of talent, looking specifically for adult literary, upmarket fiction, crime and SFF, plus a bit of narrative non-fiction.
John DeDakis / Editor
Writing Coach, Manuscript Editor, and Award-winning Novelist John DeDakis is a former Senior Copy Editor on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." DeDakis is the author of six novels in the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense-thriller series. In his most recent novel, Enemies Domestic, Lark is a pregnant White House press secretary forced to make an abort-or-not-to-abort decision in a highly toxic and polarized political fishbowl while dealing with an attack on the presidency. DeDakis, a former White House correspondent, regularly teaches novel writing at literary centers and writers’ conferences. He is also a podcaster and a rank amateur jazz drummer. www.johndedakis.com
Kathleen Foxx / Literary Agent
Kathleen Foxx is a literary agent at The Rights Factory in Toronto, Ontario, an agency celebrating 20 years of representing clients from anywhere in the world. She’s also a professional fiction editor at Foxx Editorial, host of the #badasswriters podcast (currently on hiatus), a founder/organizer/host of #MoodPitch (also currently on hiatus), and former audio editor for The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast. She’s been engaged with the writing community on Twitter and Instagram for several years and also writes thrillers and supernatural horror. Kat is building her list of exceptionally talented writers!
In adult and YA commercial and upmarket fiction, Kat is currently looking for domestic/psychological thrillers and suspense, supernatural horror, historical fiction, historical fantasy (witches, time travel, past lives/reincarnation, etc.), and some light speculative fiction. She has a very specific nonfiction wish list available on her website. Kat is NOT interested in picture books, middle grade, political or legal thrillers, space operas, graphic novels, poetry, novellas, short story collections, epic fantasies (kings/queens/kingdoms/wars/mythical creatures/epic journeys), hardcore sci-fi, religion, politics, academia, sports, erotica, gore/body horror, extreme violence, or anything fully generated by AI.
Learn more about Kat’s MSWL here and her editing services here.
Ronald Gerber / Literary Agent
Ronald Gerber has been a literary agent at Lowenstein Associates since 2019. Recent titles from his clients include THE PERFECT HOME by Daniel Kenitz (Scribner, 2025), OLIVE BLACKWOOD TAKES ACTION! by Sonja Thomas (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, 2024) and FIRST TO THE FRONT by Lorissa Rinehart (St. Martin’s Press, 2023). Ronald is always on the lookout for cinematic stories with strong hooks and relatable characters. He lives in Queens, New York.
Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong / Literary Agent
Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong is a literary agent with Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. A prolific reader of many genres, Cathie represents Romance in all categories; Commercial, Book Club, and Women’s Fiction; Domestic and Psychological Suspense; “light” Horror; and Mystery. Cathie looks for manuscripts that catch her attention within the first few pages. If you can evoke an emotional response in the opening pages—make her laugh out loud, cause her pulse to race, make her cry, make her curious—you’ve got a winner. Cathie is never interested in Science Fiction or High Fantasy in any genre; however, “accessible” fantasy with paranormal or supernatural elements, and without excessive world building or difficult magic systems, are often a good fit. At this time, Cathie is only accepting adult fiction, and welcomes authors from all backgrounds and experiences.
Dean Krystek / Agent: WordLink Incorporated
After retiring from a long military career, Dean put away his uniform and decided to follow his passion for books. He is an alumnus of the University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in English. He’s a published novelist and short story writer. He currently resides in Pennsylvania with his wife Lynda. Dean is looking for authors with distinctive voices whose narratives invoke a strong sense of time and place and whose stories create a memorable reading experience. He’d like to see paranormal; crime (police procedural); mysteries (whodunit, cozy); sci-fi (space opera, dystopian, alternate history, time travel); psychological suspense; thrillers (looking for small town America setting vs international in scale); military fiction (character-driven pieces; favoring post-WWII. **Vietnam**). In YA and middle-grade fiction he would like to see mysteries, paranormal, sci-fi, coming of age, and suspense with writing that stirs the imagination and caters to the young reader’s sense of wonder and adventure. Dean is also looking for film & television projects to develop in his areas of interest either as original works or adaptations of an author’s work (published or unpublished).
Katie Monson / Literary Agent
Katie Monson has been self-employed, watching children in her home for the last 12 years, and has enjoyed the privilege of being home to raise her children. She recently made the decision to massively change up her life and find a different path to take while still being able to home with her kids, leading her to SBR Media. Katie has always had a passion for reading ever since she was a little girl. Over the years she developed a strong interest in reading indie romance books, which naturally led to blogging, beta reading and editing small manuscripts for authors. She is self-motivated, organized and ready to represent clients and help lead them to success.
When Katie isn’t reading, sitting by the pool, or complaining about the cold Rochester winters, she can be found traveling to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and spending time with her husband and four children in Rochester, NY.
James Mustelier / Literary Agent
I’m looking for a range of commercial and literary fiction and non-fiction. Across genres I prize economical prose, complex characters, steadily building tension, narrative gravity, and the momentary relief of dark humor, even amid dire circumstances.
In commercial fiction I’m looking for compact horror and mysteries with unique hooks and intricate plotting. In sci-fi and fantasy I’m drawn to stories that are grounded in reality and have high stakes that touch on contemporary issues — much more speculative fiction and alternate histories than space opera or high fantasy.
In nonfiction I’m looking for books that give me a vivid look into subcultures and events I might not otherwise have had the chance to explore. Much of my favorite nonfiction melds a distinct narrative voice with rigorous research.
General Information
Our agents and editors are an invaluable resource and, without them, Killer Nashville wouldn’t have the reputation it does for helping emerging writers to find a foothold in the publishing world. Since we began our agent/editor round tables in 2007, hundreds of conference attendees have found representation for themselves and their work at the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference. Each year, we hear dozens of success stories that list our round tables as one of the most valuable resources that we offer, but things weren’t always so easy.
In previous conference years, Killer Nashville offered agent and editor pitches. Although the offering was popular, and many capitalized on the opportunity with much success, we knew that Killer Nashville could offer more. After conducting painstaking research and engaging in discussion with agents/other conference organizers, we implemented our round table format. These round table pitches not only offered the writers a chance to pitch their work by letting their pages speak for themselves, but they also made it possible for the writers to receive feedback from established agents and editors.
Past publishers and agencies represented include Alice Speilburg Literary Agency, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, BookEnds Literary Agency, Brower Literary Agency, China Grove Press, Corvisiero Literary Agency, Diversion Books, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency, Exhibit A Books, Fiery Seas Publishing, Fine Literary Agency, Fine Print Literary Agency, Five Star Mysteries, Folio Literary Management, Foundry Literary + Media, Holloway Literary, Inklings Literary Agency, Keller Media, Kensington Publishing, L. Perkins Agency, Liza Dawn Literary Agency, Lowenstein Associates, Maria Carvainis Agency, McIntoch & Otis, Nancy Yost Literary Agency, Regal Hoffman & Associates, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, Sheree Bykofsky Associates, St. Martin’s Press, Stonesong Literary Agency, Storm Literary Agency, Talcott Notch Literary Agency, The Seymour Agency, Trident Media Group, CamCat Books, Lotus Lane Literary, WordWise Media Services, WordLink Incorporated, Folio Literary Management, P.S. Literary, Dunham Literary, and Writer House.