Literary agents Rebecca Strauss and Suzie Townsend and agent/editor Lori Perkins will participate in a panel discussion on Saturday, June 29, 2013, at Seton Hill University. The panel presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. in Cecilian Hall on Seton Hill University’s Greensburg, Pa. campus. The event is sponsored by Seton Hill University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program. For more information, please call 724-830-4600.


Rebecca Strauss is an agent at DeFiore and Co. in New York and focuses on literary and commercial fiction, women's fiction, urban fantasy, romance, mystery, young adult, memoir, pop culture and select non-fiction. Before joining DeFiore and Co., Rebecca was at <ahref="http://www.mcintoshandotis.com" title="McIntosh and Otis" target="_blank"> McIntosh and Otis for seven years where she was an agent and Director of Subsidiary Rights. Prior to M&O, she was a foreign rights associate at Trident Media Group, and a book scout and development assistant at Sony Pictures. She is originally from Chapel Hill, N.C. and earned her degree in English Literature from Duke University.


Suzie Townsend started at FinePrint Literary Management in January 2009 and worked her way up from intern to agent after teaching high school English for several years. Now an agent at New Leaf Literary & Media Inc., she represents adult and children's fiction. Her interests lie with women's fiction, romance and fantasy as well as young adult and middle grade books. She's an active member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, Romance Writers of America, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.


Lori Perkins is an agent/editor who founded the L. Perkins Agency in 1987 after working as a newspaper publisher and editor. Her agency has five agents representing approximately 200 authors to the publishing industry in a variety of genres. In 2010, L. Perkins Agency broke new ground by being the first and currently only agency to hire a literary agent who works exclusively in the digital marketplace. Formerly the Editorial Director at Ravenous Romance, Lori writes a popular blog about the goings-on at the agency and her personal and professional take on life and being an agent.