Charlotte Abbott is a publishing journalist and digital content strategist who has developed a large and loyal online community of authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, book bloggers, and e-reading innovators, via weekly discussions on Twitter (#followreader). In her 20 years in the book industry, she has been a reporter and editor for Publishers Weekly, a publishing commentator on National Public Radio, a book critic supervising more than 1000 reviews a year, and an acquiring book editor at HarperCollins and Avon Books. Most recently, she has been advising authors and retailers on how to maximize their online visibility through strategic content development, including social media, blogs and traditional media. She is a board member of the Women’s Media Group and has served as a judge of several noted literary awards.

Email: abbcha@gmail.com
Twitter: @charabbott

Paula Balzer covers parenting for New York Family Magazine and is their home design blogger. She has also written for Modern Bride, Writer’s Digest magazine and one of New York City’s largest parenting blogs, www.achildgrows.com. She is also a co-founder of adhocmom, a popular blog for freelancing moms. A lover of memoir, Paula is the author of Writing & Selling Your Memoir (Writer’s Digest Books/July 2011). She is a frequent speaker on the topic of memoir writing and teaches writing workshops in Northern New Jersey.

Anne Bartholomew is a writer, editor, and bookseller with particular experience in online retail and content development at Amazon.com. Much of her work over the last five years has been focused on connecting authors with readers via custom marketing, interviews, reviews and social media. She is a graduate of Fordham University in New York, as well as the Denver Publishing Institute, and the Institute of Culinary Education. As a reader, her turn-to categories include debut fiction and mysteries, cookbooks, young adult, and memoir, but she’ll happily read anything that comes with a good recommendation.

Victoria is an experienced public relations and communications specialist who has spent her entire professional career in book publishing, most recently as VP, Executive Director of Publicity for Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint (1990–2010). In 2011 she became an independent publicist and established VM/PR. Known for her energy, creativity, strategic planning, and commitment to excellence, she has worked with countless best-selling, prize-winning and high-profile authors, consistently securing top national media attention. She has strategized with public figures, experts and writers to identify promotable aspects of their work and target opportunities, as well as to hone their message and strengthen their presentation.

She has also worked with many emerging writers to help them gain recognition and further their careers. Notable campaigns and NYT best-sellers include David McCullough’s John Adams, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, Walter Isaacson’s Einstein, Bob Woodward’s State of Denial, Chris Cleave’s Little Bee, A.J. Jacobs’ The Year of Living Biblically, and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Living History.

In a Publishers Weekly column (8/23/10), Victoria’s former colleague Beth Wareham wrote: “She has shaped the best of a generation of book promoters . . . . an iconic, singular intelligence that challenges and inspires all her publicists, authors, and colleagues.” Gerald Howard, Executive Editor of Doubleday, commented: “I worked with Victoria Meyer for 8 years at Viking Penguin, and with a sincere nod to all the great publicists I have had the privilege of working with since, she is unmatched in the industry in terms of cool and class and effectiveness.”

E-mail: vmeyer@nyc.rr.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriameyer33