Last day of New York Pitch Conference: I'm told profanity limits your @#$% audience. Who knew?

The New York Pitch Conference ended today and Director Michael Neff was right: I did learn a lot.

This morning we did our final pitch to Michaela Hamilton, Executive and Acquiring Editor at Kensington Publication and Editor-in-Chief of one of its imprints, Citadel Press.

She has been with Kensington for fifteen years (but has been an editor longer than that). She described the company as an independent family-owned enterprise and pointed out that, after the Big Five publishing houses, Kensington, established in 1974, is Number Six. The company is “devoted to entertainment,” is “category-driven,” and specializes in what its audiences in each category want.

She shared some interesting statistics: 40% of all book sales are romance novels and that has remained steady, no matter what happens

The New York Pitch Conference, the third day: Two “Someones” listen to me

Today’s good news is that it’s stopped snowing. Navigating New York City on foot in snow and ice is not an activity for sissies. Last night, to get out of the weather, I cut through Penn Station to catch the 7th Avenue subway. I felt like the ball in a hotly contested Foosball game. I stopped counting after the 32nd commuter shoved me out of his way. OK, so I exaggerate – but not by much. And to think I used to do this every day – somehow it seems like a rougher sport these days.

The city is quieter on a Saturday morning so I sprang for a cab to get to the conference for Day 3. As soon as I got in, the driver launched into a tirade about “these new moron drivers who don’t know how to find