About
Us
He
began his career in 1981 as an editor at St. Martin’s Press. In 1988 he
moved to Dell Publishing as senior editor, quickly moving up to the position
of Vice President and Editorial Director of Delacorte Press. In those years,
Delacorte published the work of such best-selling authors as Danielle Steel,
Elmore Leonard, Belva Plain, Barbara DeAngelis and Sara Paretsky. At Dell/Delacorte,
DeFiore personally edited best-selling authors Ken Follett, Ridley Pearson,
Jack Olsen, John Lescroart, Michael Levine and many others. In
1992 he joined The Walt Disney Company’s start-up publishing operation,
Hyperion, where he served for five years as Associate Publisher and as
Editor-in-Chief. Under his guidance, Hyperion acquired and developed
thirty-seven national bestsellers, including MAKE
THE CONNECTION by Bob Greene and Oprah
Winfrey and DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
by Dr. Richard Carlson, respectively the best-selling book published in America
during 1996 and 1997. Other major best-sellers acquired by Hyperion in those
years include DON’T STAND TOO CLOSE TO A
NAKED MAN by Tim Allen, A
MONK SWIMMING by Malachy McCourt, THE
BIG PICTURE by Douglas Kennedy, BRAINDROPPINGS
by George Carlin, POUR YOUR HEART INTO IT
by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, SACRED
HOOPS by Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson
and THE BEARDSTOWN LADIES
franchise. A few of the best-sellers
Brian personally edited at Hyperion include IN
SEARCH OF STONES by M. Scott Peck, FLIGHT
OF PASSAGE by Rinker Buck, THE
LATE SHIFT by Bill Carter, DIRTY
JOKES AND BEER by Drew Carey, CIMMARON
ROSE by James Lee Burke, THE
PIED PIPER by Ridley Pearson and two New
York Times notable books of the year: MEMORIES
OF SUMMER by Roger Kahn and THE
FRANCHISE by Michael MacCambridge.
In
1997, he took over the Villard Books division of Random House as Senior Vice
President and Publisher. At Villard he published the New York Times
best-seller
THE MARK OF THE
ASSASSIN by
Daniel Silva, Eve Ensler’s groundbreaking THE
VAGINA MONOLOGUES,
Jon Krakauer’s INTO
THIN AIR: THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION,
WINNING
WITH INTEGRITY
by famed sports agent Leigh Steinberg, RELAX
YOU MAY ONLY HAVE A FEW MINUTES LEFT
by Harvard lecturer and PBS star Loretta LaRoche, and THE
PHISH BOOK
by the wildly popular rock band. He also signed up future books by novelists
Robert Daley, Laurence Shames and Molly Jong-Fast, comedian Richard Lewis,
journalists Jon Katz, Lisa Jones, Jesse Green and many others. In 1999, he founded DeFiore and
Company, an independent literary management company dedicated to the
long-term career growth of authors and other copyright holders, and to the
development and marketing of their literary material. Brian DeFiore serves on the
Board of Directors of the
Association of Authors Representatives. Laurie Abkemeier started her career in publishing in 1992 as an editorial
assistant in the Touchstone/Fireside trade paperback division at Simon &
Schuster, working with authors such as David McCullough, Richard Rhodes, and The
Boston Women’s Health Collective. In 1994, she moved to Hyperion as an
editorial assistant and became a senior editor two years later. Her authors include
John Grogan, author of MARLEY & ME;
William Alexander, author of THE $64 TOMATO;
Lori Jakiela, author of MISS NEW YORK HAS EVERYTHING;
John Austin, author of PRANK UNIVERSITY; Cal
Newport, author of HOW TO WIN AT COLLEGE;
and June Casagrande, author of GRAMMAR SNOBS ARE GREAT
BIG MEANIES.
She joined DeFiore
and Co. in 2003 and is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives.
She can be reached directly at lma@defioreandco.com.
rian
DeFiore has worked in the book publishing industry for close to 20
years, as agent, editor and publisher, and in that time has been instrumental
in the publication of some of the most innovative, respected and best-selling
books in the marketplace.
While at Hyperion, Laurie edited nearly 50 nonfiction titles, including the New
York Times best-sellers BRAIN DROPPINGS by
George Carlin, ROCK THIS! by Chris Rock, No
Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem! by Jeff Foxworthy, and First
Person Plural by Cameron West, Ph.D. She also edited several
national best-sellers by The Beardstown Ladies’ Investment Club, the Business
Week bestseller How
to Become CEO by Jeffrey Fox, Polish
Your Furniture with Panty Hose by Joey Green, When
You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair by Geneen Roth, Schoolhouse
Rock! The Official Guide by George Newall and Tom Yohe, What
No One Tells the Bride by Marg Stark, Living
the Simple Life by Elaine St. James, and Out
of the Fog: Treatment Options and
Coping Strategies for Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
by Kevin R. Murphy, Ph.D.
Laurie works with authors on a diverse range of subjects, including narrative
nonfiction, memoir, popular science, health, nature, parenting, psychology,
practical business, how-to/self-help, pop culture, humor, television, popular reference, and just about anything that is fresh and provocative. She
does not represent fiction. She is particularly interested in developing
long-term partnerships with credentialed writers, talented collaborators, and
individuals who are experts in their fields.
Kate
Garrick joined DeFiore and Company in 2002 after two years at PMA Literary and Film Management.
Prior to that she earned her MA in
English and American literature at New York University and her BA (also in
literature) from Florida State University.
Her clients include Stephen Graham Jones, author of DEMON
THEORY and BLEED INTO ME,
David Goodwillie, author of SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT
THE TIME, Stephanie Lessing, author of SHE'S
GOT ISSUES and MISS UNDERSTANDING, Jen Lancaster, author of BITTER
IS THE NEW BLACK and BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG ASS,
Ben Greenman, author of SUPERBAD and A
CIRCLE IS A COMPASS AND A BALLOON BOTH, and Camille DeAngelis, author
of MARY MODERN.
Kate is interested in well-crafted and compelling fiction that features a strong
narrative voice, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and pop culture.
Above all else, she values an author’s ability to artfully manipulate
language in telling his or her story.