Since 1990 Sam has worked at literary magazines, small presses and with New York Times bestselling authors, editing and representing everything from debut fiction, memoir and narrative non-fiction to graphic novels. He has taught writing and publishing privately since 2000 and also at various universities. His most recent project is an online magazine, Don’t Talk to Me About Love, exploring love in literary and artistic works.

Celina is a writer and editor living in Toronto. After completing an undergraduate degree in English Literature and a certificate in Publishing, she confirmed her own suspicions that her heart belongs to books and storytelling.

She joins The Rights Factory as an assistant, her love of books in one hand and her love of film in the other. With a specific interest in genre-bending narratives, dark humour, and horror, Celina finds inspiration in all things strange.

Maria's first job after university was as a social media manager for her university Instagram account. She then became a strategist for "Dieci04", a literary social media agency based in Turin. During that time, she gained skills in creating social media strategies for books and participated in the social media coverage of the Turin International Book Fair. In 2021, she moved to Toronto to study Strategic Relationship Marketing at George Brown College. She has a strong passion for marketing and books and being able to connect authors with their audiences.

Amanda Lang is a first year MFA candidate at the New School with a love of monster stories and any fiction that transports her to a new world. Amanda has a background in freelance journalism and is a writer herself as well as an avid fiction reader. Amanda will be working with agent Natalie Kimber starting in January 2023.

Morinobu Yoshida is a publishing professional from Yokohama, Japan. After working at a publishing house in Tokyo for five years, he decided to dive into international publishing and began pursuing the publishing certificate at Toronto Metropolitan University. With his passion to promote the global exchange of cultures and ideas through books, he currently works as a rights assistant at the Rights Factory, while working as a freelance editor/copyeditor and also a kitchen assistant at an awesome Indian restaurant in downtown Toronto. He has a taste for literary fiction, literary journalism, and history books.

Kathleen is a writer, freelance fiction editor, host and producer of the #badasswriters podcast, audio editor for The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast, proofreader for Rising Action Publishing Co., and co-founder of #MoodPitch. She joins TRF as an editorial assistant on a path to becoming a literary agent. Kat brings writing, editing, and executive management into her role and is heavily engaged in the online writing community. Other than the above-mentioned things (and obviously reading), Kat enjoys travelling, photography, hiking, and spending summers in Ontario’s beautiful cottage country. She’s a proud mom of five kids, lives in the Niagara Region, and is studying European Portuguese.

Kat's favourite commercial genres are thriller/suspense, gothic horror, supernatural, romcom and some romance, historical fiction, and historical fantasy, and also loves page-turning book club fiction.

Jes is a Canadian editor and storytelling instructor who has taught workshops to thousands of people around the world. She's been a guest presenter with SCBWI, the 12x12 Picture Book Challenge, Write For Kids, and TSNOTYAW podcast, and has contributed to BoldFace, Children's Book Insider, and the SCBWI blog. She founded WritingCommunity.ca and organizes writing-adjacent events in her local community.

Andrew graduated with an MA in political science in 2022, focusing on Hannah Arendt's theory, after earning a bachelor's in politics and philosophy at the University of Colorado at Denver. As a nontraditional student, Andrew's attention toward communication and organization is balanced by a love of the obtuse and absurd. A detail and research-oriented professional, his desire for the best version of the author's vision is supported by a dedication to storytelling with attention to perspective and voice. Driven by the quote: "Philosophy begins in wonder," accessible material guides his editorial perspective.

Yejin Suh studies literature and creative writing at Princeton University. She enjoys SFF, YA, and literary fiction.

Kodie Van Dusen won awards and was published in poetry anthologies from a young age, writing sporadically for the Western Gazette newspaper while pursuing her BA in Psychology. In 2022 she published her debut novel, BIRDS IN THE BLACK WATER, which placed in several competitions including the IndiesToday and ReadersFavorite Awards. Her passion has always been long-form narratives that force perspective changes in the reader and connect on a deeply emotional level.