CFF Presents "Gatekeepers to the Gatekeepers: Escaping the Slush Pile" on Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 7:00 P.M. All CFF members are invited to register for this online event.
You press send and your query instantly lands in a slush pile where it waits with hundreds of other queries for the agent’s attention. But to reach the overworked agent, your query first needs to impress the literary assistant reading through the slush pile as part of the rite of passage for being promoted to agent. How does she decide what queries to pass on to her boss? How can you help ensure that your query is among them? In a conversation with CFF President Ken Schept, three gatekeepers from top literary agencies will pull back the curtain on this mysterious aspect of the querying process.
Laura Gruszka serves as a junior agent and literary assistant at Writers House.
Giuliana Vasile is a literary assistant and office manager at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency.
Chloe Knapp works as literary assistant to Barbara Jones at Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, and literary assistant to Betsy Lerner at Dunlow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency.
Ken Schept, CFF president, will serve as moderator.
Learn more and RSVP here: https://fictionfoundry.alumni.columbia.edu/gatekeepers_to_the_gatekeepers
Please note registration closes at noon on the day of the event. A recording will be available.
The Zoom webinar link will be emailed to registered members a couple of days prior to the event. This event is open to members of the Columbia Fiction Foundry, a Columbia University alumni group, and Columbia University affiliates. Please enter your school and class year on the registration form.