Staff

SAM HIYATE is keen to discover new voices and help writers prepare their works for market, and to help them build lasting careers. In the past two decades with THE RIGHTS FACTORY his hundreds of book deals have resulted in several bestsellers such as MORE, the memoir by Molly Roden Winter, THIS ONE SUMMER, the graphic novel by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, non-fiction such as HEALTHY AF (DITCH THE DIET) by Oonagh Duncan and THE MYTH of CAPITALISM by Jonathan Tepper and Denise Hearn, and fiction such as GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES by Jennifer Close and THE ADULT by Bronwyn Fischer.

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.

Nikki is an Agency Assistant and Social Media Manager who brings a background in publishing, event planning, marketing, social media marketing, and education. Driven by her love for the written word, Nikki has shifted careers to make books her entire personality. She has previously held positions as a social media coach, personal assistant to various authors, social media manager at a publishing house, and has interned at other agencies on her journey to becoming an agent herself.

Nikki’s love for books began when her grandmother used to bring her to the bookstore as a kid to pick out new books. She hasn’t stopped reading since and is currently building her own personal home library. While she started reading mystery novels, her tastes have expanded to include thrillers, romance, romantic suspense, magical realism, women’s fiction, contemporary young adult, memoir, and literary fiction.

Kiana holds a BA in English and Cultural Studies from McMaster University. Alongside her studies she has been a blog correspondent for Acta Victoriana, worked on archival collections as a student assistant and has previously published short fiction.
With her background in literary analysis and creative writing she is eager to help writers perfect and polish their craft.

Kris McCormick (she/they) is pursuing double master’s degrees at Rosemont College (Publishing and Creative Writing) and is based in Philadelphia. She was previously the graduate assistant for those departments and was in charge of non-credit programming and communications, facilitating creative connections between authors, students, and community members. She was also the Fiction Editor at the Rathalla Review and a Reviews Writer for Philadelphia Stories. Guiding and supporting writers as they share their stories and voices on their terms is her greatest passion.

Vishaka Sriram is an agented author currently on submission. Her novel, "The Art of Wrestling Tigers" was shortlisted for the Searchlights Best Novel Opening 2021 award. She’s interned with Orca Publishers, HarperCollins India and Penguin Random House India. She has a Master’s in English Literature, a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and a Master’s in Publishing from Simon Fraser University. You can find her baking at midnight and making bizarre origami creatures.