Simon and Schuster Speakers Bureau

14/08/2025

Congratulations to our speaker, Tembi Locke, for being named one of Variety’s 10 Storytellers to Watch for 2025!

The article notes that, “In this global moment of longing, division, loneliness and violence, Locke says that ‘stories document our now while also reminding us of the best of ourselves and our highest potentiality. Telling stories at this time can be a form of active reclamation and vital record-making, but also of seeding hope for the future.’” Read more: https://bit.ly/46WJvhj

Locke is a New York Times bestselling author, actor, screenwriter, and TV producer with a passion for connecting with her audience both on the page and screen. In her talks, Locke explores topics of wellness and work/life balance, especially after facing grief or a significant loss. Her TEDx talk has been viewed by individuals and nonprofits around the world. Learn more about her: https://bit.ly/45tTTe8

This year's honorees will be feted at Filmland and include a.k. payne ("Furlough's Paradise"), Tembi Locke ("From Scratch") and Josh Sharp ("ta-da!").

12/08/2025

Help us welcome Denise Soler Cox to the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau!

Denise is a leading voice on belonging, an award-winning filmmaker, a keynote speaker, and an expert on transforming workplace culture. After two decades of waiting to pursue her passion project, Denise has created a movement around Project Ñ, which seeks to help individuals break free from the beliefs that keep them from belonging to themselves.

She has spoken on over four hundred stages and has worked with some of the world’s most recognized brands like Microsoft, Facebook, JP Morgan Chase, Dow Jones, SONY, and L’Oréal. Contact us to book her for your next event!

06/08/2025

Our speaker, Jeffrey Seller, produced the record-breaking musical “Hamilton,” which today celebrates its ten-year anniversary. Read about Seller’s reflection on the legacy of “Hamilton” among audiences and the theater world: https://bit.ly/4oopiHw

As a speaker, Seller describes his coming-of-age story and his journey realizing his American Dream. He speaks passionately about how the arts can impact lives and the necessity to make theater affordable for all. Seller also pulls back the curtain and shares behind the scenes stories from his experience as a producer who was in “the room where it happens.”

The hit musical celebrates 10 years on Broadway this week.

05/08/2025

Happy publication day to psychotherapist and social media star Meg Josephson for her debut book, "Are You Mad at Me? How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You."

Josephson integrates her moving story with those of clients to show that people-pleasing is not a personality trait, rather it is a common survival mechanism developed in childhood. Many are stuck in a cycle of people pleasing but Johnson provides a cure for it through thought provoking exercises.

Recently, Josephson was on an episode of Modern Love, a New York Times podcast. She talks about how she realized that her desire to please everyone chipped away at her sense of self, and what steps it took to stop people pleasing. Listen to the full conversation here: http://nyti.ms/3HguY5w

Weaving together her expertise and lived experience, Josephson is a speaker who helps her audiences shed the behaviors that keep them stuck in the past so they can move to live in their most authentic present selves. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4lMgNnU

Therapist and author Meg Josephson on how she stopped people pleasing.

02/07/2025

Daniel Kehlmann’s book THE DIRECTOR is the Late Show’s July book club pick! Described as “nothing short of brilliant” by The Wall Street Journal, the novel is a visionary tale inspired by the life of film director G.W. Pabst, who fled to Hollywood to resist the N***s only to be forced to return to his homeland and create propaganda films for the German Reich. Watch Colbert’s book club announcement here: http://bit.ly/400QcdZ

In his speaking engagements, Kehlmann gives illuminating accounts of events throughout European history, including World War II, The Thirty Years War, and more, reminding audiences of how haunting themes of the past transcend into modern politics. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/44vfemS

01/07/2025

Happy publication day to award-winning journalist, climate expert, and public policy analyst Michael Grunwald for his third book, WE ARE EATING THE EARTH!

This groundbreaking piece of reportage takes us inside the trenches of the next climate war and the fight to fix our food systems. Grunwald argues that humanity recognizes the magnitude of its food and climate problem but seems to be pivoting from doing nothing about it to making it worse. While the book highlights bad politics, bad ideas, and bad science, it is also a hopeful account of the researchers and entrepreneurs devising new ways to produce more food with less land and less damage.

Grunwald’s cutting-edge research is synthesized with that of other experts in this essay featured in The New Yorker exploring how the world can feed a growing population without further harming our planet. Read the full article here: https://archive.is/DaXak

In his keynotes, Grunwald discusses how we can save the planet for ourselves and future generations—through better policy, technology, and behavior, as well as a new land ethic. He also speaks about economics, infrastructure, and financial crises. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/44alZM7

10/06/2025

It’s publication day for award-winning, author, neurologist, and professor Pria Anand and her debut short-story collection THE MIND ELECTRIC!

Through case study, history, fable, and memoir, Dr. Anand reveals what that medical industry has overlooked: the complexity and wonder of brains both in health and in extremis, and the vast gray area between sanity and insanity, doctor and patient, and illness and wellness, each separated from the next by the thin veneer of a different short story.

Telegraph notes that Anand describes the intricacies of the human brain “with circumspection and sensitivity”: https://bit.ly/3ThuZZo

Dr. Anand speaks about the raw and nuanced natures of our brains with an extensive background working with patients at Johns Hopkins and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her keynotes bring an emotional and human perspective to an often detached area of study. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3SIFBQY

Pria Anand’s study of the brain, The Mind Electric, combines memoir and patients’ anecdotes into a book as mysterious as its subject

10/06/2025

Happy publication day to award-winning writer and professor Rob Franklin with his gripping debut novel, GREAT BLACK HOPE!

Franklin explores what it means to exist between intersectional worlds, and introduces us to Smith, a q***r Black Stanford graduate, who is arrested for co***ne possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation where his class protects him, but his race does not.

Recently on NPR, Franklin explained that in the novel, he "wanted to capture the idea that generations of uphill climbing and upward mobility can essentially be undone in a single night for people in this kind of precarious race-class intersection." Listen to the full conversation here: https://bit.ly/3FJQGOQ

Using the same humor and candor as his novel, Franklin is a speaker who tackles the relationship between race and class, especially regarding the American criminal justice system in his keynotes. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/43OV8ni

In "Great Black Hope," a young, gay, Black man is reeling even before his socialite roommate is found dead. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks Rob Franklin about race, class, addiction, and his debut novel.

15/05/2025

Join best-selling author and literary agent Lara Love Hardin for a transformative nonfiction writing workshop at the Omega Institute.

From June 27–29, 2025, Lara will lead “True Stories, Big Ideas,” a weekend-long deep dive into the art and business of nonfiction. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your voice, you'll learn how to craft compelling true stories, write with narrative power, and pitch your work with confidence.

With her dual perspective as both an agent and author, Lara will offer insider insights on what makes a book sell—and how to get yours into the right hands.

This is a rare opportunity to workshop your ideas, strengthen your storytelling, and connect with a community of aspiring nonfiction writers in a supportive, creative space.

Location: Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY
Dates: June 27–29, 2025 (Workshop begins Friday at 7 PM)

Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/4enEpvc

06/05/2025

Happy Publication Day to internationally acclaimed author Daniel Kehlmann on his haunting new novel, THE DIRECTOR.

Inspired by the life of G.W. Pabst—a celebrated filmmaker who fled N**i Germany only to be drawn back into its propaganda machine—THE DIRECTOR is a riveting story about the thin line between resistance and complicity, and the devastating price of compromise. Described as “nothing short of brilliant” by The Wall Street Journal, it’s historical fiction at its most thought-provoking.

The New York Times recently featured Kehlmann and the story behind the novel—don’t miss their in-depth profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/books/daniel-kehlmann-the-director.html

A sought-after speaker on history, literature, and the politics of storytelling, Daniel Kehlmann brings nuance and depth to the past and its echoes in our present. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/42SMJP6

Daniel Kehlmann wrote “The Director” only to realize how loudly the moral quandaries faced by G.W. Pabst would resonate today.

06/05/2025

Happy Publication Day to legendary Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller on his powerful new memoir, THEATER KID!

Before producing Rent, Hamilton, and In the Heights, Jeffrey was just a kid growing up outside Detroit—navigating his adoption, his sexuality, and a love for musical theater. THEATER KID is a raw, inspiring story of identity, resilience, and chasing a dream on his own terms.

Read an exclusive excerpt in Vulture, featuring Jeffrey’s reflections on Jonathan Larson and the making of Rent: https://www.vulture.com/article/producer-jeffrey-seller-on-jonathan-larsons-rent.html

Looking for a speaker on the arts, perseverance, and storytelling? Jeffrey Seller delivers. Contact us to book him for your next event!

Jeffrey Seller, co-producer of ‘Rent,’ on Jonathan Larson and his show’s bumpy road to success.