Apr 4, 2008 - Barry Malzberg Cancellation - We regret to announce that Barry Malzberg will not be appearing at I-CON 27.

Apr 4, 2008 - Jon Rosenberg and Steven Cloud will not be appearing - Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mr. Rosenberg and Mr. Cloud are unable to appear at I-CON 27.

Mar 28, 2008 - Conrad Brooks Cancellation - Due to circumstances beyond our control, Conrad "The Gielgud of Bad Movies" Brooks will not be appearing at I-CON.

Mar 27, 2008 - Rocky Horror Picture Show! - It's a contest! You can be a mad scientist, biker zombie, or suburban housewife losing her inhibitions. Win fabulous prizes!

Mar 18, 2008 - RepRap Demo Cancelled - We regret to announce that RepRap.org's Zach Smith will be unable to attend I-CON. The RepRap demonstration has been canceled.

Mar 16, 2008 - BattleStar Galactica Season Premiere! - Come see the season premiere of the hit series on a big screen, with 700 of your closest friends. Win BSG DVD sets!

Mar 9, 2008 - GM Signup - Interested in running an RPG? Sign up to be a GM.

Mar 9, 2008 - Awards Banquet - Tickets are now available online for the Awards Banquet. This event is held each year honoring guests for outstanding achievements in their field or genre. This year, the Awards Banquet will be held at the Holiday Inn Ronkonkoma on Saturday April 5, 2008 starting at 5:30pm. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit the Awards Banquet page

Mar 9, 2008 - Cosplay Competition - This I-CON 27 Cosplay Competition is now open to all types of cosplay, not just anime! Registration closes March 28, so hurry over to the Anime page to register online!

News Archive

Joshua Bilmes is the Proprietor of JABberwocky Literary Agency, which he founded in 1994.

His path to owning his own literary agency started in high school, when he sent monthly letters to the editor of Analog, the leading science fiction magazine, critiquing each issue. These letters impressed the magazine's associate editor so much that she offered Bilmes the chance to do freelance readers reports and other work when she left Analog to join new start-up SF publisher Baen Books. Joshua Bilmes and the publishing industry took an immediate liking to one another, he landed a job at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency after graduating from college (University of Michigan, BA in History), and started his agenting career in February 1986.

While his path to becoming an agent went through the science fiction genre, his interests were and are far broader. In the mystery genre, the Hardy Boys led to the Three Investigators, and from there to Agatha Christie, Perry Mason, the 87th Precinct and John LeCarre. He became a "Variety" junkie during high school, hasn't missed an issue in 20 years, and still has a fascination with the entertainment business. His college degree in history introduced him to The New Republic, though he now reads The New Yorker. He keeps up on pop culture with Rolling Stone and spends fifteen hours a week reading newspapers. There's always time for a good movie, and baseball and tennis are often his background music.

It was in fact a debut mystery novel, MARY'S GRAVE by Malcolm McClintick, which became Bilmes' first sale in the summer of 1986. It was also in the summer of 1986 that he reached out to Elizabeth Moon and discovered the extremely popular "Deed of Paksenarrion" trilogy, helping to launch the career of an award-winning and bestselling author. By the end of the 1980s he had commenced work with Charlaine Harris, Simon Green, Tanya Huff and other mainstays of the JABberwocky list.

But it wasn't just about building his own list at the Scott Meredith agency. Carl Sagan, Harry Kemelman, P.G. Wodehouse, Ellery Queen, these are just a few of the longstanding Meredith clients whom Bilmes worked with. After Meredith's passing, Bilmes was promoted to VP and got invaluable managerial experience holding the company together for several months pending the arrival of new ownership.

In 1994, Bilmes struck out on his own to establish JABberwocky Literary Agency. After ten years of growth, many milestones were reached in his 10th anniversary year. Among them: taking on Steve Mancino as the agency's first full-time employee to help handle the demands of a growing business and increasingly successful client roster; seeing one of his earliest clients, Elizabeth Moon, win the Nebula Award for Best Novel for THE SPEED OF DARK; watching Charlaine Harris climb to #22 on the NY Times hardcover fiction bestseller list with DEAD TO THE WORLD; going to the Chelsea Cinemas on a Friday night to see TESTOSTERONE, based on the novel by James Robert Baker and the first theatrical release based on a JABberwocky title, with a large and appreciative audience; topping 100 foreign rights sales for the first time.

Some second decade highlights so far: Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) shooting the pilot for an HBO series based on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, while a series based on Tanya Huff's "Blood" books is airing on Lifetime;, the agency's first 7-figure deal for the 8th thru 10th Sookie novels; Simon Green's "Nightside" series becoming the author's most successful in an already successful career ... launching Brandon Sanderson, first with his Tor fantasy ELANTRIS and now with a major middle-grade series launch from Scholasatic, then following that up with his best-ever first novel sale for Peter Brett's PAINTED MAN ... Tobias Buckell becoming the youngest-yet JABberwocky discovery when CRYSTAL RAIN appeared for his 27th birthday ... watching as Steve Mancino's first two discoveries are published to good results, and exceptionally so for Kat Richardson ... watching Ohio State students pour into the Union Ballroom to hear Elizabeth Moon speak on THE SPEED OF DARK