I always enjoy meeting authors, and this year I've been able to do so through a number of publishing conferences and events, like the Chesapeake Writing Workshop back in March. Now, I'm excited about two upcoming events in May, one happening in-person in Washington, D.C., and the other virtual for anyone anywhere to attend.
First, this weekend I'll be at the Washington Writers Conference for anyone in the DC area looking to meet like-minded authors as well as agents who are actively taking on pitches (including yours truly, among the many great agents attending). I'll be at the Conference on Saturday May 4 for one-on-one pitch sessions.
The Washington Writers Conference has a line-up of in-person sessions with publishing industry professionals that cover working with editors, marketing your book, and involving yourself in the right kind of writing group for you. Their hourly schedule for the full Conference is viewable here. As a reminder, I'll only be there on Saturday.
If you're not in the DC area, your nonfiction project can still be pitched at the Nonfiction Writers Conference, conveniently being held over Zoom on May 8-10. I'll be attending as a featured speaker for the two-hour Pitch-the-Agents LIVE event on May 9th at 4pm ET.
The Nonfiction Writers Conference has been virtual since its beginnings in 2010, so they've been in the digital events game since long before COVID. The Conference has live webinars with professionals, Q&As, pitch sessions, and downloadable materials to help you navigate being a nonfiction author, and setting up a plan for your book. Depending on your registration level, some recordings and transcripts are available if you can't make it online.
The Pitch-the-Agents LIVE event is a unique format in which attendees can apply to participate and 20 people will be randomly chosen. Those who are selected will then have the Zoom floor to pitch their projects to a panel of agents, while other attendees are able to watch and listen to the whole session. I'll be in good company with Rita Rosenkranz, Najla Mamou, Jason Gardner, and potentially others on the agent side. We aim to deliver KIND, constructive feedback, and will follow up afterwards with any requests for proposals.
If you've never attended a pitch session, or have never talked with an agent, you might want to watch this discussion on "How to Query Nonfiction" I had with Reedsy's Head of Content, Martin Cavannagh, last August. It explains the experience of querying and what I'm personally looking for from authors. A cleaned up transcript, including my accompanying slides from the talk, is available here at Reedsy's site. The video is a great way to prepare yourself and your project for meeting with any nonfiction literary agent (but definitely if you're meeting me!).
One last note: if you're looking to attend the Nonfiction Writers Conference, it'd be great if you used my affiliate link here to purchase your ticket. The Conference has generously provided it to me so that I can earn a percentage of the ticket sales from those who choose to attend directly from me.
I'm excited to be meeting more authors and participating in more industry events, and I hope you'll say hello if you are also attending either of these May conferences!
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