The conference for serious writers of fiction and nonfiction.
Learn. Professionalize. Connect.
The 2018 conference included literary agents from top agencies, including Aevitas Creative Management • Ayesha Pande Literary • Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents • Brower Literary & Management • Curtis Brown • DeFiore & Company • Diana Finch Literary Agency • Fletcher & Company • Folio Literary Management • Frances Goldin Literary Agency • Sanford J. Greenburger Associates • ICM Partners • Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents • Marcil-O’Farrell Literary • Jane Rotrosen Agency • Regal Hoffman & Associates • Serendipity Literary Agency • Transatlantic Agency • Trident Media Group • Union Literary • The Wylie Agency • Helen Zimmermann Literary Agency.
} 2018 Featured Speakers
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is the author of Friday Black, published by Mariner Books. He is from Spring Valley, New York. } The Author and His Team
Amanda Annis (Trident Media Group) has also worked as a writer, a bookseller, and an editor at several publishers, including Penguin Random House, Cambridge University Press, and Love Among the Ruins. } Query Letter Clinic, Opening Lines Clinic
Millicent Bennet is Executive Editor at Grand Central Publishing. } Case Study: Creative Nonfiction
Sonali Chanchani (Folio Literary Management) is drawn to upmarket and literary fiction, nonfiction, essay collections, and memoirs. } Opening Lines Clinic
Stephanie Delman (Greenberger Associates) represents adult fiction, select nonfiction, and a few illustrators whose work is geared toward the adult market. } Opening Lines Clinic
Victoria Doherty Munro (Writer’s House) began building her own list in 2015 and represents middle grade, young adult, and adult authors.} Query Letter Clinic
Priya Doraswamy runs boutique agency Lotus Lane Literary, based in New Jersey. She works with publishers worldwide and represents commercial and literary fiction as well as nonfiction (biography, narrative, and self-help and business books). } Winding Up for the Pitch
Amy Einhorn is Executive Vice President and Publisher at Flatiron Books. } Case Study: Fiction
Caroline Eisenmann (Frances Goldin Literary Agency) is drawn to novels, nonfiction narratives, literary memoir, cultural criticism, essay collections, history, and biography. } Opening Lines Clinic
Diana Finch (Diana Finch Literary Agency) opened her own literary agency in 2003 after nearly eighteen years with the Ellen Levine Literary Agency. She represents a wide variety of books. } Query Letter Clinic, Winding Up for the Pitch
Naomi Gibbs is an editor with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. } The Author and His Team
Serene Hakim (Ayesha Pande Literary) is drawn to YA, adult fiction, and nonfiction with international themes, and LGBTQ and feminist issues. } Winding Up for the Pitch
Erin Harris (Folio Literary Management) is the cofounder and host of H.I.P. Lit, a creative community and monthly event series based in Brooklyn. } Opening Lines Clinic
Meredith Kaffel Simonoff (DeFiore and Company) is interested in adult literary and upmarket fiction, literary creative nonfiction, illustrators with distinct narrative points of view, and literary books for children} The Author and His Team
Jacqueline Ko (Wylie Agency) represents literary fiction, history, journalism, narrative nonfiction, and other genres.} Query Letter Clinic
Christina Morgan (Serendipity Literary Agency) is primarily interested in literary fiction, nonfiction, memoir, mysteries, and pop culture. } Opening Lines Clinic
Alexis Sattler (HSG) is a former Putnam editor who reads across genre with a particular eye toward literary fiction, contemporary family sagas, science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, mysteries, and historical fiction. } Query Letter Clinic
Anna Stein (ICM Partners) represents writers such as Hanya Yanagihara, Maria Semple, Ben Lerner, Tara Westover, and Nafissa Thompson-Spires. } Literary Agents 101
Shaun Randol is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Mantle, and coeditor of Gambit: Newer African Writing. He is also a member of the PEN American Center and serves on the boards of Nomadic Press, the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, and Africa Book Link. } The Author and His Team
Shobha Rao is the author of Girls Burn Brighter: A Novel, published by Flatiron Books.} Case Study: Fiction
Taryn Roeder is Director of Publicity at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. } The Author and His Team
Grace Ross (Regal Hoffmann & Associates) is interested in literary fiction, historical fiction, memoir, and narrative nonfiction. } Winding Up for the Pitch, Query Letter Clinic
Amanda Stern is the author of Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life, a memoir, published by Grand Central Publishing. } Case Study: Creative Nonfiction
Leslie Zampetti (Dunham Literary) joined Dunham Literary in June 2016. She is a writer and a former librarian } Literary Agents 101
Renée Zuckerbrot (Massie & McQuilken Literary Agents) is a CLMP and Slice Magazine Board member, and she serves on PEN’s Membership Committee. } Literary Agents 101
Thursday, December 6
10 AM Welcome, Coffee & Bagels
Enjoy breakfast and meet other conference participants while learning what the day has in store.
10:15 AM – 11:30 AM Winding Up for the Pitch
Take part in a special workshop designed to help you perfect your “elevator pitch” or “quick-pitch”—practice talking about your work as a professional.
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM Query Letter Clinic
Groups of literary agents will critique your query letters, sharing tips on what they look for (as well as what they don’t want to see).
1:15 PM – 2:30 PM Lunch
2:45 – 3:45 PM Literary Agents 101
Leading literary agents reveal all—not only how land your “dream agent” but also what kinds of agents are out there and which one might be best for you and your work. Learn how to approach agents, what to ask, what to expect, and what an agent might be looking for in you. Also learn how to navigate existing agent relationships.4:00 – 6:00 PM The Author and His Team
Author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and his publishing team Meredith Kaffel Simonoff (Agent), Naomi Gibbs (Editor), and Taryn Roeder (Publicist)—discuss the journey that Friday Black, a short story collection, took from manuscript to publication.
Friday, December 7
10 AM – 11:15 AM Case Studies
Authors of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction—together with their agent or editor—discuss what got them to the point of publication and how they work together as a team.
11:30 AM – 12:14 AM Opening Lines Clinic
An unparalleled opportunity to practice selling your work to a publisher: read the opening lines of your manuscript to groups of agents and learn how agents read what you send them, what makes them want to read more, and what stops them in their tracks.
1:00 PM – 2:15 PM Lunch
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM Agent Pitch Sessions
Fiction and nonfiction writers: Meet with an agent from the Association of Author’s Representatives for a “quick-pitch” session, then meet with another (all full attendees receive two agents sessions). Each session is 6 minutes long. Note: Although we cannot accommodate requests for specific agents at this time, we will do our best to pair writers with agents who represent related genres. All pitches are verbal and do not include a pre-meeting manuscript exchange.
Before arriving: Prepare a draft of your query letter and a single-page sample of your manuscript. Put your energy instead into crafting a general letter that can later be personalized to an agent. Bring 3 physical copies of each.
Verbal Pitches: We favor “elevator-style” pitches or “quick-pitches.” Pretend you’ve just stepped into an elevator and found yourself standing next to someone you know. They ask what your book is about. Your answer is limited to the time it takes to reach your destination and must be clear and concise. This takes practice. You’ll hear how to hone your pitch at the conference, but it’s best to tweak one that’s already prepared. Take time now to write and practice your delivery.
The 2018 Literary Writers Conference took place at The New School’s Wollman Hall, located at 65 West 11th Street in New York City.
