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Pitch Appointments and Critiques

One of the most important elements of any writers’ conference is the opportunity to meet and pitch to editors and agents. Pitch appointments are included in the price of the conference for attendees with a finished manuscript.

In addition, for a $25 fee, our conference offers an opportunity for attendees to participate in a small group critique session with an attending editor or agent.

Before we get into the details on either of these, please take a look at the editors and agents who have confirmed their attendance at the conference.

Editors

Debra Dixon  – Publisher, ImaJinn Books/ Belle Books

Shauna Summers  – Executive Editor,  Penguin Random House

Michelle Klayman  – President/CEO, Boroughs Publishing Group

Meghan Farrell  – Managing Editor, Tule Publishing

Charles Griemsman  – Associate Editor,  Harlequin

Carrie Feron  – Executive Editor & SVP of HarperCollins Publishers, Avon Books

Agents

Laura Bradford – Agent, Bradford Literary Agency

Nephele Tempest  – Agent, The Knight Agency

Jessica Watterson  – Agent, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

Patricia Nelson  – Agent, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

PITCH APPOINTMENT

Each attendee who requests an appointment will be granted one, depending on availability. The request form will ask for your editor/agent top three choices and what genre you are writing. The committee does its best to match attendees with these requests.

Appointments are assigned on a first come, first served basis. In the event there are no more appointments available with the person you requested, your genre choice allows us to match you with someone else who also works with that genre.

Appointments are 8 minutes long. There are volunteers in the room keeping track of the time. When time is called, please exit promptly to allow the next person to keep their assigned appointment.

Attendees who have requested appointments will be assigned ONE appointment to start.

If you want to change your appointment or if you would like additional appointments, please see us at the Editor/Agent desk during the conference. There will be scheduled time periods when appointment changes are accepted.

Keep in mind that appointments become available on the fly all the time, and you are welcome to check back frequently to see if the person you wanted to meet suddenly has an open slot. It does happen.

CRITIQUE SESSION

For a $25 fee, our conference also provides the opportunity to sit in a group critique session with an editor or agent. Each group is made up of five or so writers, plus the editor or agent.

Each participant must submit the first ten pages of his/her manuscript, which is provided to the editor/agent ahead of time. The pages are also provided to the other writers in the group to generate discussion and provide the writer with as much feedback as possible.

As with appointments, the committee will do its best to match up critique requests with the editor or agent desired. Appointments are assigned on a first come, first served basis and are dependent on availability. If the group you want is full, we will do our best to match you up with someone else who handles your genre.

NOTE: All critique groups take place concurrently within the same 1-hour time frame, so a writer can only participate in one group.

 

Signups for both Pitch Appointments and Critique Session will be available on the website beginning October 1, 2016.