Hello, writers!

It's the first week of June, which means the 2024 Agents & Editors Conference is right around the corner. This is the second in a series of emails that will help you prepare for the big weekend. (And if you ever worry you've missed something, you can find all of the conference emails here).

In this email, you'll find:

• A link to RSVP for the Sunday Closing Luncheon
• A reminder to register for the Saturday Keynote Luncheon, featuring Ed Park
• A reminder to fill out the Consultation Preference Form and/or Consultation Purchase Form before tomorrow's deadline
• The link to join our virtual pre-conference "Practice Makes Pitch Perfect" and Pitch Lab event on Tuesday, June 11 at 7:00 PM CDT
• A reminder to reserve your hotel room!

If you have any questions about the information in this email or anything else, please feel free to reach out to us at wlt@writersleague.org.

See you soon!

Sarah

Sarah Renee Beach

Program Director

On Sunday, June 23, join us for the Sunday Closing Luncheon (12:30 PM to 2:00 PM), our final session of the weekend. This luncheon will include a buffet-style meal and closing remarks from WLT staff. While we know you may need to hit the road (or head to the airport) early, we hope you'll stick around for this closing meal if time allows.

There is no extra charge for the Sunday Closing Luncheon, but you are required to RSVP ahead of time to reserve a spot. If you'd like to attend, we need to hear from you by Wednesday, June 12. You can RSVP at the button below. (Note: If you don't RSVP ahead of time, we will be selling closing luncheon tickets on site ($25 each), as space allows).

Don't forget to register for the Saturday Keynote Luncheon, featuring Ed Park speaking on "How to Write a Book in One Year or Nine Years: On Inspiration, Setbacks, and Throwing Things Away." All Keynote Luncheon registrants will receive a copy of Ed Park's most recent novel, Same Bed Different Dreams, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and LA Times Book Prize winner.

ABOUT OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Ed Park is the author of the novels Personal Days and Same Bed Different Dreams. He is a founding editor of The Believer, and has worked in newspapers, book publishing, and academia. His writing appears in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Born in Buffalo, he lives in Manhattan with his family.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • Same Bed Different Dreams is a wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present—loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media.

“Your view of twentieth-century history will be enlarged and altered. . . . A Gravity’s Rainbow for another war, an unfinished war.” —Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude

WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Public Library, Polygon, Kirkus Reviews

The Saturday Keynote Luncheon is not included with the conference registration. Keynote Luncheon tickets are $55 and include entrance to the luncheon, a 3-course meal, a copy of Ed Park's novel, as well as access to the book-signing following the luncheon. Seating is limited, so make sure to secure your spot as soon as possible.

Please note: We'll be closing consultation preference and purchase forms tomorrow, June 4, at 5:00 PM CDT, so that we can work on getting everyone their consultation assignments and schedules. If you'd still like to purchase a consultation or consultations (remember, each registrant can have two consultations max), you must do so before 5:00 PM CDT tomorrow. (This deadline also applies to the Consultation Preference Form sent out to those who registered before April 2.)

The form to purchase consultations can be found here.

We expect to send consultation assignments out via email beginning on Thursday, June 6 and no later than Monday, June 10.

Join us next Tuesday! All 2024 A&E Conference registrants are invited to attend a special virtual program on Tuesday, June 11, at 7:00 PM CDT on Zoom. We’ll start with a “Practice Makes Pitch Perfect” presentation aimed at helping you refine your pitch so that you have a concise and compelling response to “Tell me about your project” during the big weekend. Our presenters will go over the ABCs (really, the 4Cs) of pitching. From what to include in an initial pitch to the additional talking points you’ll want to have at the ready, plus dos and don’ts and plenty of time for answers to your burning questions.

After the presentation, we’ll move into the Pitch Lab – small breakout group opportunities to practice your pitch with other registrants (which means you’ll also have the chance to meet some fellow attendees ahead of the conference weekend). 

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO JOIN THE JUNE 11 PITCH SESSION (no need to register, just show up!)

Our presenters for the “Practice Makes Pitch Perfect” presentation are WLT Executive Director (and former literary agent) Becka Oliver and Penguin Random House Audio executive Lance Fitzgerald.

And if you can’t make the live event, don’t worry! The “Practice Makes Pitch Perfect” presentation will be recorded and a link to the recording will be shared with all conference registrants the day on Wednesday, June 12.

This is your last chance to book a room at the 2024 conference venue, the Hyatt Regency Austin on Lady Bird Lake. The hotel has set aside a block of discounted rooms for A&E Conference registrants for dates before, during, and after the event.

Rooms at the group rate are $209/night plus tax. Please note: We have extended the deadline to register under the group block to THIS FRIDAY June 7, 2024. Rooms are almost sold out, don't delay!

To reserve your room at the Hyatt Regency, click here. 

Any questions? Now's the time to ask! First, take a look at our FAQs. If you still have a question after you've read through the FAQs, email us at wlt@writersleague.org.

And remember, you can find all of the conference emails like this one here.