Hello, writers!

If you can believe it, the 2024 Agents & Editors Conference is one month away! We hope you're as excited for the big weekend as we are.

We have so much in store and lots of information we want to impart as you prepare for the main event, so please read this email closely. We'll be sending you updates like this one on a regular basis from now until the conference, so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox. (And if you ever worry you've missed something, you can find all of the conference emails on the website here).

In this email, you'll find:

• A registration link for the Saturday Keynote Luncheon (announcing our stellar speaker!)
• Information on one-on-one consultations (second consultations available!)
• Information on our pre-conference "Practice Makes Pitch Perfect" and Pitch Lab events
• A reminder about hotel room reservations, and more!

The conference will be here before you know it, so if you have any questions about the information in this mailer or anything else, please feel free to reach out to us at wlt@writersleague.org.

See you soon!

Sarah

Sarah Renee Beach

Program Director

We are thrilled to announce that the 2024 Agents & Editors Conference Keynote Speaker is Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams. He'll be giving a speech on "How to Write a Book in One Year or Nine Years: On Inspiration, Setbacks, and Throwing Things Away," and we cannot wait to hear his unique insights. Plus, all keynote luncheon registrants will receive a copy of Ed Park's most recent novel - 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

From the acclaimed author of Personal Days, Same Bed Different Dreams is a raucously funny feat of imagination and a thrilling meld of history and fiction that pulls readers into another dimension—one in which utopia is possible.

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.

Starting today (5/20/24), all conference registrants are welcome to purchase a second consultation, if they'd like, for a total of no more than two (2) consultations per registrant.

As a reminder, consultations are 10-minute one-on-one meetings with our featured agents and editors, a great opportunity to verbally pitch your work to an industry professional.

If you registered for the conference before April 2nd, you are entitled to one complimentary consultation with an agent or editor. In order for us to assign your complimentary consultation, you will need to first fill out the consultation preference form that was sent to you on April 22. If you did not receive this form and you registered before April 2nd, please let us know as soon as possible. Note: If you are taking advantage of the one complimentary consultation, you are only allowed to purchase one additional consultation ($50) at this time.

If you registered for the conference on or after April 2nd, you have the option of purchasing up to two consultations total ($50 each).

The form to purchase consultations can be found 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.

Save the date! All 2024 A&E Conference registrants are invited to join us for a special 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 a short “elevator” pitch (tip: don’t really pitch in the elevator) 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 big weekend). 

All conference registrants have access to this session (a link to join the webinar will be sent the week of June 3). 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 you the day after the event takes place.

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. 

The 2024 conference venue is 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 will fill quickly, so book now if you want to be assured a spot.

Rooms are $209/night plus tax. The cut-off date to register under the group block is June 1, 2024.

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