PITCH YOUR BOOK TO A LITERARY AGENT:

These in-person one-on-one meetings at the 2024 Kentucky Writing Workshop are an amazing chance to pitch your book face-to-face with an agent, and get personal, individual feedback on your pitch/concept. If the agent likes your pitch, they’ll request to see part/all of your book — sending you straight past the slush pile. It also gives you an intimate chance to meet with an agent and pick their brain with any questions on your mind. More 2024 agents to be announced as they are confirmed. You can sign up for pitches at any time, or switch pitches at any time, so long as the agent in question still has appointments open. We have seen many, many writers sign with agents after connecting after our conferences.

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Bonnie Swanson is a literary agent with The Purcell Agency. She is seeking: Young adult & new adult: Issue driven, romance (anything but erotica), speculative fiction (fantasy & sci-fi), magical realism, paranormal, rom-com, suspense, mystery. (If it’s not on this list and you think I’d like it, pitch it!). In adult fiction, she seeks Romance, Speculative Fiction/Suspense (think Dean Koontz), Humor (combine all three and now we’re talking!) Always accepting LGBTQ, #ownvoices, and BIPOC. She does not want any picture book submissions right now. Learn more about Bonnie here.

Erica Bauman is a literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management. Erica represents a wide variety of authors across middle grade, young adult, and commercial adult fiction. She is most interested in commercial novels that feature an exciting premise and lyrical, atmospheric writing; imaginative, genre-blending tales; speculative worlds filled with haunting, quietly wondrous magic; fresh retellings of mythology, ballet, opera, and classic literature; sharply funny rom-coms; graphic novels for all ages; fearless storytellers that tackle big ideas and contemporary issues; and working with and supporting marginalized authors and stories that represent the wide range of humanity. Learn more about Erica here.

Alice Speilburg is a literary agent with Speilburg Literary. In fiction, she’s looking for genre novels — historical, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, horror, or adventure. Within that, she’s interested in historical novels from fresh and unique perspectives, women’s fiction that has thriller and/or horror elements, high-stakes mystery novels with female protagonists, fantasy that imagines fresh worlds with non-Western roots or fantasy that springs from newer American folk magic (especially Appalachian), sci-fi that explores the line between progress and corruption. “I like darker elements, especially when they’re woven deeply and subtly into the atmosphere of a novel.” In nonfiction, she’s looking for cultural narratives, as well as paradigm-shifting books that explore how we live and think from a fresh perspective. Her favorite subgenres in nonfiction include microhistory, nature, and pop science written by journalists and academics. “I’m also interested in untold histories of incredible women, travel/adventure narratives, culturally-engaged history narratives that look at how we came to be where we are, music books that go beyond the basic biography narrative, environmental/conservation narratives, true crime.” Across the board, she’s looking for an inclusive cast of characters, across gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and mental health spectrums. Learn more about Alice here.

Brent Taylor is a literary agent with TriadaUS. Brent’s tastes can best be described as upmarket: stories that are extremely well-written, robust with emotion, and appeal to a wide, commercial audience. He is seeking smart, fun, and heartfelt books in the following categories: picture books, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels for kids and teens. His favorite books include: Charlotte’s Web, The Thing About Jellyfish, The Vast Fields of Ordinary, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, and The Westing Game. Learn more about Brent here.

Amanda Wooden is a literary agent with SBR Media. “I am open to all sub-genres of Romance, Thrillers, Cozy Mystery, Young Adult, and more. I love all tropes!” Amanda found her love for reading when her husband was deployed in 2013, and it has continued to grow over the years. She has been a book reviewer, blogger, Author PA, graphic designer, and more. She currently co-owns Enticing Journey Book Promotions and looks forward to helping more authors by being a literary agent. Learn more about Amanda here.

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ADDED ONLINE PITCHING: To ensure that writers have a robust and diverse lineup of agents & editors to pitch, 2024 Kentucky Writing Workshop attendees will have the ability to also pitch literary agents at the Writing Day Workshops *online* event that follows the 2024 KWW on our calendar.

That event is the Ohio Writing Workshop, May 10-11, 2024, which will have 30-40 agents taking one-on-one Zoom virtual pitches.

This means that 2024 KWW attendees can have access to pitching all those online OWW agents — pitches still at $29 each — without being a formal registrant for the online May 2024 event. (That said, if you want to formally register for the Ohio conference and have access to all classes and panels, let us know, as there is a discount for confirmed Kentucky attendees.)

If you are interested in this added pitching opportunity, the first step is to get formally registered for Kentucky. Following the KWW conference on April 19, 2024, we will be in touch with all Kentucky attendees and ask them if they want to partake in pitching online agents at the 2024 OWW (May 10-11). At that time, you can communicate your pitch requests and purchase meeting time.

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More 2024 agents to be announced as they are confirmed. You can sign up for pitches at any time, or switch pitches at any time, so long as the agent in question still has appointments open.

These one-on-one meetings are an amazing chance to pitch your book face-to-face with an agent, and get personal, individual feedback on your pitch/concept. If the agent likes your pitch, they’ll request to see part/all of your book — sending you straight past the slush pile. It also gives you an intimate chance to meet with an agent and pick their brain with any questions on your mind.

(Please note that Agent/Editor Pitching is an add-on, separate aspect of the day, for only those who sign up. Spaces are limited for these premium meetings, and pricing/detail is explained below.)