Conversations and Connections Pittsburgh 2022: Full Schedule

9:30am EDT

What Does a Literary Agent Do, and Do I Need One?

A panel of literary agents discuss the importance of an agent's role in a writer's creative life, offer advice for how and when to find an agent who is right for you.

Speakers

Rachel Ekstrom Courage

Rachel Ekstrom Courage is a literary agent at Courage Literary.Rachel spent over a decade as a NYC-based book publicist, first working on mysteries and thrillers for Minotaur in the historic Flatiron building, then assuming a directorial role for Penguin’s Dutton and Gotham imprints... Read More →

Danielle Chiotti

Danielle Chiotti has worked in publishing for nineteen years. Formerly an editor, she joined Upstart Crow when it was founded in 2009. Her clients include Story Prize winner and National Book Award Finalist Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, WVU Press), 2021 Kirkus... Read More →

Lauren Bajek

Lauren Bajek is an agent at Liza Dawson Associates, where she represents adult speculative and literary fiction and adult nonfiction. She is a former bookseller and bookstore buyer, a writer, a parent, and a born-and-raised Midwesterner.

Saturday October 29, 2022 9:30am - 10:30am EDT
Beckwith Auditorium, lower level Buhl Building

Cross-genre, Panel Discussion

10:45am EDT

Working With An Indie Press: Conversations Between Author and Editor

Are you thinking about publishing with an independent press but don't know the first thing about it? Ask editors and authors of SFWP and Mason Jar Press all of your questions! What is the process? What are the financial arrangements? What kind of support will you receive? Is it a stepping stone to bigger and better? We will answer and give the best advice you'll ever hear.

Speakers

Michael Tager

Michael B. Tager is a Baltimore-based writer and editor. He is the Managing Editor of Mason Jar Press, an independent publisher of high-quality books. Publications include jmww, Uncharted Mag, Necessary Fiction, Hobart, and Barrelhouse, among others. He is uncomfortable but not worried.Michael is also a freelance editor and writer. Think about dropping him a line with work or praise. H... Read More →

Monica Prince

Monica Prince is the author of How to Exterminate the Black Woman: A Choreopoem ([PANK], 2020), Instructions for Temporary Survival (Red Mountain Press, 2019), and Letters from the Other Woman (Grey Book Press, 2018), and her next choreopoem, Roadmap, will be published by SFWP in... Read More →

Saturday October 29, 2022 10:45am - 11:45am EDT
Beckwith Auditorium, lower level Buhl Building

Publishing, Panel Discussion

12:00pm EDT

Speed Dating and Lunch

Speed dating with editors is in Beckwith Auditorium.
Lunch is on your own.

Saturday October 29, 2022 12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Beckwith Auditorium, lower level Buhl Building

All conference activity

4:00pm EDT

The Editor's Panel

What do editors hate? What do they love? Should you stress out about your cover letter? Is there really a "good rejection?" This panel features veteran editors answering these and other questions and generally pulling back the curtain to show you what really happens behind the scenes.

Speakers

Monica Prince

Mark Drew

Mark Drew has been with the Gettysburg Review since 1998, serving first as assistant editor and, beginning in 2015, as editor. He earned his AA at Elgin Community College, BA at Knox College, and MFA in creative writing (poetry) at the University of Alabama. While in Tuscaloosa... Read More →

Geeta Kothari

Geeta Kothari is a senior editor of the Kenyon Review. Her essay "If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?" has been reprinted in several anthologies, including in Best American Essays. She is the editor of ‘Did My Mama Like to Dance?’ and Other Stories about Mothers and Daughters... Read More →

Sherrie Flick

Sherrie Flick is the author of the novel Reconsidering Happiness (University of Nebraska Press) and two short story collections, Thank Your Lucky Stars (Autumn House) and Whiskey, Etc. (Autumn House). Recent work appears in Ploughshares, New England Review, and Booth. She's... Read More →

Saturday October 29, 2022 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Beckwith Auditorium, lower level Buhl Building

Cross-genre, Panel Discussion