Looking to find Pitchfests and Conferences to go to.

playground

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Hey guys, I was hoping to see if anyone could provide insight on how to find pitchfests or conferences where agents will be at/speaking at (and willing to listen to possible pitches). Thanks so much for any and all help as always!
 

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Agents attend the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conferences. Visit their homepage for a conference near you.
 

Debbie V

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SCBWI is a must for the industry. Many pitch fests can be found online. Try pitchwars, #PBPitch, Pitmad, and look for similar. Many happen on Twitter.
 

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I see the benefit for SCWBI for the regional stuff of course (being DC-based it allows a lot of opportunities for me to go to a lot of good stuff between states), but have you ever gone to the annual winter or summer conference. Curious how that is.
 

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I see the benefit for SCWBI for the regional stuff of course (being DC-based it allows a lot of opportunities for me to go to a lot of good stuff between states), but have you ever gone to the annual winter or summer conference. Curious how that is.

I missed the conference for my region but looked at the itinerary and saw my publisher was a speaker and doing one on one's with authors.
 

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I agree that SCBWI is a must. Other well regarded kit-lit conferences/workshops are at Highlights, The Writing Barn, Big Sur Writers Workshop.

I see the benefit for SCWBI for the regional stuff of course (being DC-based it allows a lot of opportunities for me to go to a lot of good stuff between states), but have you ever gone to the annual winter or summer conference. Curious how that is.

I recently went to the annual LA SCBWI conference. There were agents and editors sessions there, and most agents are open to submissions to people at the conference even if they're not usually. There was no pitching though, apart from an extra cost intensive about pitching (not sure how that was as I didn't go), and you can also pay for a critique which may be with an editor or agent. I think it's such a big conference that you're unlikely to make a specific agent connection there - smaller regional conferences are probably better for that if that's what you're looking for.
 

playground

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I agree that SCBWI is a must. Other well regarded kit-lit conferences/workshops are at Highlights, The Writing Barn, Big Sur Writers Workshop.


I recently went to the annual LA SCBWI conference. There were agents and editors sessions there, and most agents are open to submissions to people at the conference even if they're not usually. There was no pitching though, apart from an extra cost intensive about pitching (not sure how that was as I didn't go), and you can also pay for a critique which may be with an editor or agent. I think it's such a big conference that you're unlikely to make a specific agent connection there - smaller regional conferences are probably better for that if that's what you're looking for.


Great to know. For the smaller stuff, I assume (based on query instructions on people's websites) that you don't physically give your manuscript to them there and they just tell you to email them when you get a moment and mention they told you to, correct? How much was it to pay for the editing with the agents per chance, do you remember?
 

Kats

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Great to know. For the smaller stuff, I assume (based on query instructions on people's websites) that you don't physically give your manuscript to them there and they just tell you to email them when you get a moment and mention they told you to, correct? How much was it to pay for the editing with the agents per chance, do you remember?

Yep, usually you get the agent's submission details in their session and then email them with a query later as per their instructions (mentioning the conference). The in-person consultation at SCBWI LA was $125. Some of the regional conferences have extra critques from editors/agents/writers available too - one coming up in my area has a written critique available for $45.
 

Debbie V

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I haven't been for a while but I attended winter conference regularly when they first started. Tommie DePaola had lunch at my table, but most of the speakers stayed to their group. So it's not the best place for making personal connections with agents and editors. Of course, you can ask questions in sessions and sometimes after a session. Also, I made a couple of good writing friends. You never know who you'll meet. And NYC is the industry hub so you may see an agent or editor who isn't a speaker but is just supporting a friend and learning what they can.

Winter conference has intensives attached. I've never attended one, but I'd like to. There are also paid critiques if I'm recalling correctly.A

Another great option for conferences is Rutgers 1 on 1 Plus. You have to be accepted. You're paired with a mentor for one session of the day and sit with four other pairings for another. You can ask anything you like. Also, the speakers are available for lunchtime chats and pitching. They tell you where each one will be sitting. Look up RUCCL.org.