Note: All activities will take place at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel on May 1-2, 2026 except the Pre-Conference Edits, which will be managed entirely via email (through February 2026). The activities are described in detail on the Conference Activities page. For participants who will be virtual, all interactions with agents and editors and/or author coaches will occur via Zoom. Due to the ever-increasing expense of the audio-visual equipment and personnel involved and the dwindling number of virtual participants, only the query letter critiques, manuscript sample critiques, pitches, and author coaching will be offered with the Zoom option. The workshop, Q&A panels, educational sessions, award ceremony, and mixer will only be available for in-person participants.
Note that all times given below are US Eastern.
Friday, May 1, 2026
11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Book Fair open to all attendees, with participants who have books available doing sales and signings all day at designated tables in the conference atrium (registration for a table on a first-come, first-served basis; complete details here).
12:00-4:45 p.m. Author coaching (either in-person or via Zoom) with those you registered for this and submitted their top 5 questions, along with a query letter and synopsis (if these are available) by the April 24 deadline for a 15-minute meeting. Complete details here.
12:30-1:30 p.m. Publisher Q&A Panel with all participating publisher acquisitions editors (in-person only).
1:45-5:00 p.m. Query Letter Critiques scheduled with two editors/agents assigned to participants at random (either in-person or via Zoom), but with no overlaps with any Saturday meetings, offering objective critiques and suggestions during sessions of about 10 minutes based on printed copies of a query letter brought to the hotel (or submitted by April 27, 2026 for virtual participants).
1:45-5:00 p.m. Lightning Pitch Critiques: scheduled 5-minute sessions with an in-person author panel and participants (either in-person or via Zoom) delivering their verbal pitch for their manuscript and answering panelists’ questions for a 3-minute period followed by 2 minutes of feedback from the panelists about what is working in the pitch and ways for participants to improve their delivery so the participants can increase their chances during the Saturday lightning pitches.
2:00-2:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar by award-winning author Amy Bernstein: “Straight Talk About the Agent Quest” (in-person only).
3:00-3:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar by award-winning author Amy Bernstein: “Adopting a Business Mindset for the Long Haul” (in-person only).
4:00-6:00 p.m. Workshop by Amy Bernstein: “Avoiding Unforced Errors: Mistakes Writers Don’t Need to Make” (in-person only).
6:00-8:00 p.m. Free time for participants.
8:00-11:30 p.m. Mixer with musical entertainment, our editor, agent, and speaker guests for casual conversations and networking among participants, along with an icebreaker bingo game with prizes (in-person-only).
Saturday, May 2, 2026
9:00-10:00 a.m. Agent Q&A Panel with all participating literary agents (in-person-only).
10:15 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Manuscript critique meetings: One-on-one meetings (either in-person or via Zoom) of about 13 minutes each between the acquisitions editors/literary agents and those who submitted their work for critique by the March 30, 2026 deadline. Participants will receive summary comments a day or two before the conference.
10:15 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Lightning Pitches: scheduled 5-minute sessions with virtual literary agents/acquisitions editors and participants (either in-person or via Zoom) delivering their verbal pitch for their manuscript and answering the agent’s/editor’s questions for a 3-minute period followed by 2 minutes of feedback from the agent/editor about what interested them and/or what disinterested them and whether they want the participant to send their full/partial manuscript.
10:30-11:30 a.m. Mini-Seminar with critically acclaimed author Amy Pence: “Creating a Body of Work: How to Embody Your Writing Practice” (in-person only).
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar with critically acclaimed author Amy Pence: “The Best Words in the Best Order: Queries & Letters That Move Your Writing Forward” (in-person only).
1:00-2:00 p.m. Free time for participants.
2:15-5:30 p.m. Query letter pitch meetings: Participants (either in-person or via Zoom) pitch an acquisitions editor/literary agent one-on-one for about 10 minutes each, based on a printed copy of a query letter they bring to the hotel (or submitted by May 1, 2026, at 9 p.m. Eastern for virtual participants).
2:30-4:15 p.m. Mini-Seminar with acclaimed author Dr. Tulasi Acharya: “Research in Memoir Writing” (in-person only).
4:30-5:15 p.m. Mini-Seminar with acclaimed author Dr. Tulasi Acharya: “Writing Across Languages and Cultures” (in-person only).
5:45-6:45 p.m. Giveaway drawings and award ceremony: giveaways for the next conference and more will be conducted by drawing raffle tickets. Then, all in-person agents and editors will announce their awards for Best Manuscript Sample and Best Query Letter Pitch, with certificates for the winners (in-person only).
Questions?
Please contact George Weinstein at awconference@gmail.com.
Ready to register?
View the Registration page for instructions.