Note: All activities will take place at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel on November 6-7, 2026 except the Pre-Conference Edits, which will be managed entirely via email (through August 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 professional consultants 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, November 6, 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).
11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. “Rights, Royalties, and Regret: The Costly Mistakes First-Time Authors Make and How to Avoid Them” (in-person only). Attorney Beth B. Moore walks first-time and experienced authors through the four most important legal considerations they will face on the road to publication.
12:00-4:45 p.m. Professional consultations (either in-person or via Zoom) with the one or two consultants participant registered for. Submit top 5 questions by the October 30 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).
1:00-5:00 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.
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 13 minutes based on printed copies of a query letter brought to the hotel (or submitted by November 2, 2026 for virtual participants).
2:00-2:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar by editor and book coach Jackie Cangro: “The Interior Lives of Characters” (in-person only).
3:00-3:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar by editor and book coach Jackie Cangro: “Unlock Your Novel’s Inciting Incident” (in-person only).
4:00-6:00 p.m. Workshop by editor and book coach Jackie Cangro: “Your First Five Pages: Hook the Reader and Don’t Let Them Go” (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, November 7, 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 October 4, 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 award-winning author Nicki Salcedo: “Finding Time: Strategies to Make Writing a Priority” (in-person only).
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar with award-winning author Nicki Salcedo: “Do’s and Don’ts of AI and Social Media for Writers” (in-person only).
1:00-2:15 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 13 minutes each, based on a printed copy of a query letter they bring to the hotel (or submitted by November 6, 2026, at 9 p.m. Eastern for virtual participants).
2:30-3:45 p.m. Mini-Seminar with award-winning novelist, journalist, and short story writer Josh Green: “The Struggle Is Real: How to find the right writing subjects, learn from rejection, and persevere—no matter what” (in-person only).
4:00-5:15 p.m. Mini-Seminar with award-winning novelist, journalist, and short story writer Josh Green: “How to Finish Writing Your Book, Market It, and Keep Momentum Going” (in-person only).
5:50-7:00 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.