For the May 1-2, 2026 Atlanta Writers Conference, we have 11 different activities you can do before or during the conference. Some participants might want to do only one activity while others want to attend a few sessions, and many participants want to take advantage of everything, so we offer a la carte pricing, with two package deal discount options.
Please note the following:
– You can register for one activity, several, many, or all of them–whatever suits your interests, availability, and budget.
– Those who need to participate virtually will only be able to register for up to two pre-conference edits, up to two query letter critiques, up to three manuscript sample critiques, up to eight lightning pitches, and up to three query letter pitch meetings with the agents and editors, and one author coaching session. The Q&A activities, workshop, and other activities will only be available for in-person participants due to the ever-increasing expense of the audio-visual equipment and personnel involved and the dwindling number of virtual participants.
– You can register for up to two pre-conference edits, up to two query letter critiques, up to three manuscript critiques, up to three query letter pitches, and/or up to eight lightning pitches without registering for any other activities.
– The freebies–two mini-seminars on Friday presented by our workshop speaker, four mini-seminars on Saturday presented by two local authors, the Friday night mixer, and the Saturday afternoon award ceremony with giveaway raffle–are available to all in-person participants who pay for at least two activities.
– Payment is due via credit card, debit card, or PayPal at the end of the registration process. Failure to pay will result in the registration being cancelled. You must complete the registration and payment process within 60 minutes of starting in order for your registration to be recorded.
– A $60 registration fee will be added to the total amount for the conference activities you select unless you are a current Atlanta Writers Club (AWC) member, in which case you need to keep your membership valid through May 1-2, 2026. This registration fee is nonrefundable but will provide you with AWC membership for 365 days as a bonus, giving you access to two Atlanta Writers Conferences, one Atlanta Self-Publishing Conference, an annual writing contest with cash prizes, online and in-person critique groups, periodic online workshops, and an in-person monthly AWC meeting. If you are not interested in AWC membership, consider the $60 to be a nonrefundable registration fee.
– With the exception of the pre-conference edit–which is conducted via email–all activities will be in-person at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel. If you cannot travel, indicate that you want to participate virtually via Zoom when you register, but please note that the only activities eligible for Zoom participation will be the query letter critiques, manuscript sample critiques, query letter pitches, lightning pitches, and author coaching (plus the pre-conference edits, which will be conducted via email). If you select the virtual option, we will provide the Zoom links for the agent/editor meeting(s) you register for when we send your personalized schedule about two weeks before the conference.
Conference Fees:
– Manuscript Sample Critique on Saturday, May 1, with the acquisitions editor(s) and/or literary agent(s) of your choice and submission of your work due by March 30: $200 each for up to three confirmed spots. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Query Letter Pitch on Saturday, May 2, with the acquisitions editor(s) and/or agent(s) of your choice: $100 each for up to three confirmed spots. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Query Letter Critique on Friday, May 1, from two editors/agents who will be randomly assigned with the assurance that you will not get anyone you will be meeting with on Saturday: $100 each for up to two confirmed spots. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Lightning Pitch on Saturday, May 2, with the acquisitions editor(s) and/or agent(s) of your choice: $70 each for up to eight confirmed spots. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Lightning Pitch Critique on Friday, May 1, with a panel of authors helping participants polish their lightning pitch for Saturday: $35 each for one confirmed spot. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Workshop on Friday, May 1, with award-winning author Amy Bernstein presenting “Avoiding Unforced Errors: Mistakes Writers Don’t Need to Make” for two hours: $60.
– Publisher Q&A Panel on Friday, May 1, with all in-person acquisitions editors from publishing houses answering participant questions for one hour: $50.
– Agent Q&A Panel on Saturday, May 2, with all in-person literary agents answering participant questions for one hour: $50.
– Pre-Conference Edit with the freelance editor of your choice, with submissions due on February 3: $80 each for up to two confirmed spots. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Author Coaching on Friday, May 1, with the coach of your choice, with submission of your top 5 questions and a 1-page query letter and 1-page synopsis (if available) due on April 24: $60. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– Book Fair on Friday, May 1, with a six-square-foot (3’x2′) table space on which to sell your books in the conference atrium (see the Book Fair page for complete details): $40. There is no charge for waitlists unless there’s a cancellation that opens a spot for you.
– The Conference Package Deal option–only available to in-person participants–which includes two manuscript critiques, two query letter pitches, one query letter critique, one pre-conference edit by a freelance editor, the workshop, and two Q&A panels: $760 (a $180 discount, because the pre-conference edit and the two Q&A panels are free in this case; if you choose the Conference Package Deal option without the pre-conference edit, the price remains $760). You can add in one more pre-conference edit, manuscript critique, and/or query letter pitch, as well as up to eight lightning pitches, the lightning pitch critique, the author coaching, and/or book fair, at the a la carte pricing listed above for each of those activities.
NOTE: if you choose the Conference Package Deal and select any waitlist spots, there’s no charge for these, so your total payment will be based on the spots you pick where there are current openings; if spots open later, you’ll pay for those individually. Contact Conference Director George Weinstein at awconference@gmail.com if you’d like to discuss your selections so he can confirm your actual total based on current manuscript critique and pitch availability and advise you about which agents/editors who are a good fit for you have the shortest waitlists.
Please see the Refund Policy for deadlines to cancel your registration for any activity in order to receive a partial refund.
Payment Processing:
The Atlanta Writers Club uses a secure PayPal portal to process your credit or debit card payments. If you don’t have a PayPal account, you can enter your debit or credit card information and contact details instead. This will ensure a secure, worry-free transaction on the Internet. PayPal will send you a receipt regardless of whether you use a credit/debit card or a PayPal account to submit your payment.
You must pay online as part of the registration process in order for your registration to be recorded. Due to bounced checks and failures to pay prior to previous conferences, checks will not be accepted and grace periods for payment will not be granted.
Questions?
Please contact Atlanta Writers Conference Director George Weinstein at awconference@gmail.com