The acquisitions editors/publishers and literary agents listed below detail what they’re seeking in their own words. With the exception of the editors and agents participating in the virtual lightning pitch meetings (see bottom of the page) and unless otherwise noted, all editors and agents will be participating in-person at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel.
The lightning pitch agents and editors listed at the bottom of this page will be virtual, but we will have laptops set up in a Westin ballroom where you will be able to see and pitch up to ten of them. If you will be virtual yourself, you’ll be able to pitch them via Zoom.
At the end of each listing for the editors and agents, we will note whether the individual has openings or waitlists for manuscript sample critique and query letter pitch meetings–or lightning pitch meetings for the agents and editors just doing that activity. When you’re registering, you’ll be able to see the exact number of openings in the A, B, and C groups for each in-person agent/editor. One group is not better than another; this is simply a way to give you the chance to select up to three different in-person editors and agents for manuscript sample critiques and up to three others for query letter pitches. If the individual you want to meet with is full in group A, be sure to check their availability in groups B and C while you’re registering for manuscript sample critiques and/or query letter pitches.
If an editor/agent you want is full in all groups, you can check with Conference Director George Weinstein to ask how long their waitlist is. There is no charge for waitlisted spots, so there is no risk in signing up for them, but if you’re trying to choose between multiple guests with waitlists, George can tell you who has the shortest standby queue. Note: the lightning pitch agents and acquisitions editors have the most spaces available, so they are likely to still have plenty of availability when the in-person agents and editors’ spots are full. Participants can register for any number of lightning pitches; we’ll schedule these before, after, and/or in-between your other meetings.
Alternatively, if the editor(s) and/or agent(s) you want have only waitlists, you can sign up for 1-2 query letter critiques and tell George who you want to meet with. Before the end of the query letter critique meeting, you can pitch them and ask whether they’re interested in receiving a full/partial manuscript after the conference. This strategy has helped numerous participants create opportunities in previous conferences, sometimes leading to a publication or representation contract.
We recommend selecting as many guests as you can rather than doing multiple critiques or pitches with the same individual–put as many irons in the fire as possible to increase your chances of being asked to submit a full manuscript for publication (from acquisitions editors) or for representation (from literary agents) consideration.
If you have a self-published work you now want to traditionally publish, each guest has specified near the bottom of their profile whether they will consider previously published work.
IN-PERSON ACQUISITIONS EDITOR/PUBLISHER & LITERARY AGENT PROFILES FOR MANUSCRIPT SAMPLE CRITIQUES & QUERY LETTER PITCHES
Ritu Anand, Agent, D4EO Literary Agency
Ritu Anand has been a passionate storyteller since childhood. Caught and admonished for writing—under her desk—during a math class, she recalls being highly inconvenienced. Inspiration had struck from within, and there was little else she could have done to curtail it. Today, Ritu has earned the recognition of being an award-winning author of Kara’s Dreams, a picture book about being resilient in the face of adversity. She gives tremendous credit to the various teachers at Mater Dei Convent, who, in the formative years of her life, made an impression upon her. No good story should ever be filed away but be shared, she believes. That is why she has chosen to champion voices yet unheard. She joined D4EO Literary Agency in Spring 2023. Her clientele has been growing. Soon, she will share some good news about two of her clients catching the interest of two different publishers.
She is open to reading any and all submissions from picture and chapter books (i.e., kidlit) to adult fiction, except science fiction and erotica.
The fiction genres she is seeking include the following:
- Children’s picture books
- Children’s chapter books
- Christian
- Coming-of-age
- Contemporary
- Family saga/drama
- Fantasy
- Historical
- Horror/Supernatural
- Humor
- LGBTQ+
- Literary
- Mainstream/Commercial (incl. magical realism)
- Middle Grade
- Mystery/Crime
- Romance
- Short story collection
- Southern
- Speculative fiction/myths & fairy tales
- Sports
- Suspense
- Thriller
- Upmarket commercial/Book club
- Women’s fiction
- Young Adult
She just wants to be surprised so she never knows what she’s looking for, other than beautiful writing, with emotional resonance.
Ritu will only consider unpublished manuscripts.
Ritu‘s