Panel Schedule

Time and Location

Panel Details

10:00am – 11:15am, location to come

The Curious World of Literary Magazines  

Book publishers often look for a writer with a built-in audience. Literary magazines, on the other hand, tend to put the story before the writer. It’s not surprising, then, that many authors find their start in the magazine world. Four editors from renowned publications discuss the role of magazines within the rapidly evolving literary scene. 

Panelists: Lynne Tillman, Fiction Editor, FENCE; Brigid Hughes, Founding Editor, A Public Space; Maria Gagliano, Co-founder and Co-publisher, Slice Literary; Randy Rosenthal, Co-Publisher, The Coffin Factory; Moderator: Mary Gannon, Editorial Director, Poets & Writers

10:00am – 11:15am, location to come

Self-Publishing: A Path to Success, or Just Plain Desperate?

Why should you bother clamoring for an agent and publisher when you can get your book up on Amazon and iBooks today? But will self-publishing your book help get the attention of a publisher—or will it just make you look desperate? Two editors and an agent talk about the stigma (or lack thereof) that goes with self-publishing. Determine whether self-publishing could be a good option for your project, or if you’re better off following the traditional publishing path. 

Moderator: Kirby Kim, Agent, WME Entertainment; Panelists: Caitlin Alexander, Freelance Editor; Hana Landes, Associate Editor, Spiegel & Grau/Random House; Jon Fine, Amazon.com.

11:30am – 12:45pm, location to come

Getting Past the Gatekeeper: Nonfiction

The journey to becoming a published author is rarely straightforward. Typically, it’s full of unexpectedly twists and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And that’s just to get to step one: securing an agent. Four agents who specialize in nonfiction discuss how first-time authors can get their attention, in addition to some of the pitfalls that prompt them to send a query straight to the reject pile.

Panelists: Elizabeth Evans, Agent, The Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency; Vicky Bijur, Agent, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency; Sarah Burnes, Agent, The Gernert Company; and Mitchell S. Waters, Agent, Curtis Brown, Ltd. Moderator: Meredith Kaffel, Agent, DeFiore & Company.

11:30am – 12:45pm, location to come

Do Editors Really Edit?     

Word on the street is that editors don’t actually edit. In fact, they want nothing to do with your book unless it’s flawless when submitted. So much for getting discovered by a publisher and growing your career with them. Gone are the days of hand writing letters to your editor. Or are they? Three editors talk about how much work they really put into shaping manuscripts, and how editors’ roles have changed over the last few decades.

Panelists: Libby Edelson, Associate Editor, Ecco/HarperCollins; Helen Atsma, Senior Editor, Grand Central Publishing; Sarah Bowlin, Editor, Henry Holt & Co.; Laura Perciasepe, Editor, Riverhead/Penguin; Moderator: Michelle Brower, Agent, Folio Literary Management

1:00pm – 2:30pm, cafeteria

 Catered lunch

2:45pm – 4:00pm, location to come

Mock Book Auction   

With the help of a savvy literary agent, your manuscript has landed on the desk of editors at top publishing houses. You hope that one of them wants to buy your work… and then you discover that three are ready to make an offer! Your agent decides to arrange an auction. What happens next? Three editors and an agent will walk you through a mock book auction. How does an agent come up with auction parameters? Who makes the big decisions? How do editors come up with their offers?

Panelists: Maya Ziv, Editor, HarperCollins; Heather Lazare, Senior Editor, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Melissa Danaczko, Editor, Doubleday/Random House; Moderator: Kate Kennedy, Freelance Editor

2:45pm – 4:00pm, location to come

All the Web's a Stage

Everyone’s telling you to get on Twitter. Start a blog. Get on Facebook—but don’t just post pictures of your kids. Social media can be overwhelming, but with the right approach, it can actually help build an author’s audience and catch a publisher’s attention. Agents and editors offer advice on the best ways to use Twitter, Facebook, and blogs effectively. They will also share stories of authors they discovered through these mediums, and what they did to get the right kind of attention.

Panelists: Byrd Leavell, Agent, The Waxman Agency; Richard Nash, founder/CEO, Cursor; Erin Malone, Agent, WME Entertainment; Moderator: Miriam Parker, Marketing Director, Grand Central Publishing

4:15pm – 5:45pm, location to come

Brooklyn's Bright Young Literary Things

In the chaos of writing, revising, submitting to publishers, and enduring constant rejection, it's easy to feel that you'll never get your work published. Making that leap from aspiring author to published novelist can seem a lifetime away, but it will happen. Today's newly published authors can attest to that. Five bright young novelists discuss their journey from writer's desk to bookstore shelf. Find out what challenges they overcame, how they got their big break, and how their experience of finally getting published stood up to their years of dreaming and idealizing.

Panelists: Justin Taylor, author of The Gospel of Anarchy (Harper Perennial); Adam Wilson, author of Flatscreen (Harper Perennial), Honor Molloy, author of Smarty Girl -- Dublin Savage; Julie Sarkissian, author of Dear Lucy (Simon & Schuster). Moderator: Michael Signorelli, Editor, HarperCollins

5:45pm – 6:00pm, location to come

A Word from the Founders of Slice Literary

Time and Location

Panel Details

10:00am – 11:15am, location to come

Behind the Editorial Meeting Doors   

You agonized over every painstaking detail of your book, and your agent has finally sent it out on submission. All you can do now is wait as editors read—and critique!—your life’s work. What’s really going on behind those editorial meeting doors? Meet the people around the boardroom table, from the decision makers who can make or break a career over their morning coffee to the eager assistants dying to make their first acquisition. Discover why editors pass on projects, what they look for, and how they go to bat for you when pitching your project to their supervisors.

Panelists: Jill Schwartzman, Executive Editor, Dutton/Penguin; Paul Taunton, Senior Editor, Knopf/Random House Canada; Cara Bedick, Editor, The Experiment; Moderator: Adam Wilson, author of Flatscreen (Harper Perennial)

10:00am – 11:15am, location to come

Off The Shelf

Independent bookstores aren't going anywhere! An indie bookstore is one of the last stops for a book before it lands in your hand.  For emerging writers, this type of bookstore is a haven, a place that pulls out a chair, offers you a seat, and introduces you to old friends (those treasured avid readers). Five local bookstore gurus talk about the indie lit scene and how they've managed to stay afloat--and even thrive--in the ever-changing publishing world.

Panelists: Amanda Bullock, Director of Public Programming, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe; Stephanie Anderson, Manager, WORD; and more to come. Moderator: Emi Ikkanda, Henry Holt & Co.

11:30am – 12:45pm, location to come

All the People Behind the Book

Everyone knows an agent is your ticket to a book deal. From there, an editor will transform your manuscript into a living, breathing book. But a book’s entourage doesn’t end there. It takes an entire team to turn a book into a bestseller—and some of the most important players never step out from behind the curtain. A sales director, a publicity director, an art director, and a marketing manager talk about the behind-the-scenes work that turns a regular book into a major seller. Spoiler alert: It’s not always about the writing.

Panelists: Patrick Nolan, Vice President and Paperback Sales Director, Penguin; Nellys Li, Assistant Art Director, Putnam/Penguin; and more to come; Moderator: Justin Taylor, author of The Gospel of Anarchy (Harper Perennial)

11:30am – 12:45pm, location to come

Getting Past the Gatekeeper: Fiction

It's impossible to keep up with the next big trend in bestselling fiction. But whether it's vampires, werewolves, or robots, it doesn't matter--you don't need to tailor your novel to the next big fad. Four agents who specialize in fiction talk about what they feel the next bestseller wave will be; how writers can make their book stand out without following trends; and common mistakes first-time novelists make when sending queries.

Panelists: Renee Zuckerbrot, Agent, Renee Zuckerbrot Literary Agency; Eleanor Jackson, Agent, Markson Thoma Literary Agency; Paul Lucas, Agent, Janklow & Nesbit; Carrie Howland, Agent, Donadio and Olson, Inc. Moderator: Kari Stuart, Agent, ICM

1:00pm – 2:30pm, cafeteria

 Catered lunch

2:45pm – 4:00pm, location to come

Beyond Our Shores

A subrights pro can help transform your book into an international bestseller. Three leaders in the field talk about how they sell books around the world. What are the latest trends? Which books found a second life abroad? What can authors do to help make their book more appealing to foreign publishers?    

Panelists: Kerry C. Nordling, Director/Subsidiary Rights, St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Children's Publishing Group; Devon Mazzone, Director/Subsidiary Rights, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Henry Holt and Company/Picador; Chelsea Lindman, Agent and Director of Foreign Rights, The Nicholas Ellison Agency; Lance Fitzgerald, Vice President, Director of Subsidiary Rights, Simon and Schuster/Touchstone; Moderator: Meg Leder, Senior Editor, Perigee/Penguin

2:45pm – 4:00pm, location to come

A Book is a Book is—Online?     

Words have jumped off the page and onto a wide array of electronic devices. What does this mean for the future of the books, short stories, and writing in general? Digital specialists from talk about how books aren’t dying; they’re just taking on a new shape. What are the latest trends? What can we expect from the digital realm in the next few years? And how can emerging authors take advantage of this new direction in publishing.

Panelists: Jay Sones, Director of Marketing, Crown and Hogarth/Random House; Benjamin Samuel, Editor, Electric Literature; Katherine McCahill, Senior Digital Product Manager, Penguin; Jason Allen Ashlock, Agent, Movable Type Management

4:15pm – 5:45pm, location to come

A View from Brooklyn: Four Local Novelists on How Their Work Got from Their Writing Desks to the Bookstore Shelf

Every great novelist started out as an aspiring writer, alone with their ideas and ambitions. They toiled away on manuscript drafts, gleaning inspiration from their literary heroes while composing what would eventually become their generation’s next bestselling novel. In this panel, four Brooklyn-based novelists talk about their personal journey to becoming a published author. Discover which writers inspired them, their earliest memories of trying to write, and the small steps that ultimately led them to publishing their first work.

Panelists: Lev Grossman, author of The Magician King (Penguin); Jami Attenberg, author of the forthcoming The Middlesteins (Grand Central Publishing); Kurt Andersen, author of the forthcoming True Believers (Random House); and Joanna Smith Rakoff, author of A Fortunate Age. Moderator: Evan Hughes, author of Literary Brooklyn.

5:45pm – 6:00pm, location to come

A Word from the Founders of Slice Literary