Agent/Concierge Consultations

 AGENT CONVERSATIONS VERSUS SPEED DATING 

You are probably wondering why we’re offering two different ways to meet with an agent. This can be confusing, so here is an explanation the difference.

The wonderful agents who come to meet with you are excited to hear your book pitch. They are shopping for the next bestseller. Katharine Sands of the Sarah Jane Freymann Agency in New York told us that writers’ conferences are like Costco for agents. That’s why they spend four hours, three minutes at a time, Speed Dating with attendees whose books are ready to sell. We offer a number of breakouts and events during the conference to help you perfect your pitch before your speed-dating session Sunday morning. Speed Dating with agents is a conference classic and dramatically increases your chances of finding an agent to represent your work over simply querying by email.

This is a scheduled 15-minute meeting with the agent you select. You could make your pitch and even get feedback on it since the time slot is longer, but you can also just have a conversation about your work in progress, your writing career, the market, any questions you have about craft, commerce, and community. They can help you figure out where you really are in the process and what your next steps could be. It’s also a great opportunity to make a human connection and get over some of your nervousness about the pitching and querying to come.

The fee for the Agent Conversations is $100 for 15 minutes. CLICK HERE to schedule.

Throughout the conference, all of our presenters do their best to be available to meet you and answer your questions, but undivided attention is sometimes difficult to offer. We recognize that some people are shy and reluctant to approach a speaker who may have a crowd around him. Agent conversations are a way to ensure you get time to have the chat you need to move you forward.

In summary, if your focus is selling your book, Speed Dating is for you. If you’re not sure your book is ready, have questions about publishing, or want to meet your first agent in a less stressful setting, an Agent Conversation is where you can do that. Many attendees choose to do both. The fees charged for these add-ons support our nonprofit and help us create the best full spectrum writers conference in the country. We can’t wait to meet you there!

SFWC CONCIERGE PROGRAM

The conference helps launch authors and changes lives. However, with more than 100 breakout sessions and 350 writers, it can feel overwhelming. The Concierge Program with Kevin Smokler will fix that. Only a limited number of  attendees will have the chance to spend 30 minutes with Kevin, the SFWC’s educator in residence since 2007, for a consultation tailored to your book, your needs, your goals, and wherever you are in the writing and publishing process.

By the end, you will have a clearer sense of direction for your writing and your career, how best to use the conference to achieve your dreams. You will be better able to enjoy the conference and approach it with confidence. When you arrive on site for the conference, you will select a time/day slot for your consultation with Kevin from any of the available time slots. All selections are first come, first served.

All Concierge students receive …

  • guidance from one of the conference’s most knowledgeable and respected teachers.
  • Kevin’s private cell-phone number, so you can stay in contact with him throughout the conference.
  • 30 days of communication w/ Kevin following the conference

Kevin Smokler has been a speaker and teacher who has helped over 200 attendees at the conference since 2007. He is the author of Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to 80s Teen Movies (2016) Practical Classics (2013) and Bookmark Now (2005), a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2005. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Salon, Fast Company, Buzzfeed and on NPR. He speaks and teaches throughout North America on having the writing career you dream of. He lives in San Francisco, and the conference is his favorite event of the year.

Fee: $75, which Kevin donates for scholarships for future conference attendees.
CLICK HERE to reserve your consultation!

 

AUTHOR COACHING

As an attendee at one of the largest writers’ conferences, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and end up with more questions than you had when you arrived. But we want you to leave with your questions answered and the knowledge necessary to achieve your writing goals.

Nina Amir:
Whether you questions relate to publishing paths, planning a book, writing for publications, blogging, book marketing, author platform, or something else related to writing and publishing, Nina Amir is here to answer them. When she isn’t speaking at the SFWC, Nina donates her time to benefit attendees and the conference itself by providing Author Coaching sessions. You can spend 30 minutes in a one-on-one coaching session with Nina, who is a SFWC success story. She has attended the conference 13 times—her first two times as an attendee, like you.

These consultations are tailored to your book, your needs, your goals, and wherever you are in the writing and publishing process. At the end of your session, you’ll have a clearer sense of how best to spend your time at the conference, and how to get from where you are to where you want to go as a writer and author.

When you arrive on site for the conference, you will select a time/day slot for your consultation with Nina from any of the available time slots. All selections are first come first served.

Fee: $75, which Nina donates for scholarships for future conference attendees. CLICK HERE to reserve your consultation!

Diane Frank has coached hundreds of writers into publication, as a teacher, a mentor, and Chief Editor of Blue Light Press. She is a multi-genre author – seven books of poems, two novels, and a photo memoir of her 400-mile trek in the Nepal Himalayas. Blackberries in the Dream House, her first novel, won the Chelson Award for Fiction and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Canon for Bears and Ponderosa Pines received honors in the San Francisco Book Festival and a Pushcart nomination. Letters from a Sacred Mountain Place: A Journey through the Nepal Himalayas invites you into the magic of the mountains with stories, poems and 53 color photographs. Diane teaches at San Francisco State University and Dominican University, and she directs the Blue Light Press On-Line Poetry Workshop. She is editor of the bestselling anthology, River of Earth and Sky: Poems for the 21st Century. She also plays cello in the Golden Gate Symphony. For more information about her books: www.dianefrank.net 

Fee: $75, which Diane donates for scholarships for future conference attendees. CLICK HERE to reserve your consultation!

You MUST be a Registered Attendee to the Main Conference to take advantage of ANY of the above listed offerings.