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2017 Agents & Editors Conference
Update 5/2/17- FEATURED SPEAKERS
Keynote Luncheon Tickets Are Now Available.
Don't Miss Out on Agent/Editor Consultations.
And Book Your Hotel Room Now.
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Hello, 2017 A&E Conference Registrants!
Happy May! Hard to believe, but it's less than two months until conference time. As we get closer to the big weekend, we're excited to announce our featured speakers, starting with our Saturday Keynote Luncheon speaker, award-winning author Ken Liu. You can read more about Ken and our two additional featured speakers here.
In this mailer, you'll also find the following:
- information on purchasing Keynote Luncheon tickets (now available)
- information on our Saturday Keynote Reception and our Saturday Opening Session speakers
- a reminder about purchasing one-on-one consultations (now available), and
- a reminder about hotel room reservations (act fast, before our block sells out!)
- a link to the Facebook event page (please join!).
Of course, if you have questions on anything here--or anything else A&E Conference related--give us a call. We're always happy to hear from you.
We're looking forward to seeing you in Austin soon!
-- WLT Staff
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Introducing Our Featured Speakers
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Saturday Keynote Luncheon
We're thrilled to be bringing award-winning author
Ken Liu to the 2017 A&E Conference for a Keynote Luncheon talk entitled
"Three Times My Career Almost Ended and How I Learned to Love This Unpredictable Life."
Ken Liu's novels and stories have been widely praised and have earned him a long list of awards, but he nearly quit writing (more than once) before winning any of them. No stranger to the rejection, self doubt, and setbacks that all writers face, Ken will share with us his own eye-opening and inspiring story, including the highs and lows of his journey to being a published author and what it is about "this unpredictable life" of a writer he just can't quit.
Join us for the Saturday Keynote Luncheon to mingle with fellow conference participants, enjoy a 3-course meal, and hear Ken's story firsthand.
About Ken Liu
Ken
is an author and translator of speculative fiction, as well as a lawyer and programmer. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he has been published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's, Analog, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Strange Horizons, among other places.
Ken's debut novel, The Grace of Kings, is the first volume in a silkpunk epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty. It won the Locus Best First Novel Award and was a Nebula finalist. He subsequently published the second volume in the series, The Wall of Storms as well as a collection of short stories, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories.
In addition to his original fiction, Ken is also the translator of numerous literary and genre works from Chinese to English. His translation of The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin, won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015, the first translated novel ever to receive that honor. He also translated the third volume in Liu Cixin's series, Death's End and edited the first English-language anthology of contemporary Chinese science fiction, Invisible Planets.
He lives with his family near Boston, MA.
About the Saturday Keynote Luncheon
The luncheon is optional and is the only additional ticketed event at the A&E Conference. If you choose not to purchase a ticket, there will be a lunch break in the program during this time (12:15pm to 1:45pm) so that you can find food elsewhere (and take a much-needed break after a full morning).
All luncheon attendees will enjoy a three-course seated meal and will receive a copy of the speaker's award-winning novel The Grace of Kings. Tickets are available now for $40.
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Saturday Keynote Reception
Featuring Acclaimed Memoirist and Storyteller
Jamie Brickhouse
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About Jamie Brickhouse Born and raised in Texas, Jamie is the author of the critically acclaimed
Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir of Booze, Sex, and My Mother. It's "Required Reading" in Mary Karr's
The Art of Memoir, and received stellar reviews from numerous publications, including
Vanity Fair,
Entertainment Weekly,
Interview,
The Washington Post, and
Texas Monthly.
Dangerous When Wet, a solo stage show based on the memoir and directed by Obie Award-winning David Drake, won the off-off-Broadway 2017 Frigid Festival "Audience Choice Award" and was called "a mighty piece masquerading as a small one-man show" by
NY Theater Guide.
Jamie is a two-time Moth StorySLAM winner, a Literary Death Match champion, and has performed at countless live storytelling shows in New York City and across the country. Jamie spent over two decades in the publishing industry, most recently at two major houses as head of their publicity and lecture divisions. He is founder and CEO of redBrick Agency, a lecture bureau for authors.
About the Saturday Keynote Reception
The reception (5:30pm to 7:30pm) is open to all conference registrants and is the perfect way to cap off a busy day: with snacks; a cash bar; mingling with writers, agents, and editors; and a story. Attendees will receive a copy of the speaker's memoir
Dangerous When Wet.
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Saturday Opening Session
A Conversation with Carrie Thornton, Editorial Director, Dey Street Books
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Carrie Thornton joined Dey Street Books in 2011. Prior to joining Dey Street, Carrie was Executive Editor at Dutton Books. She also worked for nearly a decade in various editorial roles at the Crown Publishing Group where she oversaw the Three Rivers Press list and acquired across several imprints. While she currently focuses only on media driven non-fiction publishing, she has edited a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and illustrated books in her career. She has a keen interest in the areas of humor, music and memoir.
Some of her titles include the #1 New York Times bestseller Yes Please by Amy Poehler, the New York Times bestsellers Girl in a Band by artist and Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, Not My Father's Son by actor and activist Alan Cumming, My Drunk Kitchen by Youtube personality Hannah Hart, Fast Girl by Suzy Favor Hamilton, Pretty Happy by actress and entrepreneur Kate Hudson, Bare Bones by radio personality Bobby Bones, Rejected Princesses by Pixar effects specialist Jason Porath and Every Little Step by Bobby Brown. Some of her upcoming projects include Pretty Fun by Kate Hudson, We're Going to Need More Wine by actress and activist Gabrielle Union, Meet Me in the Bathroom by journalist Lizzy Goodman, A New Model by supermodel Ashley Graham, Mean Dads for a Better America by comedian and Fox News Network host Tom Shillue, Being a Dad is Weird by actor and filmmaker Ben Falcone and Sister of Darkness by exorcist Rachel Stavis.
Carrie is also the longtime editor of beloved Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield, and has worked with a wide array of talented authors including urban fantasy powerhouse Kelley Armstrong, the editors of The Onion, comedian Jeff Dunham, Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson and bestselling author and podcast superstar Adam Carolla. Carrie is originally from Norfolk, Virginia and is a graduate of The College of William and Mary.
About the Saturday Opening Session
We'll kick off our day on Saturday with a general session (9:00am to 10:00am) open to all conference registrants and featuring a conversation with Carrie Thornton, Editorial Director of Dey Street Books, who has over twenty years of experience in the industry. Carrie will be in conversation with WLT Executive Director Becka Oliver.
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Secure Your Consultation (Deadline: 5/15/17)
One-on-one consultations with agents and editors are now available for purchase. For more information and a link to the Consultation Purchase Form, click
here. Whether you have a complimentary consultation or you choose to purchase a consultation,
the deadline for submitting completed forms is May 15 midnight.At this time, all registrants are limited to no more than one (1) consultation.
- To meet our agents, click here.
- To meet our editors, click here.
- To read agent and editor Q&As, click here.
Reserve Your Hotel Room
The conference venue, the Hyatt Regency Austin, has set aside a block of discounted rooms for A&E Conference registrants for dates before, during, and after the event.
- To learn about the hotel and book your rooms, click here.
The special group rate is available until June 1 and these rooms will fill up, so book now if you want to be assured a spot.
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Conference Updates to Come
Be Looking for More Emails with This Information
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We've created a Facebook event page for the 2017 Agents & Editors Conference where we'll be sharing updates, reminders, and more in the coming weeks. If you're on Facebook, we encourage you to "join" the event, click here.
Presenter and Panelist Bios: Nearly 100 authors, publicists, booksellers, and other industry professionals will speak at the conference. We'll be sharing information about these participants in the weeks leading up to the event.
A Sneak Peak at the Conference Program: Panels, presentations, genre meetings, exhibitors, receptions, the Pitch Lab, and more.
The conference program will be available on the website no later than June 15.
After May 15, we'll also offer registrants the chance to purchase a second consultation, pending availability.
Finally, be sure to visit our website for past conference mailers and check out the A&E Conference FAQs for the answers to questions you may not even know you have. (And, remember, you can also call us at 512-499-8914 anytime!)
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This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.
Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.
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Writers' League of Texas classes and workshops are also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts - Investing in a Creative Texas. For more information, go to
www.arts.texas.gov
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