Advance Registration for Sign-up Events

The advance sign-up period has ended. The results are here.

Between now and the end of July, you may sign up for available sessions via email on a 1st-come, 1st-served basis. If you wish to cancel a session, please let us know ASAP so others may sign up. The session PDF will be updated every week or so until August.

During the festival, schedules for Pitch Sessions & Blue Pencil Café will be available outside the Jasper Boardroom. Check with the volunteer on duty to see if there are available times due to cancellations, etc.

Please note that we have added a 2nd pitch session with Stacey Kondla (The Rights Factory) and 2 additional Query Cafe sessions. There is also still plenty of room in the Screenwriting Contest and Saturday Night Rapid Readings.

This year we have 6 types of events where Festival Passholders may sign-up in advance (All other sessions are rush seating):

    1. Pitch Sessions
    2. Blue Pencil Café
    3. Query Café
    4. Is Your Story Really Ready for Submission?
    5. Pick Mark’s Brain
    6. Saturday Night Rapid Readings

Click here for the event schedules. If you wish to sign up for an available session, please follow the instructions below. If you need to cancel any of your sessions, please let us know ASAP.

Pitch Sessions

Pitch sessions are 5 minutes long unless otherwise noted. Be prepared to present your elevator pitch and discuss your manuscript. If they like what they hear, you may be asked to send them your query or manuscript. Or you may receive feedback on how to improve your pitch technique. (Please check the agent/editor's web site for what they are looking for. Pitching your YA Steampunk manuscript to a house that only accepts Romance may be a hard sell.)

Blue Pencil Café

Once you have a session confirmed, please email your manuscript so we can forward it to the editor, giving them an opportunity to review it beforehand. (Also bring a printed copy with you.) Blue Pencil sessions are 12 minutes long; please do not provide more material than can be properly discussed in 12 minutes (usually 3 or 4 double-spaced pages).

Query Café

Similar to Blue Pencil, only it is your query letter that is being reviewed. This can be a query for an existing project, or a generic one you wish to use as a template. Once you have a session confirmed, please email your proposed letter so we can forward it to the editor, giving them an opportunity to review it beforehand. (Also bring a printed copy with you.) Query Café sessions are 12 minutes long.

Is Your Story Really Ready for Submission?

On Spec Magazine editors Barb Galler-Smith and Ann Marston provide full editorial critiques on your story (or Chapter 1) in a 20-minute one-on-one discussion. All genres. No more than 3500 words (query if longer). Once you have a session confirmed, please email your manuscriptso we can forward it to the editor, giving them an opportunity to review it beforehand. (Also bring a printed copy with you.)

Pick Mark’s Brain

Mark Leslie (Lefebvre) offers 20 minutes of one-on-one discussion where you can draw on his industry experience regarding Draft2Digital, Kobo, Amazon KDP Select vs Wide, Digital Publishing, Print and POD options for writers, or anything else you can think of.

Saturday Night Rapid Readings

Saturday Night Readings runs from 7-9 PM. These are Rapid Readings where each author has 10 minutes, allowing 12 authors to read from one of their published works. (Note: If you have a reading scheduled at a Book Social or other reading event, please opt-out of the Saturday evening readings as there are others for whom this will be their only reading opportunity. Thank you.)

To sign-up for an available spot in any of the above 6 events on a 1st-come-1st-served basis, send an email before June 22nd, filling in the following template segments that apply:

Pitch Sessions

List up to 3 pitch session you would like to attend in order of preference. e.g.

1. Sat 2 PM Nancy M Bell
2. Sat 12 PM JM Landels
 

Blue Pencil Café

List up to 5 Blue Pencil Cafes you would like to attend in order of preference. e.g.

1. Sat 1 PM Faye Arcand
2. Sun 12 PM  Ron S. Friedman
3. Friday 6 PM  Jonas Saul
 

Query Café

There is one 1 sessions schedule, so let us know if you would like to sign up.

Is Your Story Really Ready for Submission?

Let us know which hour (Sat 1, 2, or 3 PM) you would like to sign up for in order of preference. e.g.

OnSpec 2,1,3

Pick Mark’s Brain

Let us know which hour (Sun 10 AM, 12 PM, or 2 PM) you would like to sign up for in order of preference. e.g.

Mark 2,1,3

Saturday Night Readings

Let us know if you prefer to read early, late, whenever between 7 and 9 PM. e.g.

Rapid Readings early

After the Advance Sign-up window closes, we assign people to requested sessions. For overbooked sessions, will do a random draw. The results will be posted as a PDF on this page. Any remaining spots will be filled on a 1st-come, 1st-serve basis via info@whenwordscollide.org until the end of July. After which, you may check for openings during the festival with the volunteers outside the Heritage and Jasper rooms. If you feel you must cancel from a sessions, please let us know ASAP so we can make your spot available to others.

Note: Unlike most writers conference, these sessions are offered by editors and agents at no extra charge. Please respect their time and generosity by properly preparing for your session.