But My Writing Isn’t Ready…

Here’s the thing. To attend Agent Fest, you don’t need to be ready to pitch. Yes, you can sign up to pitch up to three agents when you register…but that’s in no way mandatory!

But why would I register for Agent Fest if I’m not ready to pitch? My manuscript isn’t even ready!

I’m not going to recommend pitching a book that isn’t ready (though it’s happened, and successfully. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after attending all of these Agent Fests it’s that every single path to agent representation and publication is different!) but I *do* recommend attending Agent Fest even if you’re not finished writing your book.

Say what?

I’m not just selling things here. I’ve attended Agent Fests when I didn’t have a book ready to pitch and have learned things that made me rethink my approach to my current work in progress!

A lot of the things that writers dread about the publishing process: the pitch, the query, the proposal–exactly the topics covered at Agent Fest by literary agents–well, they’re an incredibly useful exercise in shaping your work. You’ll find yourself asking, what IS my book about?

That’s a very, very important question, and knowing the answer is going to get you closer to finishing it.

We’re all in different stages in the process of writing. Taking a side step from the words themselves to learn from literary agents about the craft and process of *publishing* can give us a new way of looking at the craft and process of writing. It forces us to look at our work from the outside in, and that’s a whole different panorama. It’s like when you see a photo of yourself from your friend’s wedding and think, “Oh, maybe tangerine isn’t my color, after all” (Or better yet: “Wow, tangerine really IS my color!”)

You need to ask yourself, does my book sound like what I’m pitching? You might find that you need to make adjustments. Better to do it now! Thinking about your pitch, query letter, and/or proposal *before* you’re finished can help you refine your work before it’s completed. And then, when your manuscript is ready, the next steps are already demystified and you’re ahead of the game because you’ve been writing with them in mind.

You don’t have to pitch at Agent Fest but you can learn how to, whether you go in front of an agent or sit in on the Practice Pitch Sessions. You can learn how to make your first pages shine too, if you check out our AfterHours First Page Read sessions! And then of course, there are the sessions taught by the literary agents themselves.

They want you to succeed, and we all want to help you get it there!

All attendees will receive available session materials and have access to the recordings for 90 days following the event

Take a look at our Agent Faculty for their bios and wishlists

Check out the schedule!

Register for Agent Fest Online 2025

 

Don’t worry if you have to miss a session—or if one of them was so good you wish you could see it again (because that will apply to all of them)—each session will be recorded on Zoom and available to you for 90 days following the conference.

Check out the full descriptions of the sessions and times here

Placing an ad in one of our conference programs, conference-specific emails, or our weekly newsletter* is a way to get your information out to interested writers!

Click the button below for more details on what advertising opportunities we offer.

*currently we have ~4,000 subscribers with a ~45% open rate

Learn more about how you can advertise in our MWW25 program and emails!

Are You in a Writing Slump? Write With Us!

The “Wednesday Write-In with MWW” is a 30-minute Zoom session, first Wednesday of the month, where we get together and WRITE.

It might seem weird to have the Brady-Bunch Zoom screen filled with people not talking to each other, but please trust me: It works. It creates an accountability; it creates a space where your sole purpose is to get words down on paper. I might allow for a *little* chit-chat 🙂

To accommodate people’s availability, we will alternate morning sessions and evening sessions. Let’s dedicate 30 minutes of our day, once a month, to generating words and developing our craft!

Subscribe to our newsletter for the monthly link!

Success Stories

Finish an essay, a book, a paragraph? Have something published? Tell us about something exciting you’ve done with writing and/or publishing in the past year. Bonus points if you can tell us how MWW has made an impact on your writing.

Send your success stories to midwestwritersworkshop@gmail.com and we’ll post it on our website!

MWW is dedicated to building a community where writers can networkwith others and grow.

 

SEE WHAT ELSE MWW HAS TO OFFER

• MWW Writing Service: Receive manuscript evaluations from our experts
• Midwest Writers Workshop Facebook Group: Join our community to network, support, celebrate, and commiserate with other writers

Join Our Mailing List

Here’s the thing. To attend Agent Fest, you don’t need to be ready to pitch. Yes, you can sign up to pitch up to three agents when you register…but that’s in no way mandatory!

But why would I register for Agent Fest if I’m not ready to pitch? My manuscript isn’t even ready!

I’m not going to recommend pitching a book that isn’t ready (though it’s happened, and successfully. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after attending all of these Agent Fests it’s that every single path to agent representation and publication is different!) but I *do* recommend attending Agent Fest even if you’re not finished writing your book.

Say what?

I’m not just selling things here. I’ve attended Agent Fests when I didn’t have a book ready to pitch and have learned things that made me rethink my approach to my current work in progress!

A lot of the things that writers dread about the publishing process: the pitch, the query, the proposal–exactly the topics covered at Agent Fest by literary agents–well, they’re an incredibly useful exercise in shaping your work. You’ll find yourself asking, what IS my book about?

That’s a very, very important question, and knowing the answer is going to get you closer to finishing it.

We’re all in different stages in the process of writing. Taking a side step from the words themselves to learn from literary agents about the craft and process of *publishing* can give us a new way of looking at the craft and process of writing. It forces us to look at our work from the outside in, and that’s a whole different panorama. It’s like when you see a photo of yourself from your friend’s wedding and think, “Oh, maybe tangerine isn’t my color, after all” (Or better yet: “Wow, tangerine really IS my color!”)

You need to ask yourself, does my book sound like what I’m pitching? You might find that you need to make adjustments. Better to do it now! Thinking about your pitch, query letter, and/or proposal *before* you’re finished can help you refine your work before it’s completed. And then, when your manuscript is ready, the next steps are already demystified and you’re ahead of the game because you’ve been writing with them in mind.

You don’t have to pitch at Agent Fest but you can learn how to, whether you go in front of an agent or sit in on the Practice Pitch Sessions. You can learn how to make your first pages shine too, if you check out our AfterHours First Page Read sessions! And then of course, there are the sessions taught by the literary agents themselves.

They want you to succeed, and we all want to help you get it there!

All attendees will receive available session materials and have access to the recordings for 90 days following the event

Take a look at our Agent Faculty for their bios and wishlists

Check out the schedule!

Register for Agent Fest Online 2025

 

Don’t worry if you have to miss a session—or if one of them was so good you wish you could see it again (because that will apply to all of them)—each session will be recorded on Zoom and available to you for 90 days following the conference.

Check out the full descriptions of the sessions and times here

Placing an ad in one of our conference programs, conference-specific emails, or our weekly newsletter* is a way to get your information out to interested writers!

Click the button below for more details on what advertising opportunities we offer.

*currently we have ~4,000 subscribers with a ~45% open rate

Learn more about how you can advertise in our MWW25 program and emails!

Are You in a Writing Slump? Write With Us!

The “Wednesday Write-In with MWW” is a 30-minute Zoom session, first Wednesday of the month, where we get together and WRITE.

It might seem weird to have the Brady-Bunch Zoom screen filled with people not talking to each other, but please trust me: It works. It creates an accountability; it creates a space where your sole purpose is to get words down on paper. I might allow for a *little* chit-chat 🙂

To accommodate people’s availability, we will alternate morning sessions and evening sessions. Let’s dedicate 30 minutes of our day, once a month, to generating words and developing our craft!

Subscribe to our newsletter for the monthly link!

Success Stories

Finish an essay, a book, a paragraph? Have something published? Tell us about something exciting you’ve done with writing and/or publishing in the past year. Bonus points if you can tell us how MWW has made an impact on your writing.

Send your success stories to midwestwritersworkshop@gmail.com and we’ll post it on our website!

MWW is dedicated to building a community where writers can networkwith others and grow.

 

SEE WHAT ELSE MWW HAS TO OFFER

• MWW Writing Service: Receive manuscript evaluations from our experts
• Midwest Writers Workshop Facebook Group: Join our community to network, support, celebrate, and commiserate with other writers

Join Our Mailing List