Want to be a speaker at WriteOnCon?

Want to be a WriteOnCon speaker?

We’re always looking for new kidlit voices to join our speaker lineup! If you’re interested in participating, please have a quick read through our eligibility criteria below.

All speakers must work within the kidlit industry — picture books, chapter books, middle grade and young adult. New adult is represented in our forums but we aren’t currently including speakers from this category as it is currently officially classified as a subcategory of adult fiction.

WriteOnCon is committed to offering high-quality and reliable content. In order to ensure that our participating professionals have the necessary experience and expertise to speak well on their selected topics or offer reliable feedback to attendees, we have established a set of criteria used when considering potential speakers.

Our conference has a primary focus on traditional publishing, which by its nature operates through a system of so-called “gatekeepers”. Because it is not possible for WriteOnCon staff to read the books of every interested applicant, we look to these organizations to help us evaluate whether the individuals associated with them would be suitable for our conference.

It is easier for us to determine that an organization publishes quality books than it is for us to consider the merit of any given book. We recognize that this is an imperfect system; some organizations excluded by our criteria may include among their lists some excellent books, while other organizations that we have approved may offer a few “duds”. But in looking at the list as a whole, and the overall practices of the organization, we can feel reasonably confident in offering a speaker position to one of their professionals.

We have listed below the criteria that we use in evaluating presses and agencies for eligibility.

Because we are primarily focused on traditional publishing, vanity presses and self-published authors are by default only eligible for our conference subsection called “Indie HQ”. Please note that IndieHQ will not appear in WriteOnCon 2022, but may return next year. Authors with outstanding self-publishing sales records may be invited to speak individually on self-publishing as part of the main conference, but are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

WriteOnCon reserves the right to make eligibility calls on a case-by-case basis.

By Profession

Authors

If you are a published author or a pre-pub author with a debut releasing the same year as the conference, we’d love to have you!

Authors are generally considered on the basis of their publisher, but their literary agency may be taken into consideration in some circumstances. House editors, publicists, and other industry professionals are always considered based on the publisher by whom they are employed, while literary agents and agent assistants are considered by the agency with which they are associated. Occasionally, we may choose during consideration to include or prioritize a speaker’s prior employment history or experience, where applicable and at our discretion. In rare instance, some professions not mentioned here (eg. booksellers, librarians) may be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Debuts

Debut authors with a traditionally published book releasing in the year of the conference are eligible! For instance, if the conference dates are in March 2022 then a debut releasing in December 2022 (even after the conference!) is eligible, while a debut releasing in January 2023 is only eligible for the next year’s con.

Traditionally Published

We are currently accepting authors from both large and small presses as participants in our main conference events.

Micropresses & Self-Published

Authors from micropresses and self-published authors are unfortunately not eligible for 2022. We hope to bring back our IndieHQ subsection later; if you would like to get on our list to be notified when that happens, please fill out this form.

If you’re not sure if you are signed with a small press or micropress, please contact us anyway and we’ll place you in the right spot.

Literary Agents

We love the insight from our agent speakers!

We are currently accepting agents who are part of an established literary agency with documented kidlit sales to presses that don’t accept unagented submissions. We are also open to new agents with no sales yet but who are part of such an agency. Boutique agencies who fit these criteria are also welcome.

Literary agencies that do not have a number of sales to major or large traditional publishing houses are considered amateur agencies. The agents at these agencies may all be lovely people, but we are unable to satisfactorily judge their industry expertise or editorial knowledge or ability.

Please see the Criteria for Literary Agencies below. You are welcome to email us for further information.

Editors

We can never get enough editor voices!

We are currently accepting editors from both large and small presses who work in one or more of the kidlit categories indicated above.

We unfortunately aren’t currently able to accommodate editors from micropresses or independent presses due to the difficulty in vetting their authenticity and their often transient nature.

Freelance editors may also be considered on an individual basis, using their testimonials, clientele, length of operations, and professional associations and memberships as some of the indicators of their knowledge and experience.

Please read the Criteria for Traditional Publishing Houses and Presses below. You are welcome to email us for further information.

Other Industry Professionals

The kidlit industry is made up of more than just authors, agents and editors. If you work in some other area we’d love to have you speak about the industry from your perspective! Some examples of other professions include librarians, booksellers, publicists, cover designers, freelance editors and copyeditors, etc.

If you think you might fall into this category and would like to be a speaker, please reach out to us!

By Affiliation

Criteria for Literary Agencies

Any literary agency under consideration for WriteOnCon must meet all of the criteria outlined here in order to be considered eligible.

You are welcome to email us for further information.

The agency as a whole has multiple demonstrated sales to major and large publishing houses.
Senior agents have substantial relevant industry experience (eg. at other agencies or publishing houses) and/or a strong track record of sales to major and large publishing houses.
Junior agents have relevant industry experience and/or have worked as an intern or assistant at a reputable agency prior to being promoted to junior agent.
Neither the agency nor its agents charge reading fees or other fees to prospective clients.
There are no known issues with behavior, discrimination, harassment, or professionalism.

Criteria for Traditional Publishing Houses and Presses

It is not necessary for a house or press to meet all of these criteria in order to be considered eligible for WriteOnCon. However, they should meet a majority of them. Some criteria are weighted more heavily than others. WriteOnCon reserves the right to determine what “a majority” is in each instance of evaluation.

In general, we consider micropresses to be small publishers that may either be legitimate in operations but do not have a catalogue of sufficient size to judge publication quality or press longevity, or have certain features or operational histories that offer some concern as to their legitimacy and/or quality.

You are welcome to email us for further information.

The press does not charge reading fees, application fees, submission fees, or fees by any other name to have a manuscript considered by the press. Such fees will automatically disqualify the press from eligibility.
The press has been in operation for at least 3 years.
The press releases at least 6 books per year.
Senior editors have substantial relevant industry experience. This may be either prior employment with another press or literary agency, or a long history with their current employer. Education in a creative writing degree or similar is not deemed sufficient experience.
Junior editors have relevant industry employment background.
The catalogue includes authors or titles who have been nominated for mainstream awards or have hit bestseller lists.
Book covers appear professionally designed.
There is evidence of strong reader-oriented marketing efforts by the press. We recognize that with small presses this may be at a smaller level than that of which major publishers are capable.
The press’s books have reasonably good Goodreads ratings (eg. most 3.50 or better, with at least a few dozen ratings).
The press is a member of (or otherwise qualifies for) the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ PAL program.
The press has mainstream distribution through a large book distributor such as Ingram, Publishers Group West, Independent Publishers Group, Midpoint, Macmillan Distribution, Bertram, Baker & Taylor, etc.
There are no known issues with behavior, discrimination, harassment, or professionalism.

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