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Q&A Friday

What Not To Do Edition

Kate McKean
Sep 05, 2025
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Hi friends,

I’m in full denial that summer is over, so let’s answer some reader questions to distract ourselves.

A asks: I have a question that is selfishly personal but may also be relevant to your readers:

If you have agreed to meet one-on-one with prospective authors at a conference (say, the James River Writers Conference, as a completely random example…), do you expect these to be formal pitch meetings?

Put differently, if a writer knows her full manuscript will not be pitch ready by the meeting date, should she bow out of the meeting so she doesn’t waste your time? Or are you open to having an informal chat about the project, the industry, your book, etc.?

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