2027 Agent Roundtables

  • "I owe my writing career to Killer Nashville. I had sent the first draft of the novel, The Gallery of Beauties, to KN for a critique, and got the best input, so I resolved to go to the next conference. At that first conference, I learned so much, got acquainted and joined Sisters in Crime, pitched my first agent in a roundtable, and I was on my way to publication. I am grateful for all I've gotten from KN and recommend it to any new writers.”

    Nina Wachsman

  • “I got home yesterday from my first Killer Nashville, and I still feel like I’m flying. Thank you so much for the FANTASTIC conference. I met so many wonderful people and learned so much.”

    Lori Roberts Herbst

  • “As someone who hasn’t submitted to agents yet, the panel with the literary agents was one of my favorites. After attending it, I took the first pages of my manuscript to the Killer Nashville Agent / Editor Roundtable and received some great feedback, and also requests to see it once it is finished. Attending Killer Nashville helped me grow as a writer, and it inspired me to power through that first draft of my book.”

    Bonnie Bailey

AGENT ROUND TABLES - THE PROCESS

GET AN AGENT’S ATTENTION

You can spend months wondering whether your opening pages capture attention, or you can hear them read aloud in front of a literary agent and receive the agent’s direct professional response.

A Killer Nashville Agent Round Table places only five writers at a table with one participating literary agent and a volunteer reader for an intensive fifty-minute session. These sessions are available only for four-day registered attendees.

To this session, you will need to bring seven copies of the first two pages of your manuscript. Killer Nashville does not offer printing and copying services, but for a small fee, the hotel front desk will print for you.

For $75, your Agent Round Table includes:

  • A fifty-minute small-group session

  • Your choice of a specific participating literary agent, subject to availability

  • A table limited to only five writers

  • Your first two manuscript pages read aloud by a volunteer

  • The experience of hearing your pages exactly as a new reader encounters them

  • Individual verbal feedback from the literary agent

  • Constructive insight into your manuscript’s strengths

  • Professional guidance about weaknesses or opportunities for improvement

  • The option to introduce your project briefly

  • The opportunity to answer questions from the agent

  • The educational value of hearing the openings and agent feedback for four additional manuscripts

  • A natural, educational introduction to an agent who may represent your genre

  • The possibility that the agent may request additional pages if the project appears promising

  • A guaranteed seat at a limited-capacity table that always sells out

Five writers. One literary agent. Fifty focused minutes. Your opening pages read aloud and evaluated: $75.

This Is More Than a Pitch

A traditional pitch tells an agent what you believe the manuscript can do.

An Agent Round Table allows the agent to experience what the manuscript actually does.

You aren't relying entirely on your ability to sell the idea verbally. Your writing enters the conversation.

You Select the Agent

Participants choose the participating agent whose interests and professional focus appear most compatible with their work, subject to availability.

Before purchasing, review the genres the agent represents, the age categories they accept, and their current interests to determine whether your manuscript is a good fit.

You Receive Five Learning Experiences, Not One

While your manuscript receives individual attention, you'll also hear four other manuscript openings and the agent's responses to them.

Each session offers additional opportunities to learn about voice, character, pacing, conflict, and what captures a professional reader's attention.

A Request Is Possible—but Never Promised

If an agent believes a manuscript may fit their interests, they may request a partial or full manuscript.

Killer Nashville does not guarantee a manuscript request, representation, or publication. The goal is to provide an opportunity for professional feedback, exposure, and a potential connection.

2027 agent announcements are coming soon.

Add Agent /Editor Round Tables if You Are Already Registered for the Conference
Register for the Conference and Sign Up for Agent /Editor Round Tables

  • "My first experience at the conference was wonderful. I met so many nice people, everything ran as smoothly as possible, and I attained my goal of interesting an agent in seeing more of my work. The staff was as helpful as could be, the critiques were very useful, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself."

    Lucinda Gerlitz

  • “I met an editor at Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference and was able to pitch to her. She asked to see the whole manuscript, and two months later I had a contract.”

    Margaret Fenton

Our list of agents for the 2027 Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference is coming soon!

  • "I was able to meet with several agents and received multiple manuscript requests. But, what I found most astonishing, was when talking with agent Dean Krystek - who I met at the awards dinner - was when he told me that he was hoping to meet me - because you had told him about my submission and that he may be a good fit. I was blown away that you took the time to do that for me, someone you'd never met. Dean requested my manuscript!" 

    TJ Stecker

  • “I participated in two Killer Nashville Agent / Editor Roundtables. Although the editor didn’t feel the two pages I presented were a good fit for the line she represented, she kindly spent time with me after the session answering my questions. Two hours later, my second roundtable editor asked for the entire book from the same two pages. A few weeks later, she bought the book.”

    Debra Goldstein