​The Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl industry AMA returns! Join us at Indy Hall for a chat with literary agents Dana Murphy (Trellis Literary) and Shelly Romero (Azantian Literary), as well as editor Olivia Swomley (Insight Editions), hosted by agent and author Eric Smith (Neighborhood Literary).

​Come ready with your questions! Have questions about querying? How to research agents? What's selling? What's the market like? What grabs an editor or an agent out of the gate?

​The conversation will kick off at 10AM through 11:30AM. Guests can also look forward to a lite breakfast and coffee, thanks to bookstore crawl BFF, USA Today and internationally bestselling author M.L. Rio (If We Were Villains, Graveyard Shift, Hot Wax), as well as book giveaways galore.

​Please note though, this isn't a pitching event.

​It's a brain pick, to come get your questions answered, and hopefully, network with fellow writers from your area! Registration is required, though the event is completely free, space is limited.

Join us for the FOURTH Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl!

You can learn more about it over on the official website, and be sure to follow the event’s Instagram for frequent updates.

Join us for the first industry event of this year’s Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl!

We’ll be at American Grammar, chatting memoir, with literary agents Ashley Lopez (Massie McQuilkin & Altman), Anna Sproul-Latimer (Neon Literary), and Eric Smith (Neighborhood Literary), and acclaimed memoirists Jiordan Castle (Disappearing Act) and Farah Naz Rishi (Sorry for the Inconvenience).

As with most of our informative events, it’ll be a short discussion followed by an AMA. Ashley, Anna, and Eric both actively sell memoir in their agent lives. Ask them how! Jiordan and Farah wrote two beautiful books! Ask them how they pitched them.

And of course, be sure to pick up books from our friends at the bookshop, and order lots of coffee.

American Grammar (2046 N Front St, Philadelphia, PA 19122)

Join celebrated poets Ali Trotta, Cordelia Jensen, and Artress Bethany White with literary agent Eric Smith for a discussion on traditional publishing and poetry!

You often hear “poetry doesn’t sell” but… that’s not exactly true. Look at all those collections in bookstores! Registration is required, and the event is free.

Join us for a free chat about putting together collections, pitching poems, and how to approach publishers with your collection. Ali and Artress will also be signing books.

Head and the Hand: 2230 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125

One of our favorite authors is working in the agent space, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.

If you’re in our Philadelphia region Discord, come join us for an AMA with Justina Ireland. In addition to being a bestselling author of books for readers of all ages, she’s an agent at Handspun Literary.

Come find out what she’s looking for, and get your questions answered. Need an invite to the Discord? Just email us.

One of my favorite agents working in cookbooks is going to head to Philly for the day, and join us in a conversation about making cookbooks happen! And at Philly’s cookbook bookstore! Perfection!

Eric Smith will be in-convo with Sally Ekus about pitching cookbooks, building book proposals, and more at Binding Agents. Expect lite snacks and beverages, and as always, this is a free event. Please note, space is limited so you need to RSVP here. We’ve only got room for 30 folks!

You can learn more about Sally and the books she works on here.

Binding Agents: 908 Christian St., Philadelphia, PA 19147

Join us for a virtual AMA with literary agent superstar Brent Taylor! He’ll logon to chat with the Philadelphia Writing Discord, and answer questions about publishing, agenting, querying, you name it!

Note, Discord events are for our virtual community. If you’re in the greater Philadelphia region, be sure to drop us a line about joining! The Discord is free, and you’re more than welcome.

Join us at Cupid’s Bookshop in Manayunk for a talk about pitching your romance novel!

Eric Smith will be joined by literary agent and award-winning author Rebecca Podos, and local romance authors Betty Corrello and Rachel Meredith for a in-conversation event on pitching romance and rom-coms. Get your questions answered about query letters, the market, craft, and more from agents and authors who have been there.

This is an early morning breakfast event, and guests can look forward to some lite snacks and breakfast beverages, and afterwards, the authors will be signing their books.

As always, the event is free.

Cupid’s Bookshop: 106 Grape St, Philadelphia, PA 19127

Join Neighborhood Literary as we host our friend Kate McKean (Morhaim Literary Agency) at American Grammar for an AMA session and a discussion about her latest book, Write Through It, a guide about the writing life from someone on the inside.

Things will kick off at 12PM, we’ll chat about her books, publishing, and answer all your urgent agenting and industry questions.

The event is free, but grab coffee. Buy books. Tell your friends!

Join Neighborhood Literary for a write-in at American Grammar, one of our favorite local bookshops (and cafes!).

Things will kick off at 10AM and run until the early afternoon. While this is of course completely free, we do encourage folks do make a donation to the shop and/or purchase a book.

The morning and afternoon will also be full of special guest authors (also Eric!), who will be available for brain picks and questions about their work, craft, and can maybe even help you figure out that story problem you’re struggling with.

See you there!

Join Eric Smith and literary agent Jennifer Herrera (of David Black Literary Agency) for a conversation on what makes a good non-fiction book proposal. The AMA workshop will dig into what most agents (and editors!) look for in a project like this, and how you can ideally polish yours up.

This is a free workshop, though we encourage donations to our beloved bookshop friends, and for you to buy a book or two, if you are able! Tickets are limited, scoop them while you can.

Register here via A Novel Idea.

Join us and our friends at Head and the Hand in Fishtown for a free query letter workshop.

We’ll talk about what makes a great pitch, and afterwards, we’ll even critique a few brave folks’ query letters (we’ll pick five at random, we can’t do them all!) in real time. There will be plenty of time for questions and networking.

This is a free event and it will absolutely sell out, so be sure to reserve a ticket with H&H, here.

And while yes, it’s a free event, do consider donating to the bookshop or purchasing a book while you’re there. We can only keep doing these things if we keep being good neighbors.