AALA Program
The Association of American Literary Agents presents a day of in-person educational sessions
The AALA has put together a day of panels and learning sessions at the U.S. Book Show, bringing the industry together for continuing education around issues of mutual interest. Designed for agents, editors, and other publishing professionals, the program will be held in person at the NYU Kimmel Center and livestreamed.
TUESDAY, MAY 23
Morning Session
This session is geared toward agents and concludes with lunch and an AALA member meeting.
Registration opens 9 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks 9:30–9:35 a.m.
• Andrea Chambers, associate dean, Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts, NYU School of Professional Studies
• Jennifer Weltz, president, AALA
Anatomy of a Bestseller 9:35–10:20 a.m.
How does a book become a bestseller when the author isn’t a celebrity or doesn’t have a huge platform? Publishers reveal the keys to positioning a title for success in various book categories. PANELISTS:
• Sally Kim is senior v-p and publisher of G.P. Putnam’s Sons at Penguin Random House, where she oversees the imprint and edits her own list of fiction, including bestselling authors Megan Abbott, Kiley Reid, and Chloe Benjamin.
• Arthur Levine is the president and editor-in-chief of children’s publisher Levine Querido. His authors include Newbery Medalist Donna Barba Higuera, Printz Medalist Daniel Nayeri, and Printz Honor author
Eric Gansworth.
• Karen Rinaldi has been a publishing executive for more than three decades. She is currently at HarperCollins, where she founded the Harper Wave imprint, and has edited and published across a wide range of categories, from the literary to the prescriptive.
• Cindy Spiegel was a founding editor of Riverhead Books and later copublisher and cofounder, with Julie Grau, of Spiegel & Grau. She has launched the literary careers of writers including James McBride, Khaled Hosseini, and Gary Shteyngart.
MODERATOR: Cherise Fisher is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates.
Break 10:20–10:30 a.m. Breakout sessions 10:30–11:15 a.m.
Breakout I: Acquisition by Data
Publishers and agents are increasingly leveraging data and metadata in the acquisition process. Learn where they get this information, how it’s used to make decisions about categories and titles, the results of these initiatives, and how you can apply it to your own list.
• Christa Desir is the editorial director for Bloom Books at Sourcebooks. She has acquired and edited fiction from EL James, Scarlett St. Clair, Elle Kennedy, Ana Huang, Lauren Asher, Lucy Score, Kennedy Ryan, and others. She also runs a mentorship program and freelance consortium for BIPOC editors who are looking to break into publishing.
• Peter Hildick-Smith founded CodexGroup in 2004. Its book audience testing programs have helped authors including Hillary Clinton, Tina Fey, and Joe Biden reach the bestseller list.
• Richard Rhorer is the founding publisher of Simon Element, a Simon & Schuster imprint established in 2021 and dedicated to books in the lifestyle and prescriptive nonfiction categories.
• David Walter is in his 15th year in the publishing and data space. He currently leads the team at Circana BookScan, formerly NPD BookScan, that delivers book industry data and insights to publishers, retailers, and content creators.
MODERATOR: Regina Brooks is CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency.
Breakout II:
Listen Up: Making the Most from Audiobooks
Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in book publishing. Learn how to pitch projects for audio originals, what categories are best suited for audio originals, how to leverage backlist titles, and best practices for creating an audiobook that will have a sales life of its own.
• Lance Fitzgerald is v-p of content and business development for PRH Audio, leading the editorial acquisitions, art, and licensing teams. Under his leadership, the audio editorial team has acquired audiobook originals from Timothy Snyder, Erik Larson, Steven Rinella, and others, as well as audiobook-first projects from authors including Ali Hazelwood and Brandon Sanderson.
• Anthony Goff, president, Blackstone
Publishing, started his career at Dow Jones Inc. before making his foray into book publishing at St. Martin’s Press, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster. Under his tenure as v-p, associate publisher, then senior v-p and publisher, Hachette Audio won seven Grammy Awards and four Audiobook of the Year distinctions.
• Carol Mackey is senior acquisitions editor at Recorded Books, responsible for licensing fiction and nonfiction titles for audio. Carol enjoys bringing in books by bestselling and established authors, but her greatest joy is discovering new and upcoming authors and helping them build their brands in the audio space.
• Scott Sherratt specializes in audiobook productions for the world’s major publishers. He has worked on 14 Grammy-nominated projects as producer, director, recording engineer, mixer, and mastering engineer.
MODERATOR: Katie Kotchman is a literary agent at Don Congdon Associates.
Break 11:15–11:30 a.m. Breakout sessions 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Breakout I:
The Fine Print: Ethics, Copyright, and Contracts
Representatives will provide an update on emerging legal, contracts, copyright, and ethics issues and answer questions. What does it mean to double-dip? How does AI affect copyright and contractual language? What does it mean operationally to be a fiduciary? No question is too small. It’s the agent’s job to know the fine print.
• Vicky Bijur started her literary agency in 1988. She represents fiction and nonfiction authors, including in memoir, biography, cookbooks, food writing, journalism, health/wellness, and graphic nonfiction. She has served as president of the AALA and as chair of its ethics committee.
• Ginger Clark launched Ginger Clark Literary in 2021. In addition to active work in major positions at the American Association of Literary Agents, Ginger is an expert in contracts, foreign rights, and negotiating.
• Gina Maccoby is a New York literary agent representing authors of literary and commercial fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. A longtime member of AALA, Gina served four terms on the organization’s board of directors, is on the contracts committee and the royalties committee, and is co-chair of the ethics committee.
• Jaime Wolf, a transactional attorney in
New York City, chaired the City Bar’s entertainment law committee from 2016 to 2019 and has wide experience in the publishing business. He has worked with a variety of authors, illustrators, literary agencies, publishers, and packagers, handling archive sales, contract negotiations, intellectual property matters and pre-publication legal review of manuscripts.
MODERATOR: Lynn Johnston is president of Lynn Johnston Literary.
Breakout II:
Everything Flows Through Sales: Understanding the Acquisition P&L
What goes into the P&L when a publisher is pursuing a book project? S&S’s finance director discusses what makes a
ptobroevoeka,l haowwhomleuvcilhlaigmefpilalcedt an author’s track record has, when editors
get pushback on their sales projections, and what agents need to know about publishing math when pitching a
project.
• Kristal Batanjany was named finance director for Simon & Schuster in 2021 and has worked in the publishing industry for more than eight years. She also teaches at NYU’s Center for Publishing and
Applied Liberal Arts.
Lunch and AALA Annual Member Meeting
12:15 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Afternoon Session
This session is open to industry professionals and includes panels, breakouts, and a closing networking session
Registration for industry professionals opens 1–1:30 p.m. Keynote 1:30–2:15 p.m.
Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt discusses the state of bookselling, current
initiatives, and plans for the future.
Spotlight on Arabic Literature 2:15–2:35 p.m.
• Shahad Al Rawi is the author of Banner over the Republic Bridge.
• Yasmine AlSayyad is a writer and the co-deputy head of fact-checking at the New Yorker. Break 2:35–2:45 p.m.