Our Literary Speed Dating events offer a valuable learning experience, no matter the outcome, but we know it hurts when your pitch doesn’t result in a request for materials. It can be hard to pick yourself back up if you’ve been turned down by your dream publisher or have received disappointing news after a long, anxious wait. It’s important to keep in mind there are many different avenues to publication available to you, as well as tools and professional services you can incorporate into your practice to help you on your way.

Our upcoming session on building resilience with psychologist and author Dr Ahona Guha is a well-timed opportunity to learn practical and evidence-based tools to help you cope with all the challenges of creative practice, from managing stress and rejection to negotiating support networks and success. For further guidance on developing healthy support networks, our panel discussion on community building addresses one of the most frequently asked questions of the ASA: how can I become a part of a community of other writers? Addressing topics like writers’ critique groups, social media, events, and networking, this panel will be informative and inspiring to writers at any career stage.

Our beloved Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect: Picture Books courses will return in 2025, and will be scheduled in the lead-up to each Virtual Literary Speed Dating event. If you’re yet to participate but you’re eager to get your work out there, this course is invaluable with our expert presenters providing insight into how Australian publishers and agents operate in an ever-changing industry. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be able to identify which publishers and agents are the right matches for your work, understand what they’re looking for from authors, and gain the information and skills you need to hone your pitch.

If you’re a Pitch Perfect graduate but are struggling to apply your learnings to your work — be it your pitch or your manuscript — you may like to consider investing in further professional development. If you’d like tailored advice about where your book sits in the market and how you could approach publication, you may benefit from a one-on-one consultation with an industry expert via our Publishing Consultancy Service, or if your pitching experience has left you unsure if your manuscript is in fact at a publishable standard, a manuscript assessment can get you back on track and illuminate your path forward.

Although they are a brilliant opportunity to pitch directly to publishers and agents, our Literary Speed Dating events are not the only way to get your work in their hands. Plenty of pitching and submission opportunities are available to authors all year round. The ASA’s Book Industry Directory has a helpful list of Australian trade publishers and their submission guidelines, as well as a listing of Australian literary agents. Our free Member Advice Service is always there if you need guidance on your next steps.