This panel is for members who are managing teams of any size, from small to large. Questions of how to lead your team are perennial, and even more pressing in the post-pandemic era – with employees more geographically scattered, industry practices undergoing change, and new technological options for communication and organization. Topics include training and […]

Please note that this program will be available live only, and will not be recorded. Join Lina Renzina (Lifestyle and Education Partnerships, TikTok) who will present an inside look at the world of BookTok for publishers, authors and creators and how to leverage the BookTok community to build and engage audiences. This presentation will include […]

A Deep Dive into Notoriously Confusing Clauses In this panel members of the Contracts Committee will present a primer on four of the most disorienting parts of publisher’s contracts boilerplate: Warranties and Indemnities, First Proceeds, Force Majeure, and Schedule A. Panelist will provide members with a clearer understanding of this language and its practical implications […]

The Royalties Committee will provide a refresher course in reviewing royalty statements, along with a slide deck identifying key terms to help improve your tracking of sales, earnings, and payments.

Sponsored by Literary Agents of Change, the Association of American Literary Agents’ (AALA) DEI Committee is pleased to present the second in our series of "In Conversation" events, a discussion between Jeannine Cook, owner of Harriet’s Bookshop in Philadelphia and Ida’s Bookshop in Collingswood, NJ; Malik Muhammad, founder and co-owner of Malik Books with locations […]

The Copyright Committee will present a panel featuring agents and attorneys who've filed and/or fought claims of copyright infringement. The panel will be an "ask-anything" style with pre-prepared questions about the process and laws, including how publisher's insurance works, using real-life case examples where possible.   Panelists: Wendy Strothman, Agent, Aevitas Creative Management Celia Muller, Senior […]

The Small Business Committee presents Succession: Planning for the Future, a panel for agencies considering major changes in ownership structure. Thinking long-term about your agency’s—and, importantly, your authors’—legacies means tackling important questions as you plan not only for next year but for ten, twenty, thirty years from now. Because while agents might retire, the books […]

Welcome to MDI's Data Series! As Part One of the Data-in-Publishing series, MDI presents "Behind the Acquisitions Curtain." We will hear from former editors at Big 5 publishers who answer our burning questions about the behind-the-scenes conversations during the acquisitions process and the data that influences these critical decisions: What really goes on in those […]