Name: Debuting Earlier vs. Later in Life
Start: 2027-01-17T12:00:00-0500
End: 2027-01-17T13:00:00-0500

Sunday January 17, 2027 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST

There's no "right" age to publish your first book— but debuting at 25 and debuting at 55 come with genuinely different opportunities and challenges. This session explores what it's like to break into publishing at different life stages: the energy and long runway of an early debut versus the depth, patience, and life experience a later one often brings, plus the practical realities each path involves, from building a career trajectory to navigating an industry that sometimes fixates on "young voices." Whether you're an emerging writer wondering if you've waited too long, or an early-career author thinking about the decades ahead, you'll leave with a broader, more honest picture of what debuting at any age can look like.

Moderators

Eric Smith

Neighborhood Literary, Founder + Literary Agent

With over fifteen years of experience in publishing, both at a house and an agency, Eric Smith (he/him) has worked with numerous New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors across genres and categories.

He is always looking for Middle Grade and Young Adult projects (fiction and non-fiction), adult genre-blending upmarket and literary fiction, accessible sci-fi and fantasy, high concept rom-coms, and memoir, essays, and wellness titles in the non-fiction space... Read More →

Speakers

Virginia Pye

MARRIAGE AND OTHER MONUMENTS, Author

Kirkus Reviews calls Marriage and Other Monuments, Virginia Pye’s fifth book, “A fascinating and audacious novel of family, marriage, and a society in flux.” She is also the author of two award-winning post-colonial historical novels set in China, River of Dust and Dreams o... Read More →

Rowan Beaird

TENDERNESS, Author

Rowan Beaird is a fiction writer whose work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, and The Common, among others. She is the recipient of the Ploughshares Emerging Writer Award, and she has received scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and StoryS... Read More →

Andrew Ridker

HOPE, Author

Andrew Ridker is the author of the novels Hope and The Altruists. His third novel, Everything Must Go, is forthcoming from Viking. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and Le Monde, among other publications. He is th... Read More →

Sunday January 17, 2027 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST
TBA

Track 5: Big Picture

Tickets

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TBR 2027

Eric Smith

Virginia Pye

Rowan Beaird

Andrew Ridker

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Success you have shared X tickets.

TBR 2027

Eric Smith

Virginia Pye

Rowan Beaird

Andrew Ridker

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