Publishing Day: Florence, a City for Those Who Write

Florence and literature have a relationship that spans the centuries. But alongside the city of the great authors and the historic libraries, there is today an international community of people who write, translate, publish, and try to turn a manuscript into a book.

It’s this community that Publishing Day 2026 addresses — the event organized by the Florence Literary Society, which returns to Florence on Saturday, November 7 with a full day dedicated to the world of contemporary writing and publishing.

Not a literary festival in the traditional sense, then, but a concrete chance to understand what happens after you’ve written — or while you’re still writing — a book.

From manuscript to publication

How do you get from a manuscript to a publisher? Is it better to look for a literary agent, approach an independent press, or choose self-publishing? And what actually convinces an editor or an agent to keep reading a submission?

These are some of the questions the Publishing Day program is built around.

The morning will open with three panels led by four international publishing professionals. The sessions will ideally follow an author’s path, from building the manuscript to seeking representation, all the way to meeting readers.

One of the sessions will be dedicated to the differences between large publishing groups, independent presses, and alternative paths to publication.

And then there’s artificial intelligence

Inevitable, in 2026, to also tackle one of the issues most transforming the sector.

One panel will in fact be dedicated to the relationship between artificial intelligence, writing, and publishing: when can AI become a useful tool in the creative process, and when does it instead risk compromising the originality and quality of the writing?

A particularly interesting question, because it takes Publishing Day beyond the purely professional dimension and into a much wider cultural debate: what does it mean to be an author at a moment when machines, too, can produce text?

Ten minutes with a literary agent

After the morning panels and lunch, the day will change pace and make room for one-on-one exchange.

Anyone who registers by October 2 is guaranteed at least one ten-minute one-to-one meeting with one of the professionals present, and can indicate the expert they’d most like to talk to. Some guests will also read query letters and parts of manuscripts in advance, giving authors the chance to receive professional feedback on their work.

Among the guests will be Monika Verma, vice president and literary agent at the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency in New York, who for about twenty years has represented bestselling and award-winning authors and who, for the event, will be available to assess a query letter and up to 10–15 pages of text.

With her, Mark Kessler, literary agent at Susanna Lea Associates, especially interested in literary fiction and nonfiction, and Noah Charney, author of over thirty books, editor, ghostwriter, and writing instructor for Reedsy.

Rounding out the panel is Sarah E. Hill, professor, researcher, and bestselling author known for her work in popular science.

Self-publishing, query letters, and meetings

The afternoon also includes two sessions dedicated to two equally crucial steps for anyone who wants to publish.

Shaun Loftus, founder of The Book Whisperer, will answer questions on self-publishing, covering everything from choosing a publishing model to marketing strategies and the most common mistakes to avoid.

Mary Gray, editor-in-chief of Italy Magazine, will lead a session on the query letter — the letter through which a writer presents their project to editors and literary agents.

But Publishing Day also wants to be a place to meet. The welcome coffee, the buffet lunch, and the closing aperitivo become part of a day designed to encourage exchange among professionals and that international community of novelists, poets, journalists, translators, memoirists, and essayists that gravitates around Florence.

It’s precisely here that the Florence Literary Society’s initiative takes on an interesting meaning for the city, too.

Florence continues to live off its enormous literary heritage, but initiatives like Publishing Day try to shift the gaze to the present: not only the literature that was written here, but the literature that someone, maybe this very day, is still trying to write.

Publishing Day 2026 takes place on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Attendance includes welcome coffee and pastries, the three panels, the buffet lunch, the sessions on self-publishing and query letters, and the closing aperitivo. Those who register by October 2 also get a one-on-one meeting with an industry professional, while spots last.

Cover photo: depositphotos.com