Business Bootcamps for Writers

By Margaret S. Hamilton

On January 18^th, I attended an all-day workshop organized by the Authors Guild (AG) at the Cincinnati Main Public Library. Cincinnati is the second stop on the workshop tour, after Philadelphia, and followed by Atlanta and New Orleans, with Santa Fe and Seattle events to be scheduled. As stated on their website, the Authors Guild “chose regions with diverse literary communities, but few free educational or networking opportunities for authors to learn about the industry.” Most of the attendees were fiction writers, with a few non-fiction writers, poets, and a contingent of former Cincinnati Enquirer journalists.

The program provided an overview of the path to traditional publication, with insights into Indie publication.

Paths to Publication: Umair Kazi (Staff Attorney, AG) and Intisar Khanani (Cincinnati teen fantasy author) discussed traditional and Indie publishing. Khanani first published her books on Amazon. An agent read them and pitched Khanani’s novel, Thorn, to a Harper teen editor, who accepted it for publication with a new companion novel.

An Editor’s Perspective: Acquiring books and planning for publication, Roger Scholl (VP, Exec Editor, Penguin Random House). Scholl gave a succinct overview of the entire acquisition to publication process at PRH, the largest trade-book publisher in the world. PRH has 270 imprints under one umbrella organization.

Your Legal Rights and Making Contracts Work for You: Cheryl Davis (General Counsel, AG) and Umair Kazi (Staff Attorney, AG). Davis and Kazi gave us a traditional publication contract check list, a guide to e-publishing, and a hybrid publishing contract checklist, all excellent resources for future reference.

The Revision Process: Working with Agents and Editors, Leah Stewart (Cincinnati novelist and U of Cincinnati creative writing professor). Stewart described her unusual path to publication-- a fellow graduate student recommended that she contact an agent about her debut novel. She hadn’t written a novel, only short stories, but Stewart cobbled together some pages and sent them to the agent. She spent the next two years submitting pages for agent editing before she was ready to query. She has published six novels, including her latest, What You Didn’t Know About Charlie Outlaw.

Over lunch, I asked her about a recent trend: publishers are looking for stand-alone psychologicalthrillers and domestic suspense, not a new mystery series. Stewart assured me there is a discernible difference in the quality of an author’s prose if she writes to a current trend instead of her passion.Stewart’s favorite mystery writer is Tana French and she is reading Louise Penny’s books in order.“Tell me,” she asked, “Why are mystery writers crazy for Louise Penny?” I gave her a short overview of Penny’s publication story and position in the mystery writers community.

Overview of the Marketplace: David Underwood (Regional Sales Director, Penguin Random House). Underwood focused on the relationship PRH has with independent and chain book stores, big box stores (Walmart, Target), and niche markets (museum book shops).

Intisar Khanani has built an impressive organization: a street team, a launch team, a newsletter with thousands of subscribers, and a pre-publication strategy that produces 100 reader reviews in nine days. She discussed swag, blog tours, cover reveals, teasers, excerpts, and exclusive short stories. Khanani writes beautiful prose, is a mother to several young children, and is engaging and enthusiastic.

Everything You Need to Know about Agents and Query Letters (Chuck Sambuchino). Sambuchino gave an abbreviated talk about pitching and query letters. Synopses must be no longer than one single-spaced page. He outlined the ideal query letter, which includes an introduction (title, word count, genre), pitch (introduce the main character and what she wants, what happens, complications, but don’t reveal the ending), and a very short author’s biography. Twitter isn’t optional for aspiring writers—it’s the location of all the hot publishing news.

The Authors Guild Business Bootcamp was the most valuable workshop I have attended, with everything from pitching to publishing contracts explained clearly and succinctly. Santa Fe and Seattle writers, check the Author’s Guild website for information.

https://www.authorsguild.org/whats-new/seminars-member-events/business-bootcamps-for-writers/

Writers, have you attended a similar work shop? Readers, after you read a book do you write a review on Goodreads, Amazon, or your own blog?