Muse & the Marketplace 2019

Important: Please read this description carefully before signing up, and bring all necessary materials to the session if you wish to have your work read aloud.

In this session, four seasoned authors -- who, among them, have published over twenty-five books of fiction and non-fiction -- will offer on-the-spot concrete advice on the first page of your novel, short story, memoir, or personal essay. First pages will be chosen randomly and read aloud by a volunteer.

Over the course of the hour, each author will also read an published first page (possibly one of his/her own) and discuss what makes it work, and/or the decisions they made to get it to its final form.

Please bring FIVE COPIES of THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript double-spaced, to the session, TITLED, with its GENRE marked clearly at the top. STAPLE the copies together into a packet. You will leave the packet in a box at the front of the room, and it will be chosen randomly by the reader. (Unfortunately, given the volume of submissions, we can not guarantee that yours will be read aloud).

Now in its eighth year with ten book contracts under its belt (and counting), the GrubStreet Novel Incubator program has helped dozens of students turn their drafts into true novels. Join the instructor in an introduction to the most important revision tactics from the early explorations of your manuscript to its final stages. From the ways in which character creates structure, through the art of establishing mystery, tension, setting, and scene, this seminar offers a practical overview of what your novel needs in order to fulfill your hopes for it.

We’re thrilled to welcome author Catherine Lacey as our Muse 2019 Fellow in Fiction, for her phenomenal book, The Answers. A “novel of intellect and amplitude” (NYT), The Answers is a biting look at social intrusion on our most private moments, and how well we can truly know each other. Start reading The Answers now, and join Lacey for an in-person discussion of her writing process with Laura van den Berg (The Third Hotel).

This event is free & open to the public! If you're not attending the Muse, RSVP here.

It’s happened to every author at some time: The bookstore event with the stack of your books and one person in the audience. There are no guaranteed formulas, but there are sound ways to build relationships with bookstores and to help them help you. We’ll discuss tips to increase your audience and partner with your local indie—and any bookstore where you’re having an event—to up your odds of success.

And what about once you’re there? An understanding of author expectations before, during, and after an appearance will give you the confidence to shine.

Beyond events, booksellers are an author’s front-line sales team. They know their customers and hand-sell books they love. We’ll chat about ways to connect with, and support, indie bookstores at any stage of your publishing journey.

In this session, you’ll learn to balance crafting compelling characters with choosing fresh plot lines, manipulating pacing, and highlighting setting in ways that support the central action and themes of your stories. Yet Robert Olen Butler has said that “in the most exciting literary works, internal conflict runs parallel to, or resonates through, some larger conflict in the external world." In other words, the writer must capture the interaction between the inside story and the outside story forming a uniquely propulsive narrative.

In this session, you’ll learn how to balance crafting compelling characters with choosing fresh plot lines, manipulate pacing, and highlight setting in ways that support the central action and themes of your stories.

Join a lively and vital discussion among prominent authors, literary agents, and editors of color as we share experiences of issues we've uniquely encountered in our projects and our careers. Get advice on what you might expect in your own career and how to navigate it. The talk will build on ideas discussed in last year's vibrant Writers of Color Roundtable, but all attendees are welcome!