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2024 PRE-CONFERENCE MASTER CLASSES
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2024 | 9 ONLINE CLASSES TO CHOOSE FROM
AVAILABLE AS A CONFERENCE ADD-ON or A LA CARTE
$50 each for JRW Members/$75 each for Non-Members
On Friday, October 4, 2024, we will offer nine online pre-conference Master Classes. Each two-hour Master Class, taught by one of our conference guest speakers, takes an in-depth look at a particular topic of interest to writers. We are offering three tracks this year: Business Tools, Craft of Writing, and Traditional Publishing. Master Classes are offered for an additional cost to the regular conference fees and are open to conference ticket holders and also as an a la carte purchase if you are not able to attend the in-person conference on October 7 and 8 in Richmond, Virginia.
Online Master Classes will be held via the Zoom platform and will offer participants an opportunity to ask questions and interact with the class instructors. Once registration closes, we will send Master Class registrants the Zoom link(s) to join the Master Classes you have signed up and paid for.
Bonus! Your Online Master Class registration/ticket will include access to the recording and chat capture following the close of your class.
REGISTRATION
You can make your Master Class selections when you register for the main conference or separately (a la carte) using the same registration form. If you are only registering for the Master Classes, you may bypass any non-applicable questions on the registration form. Classes fill quickly, so don’t delay. You will receive a recording of any online Master Class you sign up and pay for, after the class is over, for a limited time–even if you are unable to attend in real time.
9:00 am – 11:00 am Eastern | Online Master Classes
PUTTING PLEASURE BACK INTO AUTHOR PLATFORM: SOCIAL MEDIA, NETWORKING, & NEWSLETTERS YOUR WAY
with Writing Coach and Educator COURTNEY MAUM
This two-hour master class will be all about the dreaded “P” word—Platform! Regardless of your age or familiarity with social media, we’ll take a compassionate look at what is necessary, what is fruitless, and what is possible given the place in life you’re in and where you want to get to with your writing and writer network. We’ll also spend time exploring the topic of newsletters and their place in your author platform.
Courtney Maum
Courtney Maum is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide that Vanity Fair recently named one of the ten best books for writers, Before and Afer the Book Deal, and the memoir The Year of the Horses, chosen by The Today Show as the best read for mental health awareness. A writing coach, director of the writing workshop “Turning Points,” and educator, Courtney’s mission is to help people hold on to the joy of art-making in a culture obsessed with turning artists into brands. Passionate about literary citizenship, Courtney sits on the advisory councils of The Authors Guild and The Rumpus and runs a bestselling Substack on publishing conundrums.
FINDING YOUR MEMOIR: A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO REACH THE FINISH LINE
with Educator and Memoirist JUDAH LEBLANG
Commiting to writing a memoir can be a daunting thought. But what if the process could be narrowed down to a few concrete approaches? In this session, we’ll look at three key aspects of developing a book-length memoir:
- Identifying your central question: What is driving you to write this, and what are you trying to figure out by doing so?
- Locating key turning points that move the story along.
- Considering a possible takeaway for your reader which will enable you to clarify the theme or through-line that runs through your story.
In addition to a brief craft talk, you will complete two short writing exercises designed to help you move forward with your memoir projects.
Judah Leblang
Judah Leblang is a Boston-based writer, teacher, and storyteller. His essays and commentaries have been broadcast on 200 ABC radio and NPR network stations around the US. He has written two memoirs: Finding My Place (2012), and Echoes of Jerry (2019). He teaches memoir writing in Boston, Cleveland, and in Calgary, Canada.
FIRST PAGES: LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE
with Literary Agent AMARYAH ORENSTEIN
You only get one chance to make a first impression. When it comes to your written work, this means that your opening pages are critical! Why? Well, if an agent or editor isn’t hooked by your submission immediately he or she will put it down and move on. It’s as simple as that. In this seminar, literary agent Amaryah Orenstein will show you how to capture a reader’s attention with your opening pages and how to avoid the weak openings that lead to instant rejection. We will discuss the most common pitfalls found in first sentences and first pages, including overused beginnings and clichés that can drag down a work. We will also examine the pros and cons of using a prologue as the opening chapter of your novel.
Amaryah Orenstein
Amaryah Orenstein is the founder and president of GO Literary. She began her career at the Laura Gross Literary Agency in 2009 and, prior to that, worked at The Tauber Institute, where she edited books for Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England. Originally from Montreal, Amaryah earned a BA at McGill before coming to the US to pursue graduate work in American History. She received her MA from the Contemporary History Institute at Ohio University and her PhD from Brandeis. |
11:15 am – 1:15 pm Eastern | Online Master Classes
WRITING IRRESISTIBLE QUERY LETTERS
with Editor and Former Literary Agent MARY KOLE
The query letter is crucial to your submission journey, but it can give writers an endless headache. How can you boil down all of your hard, creative work into just 250 to 450 words? Former literary agent Mary Kole will guide you through what an irresistible query letter is—and isn’t—and how to pull yours off with style and flair. This workshop involves a presentation covering query basics and best practices, including submission strategies. Participants will have an opportunity to submit their query letters ahead of time for consideration to be chosen for feedback during the class.
Mary Kole
Former literary agent Mary Kole founded Mary Kole Editorial in 2013 and provides consulting and developmental editing services to writers of all categories and genres. She founded Good Story Company in 2019 with the aim of creating valuable content—like the Good Story Podcast, YouTube channel, and Good Story Learning classes and resources—for writers of all categories and ability levels. Her Story Mastermind small group workshop intensives help writers level up their craft, and she offers done-for-you writing and ghostwriting at Manuscript Studio and marketing services with Good Story Marketing. She also develops unique and commercial intellectual property for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers with Upswell Media and Bittersweet Books (website forthcoming).Mary has appeared at regional, national, and international SCBWI conferences, as well as independent conferences including Writer’s Digest, Penn Writers, Writer’s League of Texas, San Francisco Writers Conference, WIFYR, Writing Day, and dozens of others. She has guest lectured at Harvard, the Ringling College of Art and Design, the Highlights Foundation, and the Loft, and her classes can be found online at Writing Mastery Academy, Writing Blueprints, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has worked at Chronicle Books, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and Movable Type Management. She started blogging at Kidlit.com in 2009. Her book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit, a writing reference guide for middle grade and young adult writers, is available from Writer’s Digest Books/Penguin Random House. She’s also the author of Successful Query Letters, Writing Irresistible Picture Books, and How to Write a Book Now from Good Story Publishing.
CREATING A PROCESS THAT HELPS YOU FINISH
with Writer and Speaker BRANDI LARSEN
In this inspiring and fun online workshop, writer and publishing expert Brandi Larsen will talk about failure, fear, and the moxie it takes to put ourselves in the writing desk each day. Participants will explore how to build a process to create meaningful work.
Brandi Larsen
| Brandi Larsen is a writer and speaker, building a more inclusive publishing landscape. Her work at Penguin Random House helped create New York Times bestsellers and her journalism pieces earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and purpose inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She serves as President Emeritus for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. Brandi is the 2024 Writer in Residence at the William N. Skirball Writers’ Center, CCPL and the co-writer of New York Times-recommended UNCULTURED: A Memoir, from St. Martin’s Press. |
CREATING DIVERSE CHARACTERS WITH HISTORY AND DEPTH
with ADRIANA HERRERA
In this master class participants will gain insight and tools to better research and render diverse characters in their stories. We will talk about what kinds of stories are appropriate to tell, and how to develop those characters in a way that honors their story.
Adriana Herrera
| Adriana Herrera was born and raised in the Caribbean, and writes stories about people who look and sound like her people, getting unapologetic happy endings. The New York Times calls her books “sweet and thoughtful, but delightfully filthy too.” She is a trauma therapist in New York City. |
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern | Online Master Classes
ESSAYS: SHOWING AND TELLING
with NANCY AGABIAN
We’ve all heard the adage to “show, don’t tell” as an admonition to infuse fictional passages with detail and description. But personal essays often need to do both: vividly narrating or “showing” a situation, scene, or moment in one’s life, and “telling” about it as a way to find meaning–reflecting, analyzing, or explaining to the reader any realizations or ideas about its wider significance. This workshop will give you a chance to practice both modes to start an essay. You’ll walk away with solid ideas on how to continue writing to complete your essay draft.
Nancy Agabian
Nancy Agabian is the author of The Fear of Large and Small Nations, a finalist for the Foreword Indies Prize in Multicultural Fiction, recently published by Nauset Press. Her previous books include Princess Freak (Beyond Baroque Books), a collection of poetry, and Me as her again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter (Aunt Lute Books), a memoir. In 2021 she was awarded Lambda Literary Foundation’s Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction. A longtime adjunct writing professor at NYU and CUNY, she has also led creative writing workshops for community organizations in NYC, L.A. and Armenia.
DON’T JUST TRY TO PLEASE ME: ON INCORPORATING EDITORIAL FEEDBACK (OR NOT!)
with Literary Agent CHERISE FISHER
After months (and often years) of toil, blood and tears, the writer finally shares the work. This triumphant moment inevitably tilts toward anxiety. What has been an intimate conversation between the mind and the computer screen is now opened up to others: a professional editor, literary agent, or perhaps fellow writers in a writing group. The vulnerability often causes authors to surrender to the (over)eagerness to please those responding to their work. This might result in writer’s block/paralysis, finished work that feels choppy, or a manuscript that is disconnected from the writer’s original imagination. Literary agent Cherise Fisher will offer the best practices for writers to thoughtfully incorporate suggestions from others, effectively push back on feedback that is off base, and distinguish between a resistant ego and a true creative impulse.
Cherise Fisher
Cherise Fisher began her career in publishing more than 25 years ago, spending many years editing and publishing several national bestselling and award-winning authors at Simon & Schuster and Plume, where she was Editor-in-Chief. She works with novelists who have multiple compulsively readable yarns in their head (both historical and contemporary), memoirists who showcase the diversity of human experience, and non-fiction writers who seek to provoke, inspire, and educate. |
JOURNALING FOR SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND CREATIVITY with AMY BONNAFFONS
Journaling is a surefire way to get to know ourselves better. It’s also a wellspring of creativity. In this fun, generative master class, you will be introduced to several different styles of journaling—allowing you to experiment with fresh ways of recording your experience, exploring your inner landscape, and connecting with your creativity. During the two-hour session, we’ll practice several styles of journaling, and I will offer playful, inspiring exercises designed to turn journal material into the seeds of creative pieces. We will also look at several readings that provide inspiration for how the raw material of a journal can translate into literature.
Amy Bonnaffons
Amy Bonnaffons is the author of the story collection The Wrong Heaven and the novel The Regrets, both published by Little, Brown. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Kenyon Review, The Sun, and elsewhere, and has been read on NPR’s This American Life. Amy is a founding editor of 7×7.la, a literary journal devoted to collaborations between writers and visual artists. Born in New York City, she now lives in Athens, GA.