Friday Reader Bundle (lunch + publishing seminar with Melissa Danaczko)

1-Day Publishing Seminar (lunch included)
Friday, May 10 | 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.

How do you find an agent—and do you even need one? What is the editorial process like? What role does a publisher play in terms of production, sales, marketing, publicity, etc? Do authors need to participate in social media?

As an emerging writer, it can be incredibly difficult to navigate this space.

With over a decade of publishing experience, Melissa Danaczko will walk you through the process of preparing your manuscripts and query letters; provide tips for how to find the right literary agent; explain how books are sold to publishers;  cover the basic terms of contracts, rights and territories; and differentiate the roles of publishing house employees (including editor, copy-editor, marketer, publicist, art director, sales representative).  For better or worse, there really isn’t a “typical” publication experience, but this seminar will give a broad outline of what you can expect as you move into the exciting next stage of your writing career. 

Melissa Danaczko recently became a literary agent after more than a decade of publishing experience, most recently as Senior Editor with the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

As an editor, Melissa developed books that became New York Times bestsellers (including a #1 Bestselling title), appeared on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, and received or were nominated for honors including The National Book Critics Circle Award, The Man Booker Prize, The PEN/Bingham Prize, The Baily’s Women’s Prize, The Giller Prize, The Governor-General’s Literary Award, the National Book Foundation 5 Under 35, The Journey Prize, and The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award.

As an agent, Melissa now represents literary and commercial fiction, and gravitates towards plot-driven novels with a fresh perspective, energetic writing and deep sense of place. She has a soft spot for novels with international settings, unreliable narrators, elements of magic, dysfunctional families, intense friendships, love triangles and unique subcultures. It’s a big plus if a novel can introduce her to a new world, make her think differently about one she already knows or tap into the cultural climate.  She is also representing history and idea-driven non-fiction.