J.T. Ellison is not only a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 novels, she's also an EMMY® award winning co-host of the literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS, and one of the most generous professional writers in the industry.
As always, our Symposium one-on-one conversations are a community event. While Jeanne Veillette Bowerman and J.T. converse, your questions will be addressed, too!
Pour a beverage, sit back and relax. Join the dialogue.
Included: all attendees will receive a FREE entry to the 2025 Book Pipeline Unpublished competition (code sent after event)!
It can be devastating when a literary business partnership changes and you're searching for the right fit for an agent ... again.
Agent Stacey Graham from 3 Seas Literary Agency will share how to recognize the signs of when your agent/author relationship may be headed for the rocks, what to try to right the ship, and when it's time to head for the lifeboat in this fast-paced presentation.
Included:
Because of writers' passions for pursuing their dreams, we seem to be prime victims of scammers. No one works as hard as Victoria Strauss to investigate and educate writers on the people trying to rip money out of our hands.
Jeanne Veillette Bowerman chats with Victoria about her career and passion for protecting writers, including you in the conversation with a live Q&A during the chat.
Join us and learn what to watch for when an unexpected email shows up with an offer that's too good to be true.
Resources:
You’ve written your book, gotten it published and even done a book tour, congratulations! You are probably noticing that some authors are popping up at conventions, conferences, colleges and at the local library but don’t seem to be talking about their newest book, so what gives?
They have probably been invited by someone like me to speak for a literary event and now a whole new world of literary engagement is unfolding for them. So how do you get on this side quest and find other ways to connect with audiences?
Led by a literary events expert, this workshop will teach you how to:
By the end of this workshop, you will have a better understanding of different types of speaking gigs, how to connect with the right people, and how to make a great impression at your first or next speaking gig.
Scenes are a unique challenge to every writer, who must manage many elements to create scenes that grab and hold the audience’s attention. A great story cannot succeed without strong, well-crafted scenes.
In this session, we will break down the scene to its basic elements, explore what each element needs to be successful, and discuss how these elements must work together to make the scene shine.
You’ll learn
There will be hands-on exercises and tools to create and shape riveting scenes that will make your story more dramatic and satisfying and captivate your audience.
This workshop is available quarterly.
Everything you need to know to sell your story and yourself … in just one sentence.
There are two questions every writer must be able answer clearly and quickly:
“What’s your story about?"
“What do you write?”
The answer to the first question will reveal the genre, tone, hook, premise, and stakes of a single project. The second question will reveal what you as a writer care about in your work, and why you're the best person to to tell the stories you do.
You need your story idea boiled down to a single, compelling pitchable sentence to get the attention of a manager.
Our logline workshop will teach you how to do just that ...
In this exclusive two-hour event, we'll:
You may have never written a logline before. Great! We’ll do a lot of that together.
You may have been banging your head against the wall trying to construct a great logline, but you’re frustrated that you can’t quite hit the mark.
We'll workshop the loglines you love and the loglines you hate. You’ll leave with the tools you need to whip them into shape and build future loglines with ease.
While we hope to get to as many of the attendees' loglines as possible, we will only be able to get to a handful for live feedback. First come, first serve.
However, during the workshopping of loglines, you'll see how Merridith's advice will apply to your own process, and now you'll have the tools to use to get to the next level. If you're interested in working with Merridith in a one-on-one session after the event, we'll send all attendees her information to reach out.
*CONFIDENTIALITY: In an effort to best facilitate event participation, the recording will only be shared with the registrants and not available on-demand. If you're uncomfortable sharing your logline, that's fine, too, as it's not required.
"The Symposium gave me a whole new way to think about the logline. Loved it!"
"Merridith was professional, knowledgeable, and encouraging. The logline info that Merridith shared is spot on and will help me tremendously, And that's the whole point!! Thanks very much."
"Great information that can be immediately put to use. Appreciated not only the content but also the facilitation of the workshop. Not too many workshops provide the course materials at the beginning of the class. Kudos!"
"It was awesome and incredibly helpful for someone like myself who is just learning about screenwriting and the various skills one needs to have. Really enjoyed it. The two hours just flew by, and it was of real benefit. Thank you."
"I had a fabulous time—very knowledgeable instructors. They kept things moving along and gave attendees great suggestions."
Writing contests provide an opportunity for writers to get recognition for their work, win monetary prizes, and even have their work pitched to literary agents.
Understanding how contests actually work and what types of projects typically resonate is essential to any writer looking to compete—the story idea, the quality of the writing sample, the voice of the author, etc.
Our Book Pipeline execs, Matthew J. Misetich, Ciara Duggan and Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, join contest-winning writer Laura Picklesimer to offer insider tips on writing competitions.
If you have not yet learned about the most prominent, accessible, and talented publishing expert there is—the amazing Jane Friedman—you're in for a treat ...
Pipeline exec Jeanne Veillette Bowerman will conduct a 1-on-1 conversation with Jane for a deep dive into publishing, her recent, chaotic A.I. adventures, as well as answer our audience's burning questions during this live event.
If you're curious about the latest publishing insights or just want to watch two geeky writers chat, this one's for you.
We may run a bit over the hour, so pour yourself a beverage and get comfy.
Resources:
Recording
The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman (2nd edition comes out in Spring 2025)
“Book of Jane” interview on Pipeline Artists
Jane’s Site
The Hot Sheet
Jane’s YouTube
IG and Threads: @janefriedman
Publishers Marketplace
Writer Beware
K-Lytics
Author’s Equity
Sourcebooks
MailerLite
Author Accelerator
The Art of Possibility
Jane’s Articles:
“How to Find Comp Titles Using ChatGPT”
“Like It or Not, Publishers Are Licensing Books for AI Training—And Using AI Themselves”
“Destigmatizing Self-Publishing”
“Questions to Ask Your Publisher Before You Sign the Contract”
“Hybrid Publishing: Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know”
“The Hard Sell: Why Memoirs Get Fewer Book Deals”
Mentioned Symposiums:
Self-Publishing: The Essentials and Beyond – On-Demand
Logline Workshop (offered quarterly)
Graphic Novels Panel Recording (free)
Pipeline Executives Roni Brown and Spike Scarberry join Thomas Krajewski—the co-creator of Primer (DC), a really rad graphic novel series, and a former Script Pipeline TV Winner (2014)—to discuss the intricacies of the comic world.
You might even leave wanting to adapt your screenplay into a graphic novel!
Latoya C. Smith, a 20-plus year publishing veteran, will teach novelists and nonfiction writers the tools they need to find a literary agent and also offer insights on what’s expected of authors as clients—as well as what they should be expecting from their agents.
Topics to include:
Come prepared to learn, take notes, and ask questions!
"This symposium was excellent. Thorough, well-presented, reasonably-priced. Ms. Smith was so knowledgeable and candid, with very practical recommendations and ideas."
"I thought it was great. Some things I knew but others were informative and helpful. It has given me a shot in the arm to keep submitting my book."
"Latoya explained everything, and her graphics made it easy to follow. She answered every question afterward, too. Great job!"