The Business and Craft of Writing

April 16, 2016 all-day

WHERE:La Quinta Inn & Suites
1425 E 27th St
Tacoma, WA 98421
USA

  • Who:  Mark Henry, Spencer Ellsworth, and agent Sara Megibow
  • When:  April 16, 2016
  • Where:  La Quinta Inn & Suites1425 E. 27th Street Tacoma, WA  98421 –  (253) 383-0146 (Ext. 6 for reservations) – La Quinta Tacoma.
  • What:  Expect anything!  Pitch to an agent — Sara Megibow will take pitches for both finished and unfinished manuscripts.  Her interests are: Young Adult, New Adult, Romance, Erotica, LGBT, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and mashups too!
  • Cost: $135
  • Details:  Registration is now closed.
  • Accessibility: ADA accessible.

About the venue: The hotel is 2 miles from downtown Tacoma where there is a haunted house, museums, several restaurants, and a Hollywood district. There is also a lightrail that runs every fifteen minutes between the hotel and downtown. It’s free of charge. The hotel offers free wifi in the rooms, and they have a bar and restaurant as well. We have a small room block under Cascade Writers that gives the room for $83 (plus tax) per night, but you’ll need to call to make these reservations and do so by March 28th. After that date the room prices go up to the going rate at that time.

Programming is available! Some time slots may shift in order for us to meet the restaurant opening at the hotel.  

  • 8:30 AM – Check in and introductions
  • 9:00 AM – Capturing your audience with Sara Megibow. How do you get that perfect first paragraph and keep that momentum going?
  • 10:00 AM – The proper query with Sara Megibow and Spencer Ellsworth. Includes format, style, what catches an agent’s eye, information to include, and proper etiquette when emailing your query.
  • 11:00 AM – Lunch Break (1 hour)
  • 12:00 PM – Be your own boss with Mark Henry. How to manage your time with writing, business aspects, and promotion.
  • 1:00 PM – Dialogue with Spencer Ellsworth. Dialogue is part storytelling, part character reveal, and part poetry! How do you write dialogue that can do several things at once?
  • 2:00 PM – One on one – Pitch your story or ask about your query letter with Sara Megibow. Sara has offered to take the first 50 pages of all attendees manuscripts! There are two stipulations to her accepting pages, first the manuscript must be completed (as in 100k words or whatever that genre’s norm is). Second, the novel needs to be a genre she represents. She will need the pages by June 1, 2016. Sara is AMAZING to offer this! Thank you, Sara!
  • 4:00 PM – Working in multiple genres with Mark Henry. Keeping your voice unique to each genre can be tricky when you write in such different areas. Learn how to shift your voice to fit the genre, how to promote befitting that genre, and more.
  • 5:00 PM – Dinner break (1-1/2 hours)
  • 6:30 PM – Pacing with Spencer Ellsworth. Learn to use dialogue and narrative to move characters in and out of their problems. How to throw your characters into the crucible and forge!
  • 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM – Closing and short Q&A with Mark, Spencer, and Sara.

Our Speakers!

Click the names for photo and bio
Mark Henry, Author

Sara Megibow, Agent

Spencer Ellsworth, Author

Spencer