From Manuscript to Publication: How to Navigate the Industry

Master Class: From Manuscript to Publication How to Navigate the Industry with M.M. DeLuca 

Is your manuscript ready? Learn about writing groups and beta readers, editors, and traditional vs. self-published publishing, as well as publishing with and without an agent. Also covered will be crafting the perfect pitch or query letter, querying etiquette, agency contracts, what happens next, and getting a book deal.

This will be a hands-on Master Class with the presentation of information in the morning and workshopping query letters in the afternoon. Participants are asked to submit draft query letters a week before attending the class so they can be evaluated and reviewed during the afternoon of the workshop.

A major component of this workshop is how to write a successful query letter. Our Presenter, Marjorie Deluca, is willing to help you workshop your query letters, with the critiques to be discussed in the afternoon of the workshop. If you have compiled a query letter for your manuscript and would like it reviewed, please email a copy to . If she receives your query letter by March 29^th, she will have enough time to review it before the class.

About the Presentation

1. Is your manuscript ready?
   1. Importance of writing groups/beta readers.
   2. Should you hire an editor? Developmental or copy editor or proof reader?
2. Traditional or self-published? A look at the pros and cons
3. Publishing with or without an agent? Pros and cons of each. Limitations of each.
4. Traditional publishing without an agent.
   1. Reputable/valid contests
   2. Reputable publishers who don’t require you to have an agent.
   3. Knowing about contracts.
   4. Vanity presses and scams.
   5. The querying process. (You still need a great query letter!)
5. Traditional publishing with an agent
   1. Online resources to find the right agent for you.
   2. Conferences and pitch sessions
   3. The querying process.
   4. Keeping records
   5. Query Tracker
6. CRAFTING THE PERFECT PITCH or QUERY LETTER (for direct to publisher or to agent)
   1. The ‘hook’ or logline.
   2. The bio
   3. The synopsis
   4. The importance of ‘comps’ and knowing your audience.
   5. Putting it all together in an effective pitch/query letter.
   6. What happens next? Rejection, types of rejection, manuscript requests.
7. QUERYING ETIQUETTE
8. Agency contracts
9. What happens next?
   1. Agent feedback and revision
   2. The submission process
   3. Agent/author relationship
10. Getting a book deal.
    1. Types of book deals.
    2. The contract: advances, royalty share, format, distribution etc.
    3. Working with an editor: the path to the final product. Levels of editing and cover approval
    4. Publicity pre and post release. Net Galley and Goodreads. The marketing plan.
    5. What happens next? Your role as an author in marketing your book. 
11. HANDS ON SESSION: Each section (from b to e could be worked on separately)
    1. Query letter/structure
    2. Your genre/audience/comps
    3. The all-important hook or logline/elevator pitch
    4. What goes in a bio?
    5. Types of synopses. Writing a brief synopsis

About the Presenter

M.M. DeLuca is the bestselling author of The Perfect Family Man, The Secret Sister and the critically acclaimed historical suspense novel, The Savage Instinct. Her latest novel, The Night Side, was recently published by Severn House.

She spent her childhood in the beautiful cathedral city of Durham, which has often appeared as a setting in her novels. She moved to Canada where she worked as a teacher and studied Advanced Creative Writing with Pulitzer Prizewinning author, Dr. Carol Shields. 

She’s received many local arts council grants for her work. She loves writing in all genres, is an avid reader, an eager painter and loves golfing as well as getting outside for walks, even in the depths of winter. She enjoys teaching workshops on the writing process and loves to connect with readers at book clubs and writing events.