The Muse & The Marketplace 2024

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The Muse & The Marketplace 2024

7:30am EDT

Registration Opens & Breakfast Mezzanine

9:00am EDT

Friday Keynote with Jonathan Escoffery Grand BallroomDesmond Hall • Jonathan Escoffery

10:30am EDT

Introducing Characters: How to Get (And Keep) Your Reader's Attention Beacon HillUrsula DeYoung On Tension: How to build suspense in literary fiction White HillCourtney Sender The Power of Place in Coming-of-Age Narratives: Global Readings and Craft Tips CabotAube Rey Lescure Finding Your Memoir: Tips and Strategies to Get Started Charles RiverJudah Leblang Researching the Personal Narrative CambridgeShalene Gupta • Michelle Bowdler What No One Talks About in Publishing… But Everyone Should Know WhittierAnjali Mitter Duva • Henriette Lazaridis Writing Ourselves Home: Prompts and Exercises for Building An Immigrant Writing Community WinthropFrankie Concepcion Where the Speculative and the Literary Meet: Re-defining Genre StuartAllison Pottern Hoch Bring Order to Creative Chaos: Project Management for Writers FranklinKerry Savage

11:45am EDT

Funny Ha-Ha: Bringing Humor to your Fiction Beacon HillJane Roper Storytelling to Save the World: the Fiction of Climate Apocalypse StuartTim Weed Structural Steps: Building a Novel with Good Bones WhittierRandy Susan Meyers They Toss Bodies at You: How Exciting New Trends in Latina Horror Can Help Improve Your Writing WinthropElizabeth Gonzalez James Timeless Narratives: Unearthing Truths through Historical Fiction and Research CambridgeGarrard Conley Beyond Innocence: Creating Multi-Dimensional Child Characters TremontElaine Dimopoulos The Business of Art: How to Navigate the Market As a Writer White HillAyla Zuraw-Friedland • Jonah Straus • Serene Hakim • Taryn Roeder Polish and Shine: How to Prepare for the Author Interview FranklinRachel Barenbaum Resiliency (Back) at Square One: How to View Rejection as Redirection Charles RiverVanessa Lillie Universal Paradox: How to Write a Florida Story That Would Get Banned in Florida (or How to Write a Story That Debunks Stereotypes and Is Universal.) CabotChristopher Louis Romaguera

12:45pm EDT

Community Space NewburyShirley Jones Luke Break N/A

2:00pm EDT

Break Every Rule: Trusting Your Instincts in Process and Craft StuartJoanna Rakoff Everybody Wants Something: Desire as the Path to More Compelling Characters FranklinRon MacLean Making Ancient Texts Your Own CambridgeJeanne Blasberg The Ultimate Craft Class: Solving the Mysteries of Character, Chronology and Plot. WhittierSteve Almond Elements of Autofiction: Memory, Time, Place, and Process WinthropStacy Mattingly Get Published Anywhere: How to (Successfully) Pitch Essays and Start Building a Larger Platform Beacon HillFrankie de la Cretaz First Impressions: How to Hook an Agent or Editor with Your Opening Pages White HillAmaryah Orenstein Rise to Resilience: Writing Through Fear with Ritual and Mantra Charles RiverSimone Dalton Writing Queer and Trans Joy CabotSG Huerta

3:30pm EDT

How to Write Sex Scenes that Sizzle StuartMegan Hennessey The Dynamics of Opposition: Getting the Best Plot Out of Your Protagonists White HillDesmond Hall What Are You Afraid Of? Turning Fear into Fiction FranklinJulie Carrick Dalton Media Training for the Post-Pandemic World: Be your best when promoting your work in both virtual & in-person events TremontLynne Reeves Griffin • Katrin Schumann How Your Characters’ Fantasy Lives Can Supercharge Your Stories CabotErin Almond Agents and Editors of Color Roundtable CambridgeEric Smith • Aemilia Phillips • Cherise Fisher • Foyinsi Adegbonmire There's More Than One Path to Publication: Publishing With Small, Indie, and University Presses WhittierNeema Avashia On the Agent-Writer Relationship Beacon HillVictor Yang • Noah Grey Rosenzweig

5:00pm EDT

Straight Talk Over Drinks: How to Conquer Writer’s Block, Anxiety, Envy and the Other Evil Voices Inside You Terrace Room (Lower Lobby)Steve Almond • Laura Warrell

5:30pm EDT

Shop Talk Happy Hour Davio's Steakhouse

7:30am EDT

Registration Opens & Breakfast Mezzanine

9:00am EDT

Saturday Keynote with Emily St. John Mandel Grand BallroomCourtney Denelle • Emily St. John Mandel

10:30am EDT

A Writer’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels TremontTito W. James How To Stop Worrying And Embrace Genre Tropes FranklinMark Cecil Writing Historical Fiction: The Essentials CambridgeUrsula DeYoung Exploring Writing with Conscience WinthropKavita Das The Art of Beginning Again Beacon HillLaura van den Berg Book Bans: An Agent Panel Discussion Charles RiverNatalie Edwards • Leslie Zampetti • Sharon Pelletier • Barbara Jones Writing Your Book Jacket Copy To Nail Down Your Story CabotMegan Margulies • Aileen Weintraub Literary Agents 101 White HillMaggie Cooper Fund Your Writing: Fellowships, Grants, & Residencies WhittierYasmine Ameli Tarot Reading for Writers StuartJenna Blum • Erin Almond

11:45am EDT

Ask Me Anything: Transgender Characters WinthropMilo Todd Conquering the Muddle in the Middle CambridgeHank Phillippi Ryan Making Yourself Heard: Writing Strong Narrative Voice in Fiction White HillElizabeth Gonzalez James Your Personal Stories Matter: How Our Voices Can Harness Socio-Cultural Change TremontLeslie-Ann Murray Out of Order: Crafting Non-Linear Narratives WhittierAlanna Schubach Legacy Letters: How to They Can Be a Springboard for Your Nonfiction Projects FranklinLisa Braxton Mini Zines As a Mirror: Create an 8-Page Zine to Reflect on Who You Are Today CabotMalaka Gharib It Takes a Village: The Editor-Author Collaboration Beacon HillMargarita Barresi • Asata Radcliffe Shoot for the Moons: Charting Your Quest in Fantasy and Science Fiction Publishing Charles RiverTrisha (T.M.) Blanchet

12:45pm EDT

Break N/A

2:00pm EDT

Re-Writing History TremontJennifer Mancuso Writing and Publishing Journeys: An Author Conversation WinthropElizabeth Gonzalez James • Anna Hogeland You're Not Too Young For This: Queering Middle Grade FranklinKate Fussner What Do You Mean by That?: Receiving feedback and becoming an editor StuartIsabella Kestermann The Prose Chapbook: A New, Fun, and Accessible Form for Emerging Writers CambridgeMaria Picone Writing Place: Working with Where You’re From Beacon HillLena Valencia Bleeding on the Page: Writing Through and About the Stigmatized Charles RiverShalene Gupta Ask Me Anything: Crafting Narrative for Print and Radio (Editors' Version) CabotSara Shukla • Cloe Axelson Moving the Needle: A Marketing Primer for Writers WhittierFederico Erebia #querytip White HillAmaryah Orenstein Community & Craft: How Long-Form Workshops Can Transform a Writer’s Life GloucesterEthan Gilsdorf • Joy Baglio

3:00pm EDT

Writers, Agents, and Editors of Color Meet-Up Georgian Ballroom (Mezzanine Level) Break N/A

4:15pm EDT

Community Space NewburyShirley Jones Luke The Structure is Sound: How to Effectively Approach Multigenerational Sagas in Fiction White HillShilpi Suneja Point of View: Tips on Breaking into Commentary Writing FranklinLinda Wertheimer Roadmap to Revision: Make Your Memoir Agent-Ready CambridgeKatie Bannon The Textures and Music of Language: Learning from Poets StuartBen Berman Writing About Addiction CabotHanna Halperin Kissing the Muse: Flirt With Words BrandeisRobbyn Layne Agent Ask Me Anything WhittierJennifer Chen Tran • Mitchell Waters • Katherine Fausset • Kerry D'Agostino Pulling Back the Curtain: A First Year Editor-in-Chief Reveals How Lit Mags Work TremontLorena Hernández Leonard How to Keep Writing Beacon HillLouise Miller A Trip to the Playground: Making Writing Fun Again! Charles RiverAnnie Hartnett The Emergence of AI: An Interrogation for Creative Writers WinthropCamille Cabrera • Bhamati Viswanathan

6:00pm EDT

Saturday All-Conference Party MJ O'Connor's Irish Pub

8:30am EDT

Registration Opens Mezzanine

9:45am EDT

Insider Insights: A Publishing Panel Grand BallroomKatherine Fausset • Mariah Stovall • Heidi Pitlor • Nina MacLaughlin

11:00am EDT

Finding Your Ending White HillBlair Hurley The Big Bad: Give Your Protagonist a Worthy Antagonist TremontKat Falls Imaginative Narratives: Bridging AI Approaches and Storytelling Charles RiverAllen Redwing Exploring the Boundary of Believability in Fiction and Nonfiction StuartIsabella Kestermann • Kelsey Costa Social Media for Authors Beacon HillBetty Cayouette The Query Letter FranklinAnna Hogeland The Querying Writer's Playbook: Positioning Yourself for Publication WhittierJulie Carrick Dalton • Nancy Johnson Writing Like a Parent, Parenting Like a Writer CabotAllison Pottern Hoch

12:15pm EDT

An Introduction to Epistolary Horror FranklinMarcella Haddad Manuscript CPR: Reviving Dead Work TremontKat Falls You’re in a Cult! Group Dynamics, Societies, and Character in Stories White HillPeter Medeiros • K.W. Onley Crafting for Audio: What All Writers Can Learn from Original Audio Fiction CambridgeShira Schindel Reading Aloud: It's Not Just for Bedtime Stories StuartTheresa Okokon Alternative Paths to Selling Your Book: Contests & Publishing Internationally Charles RiverRachel Zimmerman • Karen Kirsten Publish Your Work in Literary Magazines: Tips, Strategies, and Tools to Make Your Writing Habit a Submitting Success WhittierMaria Picone Contract Red Flags - How to Advocate for Yourself Beacon HillKaitlyn Katsoupis Moving On: A Community Memorial Service for Manuscripts We Must Abandon (at least for now) CabotPhoebe Baker Hyde

1:30pm EDT

Closing Send-off: Take Your Muse With You Grand BallroomLeila Meglio