Conventional wisdom and recent guidance in traditional publishing hold that, in the process of seeking representation for your work, you should expect to send at least one hundred query letters. But where in the world do you find one hundred agents to query?

Join writer and aspiring author Megan E. McDonald as she demystifies the process of compiling a comprehensive target list. First, she will describe and demonstrate the essential tools (Publishers Marketplace, QueryTracker, Manuscript Wish List, Amazon, and good ole Google) one can use to research agents looking for work similar to what you write. Second, she will run through how she does it based on her own writing style and current projects, then open the floor up to one or two attendees and help them start to compile lists live.

You will leave with a better understanding of how to frame your search for relevant agents.

Additional details on the California Writers Club SF Peninsula Branch Website.

I will be sharing my experiences with a variety of educational and networking environments for aspiring writers:

• The rigor of a formal fiction writing program

• The intimacy of a workshop

• The hubbub and rush of a national conference

• The concentrated feedback of a small critique group

Each type of offering comes with its own pros and cons. I will review them with an eye toward providing advice about how best to approach these opportunities so that you emerge feeling not over- or underwhelmed and disappointed, but successful and enriched.

Register for the Zoom Webinar here.

I will be participating in an online event hosted by the Menlo Park Library in conjunction with the California Writers Club SF Peninsula Branch on Tuesday, July 14th, at 4 PM. Here’s the write-up:

Many writers have been struggling in these times to complete a sentence, much less write an essay or a poem, as they juggle the demands of family, Zoom meetings, work and child care. Or they face the challenge of too much unstructured time.

Sound familiar? Learn how a panel of Bay Area writers has been coping, and maybe find some strategies that you can apply to your creative practice, whether that's writing or another pursuit, or just to life in general.  

To get the link and join this discussion, you can register by clicking here!

Fellow CWC SF Peninsula member Korie Pelka and I have been selected to read as part of the Bay Area Generations Literary Salon! My essay is titled “Bloodlines,” while Korie’s is called “Caught in the Venus Fly Trap.”

The Bay Area Generations literary reading series features paired readers of differing generations in a curated, submission-based show. Since 2013, over 400 hundred notable authors, poets, writers, playwrights, and musicians have performed at this celebrated literary salon.

Doors open at 6:30 PM. Show begins at 7:00 PM.

Get tickets by clicking HERE! Suggested donation is $10 and includes a chapbook (but no one will be turned away for lack of funds).

I will be reprising my presentation on the definitions, methods, and advantages of outlining for any type of writing project. This version of the talk features an interactive element involving breaking the fairy tale Cinderella down into various outline structures.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:

Outlining can be a controversial topic for writers. Plotters rely on outlines to plan the structure and flow of fiction, nonfiction, and memoir projects, but may get stuck crafting the perfect one before setting words to page. Pantsers—who write “by the seat of their pants”—don’t want their creativity hemmed in by something so formal, but sometimes lose threads of their story in the process.

I will present several outlining strategies, from the traditional method taught in grade school, to a more freestyle and forgiving type that breaks down blocks and fosters consistency and coherence. No need to have a project in mind; examples and prompts will be provided.

Outlining can be a controversial topic for writers. Plotters rely on outlines to plan the structure and flow of fiction, nonfiction, and memoir projects, but may get stuck crafting the perfect one before setting words to page. Pantsers—who write “by the seat of their pants”—don’t want their creativity hemmed in by something so formal, but sometimes lose threads of their story in the process.

In this interactive talk, I will present several outlining strategies, from the traditional method taught in grade school, to a more freestyle and forgiving type that breaks down blocks and fosters consistency and coherence. No need to have a project in mind; examples and prompts will be provided.