Join the Authors Guild Foundation and an array of authors and publishing experts for this FREE series of webinars on the path to publication and the business of writing!
What Writers Need to Know About the Publishing Business
Being a successful author requires so much more beyond mastering your craft. After finishing a manuscript, how do you get it published and into the hands of readers? Even experienced authors can need guidance to navigate the ever-evolving world of publishing. From securing an agent to engaging your audience, you need to figure out how to publish and market your books. This series will teach you how to do so while protecting your rights and negotiating fair contracts along the way. We’ll hear from expert panels of authors, lawyers, agents, editors, and marketing professionals who will provide crash courses on the most important aspects of navigating the writing business.
Resources for Your Writing Career
Each online session will provide early to mid-career authors with tools and resources to manage their careers and successfully navigate the marketplace. We will cover the many paths to publication and discuss what to expect from today’s literary marketplace, with special deep-dive sessions devoted to the writing life. You are welcome to join us for as many of these sessions as you would like.
2021–22 Bootcamp Recordings
Paths to Publication: Traditional and Small Press
Paths to Publication: Alternatives to Traditional Publishing
Finding Your Agent: 7 Steps to a Successful Query Letter and Mistakes to Avoid
Legal Vetting for Manuscripts to Manage Risk
Your Legal Rights and Making Your Contracts Work for You
The Acquisitions Process: What Should Authors Know?
Navigating Difficult Conversations Around Money
Money Matters
Marketing for Indie Authors
Diversifying Your Income
Money Matters
Best Practices in Marketing, Promotion, and Reader Engagement
Making the Switch from Academic to Trade Publishing
Rejected: Emotional and Practical Tips to Move Forward
Minding Your Poetry Business
Finding Your Writing Community
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Penguin Random House, and our donors, the Authors Guild Foundation is pleased to make Business Bootcamps for Writers free and open to the public. In past years, we have held one-day intensive bootcamps in cities around the country, and we may do so again in the future. But now, this virtual series offers easy access to any writer who is ready to learn the nuts and bolts of what lies ahead after completing a manuscript.
Several writers organizations have partnered with the Authors Guild Foundation to help shape these programs. Our deepest appreciation to the following groups:
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how the National Endowment for the Arts impacts individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
The History of Business Bootcamps for Writers
In 2018–2019, the Authors Guild Foundation launched the Business Bootcamps for Writers series and conducted free workshops for authors about the business of writing in six cities around the U.S.
With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Penguin Random House, our previous bootcamps tour visited these cities:
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (November 2, 2018)
- Cincinnati, Ohio (January 18, 2019)
- Atlanta-Metro Area, Georgia (January 26, 2019)
- New Orleans, Louisiana (February 2, 2019)
- Seattle, Washington (March 24, 2019)
- Santa Fe, New Mexico (May 19, 2019)
Our education team designed these educational bootcamps to help writers around the country navigate the business side of writing. Authors Guild Staff and Penguin Random House publishing professionals joined local authors and literary organization representatives to host daylong, in-person workshops for early to mid-career writers from diverse backgrounds, especially those who may not have the means for, or access to, other educational programs.
Each in-person bootcamp included instruction on the business side of writing, breakout sessions to share experiences with your fellow writers, and Q&As with industry experts, wrapping up with a networking happy hour reception.