Our February workshop will open for submissions on Saturday, February 1 at noon, EST. In addition to our wonderful permanent mentors, we have Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger as our guest agent mentor and Cheyanne Young as our guest author mentor!
The workshop is designed to help writers struggling to find the right opening for their novel or for those looking to perfect the all-important first five pages before submitting for publication. Why the first five pages? Because if these aren’t perfect, no agent, editor, or reader will continue reading to find out how great the rest of your story really is!
So get those pages ready because we fill up quickly!
Why is the First Five Pages Workshop a GREAT Opportunity?
- You are mentored by the guest author as well as least one and usually two traditionally-published published or agented authors from among our permanent mentors for the duration of the workshop. These authors have been through the trenches and know what it takes to get a book deal, solid reviews, and sales.
- In addition, you receive feedback from the four other workshop participants.
- Feedback is given not just on your initial submission, but on two subsequent opportunities to revise your manuscript based on the previous feedback so that you know you’ve got it right!
- The final revision is reviewed by our mentoring literary agent, who will also give you feedback on the pitch for your story–the pitch that may eventually become your query letter or cover copy.
- The best entry from among the workshop participants will receive a critique of the full first chapter or first ten pages from the mentoring agent, which may, in some cases, lead to requests for additional material.
How It Works:
Please see the complete rules before entering the workshop, but in a nutshell, we’ll take the first five Middle Grade or Young Adult entries that meet all guidelines and formatting requirements. (Double-check the formatting – each month we have to disqualify entries because of formatting.) Click here to get the rules. We will post when the workshop opens and closes on Adventures in YA Publishing and on twitter (@eliza_daws, @etcashman) with the hashtag #1st5page permanent author mentors, the final entry for each workshop participant will be critiqued by our agent mentor.
s. In addition to the rotating team of our wonderful
February Guest Literary Agent Mentor: Andrea Somberg
A literary agent for over fifteen years, Andrea represents a wide range of fiction and nonfiction, including projects for adult, young adult, and middle-grade audiences. Previously an agent at the Donald Maass Agency and Vigliano Associates, she joined Harvey Klinger Literary Agency in 2005. Her clients’ books have been NYTimes and USABestsellers and winners of numerous awards. She also teaches courses for MediaBistro and Writers Digest on a variety of writing topics. Andrea is always actively looking to take on new authors who write in the non-fiction and following categories of fiction: literary, book club fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, romance, thrillers, mystery, fantasy, science fiction young adult, and middle grade. February Guest Literary Author Mentor: Cheyanne Young

THE LAST WISH OF SASHA CADE








