Speakers include:

Patricia O’Reilly, Author and Creative Writing Tutor, UCD

Mia Gallagher, Author, Tutor and Writer-in-residence at IADT

Paula Campbell, Publisher at Poolbeg

The Getting Published seminar gives new writers and people interested in publishing an opportunity to meet with leading industry professionals and to gather information on the current publishing options and procedures.

The panel will include a number of speakers, from authors, editors, agents and publishers who are only too happy to share their information and experience with you.

This one-day seminar is a mixture of presentations, talks, workshops and question/answer sessions with literary agents, publishers, tutors and authors. Opportunities for networking, discussions and asking your questions are an important aspect of this interactive event.

The seminar will be followed up by a One-to-One Manuscript Assessment Workshop which will take place in the Centre for Creative Practices before the end of the year.

Details and feeds from the seminar will be available online on our website to all participants after the event. The online section will also give speakers and participants a chance to interact on topics that arise.

For more details and to book your place on this highly anticipated seminar please fill out the online registration form here >>

Read about Getting Published on the CFCP Blog here >>

Join in the discussion on Facebook here >>

support and suggestions on how to prepare your manuscript for presentation to publishers and literary agents

Time: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Cost: €150
Venue: Centre for Creative Practices, 15 Pembroke Street Lower, Dublin 2
Booking: www.cfcp.ie/maunscriptassessment.htm

NEW AUTHORS WILL GET A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO:
• present manuscript to a group of experts from the publishing industry in Ireland in One-To-One Sessions
• get profound feedback on your work
• discuss all crucial aspects of your work – storyline, plot, characters, topic, settings
• learn how to pitch your project
• get practical advice from highly experienced people involved in publishing in Ireland

This Manuscript Assessment Seminar gives new writers, more advanced in the process of writing their book, an opportunity to participate in one-to-one consulation sessions with Publishers, Editors, Literary Agents and Author.

The aim of the seminar is to give you the best support and suggestions on how to prepare your manuscript for presentation to publishers and literary agents to achieve the best possible results.

Get as close as possible to the real situation and get a constructive feedback on your work.

FORMAT OF THE SEMINAR:
Four sessions of 20 minutes each with a publisher, editor, literature agent and author.

WHAT YOU NEED TO PREPARE FOR THE SEMINAR:
• one chapter, possibly two or ‘favorite’ 5 pages of manuscript;
• double-spaced 2-page synopsis written in present tense;
• 100 words on each of two main characters Notes:
• All submissions should be double line spaced
• Submitted prior to the seminar by Wednesday 25 November 2009 at latest

Seminar: MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT STARTS:
Saturday 28 November 2009
DURATION: 1 day
TIMES: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
PANEL: Patricia O’Reilly Mary Webb Vanessa O’Loughlin
PRICE: €150
Booking: www.cfcp.ie/maunscriptassessment.htm

There were 42 people who attended the seminar.

We have collated all of the responses to the questions in the evaluation form and below are the results.

• The publishing market and its dynamics
• Know the best publishers for your genre and style of book
• Get you the best commercial deal, including overseas sales
• Negotiate publishing contract

Agent will only take you on if they can see how they can make money for you and themselves.  Agent and writer need good rapport. 

You need an agent if you don’t know:

• The publishing market and how it works
• The right publishers to approach for your book and why
• How to negotiate the best publishing deal, taking into account the current market climate
• Understanding and being able to negotiate a contract
• Making deals and selling yourself and your work
• And, lastly the one that frequently drives authors to look for an agent. Do you want to spend time that could be devoted to writing to handling the business end of your career?

 ©POR09 – http://www.patriciaoreilly.net

• First of all – you write
• Story that wants to be told
• Telling it (1000 words a day or 2 hours – learning process)
• Living and breathing with your story.
• Finding and making friends with your writing voice 
• Research (Colm Toibin – blue door; Edna O’Brien – shopfronts Listowel) 
• Being open to structure – less energy in chronological 
• Present or past tense or mixture 
• Era
• Maps (Carlo Gebler)
• Point of Entry (Chekov?)
• Building on Detail – bunch of flowers better as red roses 
• Learn from the winners 
• Remember each time we sit down to write, we bring the sum total of our life experiences
• Editing/re-Writing
• Professional Presentation

 www.patriciaoreilly.net©POR09

The Yeses:

The Learning Process:

–         how to plot (storyboarding v creativity v mind-mapping);

–         backstory

–         how to develop characters

–         choosing locations

–         cameo scenes

–         emotional landscaping

–         stretching tension

–         voice of story;

–         voice of writer

–         writing first draft; first draft and after

The Nos:

Pure creativity cannot be taught but tools for harnessing memories and imagination into fiction can be taught,

–         thinking, jotting, writing and editing.  i.e., using notebooks, capturing flitters of thoughts;

–         viewing the world through writers eyes;

–         learning how to make the ordinary extraordinary;

–         the power of what if’s;

–         deciding on one story and sticking to it to conclusion.

http://www.patriciaoreilly.net

©POR09

28 November 2009
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Cost €150
Bookings at www.cfcp.ie/maunscriptassessment.htm

Centre for Creative Practices
15 Pembroke Street Lower
Dublin 2

The literature manuscript assessment workshop will gather together representatives from publishers, literary agents, periodical publishers and creative writing tutors. 

Participants will have 20 minutes with each representative to present a brief overview of their work and receive feedback and useful information on potential publishing opportunities for them.

After the one-to-one sessions there will be a panel where each industry representative will give a short presentation on the current tendencies in their area.

Your first step is to identify those publishers and agents who specialise in the genre you are writing in.  It is hard enough to get published without adding to it so do not send your submission to someone who does not deal in that genre, you are not only wasting their time but yours.

Once you have a list of publishers and agents identify the person responsible for submissions.  Most publishers and agents will not accept unsolicited submissions, so it is important to make contact first. Write to the individual person saying that you would like to submit.  Emails are acceptable but do not attach any files, people will not open files received from an unknown source.   Once you have heard back from them read through the submission guidelines, make sure your submission complies with them.  Remember if the guidelines ask for something stick to it.  

Prepare a synopsis of your work, show how the characters come together, how they interact, what the storyline will be and how the work came about. Keep this brief it should be no more that two pages. 

Presentation is a key element in any submission.  You need to make your submission stand out, do not use folders but make sure it is professionally presented.  The people who will assess your submission will only look at new submissions after they have taken care of the authors they already represent.  This means that your submission will probably be read outside normal office hours such as on the commute to or from work or when travelling so make the submission easy for them to transport in other words, keep it simple.

Make the submission easy to read.  Publishers and agents do not want to receive full length manuscripts but they will ask for a section or a number of chapters so make sure you have these polished and ready to send.  Bear in mind that using double line spacing and large fonts will increase the size of the submission, so think about the amount that you are submitting, think about how easy is your submission to transport, no one is going to carry three hundred A4 pages with them.  Remember most publishers have submission procedures on their websites, read them, apply them, follow them and stick to them, they apply to you. 

Do not use photographs poor quality photographs will ruin your submission.  If photographs are an integral part of the book mention this in your initial contact, ask them what format and how they would like to receive the images.  

Do not send more material than you need or were asked to submit as this will only count against you, you need to show that you can work to guidelines, so prove it.

Once you have submitted, step back and leave alone, do not contact the person you submitted to until at least 6 weeks have passed.  Publishers and agents are notorious for the length of time that it takes to get back to you, if in the meantime you receive another offer tell all the places you have submitted to immediately.

No matter if you follow all the steps outlined the most important thing to remember is that it is your writing that will make your submission stand out more than anything else, you need to be your toughest critic.

Most publishers and agents will rarely provide feedback, if they do provide feedback then this means that they are interested so take this feedback onboard.  Do not, unless asked to, resubmit the same piece again, even after reworking it therefore you need to  make sure your first submission is as good as it can be.

You need to be able to take rejection positively, think why you were rejected, did you submit to the right people, did your submission meet their criteria, did it conform to the submission guide, did you look at the publishers / agents profile, did you address it to the relevant person or was the writing just not good enough.

I do not want to put people off submitting works but the harsh reality is that Agents and publishers receive thousands of submissions per year from prospective authors of which the vast majority of these will never get published.  They can only survive by making money and they will only take on works that they consider will bring in a profit. No matter what the literary value of your work if there is no perceived market for it they will reject it.

Writing is a skill, this might seem obvious and like anything you do it takes time to learn and develop your own style. Consider for one moment trying to take your driving test without having sat behind the wheel of a car and expecting to pass, but this is exactly the situation that publishers encounter. People with no writing experience routinely contact publishers expecting to get their book published, this not going to work, you need to learn your craft before you even think of publication. You need to practice, practice, practice.

Publishers and agents receive thousands of submissions per year from prospective authors, the vast majority of which will never get published and out of those that are published most will not make it onto the best sellers list. The quality of the submission is so important, it is your first step along the road to publication. By making your submission it is probably the first time that you have to deal with the literary world outside the confines of your own writing, it means leaving yourself open to critical analysis and feedback. I do not want to put people off submitting works or to destroy the idea of getting your work published but the harsh reality is that most people who submit work will not get published. You need to make you submission stand out and before you even consider getting published you need to get your submission read.

What will make your submission stand out? Your writing will be the main source so let your writing do the talking for you. Sending a submission is not like submitting a presentation, make it easy for the publisher or agent to take your manuscript with them, avoid folders, remember that these people will only look at new submissions after they have taken care of the authors they already represent. This means that your submission will probably be read outside normal office hours such as on the commute to or from work or when travelling so make the submission easy for them to transport. Secondly make the submission easy to read, use double line spacing and large font. Now this will increase the size of the submission so think about the amount that you will submit, think again about how easy is your submission to transport, no one is going to carry three hundred A4 pages with them. Most publishers have submission procedures on their websites, read them and apply them, follow them, do not think they don’t apply to you, they do.

On numerous occasions people will submit without having received constructive feedback, the only people who have read the submission are family and friends, seek out people whose opinions you trust and ask them to read it, set-up a monthly meeting with a group of fellow authors, get your manuscript assessed by an critique service or attend a course on developing your writing skills. You not only need to learn your craft but you need to get constructive feedback on your work and ideas. Feedback is good, people are so often put off by the thought of receiving negative feedback that they overlook this critical part of the process. You can only learn by getting constructive feedback, take onboard what people say about your writing and work on the comments received. Most of the times if you are honest with yourself, you will know when and where you need to improve. Don’t be afraid of this, work with it.

Your first draft is not going to be your best. You need to self review, be critical about your writing, rewrite the parts that you are not happy with, adjust or cut out completely areas that do not work. If you know yourself that these elements are wrong then more than likely publishers and agent will think so to. You are more likely to get published by presenting a polished draft than one that alludes to an idea. However, bear in mind that if your submission is taken on that you will have to rewrite sections of it in conjunction with an editor in order to fulfil the assumptions of the publisher. Remember the publisher is the person who will be paying your royalties and also marketing your book so they do have the final say, if they do not like the revisions then they will not publish your work.

Only when you are ready should you consider submitting your work to a publisher or an agent. Normally you will only get one chance to submit your manuscript to a publisher, publishers do not often give authors the opportunity to resubmit a piece, so make sure your submission is as good as it can be.

Once you have reached the submission stage then you also need to get professional guidance

 Speakers include:

• Chris Agee, Editor Irish Pages
• Mary Webb, Senior Editor O’Brien Press
• Patricia O’Reilly, Author and Creative Writing Tutor, UCD
• Emma Walsh, Literary Agent, Walsh Communications
• Vanessa O’Loughlin, Author, Inkwell Writers’ Workshops
• Mia Gallagher, Author, Tutor and Writer-in-residence at IADT

Centre  for Creative Practices
15 Pembroke Street Lower, Dublin 2
Time: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Cost €50
To book a place click here >>

 The Getting Published seminar gives new writers and people interested in publishing an opportunity to meet with leading industry professionals and to gather information on the current publishing options and procedures.

The panel will include a number of speakers, from authors, editors, agents and publishers who are only too happy to share their information and experience with you.

This one-day seminar is a mixture of presentations, talks, workshops and question/answer sessions with literary agents, publishers, tutors and authors. Opportunities for networking, discussions and asking your questions are an important aspect of this interactive event.

The seminar will be followed up by a One-to-One Manuscript Assessment Workshop which will take place in the Centre for Creative Practices before the end of the year.

Details and feeds from the seminar will be available online on our website to all participants after the event. The online section will also give speakers and participants a chance to interact on topics that arise.

For more details and to book your place on this highly anticipated seminar please fill out the online registration form here >>

Join in the discussion on Facebook here >>

Schedule

9:30 a.m. Registration

10:00 a.m. Keynote talk: Irish Publishing, where is it now?

Chris Agee – Editor, Irish Pages
Mary Webb – Senior Editor, O’Brien Press

These opening talks will highlight a number of issues that new writers should take into consideration when approaching an editor.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

11:00 a.m.

There will now be the first of two split sessions, the idea is to give participants the chance to sit in smaller groups with the panel members to discuss relevant topics and to get direct feedback.

Session 1 – Old Kitchen

Workshop: The Role of the Agent to a Writer

Emma Walsh
Patricia O’Reilly

This interactive workshop will look at what role agents play, how they can help in promoting your work to publishers, what you can expect from an agent and what expectations a writer has about the agent.

Participants are free to ask questions, discuss and network with the panel and other participants. 

Session 2 – Lounge Room

Workshop: What does an editor want? The submission

Chris Agee
Mary Webb

How do you submit to a publication or publisher? What are the common problems? How to prepare a submission? This session will not only look at the way submissions are presented but will look at it from the editors side as well. Publishers and publications receive far more submissions than they can handle but to give yourself a greater chance of success a good submission is important. 

11:45 p.m.

The second of the split session, the idea is to give participants the chance to sit in smaller groups with the panel members to discuss relevant topics and to get direct feedback. 

Session 1 – Old Kitchen Workshop: Getting feedback, the critique, assessment & rejection

Chris Agee
Emma Walsh
Mary Webb

Receiving good Feedback is one of the most important parts in any writers career but how do you deal with feedback? How do you take comments about your work and who can you contact to obtain critique? The other side is the rejection, why was your work rejected? This session looks at how to handle and to gain positive elements from feedback and rejection.

Session 2 – Lounge Room

Workshop: Helping the Process, is there a role for Creative Writing Courses?

Mia Gallagher
Patricia O’Reilly
Vanessa O’Loughlin

There are two schools of thought, on the one hand there are those that say creative writing cannot be taught and on the other that it offers a valuable service in a writers’ development. This session will explore this theme, looking at both sides and seeing if creative writing classes can help the creative process.

12:30 p.m. Keynote Talk: If a writer is prepared to work hard enough will they get published?

Vanessa O’Loughlin – Inkwell Writers Workshops

Vanessa is a firm believer that if a writer is prepared to work hard enough and for long enough that they will get published in the end. In this talk she will take you through the stage, from writing to critique to getting published.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

 1:15 p.m. Lunch

1:45 p.m. Keynote talk: Marketing Your Work / Promotion to Agents

Emma Walsh – Publishing Consultant and Literary Agent

Unfortunately Professional artistic development skills tend to be forgotten. Marketing and promotion of yourself and your work is of crucial importance. Emma Walsh a publishing consultant and agent will guide you through some of the procedures.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

2:30 p.m. Keynote Talk: Writing for success

Patricia O’Reilly – Creative writer, novelist, researcher and lecturer

P atricia O’Reilly is the widely respected author of the Best Selling ‘Writing for Success’, the essential guide to the Irish Publishing industry. In this talk she will cover the outline in how to be successful.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

3:15 p.m. Keynote talk: The Writer’s Experience
Mia Gallagher – Author, Playwright and writer-in-residence IADT

How does it all happen for the writer? What does it take to get your book published and the excitement of seeing your name in print. Mia Gallagher knows only to well how that feels and her uplifting experience should be testament to the hard work put in.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

 4:00 p.m.   Any Questions?