Agent

Class description coming soon

Author

Writing the Verse Novel

This interactive workshop focuses on the exciting and popular literary form of the MG/YA verse novel. Some questions we will try to answer, referencing acclaimed texts such as Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover and Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X, are: Which kinds of stories are best suited to be told in verse? What challenges does the verse format create? What rewards for both writer and reader does it make possible? How does the use of verse simplify and complicate the advancement of plot? How can it deepen and enrich character development? Expect to write a poem that might be the seed of your own verse novel!

Author

Writing the Middle Grade Novel

Class description coming soon

Author

Picture Books: Unicorns in Outer Space

Picture books are wild, wonderful creatures—equal parts poetry, play, and visual storytelling. They can be funny or quiet, lyrical or bold. They look simple… until you try to write one. Just when you think you’ve captured the craft, a new book breaks every rule—and wins every award.

We’ll explore what makes a picture book resonate with young readers. You’ll learn to write for illustrations that don’t exist, and how to craft stories that invite collaboration. Whether starting out or refining your voice, this course will help you shape stories that sing—and shine in the hands of children..

Author

Small stories have a big impact: The why and how of writing effective description

When you show a reader a moment in time, or "small story," via concrete or sensory detail, your message has more meaning and power. This session will be on the craft of writing in-the-moment scenes and why it works for the reader. Less is more if details are chosen carefully. We will learn effective techniques and exercises, look at professional passages, and before and after examples. 

Author

Writing Award-Winning Fiction

Description coming soon!

Executive Editor

Editor

Writing the Unputdownable First Chapter 

We all know that feeling as readers, the experience of reading a first chapter and not being able to stop. But as writers, how does one create a first chapter that a reader--and before that, an editor--can't put down? In this two-hour session, I'll take you through some examples of unputdownable first chapters from books I've edited, and we'll unpack what makes them work. You'll have a chance to try writing a propulsive opening yourself, and you'll get feedback from your classmates and from me. I'll also give you a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to getting--and keeping--an editor's attention to your work.

Author

“Be a Poet Even in Prose”: Eleven Techniques for Writing Jaw-dropping Sentences

Beginning writers sometimes focus too much on plot and character and genre expectations. By contrast, our best writers, including authors as diverse as Ursula Le Guin, Karen Russell, E.B. White, and Cormac McCarthy, have mastered those pesky building-block thingies called sentences, and in the process taken their craft to a whole new level. In this session, not only will we read multiple examples of remarkable sentences, but we’ll imitate the masters with in-class prompts. 

Editor & Coach

Show and Tell: A Masterclass in Doing Both with Your Writing

Bring your own pages, your biggest questions, and your creative curiosity. You’ll walk away with practical tools, play-along-at-home exercises—and a permission slip to break the damn rules on purpose.You’ve heard the rule—“Show, don’t tell”—but what does that actually mean? And how do you know when to break it? In this live, four-hour masterclass with publishing expert and craft-book author Mary Kole, you’ll learn why showing and telling aren’t opposites—they’re partners.

We’ll dissect the most misunderstood writing advice in the game and give you a powerful framework for choosing the right tool at the right moment. Whether you're writing fiction, memoir, or picture books, you'll learn how to:Diagnose flat scenes and bring them to life
Use telling to accelerate pacing and deepen character insight
Balance interiority, summary, and scene
Avoid common "showing" pitfalls (like emotional whiplash or generic action)

Author

Micro and Macro Revision: What to do when you think your manuscript is finished.

Author

Points of No Return: How to Use 4 Plot Thresholds to Keep Your Story (and Your Character!) Moving Forward

Every plot has specific life-altering moments when your character can no longer go back to who they once were. These points of no return propel your character forward and make your reader want to turn the page. In this class, we’ll learn about when these critical threshold scenes should occur, how they should change your character, and how they work together to create a strong plot and convincing character transformation.

Publisher & Senior Editor

Plotting and Scheming: Crafting Your Novel to Connect

I will talk about plot structure, and how to utilize a three turning point scene map. You'll learn about connecting the character's motive to those turning point scenes. This format is very effective for writing novels for kids. I'll also provide tools to use to work through the evaluation of their manuscripts.

Author

What Happens Next?: A Workshop on Story Questions

Novelist E. M. Forster said that the root of story is “making the audience want to know what happens next.” To do that, authors must raise a series of questions, dangling the promise of eventual answers. In this workshop, we will practice identifying and creating the questions and answers that form the backbone of a narrative and that keep readers turning pages. Come with an idea for a project or the opening of your work in progress. 

Literary Agent

Nailing Your Comp Titles

Almost every pitch for every book includes comp titles, but what are they for? As an agent, I've seen a lot of authors struggle to find accurate and useful comps for their query letters. Learn about comp titles and what they're used for at different stages in the life cycle of a book. We'll spend some time brainstorming together, and you'll leave with an extensive list of comp titles for your project and guidance on when to use each one in a pitch.