Once I became an agent, I found that a lot of writers were just missing the mark on getting published. They could get a lot of compliments but not quite get the sale. Their reaction was to work on craft, which is important, but what they really needed was to sharpen up the concept. Agents and editors listen for a 'hook', something to make the project stand out enough to sell. It's often the missing link that keeps you unpublished. We will talk about connecting your vision to what the marketplace needs, and how to express that in a winning query letter.  

JOYCE SWEENEY is an author and literary agent for The Seymour Agency. They are a member of AALA and rank 48 in the Publishers Marketplace Top 100 Kidlit agents, #7 in Picture Book Non-Fiction. They have written fourteen young adult novels, many of which have won awards. They are also the author of two chapbooks of poetry. They are currently working on historical novels. Joyce was a creative writing teacher, mentor, and coach for over 25 years. They also published a plotting how-to book, Plotting Your Novel with The Plot Clock (Giantess Press, 2019). At this writing, they have successfully mentored 78 writers to traditional publishing contracts. In 2020 Joyce joined The Seymour agency, and represents picture books, middle grade novels and non-fiction, and graphic novels.  Their hobbies are theater, collecting illustration art, and animal causes of all kinds. They live in Coral Springs with their husband, Jay and cat, Nitro.  Please visit https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/joyce-sweeney/ for more information about Joyce. 

This workshop is on Zoom and registration is required. Please click here to register.  

The video is available for on-demand viewing July 13 – September 9.  

Sponsored by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation.