This Sunday, June 12: Online workshop ~ How to Get Published, with literary agent Barbara Berson

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena
represented by the Helen Heller Agency

How to Get Published

An editor & a literary agent tell all

Sunday, June 12, 2022
1:15 – 5:00 p.m. Toronto time
Online and accessible wherever there's Internet

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll focus on the process of submitting to an agent or publisher, and show you exactly how to write a query letter that will get a “yes!” Bring all your questions! Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to prepare a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don't need to prepare anything, but if you like, email me a draft of your query prior to our workshop. Barbara and I will critique several queries, perhaps half a dozen, so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t and how to improve your query. Do remember that agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got and hoping to find authors they want to represent.

Guest speaker Barbara Berson is a literary agent with the Helen Heller Agency. The agency’s titles include multiple New York Times, UK Sunday Times, and Globe and Mail #1 bestsellers; twice, the Helen Heller Agency has represented the top-selling novel of the year in the UK. Internationally, the agency represents major best sellers in numerous languages, and many of their titles have been optioned for film and TV.

While the Helen Heller Agency is known as a key player on both sides of the Atlantic, it remains a boutique agency, with only three agents, who pride themselves their continued ability to maintain accessible and direct relationships with their authors.

Barbara specializes in fiction – adult, YA and middle grade – and narrative nonfiction. She has a deep editorial background in the publishing industry, including ten years at Penguin Canada as senior fiction editor and children’s publisher. She has served as Jury Chair for the Canadian Jewish Book Awards and the Sunburst Awards for Literature of the Fantastic. In 2016, she was honored by Editors Canada as a finalist for the Tom Fairley Award for editorial excellence. In addition to agenting, she maintains a small editorial practice. 

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University, and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Windsor to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: $43.36 + 13% hst = $49 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.