Two great workshops coming soon: How to Get Published with literary agent Sue Miller and How to Make Yourself Write

Until it Fades by K.A. Tucker,
represented by Donaghy Literary Group

How to Get Published

An editor & a literary agent tell all

Saturday, April 22, 2017

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 / 4:00 p.m.

Askennonia Senior’s Centre, North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre, 527 Len Self Blvd, Midland, Ontario (Map here)

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

And be sure to bring your elevator pitch! Following the end of the formal workshop at 3:30, Brian Henry will be staying for at least half an hour and helping interested attendees, who didn’t have their queries critiqued earlier, write query letters that will get a yes, while literary agent Sue Miller will be listening to your pitches. Agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got and hoping to find authors they want to represent.

Guest speaker Sue Miller  is a literary agent with the Donaghy Literary Group. The Donaghy Group has five agents to choose from: Stacey Donaghy, Amanda Ayers Barnett, Alex Franks, Valerie Noble, and Sue Miller.Representing New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling authors, they’re focused on commercial fiction and are always interested in new and upcoming talented writers. 

At the workshop, Sue will be standing in for all five agents in the group and giving you her insights from the front lines of the publishing world. 

Sue herself has a special love for romance, young adult, fantasy and literary fiction. Her publishing career began in Toronto working with Fidalgo Books in PR and in sales at Scholastic Canada. This quickly progressed into literary consultations with published and unpublished authors who sought her help in getting their work ready for submission and publication. She has also prepared numerous social media marketing strategies centred on specific author branding. She holds a BA in English from York University along with a Publishing Certificate from Ryerson University.

Sue is seeking to partner with new, diverse voices in all genres of Young Adult fiction, and in Literary, Upmarket and Commercial fiction, and character-driven Romance, including all subgenres except historical. 

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door

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

The Oakville Public Library presents…

How to Make Yourself Write
A creativity workout
Saturday, April 29, 2017
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Oakville Central Library, 120 Navy Street, Oakville, Ontario (Map here.)

Let's get motivated! This workshop is designed to help you find the time and the inspiration to write. No more staring at a blank screen. Come to this workshop and give yourself a kick-start, and then learn how to keep going. This creativity workout will get your words flowing and help you make the breakthrough into the next level of writing.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door

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

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 Sarnia to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published. 

You can read reviews of Brian's courses and workshops here. 

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Get Published workshop, with guest literary agent Sue Miller, Saturday, April 22, in Midland

He Will Be My Ruin by K.A. Tucker,
represented by the Donaghy Group

How to Get Published

An editor & a literary agent tell all

Saturday, April 22, 2017

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 / 4:00 p.m.

Askennonia Senior’s Centre, North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre, 527 Len Self Blvd, Midland, Ontario (Map here)

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

And be sure to bring your elevator pitch! Following the end of the formal workshop at 3:30, Brian Henry will be staying for at least half an hour and helping interested attendees, who didn’t have their queries critiqued earlier, write query letters that will get a yes, while literary agent Sue Miller will be listening to your pitches. Agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got and hoping to find authors they want to represent.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher 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 Sarnia, Ontario, to Saint John, New Brunswick. But his proudest boast is that he’s helped many of his students get published and launch their careers as authors.

Guest speaker Sue Miller  is a literary agent with the Donaghy Literary Group. The Donaghy Group has five agents to choose from: Stacey Donaghy, Amanda Ayers Barnett, Alex Franks, Valerie Noble, and Sue Miller. Representing New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling authors, they’re focused on commercial fiction and are always interested in new and upcoming talented writers. 

At the workshop, Sue will be standing in for all five agents in the group and giving you her insights from the front lines of the publishing world. 

  

Sue herself has a special love for romance, young adult, fantasy and literary fiction. Her publishing career began in Toronto working with Fidalgo Books in PR and in sales at Scholastic Canada. This quickly progressed into literary consultations with published and unpublished authors who sought her help in getting their work ready for submission and publication. She has also prepared numerous social media marketing strategies centred on specific author branding. She holds a BA in English from York University along with a Publishing Certificate from Ryerson University.

Sue is seeking to partner with new, diverse voices in all genres of Young Adult fiction, and in Literary, Upmarket and Commercial fiction, and character-driven Romance, including all subgenres except historical. Read more about the Donaghy Agency here.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca or brain.henry123@gmail.com (My Sympatico account doesn't alway work, because figuring out email seems to be beyond Ma Bell.)

Note: Stacey Donaghy was originally scheduled as the guest speaker for this workshop, but had to withdraw due to a scheduling conflict.

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Three great workshops & one free seminar coming soon

Literary agent Stacy Donaghy

How to Get Published

An editor & a literary agent tell all

Saturday, January 28, 2017

10:15 a.m. – 4:00 / 4:30 p.m.

Glenview Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem Room, 1 Glenview Ave, Toronto, Ontario (Map here)

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

And be sure to bring your elevator pitch! Following the end of the formal workshop at 4:00, Brian Henry will be staying for at least half an hour and helping interested attendees, who didn’t have their queries critiqued earlier, write query letters that will get a yes, while literary agent Stacey Donaghy will be listening to your pitches. Agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got and hoping to find authors they want to represent.

He Will Be My Ruin by K.A. Tucker,
represented by the Donaghy Agency

Guest speaker Stacey Donaghy, lead agent with the Donaghy Literary Group. The Donaghy group has three agents to choose from: Stacey Donaghy, Valerie Noble, and Sue Miller.  Representing NY Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors, they’re focused on commercial fiction and are always interested in new and upcoming talented writers.  

Stacey Donaghy began her career with an agency in New York, then in 2013 opened her own agency in Canada. Asked what manuscripts she’d like to get right now, Stacey said, “I would love to see more diverse stories that are highly commercial.  LGBTQ stories that focus on the characters and story development and less on the "issues" related to coming out or being out.  It would be exciting to receive a LGBTQ in adult or YA that is story driven, such as a romance or thriller in Adult and in YA a Mean Girls, Duff, even a thriller that highlights diversity but where the story leads the way.”

More generally, Stacey is seeking Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. Specifically, she’s looking for: Romantic Suspense, LGBTQ Stories, standalone or series, Diverse books, Contemporary romance, Romance with  varying heat levels, New Adult, Thrillers, Middle Grade (quirky not cute), and Young Adult.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door

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

From Inky Girl

Writing Query Letters That Get a Yes

A free seminar

Monday, January 30, 2017

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Kitchener Public Library, Central Branch, 85 Queen Street, North, Kitchener, Ontario (Map here.)

If you want to get the attention of an agent or a publisher, you need to craft a good query letter. Using real life examples, this seminar shows you how to do it. There isn’t just one way to write a successful query, and your query doesn’t have to be perfect; but it does need to persuade an agent that you’ve got a book that they can successfully pitch to a publisher.

Attendance is free, but please let me know you’re coming so I know how many handouts to bring. Email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

How to Build Your Story

Plotting novels & Writing short stories

Offered at two locales:

Saturday, February 4, 2017

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Unity Church, 3075 Ridegeway Drive, Unit 8, Mississauga, Ontario (Map here)

And

Saturday, February 11, 2017

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Albion-Bolton Branch, Caledon Public Library, 150 Queen Street South, Bolton, Ontario (Map here.)

This workshop will show you how writers plot a novel and will give you the best tips on writing short stories. We’ll also look at where to get your stories published and how to win contests. Best yet, you’ll see how to apply the story-building techniques you’ve learned to your own writing.

Fee for the Mississagua workshop : 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance by mail or Interac or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 if you wait to pay at the door

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

Fee for the Caledon workshop: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 + $6 for pizza lunch = $55 paid in advance by mail or in person or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 + $6 for pizza lunch = $59 if you wait to pay at the door

To pay in advance, make your cheque out to the Caledon Public Library and mail it to:

Attention:  Laura Nolloth, Caledon Public Library, Albion Bolton Branch, 150 Queen Street South, Bolton, ON, L7E 1E3

Or you can pay in advance in person at any Caledon Library branch. (Branch locations here.)

To reserve a spot now, email: programs@caledon.library.on.ca

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 Sarnia 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 Brian’s current complete schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Canadian literary agency the Donaghy Group now has 5 agents seeking authors, wants middle grade, young adult & new adult, sci-fi & fantasy, literary fiction, memoir & other nonfiction

Chasing Crazy by Kelly Siskind,
represented by Donaghy Literary

Donaghy Literary Group

Headquartered near Toronto, Canada

http://www.donaghyliterary.com/

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio and get each post delivered to your Inbox. Also, if you’re not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale, at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

The Donaghy Literary Group is growing! This Canadian agency has hired two more agents, both based in New York, and has promoted Valerie Noble to Senior Agent and Sue Miller to full agent. (Congrats, Valerie and Sue!) 
All five agents are open to submissions: Stacey Donaghy, Valerie Noble, Amanda Ayers Barnett, Alex Franks, and Sue Miller.  Representing New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors, they’re focused on commercial fiction – for adults, new adult, young adults and middle grade – and are always interested in new and upcoming talented writers. 

Note: Sue Miller of the Donaghy Group will be my guest speaker at an upcoming How to Get Published workshop on Saturday, April 22, 2017, in Midland (see here). Check out all upoming How to Get Published workshops here (and scroll down). ~Brian

(If you're looking at this posting after Jan 28, 2017, find updates about the Donaghy Agency and appearances by its agents here).

Amanda Ayers Barnett began her publishing career 20 years ago, fresh out of Middlebury College and Radcliffe Publishing Course. She has worn many hats: Publicity Assistant at Random House, Associate Editor at Pocket Books, Acquisitions Editor at Re.ad Publishing, and freelance book editor for New York Book Editors. She’s thrilled to add Literary Agent to her titles. And like all new agents, Amanda needs authors.

Amanda is seeking Middle Grade fiction, Young Adult fiction, New Adult fiction, Women’s fiction and Mysteries and Thrillers. She enjoys coming of age stories and precocious main characters, but more than anything, she loves an intriguing and well-written story.

When she’s not working, Amanda can be found in the bleachers at one of her three sons’ numerous sporting events. 

Query Amanda through the Donaghy Group's submissions manager here. 

In the subject line, write “Query,” followed by story title, and genre. Paste a one or two page synopsis below your query and the first ten pages of your double-spaced manuscript below that. No attachments.

Alex Franks has also joined the Donaghy agency, as a junior agent, but he’s not open to submissions at this time. Watch this space to hear when Alex does start looking for authors.

Before joining the agency, Alex worked as a bookseller and book club collector organizer at The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City and as a freelance editor for MysteriousPress.com and proof reader for Europa Editions. He also worked as an editorial intern for both Europa Editions and Grove/Atlantic and has written regularly for Kirkus Reviews and Forward Reviews, primarily about independent and self-published works.  

Query Alex through the Donaghy Group's submissions manager here.

Stacey Donaghy began her career with an agency in New York and in 2013 opened the doors to Donaghy Literary Group in Canada.

Asked what manuscripts she’d like to get right now, Stacey said, “I would love to see more diverse stories that are highly commercial.  LGBTQ stories that focus on the characters and story development and less on the 'issues' related to coming out or being out.  

“It would be exciting to receive a LGBTQ in adult or YA that is story driven, such as a romance or thriller in Adult and in YA a Mean Girls, Duff, even a thriller that highlights diversity but where the story leads the way.”

More generally, Stacey is seeking Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. Specifically, she’s looking for:

Romantic Suspense 

LGBTQ Stories, standalone or series

Diverse books

Contemporary romance (she loves smart and edgy characters)

Romance with varying heat levels

New Adult

Thrillers

Middle Grade, she’s looking for quirky not cute.  

Young Adult – lower, mid and upper YA (No sci-fi/fantasy or historic)

Query Stacey  through the Donaghy Group's submissions manager here.

Valerie Noble has been promoted to Senior Agent – but she’s still looking for authors! Based in the U.S., Valerie loves science fiction and fantasy (think Kristin Cashore and Suzanne Collins), but she reads everything; for her, it’s more about the writing and less about the genre.

Valerie is seeking Young Adult and New Adult in the following areas:

Science fiction

Fantasy

Historical fantasy

Historical fiction

Valerie is generally not interested in romance or paranormal.

Query Valerie  through the Donaghy Group's submissions manager here.

In the subject line, write “Query,” followed by story title, genre, and “Valerie Noble”

Paste a one or two page synopsis below your query and the first ten pages of your manuscript below that. No attachments. 

Sue Miller has been promoted to full agent. She graduated with a degree in English Literature from York University in Toronto, as well as a certificate in publishing, from Ryerson University. Sue previously worked in children's publishing with Scholastic Canada.

Prior to joining DLG, Sue interned for Bree Ogden during her time at the D4EO agency. Sue dabbles in writing and has edited short stories for other writers. An admitted social media junkie, Sue is always interested in the latest platforms for networking and relationship building within the industry. This led her to complete her Digital Marketing Management certificate from the University of Toronto.

Sue is seeking to partner with new, diverse voices in all genres of Young Adult fiction, and in Literary, Upmarket and Commercial fiction, and character-driven Romance, including all subgenres except historical.

Her interests include:

YA – any sub genre (think Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Cynthia Hand, Stephanie Perkins, Colleen Hoover) 

Urban Fantasy (think Sandy Williams, Patricia Briggs, Karen Marie Moning)

Low Fantasy/ Low level Science Fiction/ Dystopian - (think Laini Taylor, Samantha Shannon, Pierce Brown, Andy Weir)

Contemporary Romance (think Jamie McGuire, Rachel Gibson, K.A. Tucker, Colleen Hoover)

Her current wish list includes:

YA or Contemporary Romance – fun, smart (not silly), heart wrenching

YA Contemporary, authentic voices representing urban life (think Treasure E. Blue), multicultural (example: Canadian/Afro-Latino etc.), social change (think Heidi Durrow, R.J. Palacio) 

She’s not interested in anything historical, horror, high fantasy, or time travel.

Query Sue through the Donaghy Group's submission manager here.

Full guidelines for the Donaghy agency here.

Anne Shone, Senior Editor
Scholastic Books

Brian Henry will lead How to Get Published workshops on Saturday, Oct 22, in London with Stacey Donaghy of the Donaghy agency (see here), on Saturday,  October 29, in Caledon, at the Bolton Public Library, with Martha Web of the McDermid Agency (see here), and on Saturday, Jan 28, 2017, in Toronto with Stacey Donaghy of the Donaghy agency (see here). 

Note: If you're looking at this posting after January 2017, check out current How to Get Published workshops here (and scroll down).

On Saturday, November 19, Brian will lead a Writing for Children and for Young Adults workshop in Mississauga with Anne Shone, senior editor, Scholastic Books as his guest speaker (see here). 

Note: If you're looking at this posting after Nov 19, 2016, check out current Writing for Children & for Young Adult workshops and weekly Writing Kid Lit courses here (and scroll down).

To register or for details, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

But the best way of getting your manuscript ready for publication, may be with a weekly writing course. Come the new year, a full slate of classes will be offered: (See details of all six here.)

Exploring Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Jan 26 – March 30, Burlington

Writing Personal Stories, Tuesday mornings, Feb 9 – March 30, Oakville. Details here.

Intermediate Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, Jan 18 - March 22, Burlington

Intermediate Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, Jan 19 – March 23, Georgetown
Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, Jan 25 – March 28, Burlington. .

Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons,Jan 25 - March 15, Burlington

See details of all six courses here.

To reserve a spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Brian Henry also has a number of other great workshops coming up soon: Writing and Revising, Saturday, Nov 5, in Midland (see here), How to Write Great Characters, Saturday, Nov 12, in Barrie (see here), and Writing Your Life and Other Personal Stories, Saturday, Dec 3, in Oakville (see here).

To register of for more information for any of the above, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca 

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Navigation tip: For many more literary agents seeking authors, click on the Literary Agents button at the top of the page, just below the banner. To see only Canadian agents, click on the button in the right-hand column under More Content. To see only agents representing kid’s lit, click on the Children’s/YA agents button in the list of Labels below.