Upcoming Events and Learning Opportunities with Yours Truly
A book proposal generator! One-on-one consultations! Trash, LIVE!
So, you have an idea for a book. Maybe you even already wrote it! Either way, you are ready for the next step. Does the thought of writing a book proposal for your non-fiction project make you want to light no fewer than fourteen lavender-scented candles and lie in the dark for three days straight? You’re not alone! But after having written three book proposals, I promise you it’s not as daunting as it seems.
In order to demystify this seemingly overwhelming task, I’m thrilled to offer the Book Proposal Generator. Beginning with an overview of the anatomy of the book proposal by looking at several different examples, this generator will be broken up into ten weekly sessions. Each week, we will be discussing and going over one element of the book proposal in detail. At the end of each session, students will be assigned to complete a draft of the section discussed, which is to be handed in the following Friday, no later than 8 p.m. Students will receive peer and instructor feedback in class the following day, after which the next section of the book proposal will discussed and assigned to complete for the following week. In addition to workshopping material in class, students will also receive individual feedback by email from me each week. By the final session, each student will have a complete book proposal, and will be ready to take the next step on the path to publication.
Click here to learn more and sign up.
I’m also delighted to announce that I will be offering one-on-one consultations and private mentorships through The Shipman Agency, all year round!
My teaching philosophy is pretty simple: If you care about your story, someone else will, too. My job—and joy—is to help my students hone their craft by looking inward. Because only by looking inward can you learn to write about the way you move through the world. I'm not here to teach as much as I am to hold up a mirror and help you mine your reflection for the things you might not have noticed before or hadn't thought to consider in one way or another—all of the things that make up the fabric of your being, the things that should be radically honored both on and off the page.
This consultation will begin with an initial hour-long meeting and conversation about your work-in-progress. I want to hear about why you started writing your project, and where you imagine it going. I want to know why your project matters to you. We will also discuss any concerns or challenges you face, as well as what you want to achieve by the time you finish your final draft.
Following our conversation, I will then give line-by-line edits, along with detailed editorial notes on your work-in-progress. This can include a non-fiction manuscript, book proposal, book chapters, query letter, essay(s), article(s), work samples, or any other form of non-fiction prose.
Price breakdown: $200 flat fee for the first 20 pages (12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and one-inch margins), and $3 for every page after that.
A la carte option: For a manuscript consultation that includes a letter with detailed editorial feedback, but no line-by-line edits, the flat fee is $150 for the first 20 pages (12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and one-inch margins), and $3 for every page after that.
Please note: Payment is for the initial flat fee. Additional page fees to be determined and invoiced separately.
Click here to learn more and sign up.
Out of all the things I’ve accomplished this year, the one I’m most proud of is starting my own reading series?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
My brilliant co-host, the biconic author of the hilarious and insightful memoir Greedy, Jen Winston, and I are thrilled to present the next Empty Trash at Ruby Fruit on Thursday, December 14th at 7 p.m.
If you’re in Los Angeles, join us for a reading where authors reach deep into the bowels of their “recently deleted” folders and share pieces that have been cut, unpublished, or otherwise killed.
Come watch these next-level literary luminaries give their dead darlings a second life next week:
⭐️ Melissa Broder ⭐️
⭐️ Diane Marie Brown ⭐️
⭐️ Alissa Nutting ⭐️
⭐️ Gabrielle Korn ⭐️
⭐️ Jonny Sun ⭐️
⭐️ Jean Kyoung Frazier ⭐️
Books sold by our friends over at Skylight Books. Come get randy with us!
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I hope to see some of your gorgeous faces in the upcoming weeks, either in-person or online. And if not, you can make it up to me by becoming a paid subscriber to this Substack. Just kidding!!!! (Kinda. Listen, moving across the country has made my bank account develop a smoking habit. Every dollar counts!)
Even if you share SOS with a friend or sibling or troubled niece whom you suspect practices dark magic or neighbor with a glass eye or favorite barista with intensely hued hair or the pharmacist with whom you’ve matched on Tinder or your favorite Dyson sales rep or the heir to the Entenmann’s empire or Joan Cusack, etc. I will be eternally grateful!!!!!
Thank you for your continued support! Truly, I appreciate it—to the moon and beyond.
XO,
GM
You can follow my other unhinged missives by following me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. My debut memoir, Born to Be Public, is out now.