Landing a Book Deal: Navigating the Query Process
About this Event
Writing toward publication can often feel isolating, opaque, and difficult to navigate, especially for emerging writers and writers working outside traditional literary networks. Come hear the many stages of the publishing journey, from preparing a manuscript and writing a query letter to securing representation and working with editors toward publication.
Together, the panelists will offer practical insight into the query process while also speaking honestly about the relationships, challenges, and possibilities that shape today’s literary landscape. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of what literary professionals are looking for, how books move through the publishing process, and how writers can approach the industry with greater knowledge, confidence, and intention.
This event is designed for writers at all stages who are seeking greater transparency, access, and community around the path to publication.
About the Presenter(s):
Justin Brouckaert is a literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management, where he represents mostly nonfiction titles, including such New York Times bestsellers as Amber Share’s Subpar Parks, Julian Sancton’s Madhouse at the End of the Earth, and Marisa Franco’s Platonic. He also works as a ghostwriter, developmental editor, and writing coach. He holds a bachelor's degree from Saginaw Valley State University and an MFA in fiction from the University of South Carolina.
Anna Clark is a writer in Detroit. She's the author of, which won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism and the Rachel Carson environmental book award. It was also a finalist for the New York Public Library's Helen Bernstein Book Award and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Anna also edited, a Michigan Notable Book, and wrote a book on Michigan’s literary history. Anna is an investigative journalist at ProPublica and a faculty member in Alma College’s MFA Program in Creative Writing. She was a Fulbright fellow in creative writing in Kenya and a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Review, the Michigan Quarterly Review, the New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications. She has been a longtime leader of writing and improv theater workshops in prisons, detention centers, high schools, libraries, and beyond.
Stephanie Williams
Stephanie Williams is the Director of Wayne State University Press and President of the Association of University Presses. She has previously held marketing management positions at Pelican Publishing Company, the University Press of Florida, the University of Missouri Press, and the University Press of Kentucky. Stephanie is a member of the Persea Press board and has served on the advisory boards of Amherst College Press, the Midwest Publishers Association, and helped start the Unbound Book Festival. Stephanie lives in Ferndale, Michigan with her schnoodle Sister Rosetta.
Detroit Lit is a project to support Detroit’s literary community. We acknowledge and uplift the history and culture of Detroit as a city region of people who have been traditionally excluded from the national conversation. As a place that is majority Black, Arab American, and Latinx, we center writers of color and their experiences.
Through joyful engagements and high-quality professional development, we provide writers with opportunities to gain the skills they need to excel in this field. Detroit Lit’s mission is to sustain and expand Detroit’s vibrant writing community, so no one feels forced to leave to succeed in the literary arts.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
