IOWA SUMMER WRITING FESTIVAL

Submitting Your Writing: Queries, Pitches, Proposals & More (Weekend Workshop)

Kali White VanBaale, Instructor

Dates/Time

Friday, November 11–Sunday, November 13, 2022

Introductory Meeting and Overview, Friday on Zoom:

• 7:00–8:00 p.m. Iowa/Central Time
• 8:00–9:00 p.m. Eastern Time
• 5:00–6:00 p.m. Pacific Time
• 6:00–7:00 p.m. Mountain Time

 Workshop Meetings, Saturday and Sunday on Zoom:

• 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Iowa/Central Time
• 12:00–5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
• 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Pacific Time
• 10:00 a.m.–3:00 a.m. Mountain Time

Saturday and Sunday meetings include a one-hour break. Class meets for four hours each day.

Fee: $350

Course Description

The art of writing is one thing, but the business of submitting and publishing your work is an entirely different beast. In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to write elevator pitches, query letters, cover letters, fiction synopses, and nonfiction proposals. We’ll also discuss the business side of writing and publishing, including traditional publishers, agents, editors, small presses, hybrid publishing, and self-publishing for all genres (which could be the best option for you and your writing project).

I’ll provide handouts and other resources. After our course concludes, I’ll give you feedback on your query letter draft if you’d like. I hope to make the overall submission process feel more organized and less intimidating!

Instructor

Kali White VanBaale is the author of the novels The Monsters We Make, The Good Divide, and The Space Between, as well as short stories, essays, articles, and film scripts. She’s the recipient of an American Book Award, an Eric Hoffer Book Award, an Independent Publisher’s silver medal for fiction, and two State of Iowa major artist grants. She’s the managing editor of the essay journal The Past Ten, is a regular contributor to the A&E Network Real Crime blog series, and volunteers for the PEN America Prison & Justice Writing program. Kali holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a core faculty member of the Lindenwood University MFA Creative Writing Program. She lives outside Des Moines with her family. www.kaliwhite.com.

Registration & Fees

The fee for this course is $350. Payment in full is required to register.

Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Class size is limited to 10.

Note: Your credit card payment will be processed by an external provider and will appear on your credit card statement as “UI Writing—Magid Center.”

Refund & Cancellation Policy

If you need to cancel your enrollment in a Festival class, please let us know as soon as possible. We can only offer full refunds if you cancel five days prior to the start of class. After that, before the start date of class, we can offer a 50% refund. We cannot refund day-of cancellations, and we cannot refund or partially refund tuition once the class has begun.

Terms & Community Policy

1.    The Iowa Summer Writing Festival is a program for adults. You must be at least 18 years old to enroll in Festival workshops.

2.    The Iowa Summer Writing Festival is a community built on an assumption of shared enterprise, in the spirit of mutual respect. We reserve the right to a) revoke the registration of or b) dismiss from the program any person who disrupts the learning/working environment of others. Participants in the Festival are subject to all University of Iowa policies governing conduct in our community, whether online or in person.

Questions?

Contact the Iowa Summer Writing Festival: iswfestival@uiowa.edu. Phone: (319) 335-4160.

Our tiny staff is working remotely. If you phone and we miss you, please leave a message!