Writing Co-Lab

Do you have an idea for a memoir, gift book, or essay collection, but you've been fearing the daunting prospect of putting together a book proposal? In this one-day seminar, writers will throw their worry to the wind, learn the nuts and bolts of a professional proposal, and finally defeat the blank page. In this viral age, you never know when a shorter piece can take off – and all of a sudden opportunities are coming your way that you need to act on! We’ll cover the sections of a standard book proposal, talk about creating/maintaining a platform, brainstorm your existing affiliations, find comparable titles to compare them to your own work, and create and refine the shorter pieces you will need for any proposal, such as author bios and an awareness of how to situate your writing and voice in the larger marketplace. After class, students will receive all class slides with linked example docs, as well as several full example proposals.

Students can expect to walk away with a clear understanding and outline of the pieces of a book proposal, an author bio that emphasizes their unique voice and area of expertise (rather than just a list of credits), and a series of actionable steps for going forward in terms of platform, contacting literary agents, and publishing as a business. Students will be sent a series of exercises the week before the class that will take between 1-2 hours to complete and should be prepared to sum up their book concept in a few sentences.

Meet Your Instructor

Caitlin Kunkel is a comedy writer, long-time teacher, and author. She created The Second City’s Online Satire Writing Program, taught/spoken at a slew of colleges including Northwestern, Yale, Brown, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Penn State. She co-founded The Belladonna Comedy and the Satire and Humor Festival, and co-wrote the satirical gift book New Erotica for Feminists: Satirical Fantasies of Love, Lust, and Equal Pay, named one of the Top 10 Comedy Books of 201 by Vulture.