The Writer's Workshop Lecture Series

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How to Write Opening Pages that Hook Readers and Agents

Join literary agent and best selling author Eric Smith for a one hour talk and Q&A session.

Writers often stress about those first few opening pages that occasionally accompany a query letter and get pasted into an email. What are agents looking for? Well, turns out, it's the same thing readers are looking for. In this talk, author and literary agent Eric Smith will break down query letter basics and must-haves, and then dig into what makes those first few pages (really your first chapter) sing.

The talk will air live on Friday, December 8th at 1pm ET / 10am PT / 6pm GMT.

Register now to join the live event, or watch the recording on your own time.

By signing up, we will also let you know about future lectures, workshops, and opportunities from The Writer's Workshop at Authors Publish.

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Free Talk: How to Write Opening Pages that Win Over Readers and Agents With Eric Smith

Eric Smith is a Young Adult author and literary agent with P.S. Literary living in Philadelphia. He’s worked with New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors across genres and categories. You can check out some of the books he’s worked on here! In his author life, his latest book, With or Without You, published with HarperCollins / Inkyard Press in November 2023, and was a Junior Library Guild selection. Learn more about Eric on his website. If you think you have a book that may be a good fit for him, you can read his Manuscript Wishlist here.

During the talk, Eric mentions the openings of several books. Here are links to them: