A Round-up from The Muse & the Marketplace 2024
By Victoria Fortune
Last weekend, Grub Street’s Muse & the Marketplace conference was held in Boston, fully in-person for the first time since 2019, and it delivered all that it promised. From presenter sessions, to shop-talks, to manuscript mart, to social gatherings and elevator rides, there was ample opportunity to swap pitches and contact information, and develop new connections. Perhaps because people were so eager to be together again, everyone seemed to heed opening keynote speaker Jonathan Escoffery’s advice to take time to get to know one another and build a writing community.
The vast array of sessions made it difficult to narrow down which to attend. For each one I went to, there were eight or nine other options in that time slot. I could write a separate post on each session, but here is a sampling of stand-out quotes from my weekend at the Muse.
Jonathan Escoffery, Friday Keynote Speaker
“Taking my time [to develop as a writer], even though it was frustrating, really paid me back.”
“Making the sentences undeniable to the best of my ability.”
Anjali Mitter Duva, Henriette Lazaridis, What No One talks about in Publishing . . .But Everyone Should Know
On their new publishing venture Galiot Press: “a more transparent, equitable, sustainable and financially viable approach to publishing.”
“We’re aiming to condense the process to 12 months, from signing a contract to print.”
“We’re open to books that defy categorization”
Tim Weed, Storytelling to Save the World: The Fiction of Climate Apocalypse
“It’s not the external plot that makes us read, it’s the inner landscape.”
“The darkness allows the light to come through.”
“A novel is ‘the tiger in the cage’.” (The thing we fear, contained so that we can approach and examine it closely.)
Steve Almond, The Ultimate Craft Class: Solving the Mysteries of Character, Chronology and Plot:
“The collision between who you want the world to think you are, and who you know yourself to be makes for the best inner conflict.”
“We’ve all written the waking up scene. Consider it exploratory character work.”
“When you’ve got your characters down—you know them really well—you’re more than halfway to plot. You must know your character to know how to challenge them.”
“Plot is almost always desire in peril.”
Desmond Hall, The Dynamics of Opposition: Getting the Best Plot out of Your Protagonist
“You’ve got to beat up your protagonists.”
“Your character’s perspective, the way they see the world—their personality, socioeconomic status, heritage, what they love/hate/fear, etc. —is a bank to draw on.”
Emily St. John Mandel, Saturday Keynote Speaker
“There’s great value in training yourself to write anytime, anywhere.”
“I’ve learned a lot by reading bad books.”
“There’s no way to respond to negative reviews without sounding like a lunatic.”
Laura van den Berg, The Art of Beginning Again
“Revising is a necessary experience. Each story or book requires me to change to create it.”
“Keep asking yourself throughout the process, why am I writing this story. If the ‘whys’ don’t grow as you progress with a project, it’s a sign to put it aside.”
Quoting Margaret Atwood, ‘Don’t sit down in the middle of the wilderness.’ Keep running experiments, testing hypotheses, re-type the book . . . the wilderness is integral to the process, but a [revision] roadmap guides you through.”
Jennifer Mancuso: Re-writing History
“We need to look back in order to look forward.”
Blair Hurley, Finding Your Ending
“A great ending doesn’t feel like the story has died; it feels like it will go on living.”
“Writers often overdo it in their first attempt at an ending. Pull back in revision. Exercise constraint.”
“Writing is like cooking--for each sweet dish, add a little salt, and for each savory dish, a little sweetness.”
Bhamati Viswanathan, The Emergence of AI: An Interrogation for Emerging Writers
“Current law cannot address AI issues.”
“Writers must act collectively. If our work isn’t copyrighted, we can’t be professionals, we can’t make money.”
Shira Schindel, Crafting for Audio
“Audio is the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry, in it’s 11th year of double-digit growth.”
“Original audio is scripted fiction, written specifically for audio, not print.”
“Consider what audio can do uniquely well to tell a story—highlight dialogue, create atmosphere. Is there an auditory component to the story?”
Insider Insights: A Publishing Panel
What have you seen too much of?
“Edgy young female narrators” – Mariah Stovall
“Books set in New York or LA. People who work in offices” --Katherine Fausset
What would you like to see more of?
‘People breaking form and structure” –Katherine Fausset
“More diverse commercial fiction; humor, not everything needs to be dark and traumatic” –Heidi Pitlor
“Consider what kind of ‘no’s’ you’re getting. A lot of ‘no’s’ with no engagement might be an indication to move on to another project, but ‘no’s’ with some feedback and encouragement are signs to keep going.” --Mariah Stovall
