Workshops:
I love working with writers and helping them along their writerly journey.
I teach a variety of workshops, mostly through Lawson's Writers Academy, but also with various Romance Writers of America chapters and Sisters in Crime.
Here's my upcoming 2022 Schedule: check out the classes here Lawson's Writers Academy (LWA)
January - Revision Bootcamp or Retreat
February - Sizzling Scintillating Synopsis
May - Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs
June - Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues, a Margie Lawson class taught by me at LWA
July - Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs
September - Empowering Characters' Emotions, a Margie Lawson class taught by me at LWA
October - Deep Editing, Rhetorical Devices and More, a Margie Lawson class taught by me at LWA
Here are a few reviews more can be read at LWA
Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs Workshop
Wowza. Your book is done. Congratulations. You’re ready to put your fabulous story out there into the publishing world. One of the best ways to get your work in front of agents and editors, is through pitching and querying.
But to pitch and query you need to distill your amazing book down to a few intriguing paragraphs or lines or Twitter for pitches, even just words.
In this intensive, hands-on, two week class, you’ll learn the basics of a hook-an-agent/editor pitch/blurb.
This intensive, hands-on, two week class offers you the most important opportunity: feedback. We will revise, fine-tune, and re-work your pitches and blurbs, all while working to maintain emotion and your voice in a hooky, can’t-wait-to-read pitch/blurb.
Yes, it’s possible. You can do it! Distill your story to a pitch/blurb that will hook agents and editors and make them want to read more.
Sign up and learn how to create a potent pitch and brilliant blurb.
What You Will Learn
The Buzz. . .
Condensing an eighty-thousand word novel into one succinct sentence is, to me, one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to produce. But, Suzanne made the process easier than I ever imagined. I’m so grateful for her expertise and patience. She’s one in a million. Thank you, Suzanne.
When I signed up to pitch a couple of editors at a local writers conference, I had no idea how to do it. Suzanne's class broke an overwhelming process down (who can summarize a novel they spent years developing in one sentence?) and made it easy. The most helpful part by far, however, was her feedback, which polished my pitches and made them shine shine far more than they would have otherwise. Perhaps the highest compliment I can give is that at one point I thought, "Hey, this is actually kind of fun!" Not what I expected in learning to pitch.
Don't know about you, but I used to hate it when someone asked me what my book was about. If you're a serious writer, you know the importance of condensing your work into interesting snippets to share on book covers, on blogs, and answering that inevitable question: What's your book about?
Suzanne is a master chef when it comes to boiling down your masterpiece into bitesize morsels. And she is a gifted teacher who can teach you how to write your own potent pitches and brilliant blurbs.
Drilling your story into a one-sentence pitch is a skill. A skill your agent and publisher will come to depend on and you will use throughout your writing career. A skill needed to make your query letter catch the eye of an agent, make your synopsis flow, and your book jacket enticing. Do your writing career a favor--don't pass up this class. This is a skillset Suzanne teaches with perfect pitch, humor, and encouragement.
The Sizzling Scintillating Synopsis. . .
is a much sought after workshop which helps you
* give your synopsis the attention it deserves.
* learn what to include and what to avoid in a synopsis.
* create a synopsis showcasing your best writing.
* add the intriguing emotional twists of your novel to the synopsis.
* fill your synopsis with your unique writer’s voice.
* give clarity, succinctness, and pizazz to your synopsis.
The goal of this class through lessons, assignments, and plenty of feedback is for you to come away with a sizzling, scintillating synopsis. A synopsis that will get the attention of an agent, editor, contest judge and prove you’re a professional and talented story teller.
The BUZZ from The Sizzling, Scintillating Synopsis Grads:
Suzanne helped me break down the synopsis into easily digestible parts, which prevents the overwhelm that so often accompanies writing one. Even just reading the forum responses and watching how she tightens language to achieve maximum impact, has been a godsend. I've waited for this course for over a year, and it was well worth the wait.
Great support, advice re tightening, adding voice and power and emotion. No one likes writing synopses but this class made it not only manageable but fun.
Writing a synopsis can feel overwhelming, but this class transforms a daunting class into a step-by-step highlight of the plot and character growth.
Awesome class. Suzanne is an excellent teacher and guide, very patient, very supportive and always spot-on with her suggestions.
I now have two kick-A synopses (a longer and a shorter one) which make me super-happy.
Thank you Suzanne for helping me achieve my writing goals and get my synopsis shipshape and Colorado Gold entry in on time!!
Suzanne's critiques are positive and professional, and they demonstrate best practices in fiction.
I respect Suzanne's craft knowledge and her skill as a writer, and I will definitely take her class again.
If you have any other questions feel free to contact me.
I teach a variety of workshops, mostly through Lawson's Writers Academy, but also with various Romance Writers of America chapters and Sisters in Crime.
Here's my upcoming 2022 Schedule: check out the classes here Lawson's Writers Academy (LWA)
January - Revision Bootcamp or Retreat
February - Sizzling Scintillating Synopsis
May - Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs
June - Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues, a Margie Lawson class taught by me at LWA
July - Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs
September - Empowering Characters' Emotions, a Margie Lawson class taught by me at LWA
October - Deep Editing, Rhetorical Devices and More, a Margie Lawson class taught by me at LWA
Here are a few reviews more can be read at LWA
Potent Pitches and Brilliant Blurbs Workshop
Wowza. Your book is done. Congratulations. You’re ready to put your fabulous story out there into the publishing world. One of the best ways to get your work in front of agents and editors, is through pitching and querying.
But to pitch and query you need to distill your amazing book down to a few intriguing paragraphs or lines or Twitter for pitches, even just words.
In this intensive, hands-on, two week class, you’ll learn the basics of a hook-an-agent/editor pitch/blurb.
This intensive, hands-on, two week class offers you the most important opportunity: feedback. We will revise, fine-tune, and re-work your pitches and blurbs, all while working to maintain emotion and your voice in a hooky, can’t-wait-to-read pitch/blurb.
Yes, it’s possible. You can do it! Distill your story to a pitch/blurb that will hook agents and editors and make them want to read more.
Sign up and learn how to create a potent pitch and brilliant blurb.
What You Will Learn
- how to hook an agent
- how to pitch to an editor
- the finer points of creating a short pitch
- techniques for writing a long pitch
- how to write a back cover blurb
- dos and don't for pitches and blurbs
- authors getting ready for pitch season
- authors writing query letters
- those looking to self-publish that are in need of a stellar back cover blurb
The Buzz. . .
Condensing an eighty-thousand word novel into one succinct sentence is, to me, one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to produce. But, Suzanne made the process easier than I ever imagined. I’m so grateful for her expertise and patience. She’s one in a million. Thank you, Suzanne.
When I signed up to pitch a couple of editors at a local writers conference, I had no idea how to do it. Suzanne's class broke an overwhelming process down (who can summarize a novel they spent years developing in one sentence?) and made it easy. The most helpful part by far, however, was her feedback, which polished my pitches and made them shine shine far more than they would have otherwise. Perhaps the highest compliment I can give is that at one point I thought, "Hey, this is actually kind of fun!" Not what I expected in learning to pitch.
Don't know about you, but I used to hate it when someone asked me what my book was about. If you're a serious writer, you know the importance of condensing your work into interesting snippets to share on book covers, on blogs, and answering that inevitable question: What's your book about?
Suzanne is a master chef when it comes to boiling down your masterpiece into bitesize morsels. And she is a gifted teacher who can teach you how to write your own potent pitches and brilliant blurbs.
Drilling your story into a one-sentence pitch is a skill. A skill your agent and publisher will come to depend on and you will use throughout your writing career. A skill needed to make your query letter catch the eye of an agent, make your synopsis flow, and your book jacket enticing. Do your writing career a favor--don't pass up this class. This is a skillset Suzanne teaches with perfect pitch, humor, and encouragement.
The Sizzling Scintillating Synopsis. . .
is a much sought after workshop which helps you
* give your synopsis the attention it deserves.
* learn what to include and what to avoid in a synopsis.
* create a synopsis showcasing your best writing.
* add the intriguing emotional twists of your novel to the synopsis.
* fill your synopsis with your unique writer’s voice.
* give clarity, succinctness, and pizazz to your synopsis.
The goal of this class through lessons, assignments, and plenty of feedback is for you to come away with a sizzling, scintillating synopsis. A synopsis that will get the attention of an agent, editor, contest judge and prove you’re a professional and talented story teller.
The BUZZ from The Sizzling, Scintillating Synopsis Grads:
Suzanne helped me break down the synopsis into easily digestible parts, which prevents the overwhelm that so often accompanies writing one. Even just reading the forum responses and watching how she tightens language to achieve maximum impact, has been a godsend. I've waited for this course for over a year, and it was well worth the wait.
Great support, advice re tightening, adding voice and power and emotion. No one likes writing synopses but this class made it not only manageable but fun.
Writing a synopsis can feel overwhelming, but this class transforms a daunting class into a step-by-step highlight of the plot and character growth.
Awesome class. Suzanne is an excellent teacher and guide, very patient, very supportive and always spot-on with her suggestions.
I now have two kick-A synopses (a longer and a shorter one) which make me super-happy.
Thank you Suzanne for helping me achieve my writing goals and get my synopsis shipshape and Colorado Gold entry in on time!!
Suzanne's critiques are positive and professional, and they demonstrate best practices in fiction.
I respect Suzanne's craft knowledge and her skill as a writer, and I will definitely take her class again.
If you have any other questions feel free to contact me.