PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
WDC25’s Pre-Conference Workshops are the perfect opportunity to go deep on a topic with expert, hands-on guidance.
NOTE: These exclusive pre-conference workshops kick off the 2025 Writer’s Digest Annual Conference weekend on Thursday, July 24
In this full-day workshop, we’ll break down what makes a concept truly irresistible, explore how to sharpen your premise into something both fresh and sellable, and refine your own high-concept pitch through guided exercises and live feedback. You’ll leave with a polished, marketable premise and the tools to make sure your book stands out in a competitive publishing landscape.
By the end of this workshop, you’ll have a polished, high-concept hook, a clearer sense of your story’s unique appeal, and the confidence to pitch your book to agents, editors, and readers in a way that grabs attention instantly.
Hands-On Work & Live Exercises:
- Live Concept Refinement—Bring your pitch, break it down, and sharpen it into something that sells.
- High-Concept Breakdown—Reverse-engineer bestselling and breakout concepts to understand what makes them work.
- Hands-On Hook Development—Work through structured exercises to craft a one-sentence and one-paragraph pitch that captures your book’s core appeal.
- The “Hollywood Test”—Practice pitching your book in ways that feel natural, compelling, and instantly engaging.
- Feedback & Iteration—Share your hook with the group, get live feedback, and refine it into something irresistible.
In this six-hour lively, jam-packed interactive workshop, Talcott Notch literary agent Amy Collins and career book editor Tiffany Yates Martin will show you how to master the art of talking about your writing so people want to read it—how to effectively and persuasively pitch your story and yourself.
Tiffany and Amy will lead a live demonstration of a mock-up pitch session—and then it’s your turn. Registrants will have the chance to volunteer to try their pitch with the instructors, including fielding follow-up questions, and participate in class discussions of what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve.
YOU'LL LEARN
- The key differences between a pitch and a query letter
- What agents and publishers really want
- Understanding the publishing market and identifying your target audience
- Learning the importance of “Market Viability,” if your book has it and how to best prove it to agents and publishers
- How to research agents and editors, how to determine if they’re a good fit for you, and how to angle your pitch toward what they’re looking for
- How to craft a compelling story hook by identifying your novel’s unique selling points (USP)
- How to structure a persuasive pitch, and balance storytelling with market positioning
- And more!
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