Grub Street's 2012 The Muse & The Marketplace

Grub Street, one of the nation's largest independent writing centers, presents the 11th annual Muse and the Marketplace literary conference. The event will be held May 5-6th, 2012 and features two keynote speakers: "Muse" keynote (Sunday, May 6th, 12:45-2:30p) Julia Alvarez, and "Marketplace" keynote (Saturday, May 5th, 5:30-6:30p) Richard Nash.

The Muse and the Marketplace is a two-day literary conference designed to give aspiring writers a better understanding about the craft of writing fiction and non-fiction, inside information about the world of publishing, and thoughtful networking opportunities. On both days, prominent and nationally-recognized authors lead sessions on the craft of writing - the "muse" side of things - while editors, literary agents, and publicists lead sessions on the business or "marketplace" for one's work.

This year's conference features 96 session offerings, 100+ presenter bios, testimonials and even time for socializing and networking.

Grub Street also offers the Manuscript Mart, at which, for an additional fee, an attendee can meet one-on-one with an established literary agent or editor who has read his or her work in advance and provides direct feedback. Many conferences offer pitch sessions, but The Muse and the Marketplace is one of the rare conferences where your actual pages will be discussed and thoughtfully evaluated by an agent or editor.

"The Muse and the Marketplace is one of the best investments a prospective writer can make. Attending it has provided me with access to top agents, publishers, editors and writing teachers. I can say without hesitation that the information I learned at the Muse and the Marketplace took years off of the writing of my first novel. I anticipate completing my novel in 2012 and, if I get it published, I can -- and will -- thank Grub Street and the Muse and the Marketplace." 
--Elaine Buckley, fiction writer 

For details, visit www.grubstreet.org.