Write a Novel that Wins Over Readers and Publishers – With Support from Experts and Industry Professionals

Plotting, Planning, and Drafting Your Novel gives you the tools and guidance you need to write a novel that wins over readers and meets the needs of publishers – all while honoring your vision as an author.

You are invited to participate in the Plotting, Planning, and Drafting Your Novel, co-taught by New York Times bestselling author Emily Colin and editor Julie Artz.

The course includes in-depth feedback on your work, easy-to-follow lessons, and access to industry experts eager to answer your questions and help you fulfill your vision as an author.  

During the course, Emily and Julie will help you:

  • Write polished opening pages that grab agents’ and editors’ attention
  • Craft effective “back cover” copy, which will form the heart of your query letter (which is vital to landing a publishing contract)
  • Identify your manuscript’s genre, proposed market-savvy title, and recent “comps” (so you won’t have to make major changes when it comes time to submit your work)
  • Ensure that your story has a clear “why” that shines from every page
  • Create engaging, three-dimensional characters that readers will love
  • Construct a plot that drives readers to turn the page, desperate to know what happens next
  • Plus, Emily and Julie will guide you through many more steps of the process, so you can write your novel with expert feedback.

Every week of the course, Emily and Julie will give you in-depth feedback on one aspect of your story. This includes feedback on the first ten pages of your manuscript, back-cover copy, "tent-pole scene outline," and more. With each round of feedback, you are encouraged to engage in a conversation with them, so you can take full advantage of their expertise.

This is in addition to the regular feedback and interaction you'll get on the lessons throughout the course.

Plus, you’ll get the chance to meet a renowned literary agent, who will give you even more insight and guidance on the process of writing a novel. (More details on that below.)

You’ll learn what every author should know when plotting, planning, and drafting a novel that wins over readers and publishers. (Among many other things, this allows you to avoid major revisions when it is time to start sending your work to publishers.)

You’ll be doing this with the in-depth personal guidance of professionals who have found success, both as an author and a writing coach. Emily is a New York Times bestselling author. Julie has helped authors get published by big-name publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Knopf, and Macmillan.

The course officially starts on March 3rd and ends on March 28th, 2025. Everything is held online, via our course platform. For those who need extra time, you’ll have 3 full months to complete the course and submit your work for feedback from the instructors.

Please note, due to the in-depth level of feedback, enrollment in this course is strictly limited. For those interested in enrolling, you are encouraged to do so right away.

Enroll Now for $675 $547 (Early Bird Tuition)

Meet with Literary Agent Kelly Van Sant

Kelly Van Sant of KT Literary will be meeting wit the class to discuss novel writing, working with an agent, and how to make sure your manuscript appeals to agents and pubishers.

This is a unique chance to learn directly from a successful literary agent.

Kelly has over two decades of experience in the publishing industry. After relocating to Minnesota, Kelly joined Llewellyn Worldwide as their Contracts Manager across all three imprints and then moved to Quarto Publishing Group USA where she led the contract department.

Kelly's career came full circle when she realized that her true passion was advocating on behalf of authors and creatives. She is now a senior agent and contracts director at KT Literary.

Keely will be visiting the class in a live Zoom meeting on Thursday March 23rd, from 2pm to 3pm Eastern Time. You will be welcome to submit your questions ahead of time. The event will be recorded for those who can't make it.

Kelly Van Sant

Meet with Literary Agent Michael Mungiello

Michael Mungiello, of Inkwell Management, will be meeting with the class to discuss querying, publishing, and finding the right agents. Michael represents both literary fiction and nonfiction.

This is a unique chance to learn directly from a successful literary agent.

Inkwell Management represents many top selling authors, including many memoir and nonfiction authors. (Including debut authors.)

Michael will be visiting the class in a live Zoom meeting on Friday, March 28th, from 3pm to 4pm Eastern Time. You will be welcome to submit your questions ahead of time. The event will be recorded for those who can't make it.

New York Times Bestselling Author, Emily Colin

New York Times bestselling author Emily Colin will be there for you throughout the entire course. She'll be answering questions via our course platforms, providing in-depth personal feedback on participant work, hosting live office hours, and much more.

Emily's debut novel, The Memory Thief was a New York Times bestseller and a Target Emerging Authors Pick; she followed it up with The Dream Keeper's Daughter which Publisher’s Weekly called “a splendid mix of time travel, romantic yearning, and moving on after grief.” Dissent, the 2022 romance anthology to which she contributed a short story, hit the USA Today bestseller list the week of its release.

Emily is also the author of the award-winning young adult, romantic dystopian-fantasy series, The Seven Sins. Sword of the Seven Sins, the first book, was a Foreword INDIES Award finalist, won the YA fiction award of the North Carolina Indie Author Project, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Manly Wade Wellman Award for North Carolina Science Fiction and Fantasy. The second novel of the series, Siege of the Seven Sins was a 2021 silver IPPY Award winner and Foreword INDIES finalist.

In addition to her writing career, Emily works as an editor and book coach.

Developmental Editor & Book Coach Julie Artz

Julie Artz has worked on books that ended up being published by Simon & Schuster, Knopf, Macmillan, Scholastic and many other publishers.

Author María José Fitzgerald (Turtles of the Midnight Moon, Knopf, 2023) says: "Julie helped me take the first draft of my manuscript to a polished, well executed novel that got me an agent and my first book deal."

Julie is a gifted writing instructor with a deep understanding of the publishing business, as well as the craft of novel writing. An active member of the writing community, she has volunteered for SCBWI, TeenPit, and Pitch Wars and is a member of EFA, the Authors Guild, and AWP.

Julie will be there every day to answer your questions and help you quickly overcome roadblocks. She'll also be giving in-depth feedback on participant work and answering questions in the discussion platform and Zoom meetings.

Course Overview

  • Four weeks of in-depth lessons on the art and craft of writing a novel that wins over readers and publishers.

  • Detailed personal feedback on your writing from Emily Colin or Julie Artz

  • Meet an established literary agent in a live class meeting.

  • Access to live office hours with all of our instructors, even after the course has finished.

  • Full access to our private community of writers, so you can network with your fellow students.

Praise for this Course

5 star rating

Exactly what I needed

Amanda Wallace

I had a story and I just didn't know how to package it. I didn't know how to turn it from an idea into a novel that people would read. This course gave me the tools I need to finally do that. The feedback Emily gave was incredibly helpful, and enc...

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I had a story and I just didn't know how to package it. I didn't know how to turn it from an idea into a novel that people would read. This course gave me the tools I need to finally do that. The feedback Emily gave was incredibly helpful, and encouraged me to take a deep dive into crucial aspects of my story that I would have only skimmed the surface of. This course has not only given me the tools I need to finish my novel, it gave me a brand new lens that I can use to look back on my previously rejected manuscript and query materials. The feedback aspect of this course in discussion boards and assignments makes it invaluable. I highly recommend it.

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5 star rating

BROUGHT IT ALL TOGETHER

Louise Hite

Everyone writing a manuscript should take this course! Julie and Emily present the building blocks providing you the opportunity to really think about what you are writing and how you are developing your scenes as well as your characters. I will b...

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Everyone writing a manuscript should take this course! Julie and Emily present the building blocks providing you the opportunity to really think about what you are writing and how you are developing your scenes as well as your characters. I will be using the tools the provide for all the manuscripts I write.

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5 star rating

Really enjoyed this course!

Lexa Kaye

Even though this course is plotting, planning, and drafting, I actually came to it with a full manuscript ready. Even so, I learned SO MUCH, allowing me to go back and make sure certain things were in place. I feel like I am much more in a positio...

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Even though this course is plotting, planning, and drafting, I actually came to it with a full manuscript ready. Even so, I learned SO MUCH, allowing me to go back and make sure certain things were in place. I feel like I am much more in a position of querying than I was before, which is exactly the outcome I was hoping for.

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5 star rating

Course feedback: FIVE STARS

Barbara Price

I loved this course. Instructors Emily Colin and Julie Artz, who together led the Writer’s Workshop on Plotting, Planning, and Drafting Your Novel at Authors Publish, are extremely knowledgeable about genre and craft, and were spot-on and generous...

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I loved this course. Instructors Emily Colin and Julie Artz, who together led the Writer’s Workshop on Plotting, Planning, and Drafting Your Novel at Authors Publish, are extremely knowledgeable about genre and craft, and were spot-on and generous with their feedback on the work I created in class. Most helpful for me were their insights into what agents and publishers want to see with their first glance at a manuscript—and why it is critical that you care. The course structure guarantees that you will work quickly and cover a lot of ground. This was good. The fact that the course materials remain accessible after the course ends gives students the opportunity to dive deeper into topics later, if they wish to do so. Two things in particular resonated with me during this course. I learned from Emily that, when one is forced to edit a passage to meet length requirements, the result can be beautiful. Shorter is stronger. I learned from Julie that even the most seemingly complex storyline can be distilled into its essence by framing it as a fairytale. I love this version of my story crafted from this exercise, especially the ending. Thank you, Emily and Julie. See you in January 2025! —Barbara Price

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5 star rating

Generous Instructors

Gail Sher

I found both teachers so generous with their time, information and feedback. Having carefully completed the assignments, I feel much more grounded in the plot and the characters of this novel I have my heart set on writing. Thank you for making...

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I found both teachers so generous with their time, information and feedback. Having carefully completed the assignments, I feel much more grounded in the plot and the characters of this novel I have my heart set on writing. Thank you for making this class available to us.

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Enroll Now

Early bird tuition is available until February 24th.
Please note, space in this workshop is strictly limited.

FAQ

  • What is the course schedule?

    The course starts on Monday, March 3rd and ends on Friday, March 28th, 2025. The course comes with daily lessons you can study on your own time, and personal feedback on your work from Emily Colin and Julie Artz.

    The course is designed to be flexible. Each week, we release five lessons you can do on your own time. Some participants choose to do each week's lessons in just one or two days, while others spend a little bit of time each day on the lessons.

    Each week, you also have the opportunity to submit work for feedback from Emily or Julie. Note, that you have 3 full months to complete the course and submit your work for feedback.

    You will also get ongoing access to live office hours at no additional cost, so you can continue to get answers to your questions, even after the course has ended.

  • How much time will the course require?

    Expect to spend around 30 minutes a day on the course. Some days will require less work, some days will require more. Daily lessons can be done on your own time. The meetings with Emily & Julie will be scheduled to best work for the entire class.

  • Why are you limiting enrollment in the course?

    Emily and Julie are planning on providing in-depth personal feedback to every participant in the course. They take great care with their feedback, and want to develop personal relationships with all of the students in the course. This is only possible by limiting the number of students enrolled.

  • I haven't yet started my novel. Is this course right for me?

    This course gives you a solid foundation for writing a novel that meets the needs of publishers. If you are just starting a manuscript, or in the process of writing one, this course guides you through the process of making sure your novel fits the needs of publishers. There are often simple decisions that have a big impact on a book's chances to get published. Emily & Julie will guide you through these simple decisions, so you can maximize your chance of publication.