Muse & the Marketplace at GrubStreet
March 4, 2024
Last August, I had the incredible good fortune of moving into a gorgeous, third-floor Boston apartment with two lovely women, one of whom is a writer. This roommate has deep ties to GrubStreet, a fairly well-known literary organization in the Boston Seaport.
Every year, GrubStreet hosts a big publishing conference called Muse & the Marketplace. I, of course, didn't know anything about this until Shannon mentioned it. We did some research together and discovered that the event looks absolutely incredible. A weekend of craft workshops, schmoozing, and connection-making in the merry month of May. Several literary agents I admire are going to be there, a few of whom will participate in Manuscript Mart.
From Muse & the Marketplace's webpage:
"At Manuscript Mart, an established literary agent or editor will read your work in advance and meet with you at the conference to provide direct feedback. This one-on-one, 20 minute session will be scheduled for you during the conference weekend. Your chosen literary agent or editor will have read FIVE (5) pages of your work in advance, along with an optional, highly encouraged query letter and/or synopsis, and will provide feedback from an industry perspective. Most often, these are the first five pages of the writer's manuscript, but they do not have to be. Manuscript Mart sessions are allocated before the conference on a first-come, first-served basis."
Of course, all of this wonderful, useful goodness comes at a price. Namely, $795 for the weekend, not including Manuscript Mart, which costs $250 per session. That's $1050 dollars for a two-and-a-half day weekend plus a 20 minute agent meeting.
Fortunately, there are a limited number of tuition scholarships for both Muse & the Marketplace and for Manuscript Mart. I spent three focused hours on my application, which included an explanation of the project, an explanation of my current financial situation, and for Manuscript Mart, a brief blurb about which agent(s) I wanted to speak to and why. I submitted the materials at midnight on February 20th, expecting absolutely nothing. But guess what?
To say that I was shocked and overjoyed would be an understatement. I haven't had a writing win in awhile, so this feels like a supremely good sign. I registered for the conference immediately and chose my agent for Manuscript Mart. I'm going to speak with Rebecca Podos, well-known for repping fantasy, YA, and LGBTQ+ and Jewish themed works. She's been on my querying list for a long time and is one of maybe three literary agents whose name I still know off the top of my head, even after my year away from the literary world.
I'm pumped. And I have two months to prepare, which is a true gift. I still have to write a query letter for Hand Magic, as well as a synopsis, and I will probably need all two months to get them where they need to be. But! During that time, Hand Magic will be receiving edits and beta reads, so everything's sort of worked out. Hopefully my beta readers will be able to recommend me the best five pages to send in.
So that's where I'm at! Thanks for the support everyone, and have a wonderful week!
xx Claire
