Lit!Commons: Navigator S1

This pathway, led by Savannah Brooks, is focused on navigating a path through all the publishing choices. Live sessions will include conversations on trends, query practices, publishing options, and shared support.

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Your Teaching Artist

Lit!Commons Subscribers Gain Access to All 10 Teaching Artists. The Navigator path is led by Savannah Brooks.

The Navigator Savannah Brooks

Savannah Brooks (she/her) started agenting in 2017 and, in 2022, joined the incredible team at kt literary, where she represents a wide range of both children's and adult books. She’s especially interested in stories that teach her something new, add to a larger sociopolitical conversation, and highlight underrepresented identities and cultures (as a chronically ill person with physical, mental, and neurological disabilities, this last part is especially important to her). She earned her MFA in creative writing from Hamline University and her BS in marketing management from Virginia Tech. As well as agenting, she works as a teaching artist at the Loft Literary Center. A forest witch in training, she splits her time between the North Woods of Minnesota and the Appalachians of North Carolina with her two black cats, Eggs Benedict and Toaster Strudel. To learn more, visit her website.

The Navigator Path

This curriculum will build over time. You get access to it all!

1. What to Expect from The Navigator
2. Shared Values and Rules
3. Submit Your Query Letters
1. Lesson 1: An Introduction to Traditional Publishing
2. Lesson 2: Working with an Agent
3. Lesson 3: Acquisition
1. Lesson 1: Working with the Publisher
2. Lesson 2: Starting Over Again
1. Lesson 1: Finding Agent Info
2. Lesson 2: Finding Imprint Info
1. Exploring Publishing Part 1: Literary Magazines
1. Exploring Publishing Part 2: Small Presses
1. Exploring Publishing Part 3: Hybrid and Self Publishing
1. How do you know when to submit to an agent?
1. Querying an Agent
2. Bonus Lit!Series Guests: Author Kelly Sundberg in Conversation with her agent Joy Tutela
1. The Book Proposal
2. Bonus Lit!Series: Rayhané Sanders on Querying
1. Querying for Illustrators
2. Lit!Series Guest: Agent Christopher Combemale on Story Arc
1. Your First Page
1. The First Call with an Agent
1. Interview with Editor Emily Burns
2. What Does the Editing Process Look Like?
1. Working with Your Agent
1. Working with an Agency
1. Working with an Editor
2. Interview with Editor Emily Burns (from Jul 10)
1. Building Your Platform
1. Nonfiction Platform
1. Illustration and Platform
1. The Publishing Side for Author-Illustrators
1. Author Finances
1. Author Taxes

About this path

Weekly On-Demand Lessons
Live Follow-up Sessions
Shared Community