Questions?

The Courage to Create Community is open to all writers of any genre of interest. As an author, my speciality is the field of children’s books from PB to YA, BUT as the Creative Director of The Writing Barn I have connections to agents, editors, and creators across genres to invite as our industry guests. 

No matter the genre, or segment of the publishing industry we are most interested in, as we creatives we all face similar challenges, I am here to offer insights into identifying what we want in an agent, questions on queries/submissions, deepening the work, development of voice and brand, building relationships within the publishing industry as partners, and more. We will learn from one another in the CTC Facebook group, expanding our interest base as we hear from editors and agents representing a variety of forms, and hear from authors about the creative challenges they have encountered.

The work being done to dismantle anti-Blackness and other forms of systemic oppression is important to me, both inside and outside of the publishing industry. As a cis white woman, myself and the support team of the CTC will continually be attending trainings, deepening our understanding of what brave spaces need when it comes to inclusion and equity.

As a community, with myself at the helm, I will work not to rely on “good intentions” but to create true discourse and provide the community the resources and tools to do the individual work of addressing privilege, microaggressions, etc.

It is not up to our BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, neurodiverse, or differently abled members to speak for an entire community or bear any burdens around the work of interacting with white privilege in publishing. Any sharing of resources that may add to the community discussion around inclusion and equity are welcome, but are not mandatory, and no one should take on the burden of educating the entire community. 

We welcome any member who encounters any inclusion/equity issue or other issues that may need addressed, to reach out to our small team directly at bethany@bethanyhegedus.com. 

Any issues that arise will be addressed by Bethany and the team and then shared within the community, to acknowledge and grow as individuals and as a community.

The community will be open for enrollment twice a year. This is to ensure that the industry invites that I make are based on the make-up of the community for the next 6 months.

The Courage to Create Facebook page is for all community members. If you are an Intimate Industry Connection Member, you can move from the Pre-published Literary Life Coaching sessions to the Early/Mid Career Literary Life Coaching sessions with Bethany.

Yes.

The focus will be on the challenges of the first ten years as an author, but if a writer wants to join, who is between agents, or has not sold a project in a number of years, we welcome you to participate in the Early/Mid Career Literary Life Coaching sessions and to bring your specific circumstances, questions, and needs to Bethany and the group.

In living a literary life, there are no straight-line trajectories. Together, we embrace the ups and downs.

Writers may still attend the webinars and literary life coaching sessions and/or replays. The Facebook group will have community check-ins and celebrations, and be a place to post resources and support one another. Participation in the closed Facebook group is 100% by choice and should be used to whatever capacity each individual community member enjoys.

The Courage to Create may mostly be populated with women. (More women seem to gravitate toward the arts: publishing and programming for both.) However, the CTCC is not exclusive to women–all gender identities are welcome.

The desire to write stories that matter, to publish and publish well, along with the courage it takes to pursue our dreams is what we all will have in common. Join us! We don’t create courage alone. It takes many voices.

Wonderful! The Ask an Agent sessions will allow you to ask questions about client/agent relationships, potential rights questions, and more.

And if you should ever be in the position to query again (I am on my 3rd agent. One let me go before selling, one I had to let go, and my current agent and I have been partners for seven years) you will have a community and a pool of agents to potentially consider.

ALSO, don’t forget the Editor Insight sessions and the Behind the Book sessions ALONG WITH the literary life coaching calls. The goal of the community is to thrive at every twist and turn on the roller coaster ride of living a literary life. 

Please email us via community@bethanyhegedus.com and someone from my very small team will get back to you!