Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises

Seminars & Workshops

From Your Notebook to the Reader: How to Move Your Nonfiction or Fiction from Concept to Book Proposal will help writers take a hard look at their book concepts and learn to navigate the obstacle course that lies between every best-selling idea and the finished product.

This is a workshop that has been previously implemented with great success, both as measured by the level of participation and the feedback provided by students. Extensive marketing efforts will include radio and print promotion in both regional and appropriate national vehicles.

The workshop is led by Marion Roach Smith and Sandi Gelles-Cole, two highly accomplished publishing professionals who combine extensive knowledge of writing and publishing with a proven track record of inspiring and guiding aspiring and working writers to achieve exceptional results.

From Your Notebook to the Reader has been presented previously at The Arts Center of the Capital Region as a one-day workshop, and has been enthusiastically received by students who traveled from three states for the event. It is anticipated that students from such markets as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere will also be recruited.

Smith, writing as Marion Roach, is the author of “The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning and Sexual Power of Red Hair,” published by Bloomsbury in 2005, paperback 2006; the co-author of “Dead Reckoning,” published by Simon and Schuster in September, 2001; paperback, 2002, and of “Another Name for Madness,” published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985; Pocket Books, 1986.

She is a former staff member of The New York Times, and has written for their Science Times section. She is a former commentator for National Public Radio and has published in The New York Times Magazine, Prevention, The Daily News, Vogue, Newsday, Good Housekeeping, Discover and American Health. Currently the American Treasure columnist for Martha Stewart Living, she also has both a daily and a weekly radio spot on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112.

Gelles-Cole, founder and president of Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises, has acquired, edited and collaborated on many best-selling books in hardcover, mass market and trade paperback. Her editorial agency was founded in September of 1983. Since then, Ms. Gelles-Cole has worked with authors and their projects such as Karen Siff Exkorn’s The Autism Sourcebook (Regan Books/Harper Collins); Governor Ann Richards’ I'm Not Slowing Down (Dutton); Christiane Northrup’s Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: The Mind/Body Connection and its Effect on Women's Health Issues (Bantam Books); Letitia Baldrige’s Guide to the New New Manners (Scribner’s); The Gotham Diaries by Tonya Lewis-Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony, Family Trust by Amanda Brown, author of Legally Blonde, and countless other successful titles.

She has spoken on the subject of authors working with independent editors/ghost writers before such groups as The ‘American society of Journalists and Authors; the Mid-Atlantic Association of American Booksellers; the Oklahoma Writers Federation; The Cape Cod Writers Conference; Avila College; The University of Houston; The Florida Writers Association; Pub Net of the Hudson Valley, and The Arts Center of the Capital Region. She is a charter member of the Consulting Editors Alliance of New York City.

In the workshop, Gelles-Cole and Smith will show participating writers how to ask and answer such questions as: Is it a viable concept? Should the material be written as fiction or nonfiction? Is it an article or a book? What is the most marketable story within your material? Have you chosen the right characters to draw readers through the material and is the story told from the right point of view? And—after you have answered these questions—how do you turn your idea into a polished book proposal?

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From Book Idea to Book: How to Develop Your Concept into a Book Length Work

This seminar will help writers take a hard look at their concepts and learn to navigate the obstacle course that lies between every best-selling idea and the finished product.

The first part of the workshop, Gelles-Cole and Smith will show participating writers how to ask and answer such questions as: Is your idea a viable concept? Should the material be written as fiction or nonfiction? Is it an article or a book? What is the most marketable story within your material? Have you chosen the right characters to draw readers through the material and is the story told from the right point of view? Is the idea the most saleable concept it can be and if not how to find that idea within it.

The second part of the class will teach students how to take short works such as essays; magazine pieces; Op-Ed pieces; Short Stories, Novellas, Poems, determine if these works should be extended into books length works and give guidance on how to develop the material into the long format.

The workshop is led by Marion Roach Smith and Sandi Gelles-Cole, two highly accomplished publishing professionals who combine extensive knowledge of writing and publishing with a proven track record of inspiring and guiding aspiring and working writers to achieve exceptional results.