Adult and YA Fiction First Pages, with Kat Kerr

In this intimate workshop, you'll receive a written critique of your opening 15 pages (3750 words) from literary agent Kat Kerr with Donald Maass Literary Agency, plus get the opportunity to speak to Kat individually in the live group call that follows critiques. You'll also exchange critiques within your group of up to 7 writers. 

In both YA and Adult, Kat loves literary and upmarket fiction with a leaning toward strong, character-driven works and rich, literary prose. She loves books that make her think and have a strong emotional pull. For the commercial market, Kat is looking for high concept, voice-driven works with a close POV and well-developed, distinct characters.  

How it works

You'll submit your pages at the group start, then spend the next weeks critiquing peer stories. Kat will submit her notes near the critique deadline. After critiques are complete, we host a 2-hour group debrief, in which each writer gets 15 minutes of individual time with Kat to dig into feedback, brainstorm next steps, and discuss any writing questions. 

Our goal with these events is to help writers become stronger storytellers. That said, each opening pages event we offer also comes with a submission opportunity.

About the group workshop format

Participants should be sure they have at least 1 hour to give for critiquing each person's manuscript (plus reading time). Because this is a group of 7, this means you should have at least 6 hours available for your peers' stories.

This makes for an intense workload for the few weeks of peer critique. However, we've also found that this format accelerates learning because you are able to read a professional's feedback on each story you have read and critiqued, and you will listen to each one-on-one in the debrief. Many writers have told us that listening and learning from the professional's notes to others has been just as beneficial to their learning as the feedback on their own work.