Saturday, May 17th, 2025

2-Part Zoom Seminar

Live Seminar Via Zoom

Starts at 1PM EST/ 12PM CST/10AM PST

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

*A recording of this seminar will be made available to enrollees.

Led by an industry-leading literary agent at Trident Media Group, Mark Owen Gottlieb.

Learn more about Mark in our Meet the Teaching Artist series.

Mark’s class is an intensive on hook writing, also known as the elevator pitch. The class will lend participants a feel for comfortable writing and easy public speaking in the fashion of selling a book idea to an agent, editor or publisher.​ 

Rarely is such an industry insider craft shared and this is a great opportunity to get one’s work in front of a literary agent’s eyes.

Mark Owen Gottlieb is a highly-ranked literary agent in overall deals and other categories. He is actively building his client list of authors using that same initiative and insight for identifying talented writers. Mark Gottlieb is excited to work directly with authors, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources available at book publishing’s leading literary agency, Trident Media Group. At Trident Media Group, Mark Gottlieb has represented numerous New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors. He has optioned and sold books to film and TV production companies. He previously ran the agency’s audiobook department and worked in foreign rights. Mark Gottlieb is actively seeking submissions in all categories and genres and looking forward to bringing new and established authors to the curious minds of their future readers.

Session 1: 1:00 PM EST - 1:45 PM EST via Zoom

A lighthearted explanation that demonstrates hook examples and the construction of good pitches for presenting book ideas. The nuts and bolts of what makes for a great hook will be explained in thumbnail. This portion of the class is intended as an ice-breaking exercise whereby students begin to feel comfortable with the rhetoric, body language and starkness of pitching.

Class will afford breaktime mid-session for students to quietly draft or edit their own pre-existing elevator pitches, based on the examples provided. Mark will be closely available to students during this portion of the class, quietly providing them with instructor feedback and notes, via direct Zoom chat, for improving upon their pitches.

10-minute BREAK

Session 2: 1:55 PM EST - 3:00 PM EST via Zoom

The next portion of the class is a constructive critique where students will be invited to present their hooks/elevator pitches to the classroom. Presentations will be timed for 1-2 minutes by the instructors, and presenters will not only speak before the class, but will also place the text of their quick pitches in the group chat for workshopping. (This style of pitching will also give the feel for what it is like for agents and editors to receive quick pitches). Afterwards, the presenters will be able to collect general class opinions, but should hold their own responses to the critiques until all comments have been delivered.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• How to get a literary agent    
• Writing a great hook or elevator pitch    
• How to pitch a book in-person    
• Honing in on just the right book pitch    
• Knowing what goes into an author bio    
• Finding pre-publication endorsements or blurbs    
• How to approach competitive or comparative book titles    
• Understanding the querying process

AUTHOR TESTIMONIALS:

“To find someone in the publishing world these days who possesses such style and grace…a throwback. Crown moldings and brass door knocker in a world of prefab housing. —Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author

“He is professional, knowledgeable, and deeply cares about the careers of his clients. …I'm lucky to have Mark in my corner!” —Alan Hlad, USA Today bestselling author

“My writing career never would have advanced as fast or as far without Mark's help.” —James Breakwell, bestselling author

“He goes above and beyond his work expectations by cultivating caring relationships with his clients, always expressing empathy and patience. He is kind, supportive and knows what he's doing.” —Ruby Karp, author of Earth Hates Me

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS:

"I wanted to thank you for your time this weekend for the Hook and Query writing seminar. It's hard to know from reading articles alone what a query letter or pitch should look like." -Jed H., Workshop Student

"It was my absolute pleasure to meet you virtually on Saturday! Thank you for the wealth of detailed information and on-the-spot, yet carefully crafted critiques you shared with each of us— the experience is treasured, and invaluable." -Mica K., Workshop Student

"Saturday’s class opened my eyes to the mistakes of my query submissions, which boil down to two crucial elements: word count & comps. Soliciting a bloated manuscript with no comps outside of a couple of 20+ year-old movie references advertised a novice understanding of the publishing industry, making me a rightful candidate for the rejection pile." -William W., Workshop Student

"Thank you, Mark, for this wonderful workshop!" -Diane G., Workshop Student

“You gave me enough writing technique and marketing information to feel like I can get started with confidence. Thank you!” — Workshop Student

“Thank you for being so diligent, so focused and so professional in your approach to the class. I found the whole experience exceeded my most optimistic expectations.” — Workshop Student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This Workshop will meet via Zoom on Saturday, May 17th, 2025

Session 1 will be 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM EST

15-minute Break Between Sessions

Session 2 will be 1:55 PM – 3:00 PM EST

*Recordings of all sessions will be made available to everyone who enrolls.

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

• Mark Owen Gottlieb | Live via Zoom
• Saturday, May 17th, 2025
• Seminar is fully ONLINE and meets via Zoom