YOUR PATH TO
PUBLISHING
A ONE-DAY RETREAT iN NYC TO WRITE, SELL, AND PUBLISH YOUR BOOK
Spend a day charting your Path to Publishing, from your book brand to your book plan, from writing essays to understanding the marketplace, this one-day writers retreat at the Arlo Midtown in Manhattan will show you what it takes to go from writer to published author—guided by the professionals who can help take you there.
THURSDAY, September 12
from 10:00am-5:00PM
ARLO MIDTOWN - 351 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018
10:00am - Introduction by Kristen McGuiness (Founder of Rise Writers + Publisher of Rise Books)
11:00am - Book Breakthrough with Michelle Garside (Founder of Soul Camp Creative)
12:00pm - Lunch + Publishers Panel with Rebekah Borucki (Founder + President of Row House Publishing), Zibby Owens (Founder + CEO of Zibby Media) + Kristen McGuiness, moderated by Lauren Schwarzfeld (Director of Publicity and Marketing for Rise Books)
1:00pm - Story Magic with Kristen McGuiness
2:00pm - From Essay to Book and Back with Alix Strauss (Author, Speaker + New York Times Contributor)
3:00pm - Publishing Today with Stacey Glick + Sharon Pelletier (Literary Agents from Dystel Goderich & Bourret)
4:00pm - Farewell from Kristen McGuiness
4:30pm - Cocktails + Mocktails at the Arlo Rooftop Bar
YOUR PATH TO PUBLISHING
YOUR PATH TO PUBLISHING
Spend a day charting your Path to Publishing, from your book brand to your book plan, from writing essays to understanding the marketplace, this one-day writers retreat at the Arlo Midtown in Manhattan will show you what it takes to go from writer to published author—guided by the professionals who can help take you there.
Cost: $750
YOUR GUIDES ALONG
the PATH TO PUBLISHING
Kristen
McGuiness
HOST + “Story Magic”
Kristen McGuiness is a best-selling author, editor, and long-standing publishing professional. She is the President + Publisher of Rise Books and the Founder of Rise Writers, a book coaching company for authors who are writing the good fight. After spending the first decade of her career working in editorial for Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins, as well as in film development at Warner Brothers, Kristen wrote the bestselling memoir, 51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life, which was featured on the "Today Show" and in USA Today. Since then, she has co-authored dozens of books, including her recent debut novel, Live Through This. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Shondaland, Marie Claire, amongst others. Kristen lives in Ojai, CA with her husband, two children, and a dog named Peter.
“Your BOOK Breakthrough”
Michelle Garside is the Founder of Soul Camp Creative, a full-service Creative Agency devoted to working with ideas that change the world. Soul Camp specializes in creating authentic branding for mission-driven companies and personal brands. Michelle has been featured in TIME, Oprah Magazine, Travel and Leisure, Fitness, Women’s Health, Good Morning America, ABC News, Parents, Fortune, Inc., and Forbes. She has guest-lectured at NYU, Fairfield University and on Lincoln Center stages. Her forthcoming book, NOT AWAKENED, is both a reckoning and a promise that once we accept all of ourselves - the messy and the broken, the shameful and the spiteful, the ugly and the disgusting - we can actually experience ourselves for the first time and finally, FINALLY, feel worthy of living the life that we didn’t think was meant for us. Beyond her established Branding Agency, Michelle has also created the Enchantment Experience & Adult Sleepaway Camps + Connecticut Women's Club.
MICHELLE
GARSIDE
REBEKAH
BORUCKI
“Publishers panel”
Rebekah Borucki (she/they) is a dynamic force in the literary world. As the Founder and President of Row House Publishing, Wheat Penny Press, and the WPP Little Readers Big Change Initiative, Borucki leads efforts to bring equity to the historically gatekept industry, support Black and Brown creatives and booksellers, and offer literacy programming to underserved K-12 students. With a background as a self-help and children's author and the founder of a large online wellness platform, Borucki is committed to democratizing access to wellness, education, and literacy tools. While focusing their activism on Black liberation and trans rights, Borucki aims to reclaim freedoms stolen by systemic oppression for all people. Based in New Jersey with her family, Borucki's professional journey blends innovation and advocacy, driving positive change in publishing and beyond.
ZIBBY
OWENS
“publishers panel”
Zibby Owens — like Pippa Jones — wears a lot of hats. She is the award-winning podcast host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books; founder and CEO of Zibby Media, which includes the publishing house Zibby Books, a book club, retreats, classes, and events; and is the proud owner of Zibby’s Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Santa Monica. Her previous books include Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, children’s book Princess Charming, and two anthologies that she edited. A frequent contributor to Good Morning America, Katie Couric Media, and other outlets, she is – most of all! – the mother of four fabulous kids ages 9 to 16 — and wife to Kyle Owens, founder of Morning Moon Productions. Follow her on Instagram and Substack where she tells it like it is.
Alix
STRAUSS
“FROM ESSAY TO BOOK AND BACK”
Alix Strauss is a trend, culture and lifestyle journalist; an award-winning, four-time published author; speaker; and frequent contributor to The New York Times. Her books include: The Joy of Funerals (original, St. Martin’s Press; 20thanniversary edition, Palagram Press), Based Upon Availability (Harper Collins), and Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous and the Notorious (Harper Collins). She is also the editor of Have I Got a Guy for You (Simon & Schuster), an anthology of mother-coordinated dating horror stories. Her work has been optioned for several TV and film projects. Her articles, which have appeared in Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Conde Nast Traveler, the Financial Times, Time Magazine, and Departures, among others, and cover a range of topics from trends in beauty, travel, and food to celebrity interviews. Alix lives in New York. You can connect with her at alixstrauss.com or @alixstrauss.
STACEY
GLICK
“Publishing today”
Stacey Kendall Glick, Literary Agent and Vice President, joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 1999 after working in film and television development for five years. Following a number of internships in the entertainment business, her first job after college was at PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, before she worked as a story editor at Hearst Entertainment, where she scouted material for television movies. She is interested in many subjects, on the adult side: practical and narrative nonfiction across categories including (but not limited to) cooking and food, psychology, self-help, health, including mental health and wellness, lifestyle, women’s issues, parenting, current events, pop culture, science, biography, and memoir. And on the children’s side: select YA, middle grade, nonfiction, and picture books. Stacey is a member of the AALA, Women’s Media Group, and is a former council member of the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL.org). She lives in Bergen County, New Jersey, with her husband, four daughters (the youngest are identical twins) and two dogs.
SHARON
PELLETIER
“publishing Today”
Sharon Pelletier joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2013 after working in editorial at small presses and as a B&N bookseller, was named senior agent in 2021 and named vice president in 2024. Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Sharon has lived in New York since 2009, but often returns to visit the Midwest and also dreams of living by the ocean one day. Sharon’s list includes upmarket fiction of all sorts, from smart, complex women’s fiction; to unexpected suspense fiction and romance; to hearty, unforgettable book club fiction. She also occasionally takes on compelling, fierce narrative nonfiction by journalists, experts, or emerging voices with a promising platform. Visit her profile on MSWL for more wishlist detail.
LAUREN
SCHWARZFELD
Co-HOST + “PUBLISHERS PANEL”
Lauren is the Director of Marketing and Publicity for Rise Books, as well as the best-selling author of UNBOXED: ESSAYS ON LEARNING TO TRUST MYSELF SO I COULD STOP DOING THE THINGS I HATE. She has spent the past 25 years working in sales, fundraising, and marketing through various industries, realizing that the most powerful part of a storied work history is the wide variety of human connection. She is endlessly curious, a lover of books, travel, and new adventures. Lauren lives in Mt. Kisco, NY with her husband, three children and two dogs.
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