WriteAngles Conference!

Join Straw Dog Writers Guild for WriteAngles, the only writers conference in Western Massachusetts. Choose from 20 different workshop and panels to attend during this full day conference, held at Greenfield Community College. Sign up to have an individual meeting with an agent. But most importantly, spend time with other writers in your community who

Book Cover Design For Writers

Your book cover is your most powerful marketing tool for your writing. Discover how great covers get made, and why you should judge a book by its cover. Focused on indie and small press authors, this workshop will cover which questions to ask, which design pitfalls to avoid, and how your cover can bring your

Grief Doesn’t Follow a Linear Path

As writers, when we write about the grieving process, we need to acknowledge that grief is as individual as we are. Writers differentiate characters by giving them unique voices, gestures, and habits. How they love and how they grieve is yet another way of making your characters come alive and stay with your reader long

Holding a Bookstore Event Best Practices for Authors

Congratulations! Your book is due for publication. Now what? Whether you have a publicist or you’re representing yourself, this workshop will offer tips and advice on how to increase your chances of having an author event at an independent bookstore, and making it a success. You will learn what to say and what to avoid

Historical Fiction Confidential

Historical fiction is having a moment again in the literary world. Join Straw Dog Writers Guild and writer Dean Cycon in this craft workshop “Historical Fiction Confidential” on Saturday, December 7, from 10:30am – 12:00pm at the Lilly Library in Florence, MA. This workshop will look at the different types of HF, discuss effective research

Translation: Reading the World

Join Straw Dog Writers Guild and presenter Jesse Lee Kercheval for our (rescheduled) November craft workshop, “Translation: Reading the World” on Saturday, November 23 from 10:30am – 12:00pm via Zoom. This is a relaxed, open workshop about translating from any language into English for people just curious about translation as well as practicing translators of

What Poems Want Reading and Revising with Care

When giving feedback about poems, we’re often asked to point out what’s “working” and what’s “not working” and discuss revisions that would make poems “stronger.” But what would it mean to enter a different kind of relationship with our writing—one in which we let the poem itself guide us to what it needs? In this

Promoting Your Work as an Indie Author

Join Straw Dog Writers Guild on Saturday, June 15 from 1:00-2:30pm on Zoom with J. Scott Coatsworth as he shares his experience as an indie author. In this craft workshop he will present some of the tips and tricks he has learned in how to promote ones work and field questions. Scott stares, “I recently