Free Event Replays
Every few months, we ask our faculty to do a free event–this way, everyone can join together, learn, and find a community to support them along the way.
Wonder what it’s like to be a member of The Manuscript Academy? These replays will give you a good sense of what’s available–and our upbeat, energetic style.

In this workshop with agent Jessica Watterson, we’ll explore how your characters exist in the romantic realm–their meet-cutes, desires, loves–and how this affects them in their everyday lives on the page.
With wit, humor, and a lot of laughter, this workshop will explore how these seemingly small details make meaning in the greater world you’re creating.
This workshop is FREE and open to all writers of all genres.
Bring a pen, paper, and the beverage of your choice.
Jessica Watterson has been with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency since 2013. A graduate of the University of California at Irvine, Jessica has immersed herself in books and literature from the time she could first read. While in college, she started an indie review blog that featured author interviews and reviewed several self-published books that eventually ended up on the New York Times Best Seller list. Jessica is always on the hunt for new and diverse projects and is most interested in all genres of romance. She’s drawn to fun, fresh voices, and character-driven stories that keep a reader turning the page needing to know what happens next. Independent heroines are a must, in addition to well-realized heroes who aren’t alpha-holes. Some of her favorite authors include Kristen Ashley, Jennifer Armentrout, Jeaniene Frost, Amy Harmon, and Colleen Hoover.
Jessica is especially open to LGBTQIA romances, and especially would love to see a trans romance in her inbox .
She also loves Women’s Fiction that concerns itself with elements of life that can greatly change one’s perspective and outlook on cultures and experiences. Jessica is also open to select Cozy Mysteries that feature fun and independent heroines that can take what life throws at them with aplomb and a bit of humor. On the YA side, she is looking for just about anything in the contemporary sphere, and of course, a bit of romance thrown in is never a bad thing in her opinion. She is also interested in select author illustrated picture books that capture the fun and joy of reading between adults and children.

In this workshop with agent Jessica Watterson, we’ll explore how your characters exist in the romantic realm–their meet-cutes, desires, loves–and how this affects them in their everyday lives on the page.
With wit, humor, and a lot of laughter, this workshop will explore how these seemingly small details make meaning in the greater world you’re creating.
This workshop is FREE and open to all writers of all genres.
Bring a pen, paper, and the beverage of your choice.
Jessica Watterson has been with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency since 2013. A graduate of the University of California at Irvine, Jessica has immersed herself in books and literature from the time she could first read. While in college, she started an indie review blog that featured author interviews and reviewed several self-published books that eventually ended up on the New York Times Best Seller list. Jessica is always on the hunt for new and diverse projects and is most interested in all genres of romance. She’s drawn to fun, fresh voices, and character-driven stories that keep a reader turning the page needing to know what happens next. Independent heroines are a must, in addition to well-realized heroes who aren’t alpha-holes. Some of her favorite authors include Kristen Ashley, Jennifer Armentrout, Jeaniene Frost, Amy Harmon, and Colleen Hoover.
Jessica is especially open to LGBTQIA romances, and especially would love to see a trans romance in her inbox .
She also loves Women’s Fiction that concerns itself with elements of life that can greatly change one’s perspective and outlook on cultures and experiences. Jessica is also open to select Cozy Mysteries that feature fun and independent heroines that can take what life throws at them with aplomb and a bit of humor. On the YA side, she is looking for just about anything in the contemporary sphere, and of course, a bit of romance thrown in is never a bad thing in her opinion. She is also interested in select author illustrated picture books that capture the fun and joy of reading between adults and children.

Cameron Kelly Rosenblum’s YA debut, THE STEPPING OFF PLACE “…explores loss, futility, honesty, and love with a richness of prose and excellence of characterization rare in a first-time author.” Kirkus (starred review).
Cameron will discuss her decision to use a nonlinear format as a narrative vehicle, and participants can explore how to employ this method in constructing their own novel. The author will also share tips for maximizing the technique for emotional impact, so that your audience will want to keep turning the pages!
CAMERON KELLY ROSENBLUM grew up in Connecticut. She studied English literature at Kenyon College and earned a master’s in education at Lesley University. Throughout her teens and early twenties, she filled journal after journal with anecdotes and characters she met, knowing someday she’d draw from these pages to write her novels. Currently, Cameron is a children’s librarian living on the coast of Maine with her husband and two children. The Stepping Off Place is her first book. Visit her online at www.cameronrosenblum.com, on Twitter @ckellyrose, or on Instagram @ckellyrosebooks.

Are you tired of Zoom happy hours? Missing real, creative, spontaneous connection? Us too. Author Kat Vellos is here to help!
Kat says:
Welcome, friend! If you know anything about me, you know that I’d rather be greeting you from amidst a giant bear hug… in a cozy room full of artsy conversation-provoking installations… with a table of cheese-based snacks in the corner.
Instead, we meet here, in this small box made of metal, glass and touchscreens. Because COVID. If you’re here because you want to build bridges of meaningful connection to others, you’re in the right place. Lemme help you with that.
In this talk, we’ll delve into issues of community, loneliness, belonging, technology, and how to find the real connections that make the creative life satisfying and meaningful.
Kat Vellos is an author, speaker, and expert community builder from The San Francisco Bay Area. Kat is the author of We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships, the founder of Bay Area Black Designers and Better than Small Talk, and has two decades of experience creating powerful, positive communities where people find belonging and authentic connection.
In this talk, we’ll delve into issues of community, loneliness, belonging, diversity, technology, and how to find the real connections that make the creative life satisfying and meaningful.
She’s spoken at Stanford, LinkedIn, General Assembly, Americorps, Social Good Tech Week, Young Women Empowered, and many, many more.
Hope you can join us!

In this free workshop with writing and theater teacher Chip Brewer, we’ll explore how your characters exist in the physical realm–how they take up space, how this shows us their role in the world, and how this relates to all of the millions of tiny moments that make them who they are.
Then we’ll move to their interiors–how their thoughts collide and personalities flourish–and how secrets, relationships, and emotions create your emotional landscape.
With wit, humor, and a lot of laughter, this workshop will explore how these seemingly small details make meaning in the greater world you’re creating.
Bring a pen, paper, and the beverage of your choice.
It’s time for #MSWL Manuscript Academy’s FREE Write-In Workshop!
Love back-to-school season? This event is for you.
Follow creative writing prompts, polish your work together, and meet your new writing BFFs–all from home. You’ll be able to see us live on video, but we’ll only be able to see you in text chat (aka pajamas welcome, and this is 100% introvert-friendly).
At our last write-in, writers shared their work, met new critique partners, and left feeling great about the industry.
We hope you’ll join us for a fun, uplifting evening with your new favorite community.
It’s time for #MSWL Manuscript Academy’s FREE Write-In Workshop!
Follow creative writing prompts, polish your work together, and meet your new writing BFFs–all from home. You’ll be able to see us live on video, but we’ll only be able to see you in text chat (aka pajamas welcome, and this is 100% introvert-friendly).
At our last write-in, writers shared their work, met new critique partners, and left feeling great about the industry.
We hope you’ll join us for a fun, uplifting evening with your new favorite community.
Join us for the very first Manuscript Academy Write-In! This FREE workshop will help you expand your characters, all while hanging out with your new publishing BFFs.
This will be like publishing TV in that you’ll be able to see and hear us, but we won’t be able to see you. You’ll have text chat on the side to ask us questions and (if you want to! Totally optional!) share your work.
No worries if you need to arrive late or watch this as a replay. Jump in at any time!
Hear About New Live Events
Replays are wonderful, but there’s something extra exciting about being there live.
Want an email when we announce new live events? Click below.