Jen Frankel's recent publications reflect the diversity of her writing, from poems in the Bruce Kauffman-edited anthology Not Just A Gathering to stories in Analog Science Fiction & Fact and Amazing Stories magazine. She has spent her life as a creator, mentor, and facilitator of readings, performances, and events that feature the work of other authors and performers.
Her current "main event" is the Write On! Write Now literary open mic at Bampot House of Tea in Toronto, now in its third year. This weekly event features upwards of twenty prose and poetry performances and has been functioning at capacity almost since its beginning.
Previously, she was Director of Development for Wildcard Pictures Corp and a monthly screenplay reading series at the National Film Board in Toronto. In this capacity, she wrote feedback for upwards of 10,000 feature, short, and television scripts and mentored hundreds of screenwriters at various stages of their careers.
Up until COVID, Jen was a frequent guest at literary and genre conventions in Canada and across the continent where she was featured in panels and as a vendor. Her press, XenoProductions, allows her to self-publish some of her work while she is also traditionally published by publishers including Eerie River, Ghost Orchid, Dark Dragon, Improbable Press and Dark Helix Press. For Dark Helix, she has also edited an anthology of speculative short fiction featuring 100 authors from around the world, and a collection of short fiction from American feminist sci-fi scholar Marleen S. Barr.
Through her press, she has just published a 10th anniversary edition of her Amazon best-selling novel Undead Redhead and a collection of her poems called Mayhaps: Poetry of Longing, Loss & Love.
What's the next step when you've written your masterpiece?
Jen Frankel will de-mystify the path a piece of writing takes on its journey from your hands to a reader's. How do you make sure your work is good enough? (editing, peer review) How do you find a publisher? (publishing resources) Do you need an agent? (agent resources) If you publish something yourself, how do you find an audience? (marketing resources) And if you have a piece accepted for publication, what do you need to know?
By polling the audience at the start of her presentation, Jen will get an idea of the level of writing most of them are currently functioning at, and the best sections of her presentation to focus on. By leaving lots of room for Q&A, Jen can help attendees learn how to answer other questions they have on their own by pointing them toward online and in-person resources, and otherwise taking the fear out of one of the scariest parts of wanting to write: getting your work out into the world.
So you have an idea. Now what? Getting your words on the page is the next step, but what does that mean? Is your idea going to turn into a book, a short story, a poem, a screenplay? How do you know what it's supposed to be?
Jen Frankel will talk about different formats and media from short fiction to novels, from teleplays to feature scripts and give context to what pursuing your idea in any of these mediums actually means. Some are faster to achieve a satisfying placement while others are more competitive, more or less remunerative, could take you years to see a return either in connecting with an audience or seeing any money from your work.
Lots of time will be left at the end of the presentation to let the audience ask questions about specific projects or markets.
The Writer's Business
Jen will present to hopeful young writers on the subject of the business of writing. How do you prepare a manuscript for submission? How do you find publishers? How do you make sure your work is edited well enough to submit to a professional market? How much do writers get paid?
She will also discuss building a writers' community through open mics, peer feedback, and magazines and chapbook publishing.
Time will be left at the end of the session for questions from individual students.
