Jennie Dunham frequently accepts invitations to attend writers' conferences. Here is some information about the terms she requests and the topics she's developed for presentations. Upon request, she can speak about other topics.

Please see Contact Info for information about getting in touch with her about availability and scheduling.

Terms

Groups inviting Jennie Dunham to attend their conferences need to cover the cost of expenses for the trip including:

Including, but not limited to plane (which she likes to book herself rather than have the conference book for her), shuttle between the airport and hotel and home, subway, train, rental car, parking, etc. 

All meals should be provided including breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Please note: Jennie Dunham is allergic to cheese (technically to rennet which is the ingredient that curdles hard cheese).

Conferences should provide a room at a hotel, motel, or other  room and board with no pets and in a smoke free environment.

In addition, usually the conference pays an honorarium. The price is negotiable depending on the amount of work requested. 

She will provide one on one or group critiques for a lump sum. Because of AAR membership rules, she is not allowed to receive a "per critique" fee which could be confused with reading fees. 

Presentation Topics

A speech which gives a basic introduction to what an agent does for a writer and what writers need to know about working with an agent.

An author may have many editors in his or her career for a variety of reasons: editors change jobs, publishers specialize in some areas but not others an author may write. A literary agent is the one person who manages all of an author's projects. Authors may have numerous questions about this crucial relationship. Do I need a literary agent? How can a literary agent help me?  How do I work with an agent? In this presentation attendees learn what agents will and won't handle and should and shouldn't do for clients.

A speech which defines basics terms of book contracts and what writers can do to improve them.

Getting published means negotiating and signing contracts for all authors. This hour-long workshop explains the basic details of book contracts. Publishers are demanding more rights than ever before, and contracts are becoming longer and more complicated. Attendees will learn what rights should be retained, what rights are better off with the publisher, and what the ramifications of signing on the dotted line are.

A roll-up-the-sleeves workshop about writing query letters and what to say in one-on-one meetings with agents and editors.

Once a manuscript is written, how does a writer describe it so that agents and editors will be interested in reading it? It's hard to distill a whole book into a few sentences. This hands-on workshop helps writers learn how to talk about the key elements from the stories they've written to increase their chances of getting read by agents and editors and getting published. It's best if attendees have in mind a specific story when attending. (Note: this presentation is geared towards  narrative fiction or non-fiction.)

A speech about what effective narrative voice is and isn't, what role it plays in a story, and why strengthening voice will improve a writer's chance to make a sale.

Writers keep hearing that editors and agents want to find great new voices. But what is voice exactly? And what isn't it? Why will strengthening voice do more to increase a writer's readership and marketability than any other single factor? Writers find out what voice is, what role it plays in a story, and what is the difference between a author's voice and a character's voice. The presentation includes examples of strong voice with explanation about why they work so well and exercises an author can use to tap into his or her own individual voice.