Live 90-Minute WorkshopThe Five Reads a Literary Agent Does Before Passing (or Requesting a Full!)
Join literary agent Jessica Berg for a diagnostic workshop on how a literary agent reviews your query letter in ninety seconds.
COST: $39 ($29 early bird)
Your query letter doesn't get read the way you wrote it. It gets read in stages.
In this workshop, Jessica Berg — who receives 150+ queries a week and passes on 90% of them at the concept stage — walks you through the five reads she runs on every premise before deciding whether to open the pages:
Is there a story here, or just a situation?
Does it keep its genre's promise?
Is the hook load-bearing or decorative? Can she see the whole book, or just the opening?
And is it the right size for a novel?
You'll run all five on your own one-line premise, live, and leave knowing exactly which read yours fails and how to fix it.
In this hands-on 90-minute workshop, you'll learn:
The situation vs. story test — how to tell in ten seconds whether your premise has an engine or is just a beautifully written place where nothing has to happen
The genre promise — the one specific satisfaction your concept owes readers, and why naming it in the first clause (not the comps) is what earns a closer look
The removal test — how to find out whether your hook is load-bearing or decorative, and how to wire a decorative one into the plot so it costs something
The doorway problem — why a gripping setup with no visible trajectory tells an agent you wrote a beginning, and the but-then clause that fixes it
The complication count — the simple number that diagnoses whether your idea is a short story, a novel, or a trilogy in disguise
The full framework in action — watch all five reads run on The Hunger Games and Fourth Wing, then run them on your own premise before you query
Meet your teacher
Jessica Berg is a literary agent and author passionate about nurturing unique voices in publishing.
As an agent with Rosecliff Literary, she focuses on character-driven stories and high-stakes narratives, helping authors navigate the industry. Her own fiction explores identity, generational trauma, and relationships.
A multi-nominated writer with an MFA from Spalding University, Berg is a member of the AALA and EFA. She also provides developmental feedback for Writer’s Digest, Uncharted Magazine, and Fractured Lit. She is represented by Amy Collins of Talcott Notch. Find out more about herhere.
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