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​ABOUT THE EVENT ✏︎

​Learn what makes agents and editors say yes. Book proposals are the way to get published for most nonfiction writers - they are essentially a “sales” and “sample” document for your project, designed to secure you an advance that covers the time, research, and travel needed to write the actual book. In this workshop, we’ll break down the key components of a standout book proposal—from the overview to marketing and target audience, to those all-important sample chapters. You’ll leave with a clear roadmap, real examples, and practical tips to start crafting a proposal that gets serious attention and increases your odds of securing an agent or a book deal.

​​​​INSTRUCTOR BIO ✏︎

​Justine Payton is an MFA candidate at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where she is a recipient of the Philip Gerard Graduate Fellowship, the Bernice Kert Fellowship in Creative Writing, and the Robert H. Byington Award. Her writing can be found in Bellevue Literary Review, Isele Magazine, The Masters Review, Terrain, and others. She is currently an editor for Ecotone Magazine, a guest editor for The Masters Review and CRAFT, the non-fiction editor for ONLY POEMS, and a former editorial intern with Tin House. She is also co-editing the anthology Between Our Legs, forthcoming from University of Iowa Press in 2026. An avid hiker and ecofeminist, Justine has traveled and worked across four continents.