Write your book with best-selling authors and literary agent

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Upcoming Online Classes

The Hero's Journey

Develop Your Book

in 12 Weeks, Online

with NY Times best-selling

author and literary agent

Wendy Goldman Rohm

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Next session begins Feb. 19, 2012

For authors of fiction and nonfiction

Beginning Feb. 19, 2012, every Sunday

NY time: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Paris time: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

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The next 12-week Book Development course, The Hero's Journey, for fiction and nonfiction writers, begins Feb. 19, 2012. Or write to us for the full 2012 schedule.

Fiction and nonfiction authors develop their books over the course of 12 weeks in our digital classroom--with live audio, chat, and document sharing.

Each class is limited to 10 writers. You will receive one printed lecture each week, one live class per week, and weekly assignments targeted at your particular project. Weekly critique and developmental editing of your work.

Download the class syllabus by clicking on the link in the left column on this page.

Participating writers are guided through the creation process, fine tuning and perfecting their manuscripts--from the seed of an idea to a high-quality first draft.

For testimonials from attending authors and history of the workshops, see Home page and History page.

( Contact us for the full 2011 schedule by writing to Margaret@RohmLiterary.com or join our mailing list by clicking on the button above.)

To register, go to the Register page

or call :

1-646-845-9185 (New York)

We accept only 10 writers in this class.

Register Online

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Special Event:

Single Session Online

for Nonfiction Authors

Saturdays

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon NY time

9:00 - 10:30 p.m. Mumbai time

6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Paris time

How to Write a Book Proposal

That Sells

Online interactive course

For nonfiction writers, How to Write a Book Proposal that Sells is a 90-minute live webinar in our digital classroom. The session will cover: the elements of a great book proposal, how to write a query letter that will get you a literary agent, and how to troubleshoot your existing material. Once you register, you will receive the login information and other webinar materials. See the Register page on this site.

We accept 15 writers in this seminar. Go to the Register page online, or register by phone by calling :

(New York) 1-646-845-9185

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The Press on our workshops and conferences:

Feb. 7, 2011

From The Nation

So you want to be an author

By Chami Jotisalikorn

Special to The Nation

"Imagine yourself in a dark, dark space with no light," Wendy Goldman Rohm whispers to the 10 people seated in a comfortable hotel conference room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a panorama of the Bangkok skyline, but none of the aspiring writers in the room are paying any attention to the view.

Everyone sits with eyes closed, intently channeling a character from their book into a dark birthing room. By the end of the exercise, all hands are scribbling furiously in notebooks as people, settings and moods take shape on what had begun as that writer's dread - blank pages.

For people who dream of writing a book and getting it published, the Bangkok Writer's Weekend Workshop is a guide to the finer points of creative writing, including professional advice on the business side of getting published, even in the ultra-competitive US market. Rohm, a literary agent as well as a New York Times best-selling author, has been conducting classes like this since 2002.

"A book is like a picture frame," she says. "You need to decide what's in the frame, what's in the foreground and what's in the background. These become your central theme and sub-themes, but all the themes must all be linked."

At one point she issues a stern warning: "Flashbacks are a bad writing habit." Furrowed brows appear, especially on the faces of those writing biographies. But Rohm has a work-around, and leads the participants through a series of exercises that give birth to all sorts of unexpected new ideas and even the seeds of new books.

The course is open to all writers, regardless of what stage they've reached in their work, and attracts an eclectic mix of ages, nationalities and professional backgrounds.

This weekend there's a precocious 11-year-old, Sila Puhl, who's writing an adventure novel, and 69-year-old retired diplomat Alberto Moyano Bonel from Spain, who's written his memoir and is looking for a publisher.

An American man is compiling a book about his hair-raising adventures as a military contractor in Afghanistan, and a Malaysian painter is writing and illustrating a children's book.

Another American, a marketing executive, is writing a biography, and several journalists are trying their hand at fiction.

With patience and personalized attention, Rohm coaches each writer, offering advice on their books' structure and how they can best be shaped to win over an agent or publishing house.

It's fascinating to hear about Rohm's own experiences. Her work has appeared in Men's Vogue, Wired, the Boston Globe, the Financial Times and the Washington Post. Her first book, "The Microsoft File", was an instant bestseller in 1998 with its account of the US anti-trust litigation against the software giant.

A resulting speaking engagement at Yale University inspired her to start teaching writing, and she's done so in America, Europe and India. She worked as a literary agent in New York and California before founding the Rohm Agency to represent emerging authors.

The annual Thailand workshops also feature guest speakers. Previous speakers include Thitinart na Phattalung, whose self-help book "The Life Compass" sold 1.3 million copies in Thailand, Pulitzer Prize finalist Suketu Mehta ("Maximum City"), Broadway producer Brian Swibel, screenwriter-director Pan Nalin ("Samsara"), and Sterling Lord, who was once Jack Kerouac's agent.

Past workshops have been held on Koh Phangan and in Chiang Mai. Find out more about Rohm and the workshops at www.ParisWritersRetreat.com.

Hindustan Times, Feb. 14 2009:

Aspiring Writers Flock for Author's Tips

MUMBAI--- Heartened by the success of Slumdog Millionaire, The White Tiger and The Sea of Poppies, a group of aspiring writers took a leap of faith and enrolled for a Writers Retreat organized by New York Times bestselling author Wendy Goldman Rohm, in Mumbai.

The inaugural session of the two-day retreat and workshop in Powai saw journalists, screenwriters, lawyers, boxing coaches, diamond merchants, IT professionals and TV directors spare their weekend to gather tips on writing, getting published and being successful, from Rohm, a literary agent who has been conducting such sessions across the US and Europe since 2002.

"I had all this knowledge from being in the publishing business and have been on both the writer's and agent's side of the spectrum," said the author of narrative nonfiction.

Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found author and dear friend Suketu Mehta urged Rohm into hosting her first workshop in India, for which majority attendees got word through Facebook.

"After my father was diagnosed with cancer, I started mulling over my purpose. I want to write to bring meaning to my life," said 30-something Nihar Mehta, a diamond merchant.

Rohm's session in Mumbai featured guests such as writer and Broadway director Brian Swibel and Jane Hawksley (Je T'aime Paris), via audio conference.

"Good writing transcends cultural backgrounds. I tend to lean towards stories riddled with odds and attempts to overcome them. Slumdog..is a watershed film and indicative of the changing times," said Swibel.

The session packed in established writers with ready scripts, first-time directors and ghost writers-all of whom seeking information specific to their genres.

"It's quite broad-based right now. I am hoping to get tips on specifically how to write and publish a novel," said TV director Reshma Ghosh.

Mingling genres and basics and more advanced aspects of writing was a deliberate move of Rohm. "I have initiated an online digital course, which the Mumbai participants can dial into next week for a one-on-one with Suketu and [Slumdog Millionaire author] Vikas Swarup... " Rohm said.