First Pages with Shannon Hassan, Literary Agent, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Feb 07, 2025 - Mar 15, 2025

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This workshop will help you hone and revise the crucial opening pages of your manuscript. Shannon will critique your first 10 pages in a live group session where you will also receive feedback on your work from the other participants. In the group debrief session, each participant will have 15 minutes of time to discuss your feedback from Shannon, ask questions, and consider next steps for your manuscript.

About Shannon

Shannon Hassan has been an agent at the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency for more than a decade. She represents New York Times best-selling and award-winning authors of middle grade and young adult novels, including Dusti Bowling, Alison Gervais, Lindsay Currie, Jenni L. Walsh, and many others. She is seeking humorous and heartfelt contemporary stories, diverse perspectives, original POVs, fresh takes on history, magical or speculative twists (prefers real-world settings), thrillers and mysteries. She received her JD from Harvard and her BA from George Washington University. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.



Expectations for Participants

Each participant should plan for about an hour of preparation per member of the group to: read the submission, leave in-line comments, and provide a 2-3 paragraph summary of your feedback. While this requires a considerable time commitment to the workshop, we feel this element adds an incredibly valuable learning opportunity for each participant.

About Shannon's Critique

Shannon will provide in-line comments, as well as a completed “Gold” form for each participant, that details the strengths and weaknesses of the sample, and includes notes on voice, character development, diction, plot/pacing, and marketability.

What to Submit

Ten pages of your Middle Grade of Young Adult manuscript + a short pitch that gives the big picture overview of the storyline (like you would include in a query letter). Please also note your intended genre, e.g. “MG contemporary,” or “YA fantasy” etc.

Schedule

February 7: Registration opens at 6:00 PM

February 19 : Submissions are due by 9:00 PM

March 12: Critiques are due by 9:00 PM

March 15: Debrief session 9:00AM-12:00PM at the Superior Community Center