One of the most prized possibilities in a writer’s life is landing a book deal. If you’re enrolled in or have gone through an MFA program, that prize might be even more coveted. After all, making an investment of both time and money into an education and a final thesis raises the stakes. But how hard is it to translate that work into a book deal? Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has implemented a partnership that aims to make the process of graduate thesis to published book easier. But will it?
In what seems to be a first, Lesley has teamed up with Candlewick Press of Somerville, Massachusetts, to give the MFA candidates of the Writing for Young People program the opportunity to skip the slush pile and get thesis manuscripts onto the desk of book editor Kaylan Adair.