Muslim Literary Festival The Business of Writing

The hardest part of writing can often be just that - the writing - but once you've done that work, succeeded in pitching and marketing yourself to agents and/or publishers, then what? Now, the writing is not just about what's on the page, but you are in the business of publishing and writing! In this workshop, we will go through some of the basic terms, concepts, and questions you should keep in mind as you enter into various business relationships within the publishing industry.

Note: The workshop will be recorded, but the recording will only be accessible to attendeess and the internal MLF team. No part of the recording will repurposed for external use.

Our Facilitator:

Hana El Niwairi is a Literary Agent and the Rights Manager at CookeMcDermid. In addition to representing a small roster of clients directly, she leads the rights team in representing the works of agency authors outside of North America. Since 2017, Hana and her team have placed agency books into over 50 territories around the globe. These include: #1 New York Times bestselling poet Rupi Kaur's the sun and her flowers and home body; Karen Lord’s 2024 Women’s Prize longlisted The Blue, Beautiful World; 2021 Canada Reads contender Natalie Zena Walschot's Hench; Dr. Britt Wray's Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis; and Alicia Elliott's And Then She Fell, among others. Prior to joining the publishing industry, she worked in the non-profit, arts, and culture sectors with organizations such as the Book and Periodical Council, Culture Days, and Paprika Festival. Outside of her role at the agency, Hana is also one of the co-founders of BIPOC of Publishing in Canada.

Hana's tastes are eclectic and she reads widely across genres. She has a soft spot for science fiction and fantasy and in recent years has been particularly enjoying romance and thrillers. Across genres, she’s drawn to character-driven stories and works written by and about marginalized communities. Additionally, in her (somewhat futile) pursuit to learn everything, ever, Hana is an avid reader of non-fiction, particularly politics, social science, media criticism, science, and history. She is keenly interested in non-fiction exploring systemic issues and how they play out in the day-to-day lives of the average person. You can learn more about her manuscript wishlist here.