In partnership with the Bookshop, the Porch is thrilled to welcome novelist and publishing consultant Courtney Maum back to Nashville as part of their Spring 2026 Visiting Writers Series. In this energetic 90-minute class, Courtney will reveal five unique and surefire ways to help you deepen your existing plot or create one from almost-scratch. You’ll learn:

• A drawing exercise to help you visualize your book as a whole on a single page.
• A technique borrowed from Hollywood to “watch” your book unfold like a movie.
• A Mad-Lib formula to help you discern whether you have a selling plot or not.
• Two cart-before-the-horse exercises to help you assess your project’s saleability in a tricky market.

Come one, come all—and come with pen and paper and a readiness to work! Each ticket includes a copy of Courtney's new book ALAN OPTS OUT. After the class, Courtney will give a brief reading from the novel and answer questions.

‍‍

PLUS: Virtual attendance option

NOTE: There is no physical ticket for this event, and books will be handed out there. Also, if you're attending virtually, be sure to select the virtual ticket and indicate shipping as your delivery option.

‍

About our teacher, Courtney:
Using willpower instead of an MFA and fueled by an early love of reading and writing, Courtney Maum got her first agent in her early twenties, but didn’t ink a book deal until ten years and two agents after that. Her debut novel I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE WITHOUT YOU was a massive smash, selling nearly 100K copies and garnering praise both critical and commercial. Since then, nearly all her books have been New York Times and Amazon editors’ choices, translated into multiple languages, taught in writing classrooms, and trained upon—without Courtney’s permission—by AI companies worldwide.

In addition to her fiction, Courtney is beloved for the publishing guide she wrote for authors in 2020, BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOOK DEAL, which is also the name of her bestselling Substack. She has adapted her own work for the screen, created a story for Audible, narrated two of her own audiobooks and generally done everything and anything to help her work succeed, including acknowledging that her narratives need plot.

In 2023, Courtney founded a writing workshop in New Mexico called Turning Points that reverses the traditional workshop process to teach all writers a more democratic and joyful kind of writing. You can learn more about Courtney at CourtneyMaum.com. She’s excited for this class!

‍

“Courtney's directness is matched with kindness, her expertise is vast...it feels rare to find someone who's both an artist and so completely efficient.” -Joeli Yaguda, whose nonfiction proposal for her platonic rom-com business book is out on submission.

“Our one-hour phone call was literally more helpful than an entire MFA in how to construct a book.” - Jennifer Pollock who is readying her novel Leave of Absence to go out to agents.

“Courtney is a genius. She has Xray vision when it comes to book manuscripts and their structure.” -Professor and author Elizabeth Dillon whose racial history of sugar, Sweetness and Ruin, will be out in 2027.

‍