Feedback Salon

Get fresh eyes on your work, and start your next revision.

You know what you meant when you wrote it. But is that what your reader is getting?

If you want to become a better writer, you need opportunities to discover how your writing actually lands.

This weekly, 2.5-hour feedback salon gives you a place to do that—with thoughtful readers, an experienced facilitator, and conversations built around your goals.

How it works

Three pieces each evening, drawn from a hat. Priority goes to writers who haven’t shared recently.

Bring five printed copies if you’d like your work considered.

Each selected piece receives 40 minutes: 20 minutes of silent reading, followed by 20 minutes of discussion.

Start with what matters to you. Each writer names one or two questions they’re most interested in exploring.

We open with 10 minutes of introductions and piece selection, and finish with 10 minutes of closing conversation, with room for transitions and a short break.

You don’t have to share your work to have a valuable evening. Reading another writer’s draft and hearing how others respond can help you recognize possibilities in your own.

How your writing will change

You’ll practice connecting what you want a piece to do with what readers experience.

This is a space for focused reader feedback and mutual support. Line edits and comprehensive manuscript evaluations are outside the salon’s scope.

The goal: leave with a better understanding of your work—and more momentum to keep writing.

This session's expert host, and group facilitator, is Eli Ryder.

Eli is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Austin Community College. He has appeared as a panelist and podcast guest for several venues discussing both the craft of writing and the thrill of dark fiction.

His horror and sci-fi has appeared in numerous online, in-print, and audio publications, and his plays have appeared on stage in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

He is a Roswell Award honoree and stole his M.F.A. from U.C. Riverside. He plays D&D, has the best kid ever, and is an avid lover of all things spooky.