Open Book Productions
Book publishing industry professional Lynn Rosen is an experienced teacher, workshop leader, and lecturer. Read below for detailed information about her areas of expertise and about specific offerings. If you’d like to engage Lynn to lead or plan a program for your group or institution, contact her at lynn@lynnrosen.com.
Book Club Facilitator
Whether you have an ongoing book club or are creating a new one, Lynn provides expert literary leadership. You can book her for occasional or one-time visits to help launch or refresh the book club, suggest a tailored list of titles to read, or lead a book discussion. She can also set up a Hot Off the Press series for your group. Details below.
Literary Lecturer
Experience lifelong literary learning: it’s like going back to school — without the homework! Lynn’s lectures cover a range of literary topics and are engaging and interactive, with no prep needed. See below for a list of available talks.
Writing and Publishing Coach
Whether you are seeking writing practice in general or in a particular genre, or you need guidance on the path to publishing, Lynn can be your guide. See details below about program options for adults and for children as well.
About Lynn Rosen
Lynn is the store manager of Barnes & Noble in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to joining Barnes & Noble, she spent five years as co-owner of Open Book Bookstore, a small indie bookstore north of Philadelphia. Prior to becoming a bookseller, Lynn worked in the book publishing industry in an editorial capacity at several publishing houses, including Ballantine Books, Peter Pauper Press, and Running Press, and ran her own literary agency in New York for eight years. She is the author of Elements of the Table: A Simple Guide for Hosts and Guests (Clarkson Potter). Lynn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an Honors degree in English, and holds a Masters in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. She has been a professor at Drexel University, Temple University, and Rosemont College. For more information about Lynn’s background, see here.
Read on below for detailed info about available programs. With questions or invitations, for your group or institution, contact lynn@lynnrosen.com.
Book Club Facilitator
Lynn’s Hot Off the Press monthly book discussion class has been meeting for ten years. If you love a book conversation that’s lively and engaging, where we talk about the book thoroughly and thoughtfully, then this class is for you. In Hot Off the Press, we read brand new literary fiction. Class conversations include analysis of the book as well as background information provided by Lynn about the author and the book’s path to publication. We talk serious book talk, but have a lot of laughs too!
Would your book club like to try a special session of Hot Off the Press crafted especially for you? Or perhaps your book club would like a facilitator, or a presentation of forthcoming, not-yet-published books to help you plan your future reading? Contact Lynn for information and pricing for personalized, professionally-facilitated virtual book club meetings.
Literary Lecturer
For those of us who fondly remember our college English Lit classes, Lynn has created a lecture series to give you a chance to study literature in a new way. Lynn’s “Study Hall” lectures find a balance between the rigor of an academic presentation, and the conversational style of a book club meeteing. Topics range from classic American writers such as Louisa May Alcott, to contemporary writers around the world. Each Study Hall lecture is approximately one and half hours, and no prep is necessary. The talk is accompanied by a slideshow presentation and includes time for Q&A.
Lectures that are available for booking include:
From Little Women to Loose Women: The Wide World of Louise May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is celebrating 150 years as a go-to volume of young readers, a classic so many continue to hold close to their hearts well into adulthood. We will take a close look at Alcott’s life and explore her major contribution to American letters as well as her role in the Transcendentalist movement that in large part determined the essence of early American literature. We will learn about her life working as a writer to support her family, and reveal Alcott’s secret life as an author of sexy “bodice rippers,” something not revealed until a century after her death.
Good Books: Examining the Literary Canon
What are the qualities of a good book? What defines literary fiction? Why are some books canonized and others overlooked? In this session, we will look at the question of the canon. We will view the canon as defined by literary scholars, and discover what qualities make a literary work worthy. We will then examine the question of popular literature, and what that contributes. We will explore examples of what both critics and participants in the class deem to be “good books” in order to work to our own determination of what makes a book worth reading, teaching, and passing down through the ages.
Women’s Words: Feminist Literary Highlights from the 18th Century to Today
This talk will start with a look at our very first women authors and novelists and move through important works over the centuries. You’ll find familiar names as well as hopefully some news ones, from Mary Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf to Gloria Steinem to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Self-Helpful: Things You Really Can Learn from Self-Help Books That Can Change Your Life
Self-help is a popular genre, filled with books that say they will help you improve your life. They promise to help you tidy your home, become a better person, get rich, de-stress, and much more. Can we trust these books? Yes, we actually can! Some self-help books really will help us become better and happier people – if we choose the right ones. This talk will take a look at some key self-help titles over the ages, abd we’ll track down the books that can help us enact change!
Later In Life: Women Aging Into Abundance
As several recent books reinforce, women become more authentic as they age. There is less concern about saying or doing the right thing, and women feel freer to do and think as they please. As Mary Pipher says in Women Rowing North, ““If we can keep our wits about us, think clearly, and manage our emotions skillfully, we will experience a joyous time of our lives.” In this talk we will examine books that explore the positive side of growing older and into our power.
Philly Writes: Philadelphia Authors from Thomas Paine to Lisa Scottoline
Philadelphia has a rich literary legacy. Writers who have changed the course of history, like Paine and Franklin, made their homes in Philadelphia, and writers today who reign on bestseller lists and appear in literary award listings currently reside in the city of brotherly love, with more literary stars joining their ranks each year. This course is an overview of Philadelphia writers, including capsule bios, literary excerpts, and other interesting local literary trivia and history.
NOTE: Lectures featuring other cities can also be booked.
Writing and Publishing Coach
Lynn offers a number of writing classes as well as programs for writers who wish to learn about different aspects of the publishing business.
Author + Bookstore: How Authors Can Develop Successful Relationships with Independent Bookstores
Authors have more responsibility than ever to drive attention to their books, and this includes working with indie bookstores to ensure that their books are stocked and available, as well as to develop events, virtual and in-person. The more educated an author is about how bookstores operate, the more successful they will be in getting their books on the shelves and in the hands of readers. This workshop provides an overview of how indie bookstores operate, including how they select the books they stock, and how they plan events. Educate yourself about the process to ensure success for your book!
Getting Published: A Guide to Getting Your Book on the Market
Sure, we write for ourselves, but we also want readers, and the best way to reach readers is by getting published. But how? In this class, Lynn Rosen will explain the route to publication. We’ll start by looking at the “publishing chain,” through which a manuscript becomes a published book. We’ll review the process in the traditional and the self-publishing model. The second part of the class will explain the process: how to find and approach agents and publishers; how to write a successful query letter and book proposal; how to create a marketing platform. This worksho will demystify the process of publishing a book.
Kids Write!
We want to encourage young writers, especially during these days when schools are closed, by giving them some new concrete skills that will help them become better writers and feel good about what they are accomplishing as young writers. Our classes combine instruction about craft and writing exercises, all at an age appropriate level. More info about Kids Write can be found here.
Literary Mindfulness
Personalized writing sessions. Details here.
Contact Lynn to inquire about setting up a class or workshop for your book club, group, or institution: lynn@lynnrosen.com or 215-360-5382.