On Friday, Oct. 16, at 4:30 p.m., Hamilton’s Literature and Creative Writing Department presented Lauren Magaziner, a YA fantasy, mystery, and pick-your-path author, to read her published works, as part of their “Alumni Happy Hour Readings” program that will last throughout the fall 2020 semester.

Professor Naomi Guttman, head of Hamilton’s Literature and Creative Writing Department, introduced Magaziner as one of her former students who studied philosophy and creative writing during her time at Hamilton. She went on to start her career as a children’s author with her series

Case Closed,

which includes the stories

Mystery in the Mansion

and

The Only Thing Worse than Witches,

interactive stories that have made Magaziner a successful bestselling author.

Magaziner chose one of her

Case Closed

stories,

The Haunting of the Hotel,

to read to match the spirit of the Halloween season. During her reading, Magaziner demonstrated for the audience the many effects she uses to capture her readers’ attention and to encourage their participation with her stories. As she read about the protagonists as they investigated a haunted hotel, she switched dialects and shifted the volume of her voice to help listeners to distinguish each character and understand their emotional state. Magaziner also performed enthusiastic howls and cackles to verbally indicate the presence of monstrous creatures in the fictional hotel, simultaneously heightening the spooky atmosphere of the story and immersing her listeners in the setting. These sound effects later served as choices that her audience had to choose between, as the audience used the Zoom chat function to progress the story further. Magaziner cleverly presented these moments of choice during cliffhangers and key points of suspense to keep her audience engaged.

Afterwards, Magaziner participated in an extensive Q&A with Hamilton faculty and students, in which she answered questions about herself, her career, and her journey as a fiction author. According to Magaziner, although she found a writing agent in an unconventional way, she advises aspiring writers to use the slush pile method. “I promise you, the method works,” she said with a laugh. “If you just have enough courage and start sending your manuscripts out to a slew of agents you feel like might be interested in your work, at least one will message you back interested.”

Magaziner admitted that most of the success she found in writing career was based on luck. “Every submission’s success is unexpected. The book I had the easiest and least amount of effort invested in the process was the worst to sell. You never know with submissions.”

Her experience publishing

Case Closed

reflected this truth perfectly. She and her agent sent the manuscript


to seven publishing houses before finding success when an editor from Penguin Random House expressed interest in the story, It was eventually published under their imprint and sold within two weeks.

When asked to explain various aspects of the writing and publishing process, Magaziner went into detail about query letters, the agent’s job, and how to achieve a publishing internship, the last of which she explained in more depth for interested students. She not only advised students to network with alums who may have connections, but also encouraged them to write down everything they can think may be relevant on their resumes. “I got my other internship by having Hogwarts at Hamilton on it, and the publishing agent who reached out to me was a huge Harry Potter fan. The smallest details can appeal to people and get you places.”

She described how the writing and publishing process did not get immediately easier for her after she graduated from Hamilton, despite having had two internships in this field. “Editors kept telling me to step it up with the edits, and my mental health was deteriorating from trying to juggle my day job and my writing. One day it got [to be] so much that I eventually quit my day job, and just wrote a marathon session of

Case Closed

to follow my passion. But I also recognize my financial privilege in doing so. I could only follow my passion with my financial privilege, so I wouldn’t recommend my path for everyone.”

Near the end of the event, Magaziner emphasized the grueling and seemingly random nature of the publishing industry to her audience. “It’s truly about luck, about hitting the right person and time. It’s not at all a reflection of you as a person, or your quality of work. You just have to understand that truth, and carry that with you through your career.”

During her reading, Magaziner not only proved herself as a successful and versed writer, but also provided helpful tips for aspiring writers in attendance, providing an entertaining and honest glimpse of a writer’s career.