Skip to main content

Bio of Michael Neff

Michael is a development executive for AEI Films and Story Merchant in Los Angeles. He is actively searching for high concept projects that can be transformed into films or books, or both. His recent and upcoming agent deals include RISE OF THE AMERICAN CORPORATE SECURITY STATE (Berrett-Koehler) by Beatrice Edwards, MURDER AT BARCLAY MEADOW (Thomas Dunne) by Wendy Eckel, DIE BACK by Richard Hacker (Del Sol Press), and MY LIFE BEHIND BRAS - A MAMMOIR by Lori Kaplan. He is on the AEI/SM developmental team for SISTER ISLANDS (TV series and novel), MESSAGE TO SHIGATSE (film with Nextpix productions), DEVILS BAY (film), and also story creator and co-producer for THREE ALARM SHIH-TZU, a Disney-esque animal story. In addition, he is collaborating with Macmillan Entertainment to develop new high-concept projects for both film and print.

He is the founder and director of Algonkian Writer Conferences and its associated events. As a result of his "Algonkian method" workshops and his own editorial expertise, Michael and his programs have ushered dozens of authors over the past several years into agent and publication contracts with major houses. In his capacity as the director of the New York Pitch Conference he works with senior publishing house editors to locate and tap potential in budding new authors working in a variety of genres including upmarket literary and general fiction, serious and light women's fiction, narrative non-fiction, historical fiction, mystery, SF and fantasy.

His own work has appeared in such literary journals as the North American Review, Quarterly West, Pittsburgh Quarterly, The Literary Review, American Way Magazine, and Conjunctions. His novel, ALL THE DARK WE WILL NOT SEE is published by Serving House Books. He was one of the winners of the first Imitation William Faulkner Contest sponsored by the University of Mississippi, and has served as judge for various writing contests, including the Writer's Digest Finalist Prize for best short fiction. He is a founder, contributing editor and content provider for Author Salon and its novel writing program, and a founder and editor chief to a popular writer blog known as The Writer's Edge that provides assistance to nascent authors.

MORE ABOUT HIM CAN BE FOUND AT ALGONKIAN WRITER CONFERENCES

Comments

  1. I recently contracted with Mr Neff for help with my “medical thriller” novel—my first—and he immediately took me out of my self-imposed and limited box to a level I never imagined. I will be sending my completed manuscript this week and will hold my breath for his review. I think he’s the real deal so watch this space for further developments as the goal is manuscript to market, which by a strange coincidence is the name of Mr Neff’s service.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Worthy WE Wisdom

The Six Act Two-Goal Novel

What makes for good drama is a constant. To begin, we combine Siegal's "nine act structure - two goal" screenplay (very much like the Syd Field three act except that the "reversal" from Field's structure joins "Act 5" in Siegal's version) with the Field classic three act. The Two-Goal Structure, Siegal maintains, creates more dynamic plot tension due to the insertion of PLOT REVERSAL later in the story. We concur.  NOTE:  "Plot Point" is defined here as a major occurrence that emphatically changes the course of the story. In the genre novel as a whole, we see three to five major plot points depending on various factors: a first PP that begins the rising action, second PP defined by the first major reversal, a third PP defined by a possible second major reversal, a climax PP, and a theoretical PP residing in the denouement, i.e., we think the story is going to resolve a certain way after climax, but a surprise happens that resolves

"Top Ten Worst Pieces of Writing Advice" (and it gets worse)

OUTSIDE OF NARCISSISM, IMPATIENCE AND BAD ADVICE ARE A WRITER'S WORST ENEMIES . If you ever attend writer events, you will never cease to hear utterances of bad writing advice, the popular kind that circulate like  ruinous viral memes through the nervous systems of America's aborning novel writers. And each time you are exposed, you either chuckle or swear, depending on your mood and the circumstance. You might make a daring attempt to kill the meme in its tracks before it can infect someone else, or you might just stare at the writer with a dumbfounded look and ask, "Where the hell did you hear that?" Yes, the primal question: WHERE THE HELL DID YOU HEAR THAT? Inevitably, many will point to their writer's group . Ahhhh, of course , you think. Why just recently at an Algonkian event , one of my faculty (a former senior editor at Random House) and I were faced with an individual who adamantly asserted to us both that using only one point of view to write a n

What Makes a Good Memoir?

By Paula Margulies As a publicist, I'm sent books of all genres by authors interested in my services, but lately I seem to be on the receiving end of a lot of memoirs. I've also spoken to a higher-than-usual number of memoir writers, who either telephone or approach me with questions at writer's conferences. The bulk of these conversations have to do with why their memoirs aren’t selling and what the authors can do to make them better. My first suggestion for all memoir writers is to take a look at their market and identify the different types of people who would want to read their book. This is tricky, for while many memoir writers have done a good job of detailing certain aspects of their personal history, a number of them have not thought about who might be interested in reading what they've written. A lot of memoirs I've seen recently are nothing more than personal recountings of an individual’s experiences – some of which are, indeed, memorable. But I

Labors, Sins, and Six Acts - Official Novel Writing Guide - All Genres

An ideal first stop... You will discover below a series of scholarly, researchable, frank and indispensable guides to conceiving and writing the commercial genre novel, as well as the plot-driven literary novel. But the cutting edge of the developmental peels and prods as presented makes an initial big assumption, namely, that you are honestly desirous of true publication either by a classic publisher or traditional literary press , and therefore, willing to birth the most dynamic and can't-put-it-down novel you possibly can. Further, you are also naturally desirous of great sets, mind-altering theme, unforgettable characters, and cinematic scenes, among other things. Does that go without saying?   Perhaps, but you must know, it won't be easy. Labors and Sins First of all, the method-based assertions and information we've gathered and elevated before your eyes below will shiver many of you like a 6.5 on the literary Richter scale because it will contr

Loglines and Hooks With Core Wounds

HOOK OR LOG WITH CORE WOUND AND CONFLICT Your hook line (also known as logline) is your first chance to get a New York or Hollywood professional interested in your novel. It can be utilized in your query to hook the agent into requesting the project. It is especially useful for those pitch sessions at conferences, lunches, in the elevator, or anywhere else. When a prospective agent or editor asks you what your book is about, your high-concept hook line is your answer. Writing one also encourages a realization of those primary elements that will make your novel into a work of powerful fiction.  The great novel, more often than not, comprises two stories: the exterior story or plot line, and an interior story focused primarily on the protagonist, one that defines and catalyzes her or his evolutionary arc throughout the novel. For example, a protagonist with a flaw or core wound that prevents her from achieving a worthwhile goal is forced to respond to a lifechanging event instigated

"High Concept"? Sufficiently Unique? - Write a Tale That Might Actually Sell

Aspire to be a great genre author? So what's your high concept?...  If you fail to grasp the vital importance of this second question, you will fail to conceive much less write a publishable genre novel - thriller, mystery, fantasy, horror, crime, SF, you name it. Just not going to happen. Don't let any writer group or self-appointed writer guru online or writer conference panel tell you otherwise. You're competing with tens of thousands of other aspiring authors in your genre. Consider. WHAT IS GOING TO MAKE YOUR NOVEL STAND OUT from the morass of throat-gulping hopefuls who don't know any better? Believe it or not, 99.5% of the writers in workshops all across the country *do not* arrive with a high-concept story. If anything, their aborning novel child is destined for still birth. They strut forward proudly waving their middle or low concept tale while noting how their hired editor from Stanford, or Iowa, or the Johns Hopkins MA program just "loves it!"