A THREE-DAY ONLINE RETREAT FOR SERIOUS AUTHORS
The Future of Publishing in an
AI World
Understand the conversations shaping publishing’s future-and how they can shape your author career.
January 8-10, 2027
Live Online
Most Writers Are Asking the Wrong AI Question
Everywhere you look, writers are asking:
Should I use AI?
- For brainstorming.
- For editing.
- For outlining.
- For marketing.
It’s become one of the biggest conversations in publishing.
But it’s the wrong conversation.
While writers debate whether they should use AI, publishers are asking a very different question:
How will AI change publishing?
Not how books are written.
How books are evaluated, acquired, marketed, discovered, and sold.
Those conversations aren’t happening in writers’ groups. They’re happening inside publishing houses, literary agencies, rights departments, marketing teams, and publishing technology companies around the world
The Conversation Authors Aren’t Hearing
The publishing industry isn’t asking:
Should authors use AI?
How will AI change the way books are discovered?
How will acquisition decisions evolve?
How will reader behavior influence marketing and positioning?
Which publishing workflows become more efficient—and which become even more valuable because they're human?
These aren’t questions about writing
They’re questions about how publishing works.
And the answers will influence the decisions publishers make and, ultimately, the decisions authors should make about their own careers.
Why This Matters
The greatest risk isn’t AI itself.
It’s making career decisions based on an incomplete understanding of how publishing decisions are being made.
The authors who understand those decisions can position their books, their brands, and their careers more strategically.
The ones who don’t risk investing years in a path that no longer reflects the realities of today’s publishing landscape.
Introducing
The Future of Publishing in an AI World
Understanding the future of publishing doesn’t come from reading headlines.
It comes from understanding the conversations happening inside the industry and having the
space to connect the dots and apply those insights to your own author career.
That’s why this retreat was created.
For three days, you’ll join a small group of serious writers for an immersive online experience
designed to help you think more strategically about your future as an author.
This isn't a conference.
It isn't a webinar.
And it isn't another course teaching AI tools.
It’s an opportunity to step away
from the day-to-day demands of
writing, engage in thoughtful
discussion, and gain the
perspective needed to make
smarter, long-term career
decisions.
Three Days of
Publishing Intelligence
Over one immersive weekend, we’ll explore the conversations shaping the future of publishing and what they mean for the decisions you’re making as an author today.
Together, we’ll discuss questions such as:
What are publishers and literary agents paying attention to that most writers never see?
Which industry changes are worth preparing for—and which are simply passing trends?
How are shifts in discoverability, reader behavior, and market positioning influencing publishing decisions?
What will make an author, a book, and an author platform more valuable in the years ahead?
How can you evaluate opportunities through the lens of a long-term author career rather than short-term industry noise?
Throughout the weekend, you’ll be invited into the same kinds of strategic conversations that help authors move beyond reacting to change and begin making confident, informed career decisions.
What You’ll Leave With
- By the end of the weekend, you’ll leave with more than notes.
- You’ll leave with a new way of thinking about your author career.
- You’ll be able to distinguish the publishing trends that deserve your attention from the distractions that don’t.
- You’ll evaluate opportunities with greater confidence, making decisions based on where the industry is heading not where it has been.
- You’ll recognize emerging opportunities earlier, ask better questions, and approach your next career decision with greater clarity and purpose.
- Most importantly, you’ll stop reacting to change and start making decisions with the confidence that comes from understanding the bigger picture.
The Online Retreat Experience
More Than Information
A Weekend to Think Differently
Writing often demands that we focus on the next chapter, the next
submission, the next deadline.
This retreat creates space for something
equally important:
- Stepping back.
- Looking at the publishing industry as a whole.
- Asking better questions.
- Engaging in thoughtful discussion with other committed authors.
- Testing ideas.
- Exploring possibilities.
And returning to your writing with a clearer understanding of the
world your books will enter.
Because the best career decisions are rarely made in the middle of the
daily grind.
They’re made when you have the time, perspective, and conversations that challenge the way you’ve always thought.
The Future of Publishing Is Already Changing
You Just Can’t Afford to Miss It.
Annalisa Summea chats with literary agent Diana Finch of Diana Finch Literary Agency about what genre submissions she’s currently accepting.
It’s cocktail hour and she’s still working on behalf of her authors.
Every major shift in publishing creates two groups of authors:
- Those who recognize the change early and adapt with it.
- And those who discover it only after the industry has already moved on.
This retreat was created to help you become part of the first group.
Over three days, you’ll gain an insider’s perspective on the conversations shaping the future of publishing—before those changes become common knowledge.
Annalisa Summea doesn’t study the publishing industry from the sidelines—she works within it.
Each year, she attends the publishing world’s most influential events, including the London Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair, where she meets directly with publishers, literary agents, acquisitions professionals, editors, rights specialists, and publishing technology companies. She is also invited to speak at many of the English-speaking world’s leading writing conferences, where conversations with authors and industry professionals continue long after the sessions end.
But conferences are only snapshots.
Every week, through her work in Muse Literary Management, her podcast interviews, and her professional relationships across the publishing industry, Annalisa speaks directly with the people making publishing decisions. She listens to what they’re seeing, the challenges they’re navigating, the opportunities they’re pursuing, and the questions they’re asking as the industry evolves.
Her role isn’t simply to collect information.
It’s to connect hundreds of conversations into a clear strategic picture that helps authors make better long-term career decisions.
Until now, those insights have been shared exclusively with the authors inside Muse Literary Management and Date with the Muse.
But as the pace of change has accelerated, Annalisa made the decision to open those conversations to a wider audience.
For the first time, she’s inviting serious writers into the same strategic discussions that have traditionally been reserved for the authors she mentors privately.
London Book Fair Insights
At this year’s London Book Fair, Annalisa Summea spent her time speaking directly with publishers, literary agents, acquisitions professionals, editors, rights specialists, publishing technology companies, and industry leaders from around the world.
She wasn’t asking whether writers should use AI.
She was asking a different question:
How is AI changing the business of publishing?
Again and again, the conversations pointed to the same conclusion.
AI isn’t simply introducing new writing tools.
It’s changing publishing workflows, marketing strategies, discoverability, audience analysis, rights management, editorial processes, and the way business decisions are made throughout the industry.
Those changes won’t stay inside publishing houses.
They will shape the environment every author is publishing into.
The writers who understand these shifts early will be better positioned to make strategic decisions about their books, their careers, and the opportunities ahead.
Why This Retreat Exists
Until now, the publishing intelligence Annalisa gathered through her industry relationships has been shared exclusively with the authors inside Muse Literary Management and Date with the Muse.
It’s part of how she helps her clients make strategic decisions—not just about the books they’re writing today, but about the careers they’re building over the next five, ten, and twenty years.
Because successful authors don’t make decisions in a vacuum.
They understand the industry they’re writing into.
As publishing continues to evolve, Annalisa believes that perspective has never been more valuable—or more difficult for authors to access on their own.
For the first time, she’s opening the doors to that conversation.
Over three immersive days, you’ll step into the same strategic discussions, industry analysis, and publishing intelligence that have traditionally been reserved for the writers she mentors privately.
Not because you’ll receive secret information.
But because you’ll learn to see the publishing landscape the way industry professionals—and successful career authors—do.
Because the authors who thrive over the next decade won’t simply write great books.
They’ll understand the forces shaping the industry those books enter.
You can’t control how publishing changes.
But you can choose whether you’re surprised by those changes—or prepared for them.
This weekend is your opportunity to be prepared.
This retreat is for authors who believe that writing is an art—but building a career is also a strategy.
If you’re ready to think differently about your future in publishing, we’d love to welcome you.
Reserve Your Seat
You can’t control how publishing evolves.
But you can choose whether you navigate that future by reacting to change—or by understanding it.
The authors who build lasting careers aren’t simply the ones who write exceptional books.
They’re the ones who learn to think strategically about the industry those books enter.
Spend one weekend stepping into the conversations shaping the future of publishing—and return to your writing with greater clarity, confidence, and a stronger vision for the career you’re building.
January 8-10, 2027
Live Online • Limited Enrollment
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