President's Corner
by Ken Schept
CFF Advances Strategic Objectives
October 15, 2026. The Columbia Fiction Foundry newsletter, launched in January 2026, exemplifies how we’re advancing a CFF strategic goal: to build community.
This year we also offered the most online programs on the craft and business of writing than ever before, and invited new people to serve on the Executive Committee. These initiatives advance our other strategic goals: to strengthen the CFF brand and raise awareness in the publishing industry; to continually improve the quality of writing in our workshops; and to expand the diversity of our members.
Launching the newsletter required the vision and dedication of founding editor Linda Raymond Ellison and CFF communications director Mauricio Matiz. Thank you to both Linda and Mauricio for enriching communication to CFF members.
And welcome to Morgan Carol Lyn Desfosses, Linda’s successor, on this first issue of the newsletter published under her leadership. A graduate of Columbia’s School of General Studies, Morgan has generously volunteered her ideas and energy.
Thank you also to Columbia College graduate Geoff Dutton and recent MFA graduate Lara Waas for volunteering to regularly contribute their talent to the newsletter. In this issue, Geoff describes his journey from Columbia to a career in data consulting and journalism and then onto fiction writing. And Lara shares her experience at two writing conferences she attended this summer.
Still coming up, on Thursday, November 5, 2026, 7:00-8:30 pm, an event called “Sharing Our Writing to Improve our Craft.” Panelists Judy Sternlight, Marina Budhos, and Alexandra Shelley, editors with writing and workshop leading experience, will discuss how to evaluate a piece of writing, how to judge a story on its own terms, and how to take in constructive feedback without feeling derailed.
By the end of the calendar year, CFF will have produced eight online events that provide CFF members with writing and publishing knowledge and also connect us with important publishing industry people:
“How Literary Agents Shape American Fiction”: Laura B. McGrath, author of Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction, and leading literary agents Danielle Bukowski from Sterling Lord Literistic and Kate McKean from Howard Morheim discussed the evolution of the literary agent role and challenges for finding representation today.
“Gatekeepers to the Gatekeepers”: Literary assistants Chloe Knapp, with Stuart Krichevsky, Guiliana Vasile from Dunlow, Carlson & Lerner, and Laura Gruszka from Writers House explained how queries are screened and what queries are most likely to reach an agent.
“Manuscript Flaws and Fixes”: Four editors from the 5E Independent Editors, an editorial collective, shared experience gained working at the Big Five publishers and explained how they identify manuscript problems, recommend revisions, and boost a writer’s chances of success.
“Point of View and Place in Fiction”: CFF Secretary Lisa Melilli, who established and coordinates our Wednesday workshops, led an online craft session exploring ways to handle POV and place.
“How to Get Out of the Slush Pile”: Combining her experience as published fiction author, magazine editor, and teacher at New York’s Center for Fiction, Dawn Raffel shared insights about what gatekeepers are looking for and how to grab their attention.
“The Role of Book Publicity”: Jessie Glenn, the founder and director of Mindbuck Media, a publicity agency, revealed the ways publicists work with publishers, distributors, and media outlets to gain critical attention for books and authors.
“A Conversation with Jill Santopolo”: The Columbia graduate and author of five novels spoke with CFF Communications Director Mauricio Matiz about her journey from Columbia English major to New York Times best-selling author and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.
To see an online event that you missed or to see an event again, visit the CFF Video Library.
Thank you to members of this year’s CFF Executive Committee for your ideas and energy: officers Lisa Melilli and Mauricio Matiz; at-large officers Michael Hirsh, Tania Moore, Richard Nochimson, Jennifer Sears, and Margie Winslow; and former officer Linda Raymond Ellison, who stepped down a few months ago.
CFF operates under the auspices of the Columbia Alumni Association and relies on assistance from colleagues in the alumni office. This year we welcomed Irina Dimitrov as our CAA contact and congratulated our prior contact, Stanley Clark, on his promotion to global alumni engagement.
CFF’s mission is to help each other become better writers—even published authors. Our success depends on the involvement of CFF members. If you haven’t participated in one of our writing workshops, I encourage you to do so or sit in as an observer. If you’ve participated in a workshop, consider leading one as moderator. We also welcome your involvement as we expand CFF communications and programming.
And of course: Keep writing!