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Publishing Intensive

Genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, The Writing Life

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1 Session

Start Date: May 21, 2022
End Date: May 21, 2022
Day of Week: Saturday
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm PT
Capacity: 100 seats
Member Price: $225.00
General Price: $250.00

CLASS UPDATE: This course description has been updated from the print catalog.

This full-day class offers an introductory overview of the publishing business and is geared toward writers of literary fiction and nonfiction. The class features guests from small and large presses:

– Ethan Nosowsky, Editorial Director for Graywolf Press

– Lisa Lucas, senior vice president at Knopf Doubleday

– Michelle Brower, literary agent who has frequently been ranked in the top ten dealmakers for debut fiction on Publisher’s Marketplace. Formerly of Aevitas, she opened her own agency Trellis Literary Management last year.

– Special guest Natalie Baszile, author of QUEEN SUGAR (inspiration for the series, Queen Sugar), her new book is WE ARE EACH OTHER’S HARVEST

Students will be broken into small groups to pitch their books to one another and offer feedback on those pitches. All students will receive an extensive packet with resources.

Peter Mountford

Peter Mountford

Peter Mountford is the author of the novels A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (2012 Washington State Book Award in fiction), and The Dismal Science (a NYT editor's choice). His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Southern Review, The Atlantic, The Sun, Granta, and The Missouri Review. He is currently on faculty at Sierra Nevada University's MFA program, teaches at Creative Nonfiction, Hugo House, and is a writing coach and developmental editor. Peter's former students and clients have gone on to publish numerous books and stories and articles, and include two NYT best-selling novelists (Tara Conklin and Rachel Griffin).

Teaching Style and Philosophy: I believe the best I can do for students is help free them from the tyranny of talent and the whims of inspiration, which are fair-weather friends. Instead, I want you to hone your personal aesthetic, and to develop an authorial voice, and most importantly develop fluency with the elements of craft. One you can control what's happening on the page with ease, producing publishable work is no longer a mysterious fluke, but a familiar and non-scary process.

Website: petermountford.com

Hugo House will only process refund requests that are submitted 5 business days or more before the class start date. To request a refund, log in to your account, go to “My Account,” select the “Orders” tab on the left-hand side, click the appropriate order, and request a refund for your specific class. Administrative fees apply. Please see our full refund policy here.

Class sessions may be recorded if a session falls on a holiday, or if a student has access needs. Class recordings are not guaranteed.

We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic or any other oppressive behaviors, regardless of who commits them. Please check out our full community guidelines by clicking here. If an instance of community guidelines are violated and not resolved within the classroom, students may let us know by filling out the student incident report.

Classes may be cancelled if less than 5 students are enrolled within 10 days before the class start date. If for any reason Hugo House needs to cancel a class, students can choose between a full credit or full refund.

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