Publishing Intensive II [Karen Finneyfrock, Peter Mountford, Theo Nestor]

This class takes place at Seattle University, Chardin Hall, Room 142.

All levels. This daylong intensive seminar will provide a comprehensive overview of the publishing business and opportunities for writers of memoir, adult fiction, and young adult. This class is intended for students who already have some familiarity with the publishing business (you already know the difference between agents and publicists and acquisition editors, you know what the word “platform” means, etc.).

In addition to hearing from the three instructors about their experiences finding literary agents and publishing with large and small presses, the class will feature four guests:

• Ayesha Pande, a major literary agent and founder of Pande Literary in New York City will Skype into the class for an hour to describe what she looks for in manuscripts.
• Michelle Triant, a senior publicist from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, will come to the class for half an hour to discuss steps authors should take, even while writing, to prepare for the book?s viability as a commercial object produced by for-profit company. She has supplied samples of effective marketing materials from literary novels and works of memoir.
• Author Deb Caletti, who will talk for half an hour about her writing life and in particular the challenges of making a living by selling writing to publishers without an array of other secondary income streams from teaching and service work.
• A Young-Adult literary agent will also visit the class to lead a break-out group of YA writers to describe the unique parameters of their business, which operates differently from adult literature.

The instructors will also provide resources on grants, fellowships, and residencies (a list of dozens of each). There will also be information on submitting to magazines, building a platform, and more. Students will also have an opportunity to pitch their books to small groups and workshop (from a marketing) their synopses.

There will be a lunch break. Hugo House will provide snacks.

Those who took Publishing Intensive I during fall quarter can elect to take this class as well. There will be some repetition, but there will also be new guests and activities and a different overall focus.