CW 28 — From Writer to Author: Navigating the Twisty Path to Publication
Quarter: Summer
Instructor(s): Malena Watrous
Date(s): Jul 24—Aug 28
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
Grade Restriction: NGR only; no credit/letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:15 pm (PT)
Tuition: $290
Refund Deadline: Jul 26
Unit(s): 0
Status: Open
Quarter: Summer
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 6 weeks
Time: 12:00—1:15 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jul 24—Aug 28
Unit(s): 0
Tuition: $290
Refund Deadline: Jul 26
Instructor(s): Malena Watrous
Grade Restriction: NGR only; no credit/letter grade
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Open
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The difference between a writer and an author is that the latter has published a book. But the path to publication is seldom straightforward. After finishing a manuscript, many aspiring authors are uncertain how to proceed. Do you need an agent, and how do you go about finding one? Is it important to hire a developmental editor, and how do you know who's going to be a good fit? If you choose to self-publish, what steps are involved? How do you make the public aware that your book exists?
This course gives beginning writers exposure to published authors who will talk to them about the steps they took toward (and after) publication, demystifying the process. In this six-week course, we will begin with an introduction to the basics of publishing, then discuss six books (one each week) by successfully published authors: Samina Ali (Pieces You'll Never Get Back), Holly Brady (under pen name Hollis Brady) (Pescadero), Lara Love Hardin (The Many Lives of Mama Love), Tod Lending (The Umbrella Maker's Son), Liza Monroy (The Distractions), and Jacquie Walters (Dearest). Each author will come to our class via a live online session together with an instrumental member of the team who helped them on the path to publication. These sessions will serve as part book group, part information session about how publishing works. You will be able to ask these authors and their “teammates” questions about their books and their working relationships and become better able to navigate the path to publication on your own.
SCHEDULE
Session 1: Thursday, July 24, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is Self-Publishing?
Holly Brady, Author and Publishing Expert; Former Director of Stanford Publishing Courses
Session 2: Thursday, July 31, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is a Developmental Editor?
Tod Lending, Author
Jeanne Da Vita, Developmental Editor
Session 3: Thursday, August 7, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is an Agent?
Lara Love Hardin, Author and Literary Agent; Founder of True Literary
Elizabeth Wachtel, Agent at True Literary; Former Agent at William Morris
Session 4: Thursday, August 14, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is the Role of an Acquiring Editor at a Traditional Publishing House?
Jacquie Walters, Author
Helen O'Hare, Editor at Mullholand/Little Brown and Company
Session 5: Thursday, August 21, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is the Role of a Nonfiction Editor at a Major Publishing House?
Samina Ali, Author
Kendall Storey, Editor at Catapult
Session 6: Thursday, August 28, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Are the Differences Between Working with Large and Small Publishers?
Liza Monroy, Author
Tanya Farrell, Publicist/Partner at Wunderkind PR; Former President of Publicity for Picador
Please note: Speakers and schedule may be subject to change.
The difference between a writer and an author is that the latter has published a book. But the path to publication is seldom straightforward. After finishing a manuscript, many aspiring authors are uncertain how to proceed. Do you need an agent, and how do you go about finding one? Is it important to hire a developmental editor, and how do you know who's going to be a good fit? If you choose to self-publish, what steps are involved? How do you make the public aware that your book exists?
This course gives beginning writers exposure to published authors who will talk to them about the steps they took toward (and after) publication, demystifying the process. In this six-week course, we will begin with an introduction to the basics of publishing, then discuss six books (one each week) by successfully published authors: Samina Ali (Pieces You'll Never Get Back), Holly Brady (under pen name Hollis Brady) (Pescadero), Lara Love Hardin (The Many Lives of Mama Love), Tod Lending (The Umbrella Maker's Son), Liza Monroy (The Distractions), and Jacquie Walters (Dearest). Each author will come to our class via a live online session together with an instrumental member of the team who helped them on the path to publication. These sessions will serve as part book group, part information session about how publishing works. You will be able to ask these authors and their “teammates” questions about their books and their working relationships and become better able to navigate the path to publication on your own.
SCHEDULE
Session 1: Thursday, July 24, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is Self-Publishing?
Holly Brady, Author and Publishing Expert; Former Director of Stanford Publishing Courses
Session 2: Thursday, July 31, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is a Developmental Editor?
Tod Lending, Author
Jeanne Da Vita, Developmental Editor
Session 3: Thursday, August 7, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is an Agent?
Lara Love Hardin, Author and Literary Agent; Founder of True Literary
Elizabeth Wachtel, Agent at True Literary; Former Agent at William Morris
Session 4: Thursday, August 14, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is the Role of an Acquiring Editor at a Traditional Publishing House?
Jacquie Walters, Author
Helen O'Hare, Editor at Mullholand/Little Brown and Company
Session 5: Thursday, August 21, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Is the Role of a Nonfiction Editor at a Major Publishing House?
Samina Ali, Author
Kendall Storey, Editor at Catapult
Session 6: Thursday, August 28, 12:00 - 1:15 pm (PT)
What Are the Differences Between Working with Large and Small Publishers?
Liza Monroy, Author
Tanya Farrell, Publicist/Partner at Wunderkind PR; Former President of Publicity for Picador
Please note: Speakers and schedule may be subject to change.
For students who have previously taken this course, the structure is the same but the books and guests are new. Students will have access to supplemental discussion threads to discuss the books and the course. There will be no writing assignments.
MALENA WATROUS
Writing Certificate Lead and Creative Writing Coordinator, Stanford Continuing Studies
Malena Watrous is the author of the novel If You Follow Me and co-author of the novel Sparked and the cookbooks My Mexico City Kitchen and Scandinavian from Scratch. She has contributed to The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. Watrous was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Hollis Brady, Pescadero (ISBN 979-8987727720 )
(Required) Tod Lending, The Umbrella Maker's Son (ISBN 978-0063413849)
(Required) Lara Love Hardin, The Many Lives of Mama Love (ISBN 978-1982197674)
(Required) Jacquie Walters, Dearest (ISBN 978-1804188620)
(Required) Samina Ali , Pieces You'll Never Get Back: A Memoir of Unlikely Survival (ISBN 978-1646222612)
(Required) Liza Monroy, The Distractions (ISBN 979-8888454817)
(Required) Tod Lending, The Umbrella Maker's Son (ISBN 978-0063413849)
(Required) Lara Love Hardin, The Many Lives of Mama Love (ISBN 978-1982197674)
(Required) Jacquie Walters, Dearest (ISBN 978-1804188620)
(Required) Samina Ali , Pieces You'll Never Get Back: A Memoir of Unlikely Survival (ISBN 978-1646222612)
(Required) Liza Monroy, The Distractions (ISBN 979-8888454817)