publishing and promotion. summer 2010.

This class is for those who want to take a DIY approach to creating a website and/or blog as well as promoting themselves through social media but don't know where to start. Over six weeks, you'll register for a domain name (if necessary), find a host, and design a smart, attractive, user-friendly site.* You'll learn the basics of web design and usability, how to write for websites and blogs, and how to drive traffic to your site by optimizing it for search engines. We'll also look at strategies for using other social media to promote yourself such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Outside of class, you'll be expected to use the tools you learn about to create pages (due every Friday) that will then be discussed in class by your peers. Amy Marcott is a web writer and editor at MIT who also assists with web redesigns and incorporating new technologies into online strategies. *Note that there may be optional added fees if you do choose to purchase domain names and hosting sites. Though laptops are not required, if you have one, please bring it to the first class.

If you're about to publish a book, you've probably got questions about how to best publicize and sell it -- as well as wondering what to expect. In this expanded version of his popular seminar, Ethan Gilsdorf reports on the lessons learned from his 50+ city budget book tour and six month guerrilla effort to promote his book Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms. Whether you have a big or small publisher, or chose self-publishing, there are both traditional and non-traditional methods to identify and reach your target audience and build an audience in various potential book-buying communities. We'll discuss setting up a promotional budget; creating a book tour (and not just at bookstores but other venues) and brainstorming special contests, promotions and giveaways unique to your book; establishing yourself as an expert and tying in your book to current events; using traditional media like print, TV and radio; and jumping on social media to develop a fan base and create buzz. We'll also over what your publisher should do and what you can do, and the problems that self-publishing creates. Come with questions.

Writers are told to submit widely and often, be persistent, and say yes to every opportunity. Trust your agent as he “shops” your work. Believe wholeheartedly in your publisher. Yet real success comes from taking a different tack: target the right agent, research the specifics of your market, choose an editor wisely, and innovatively (and actively) promote yourself and your work. Taught by a ten-year publishing veteran who has worked with the industry’s top talent, Book Smarts navigates an industry that can be at once overwhelming and opaque. The course demystifies the processes of acquisition and publication while building an effective blueprint for your career. It focuses on pitching your work properly, matching you and your work with the right agent, evaluating the merits of certain publishing houses and strategies, and capitalizing on traditional marketing and sales plans, as well as the opportunities of new media. It also covers maintaining momentum in your career and expanding your readership and professional networks.

Novelists, poets, freelancers and writers around the world are benefiting from the possibilities of the Internet, building both their personal brand and at the same time driving visibility (and sales!) of their work. Writers face the same challenges as other entrepreneurs: competition; resource restrictions; the need to be first, the best or the most original to market; and, most importantly, the need to be innovative. Publishers are feeling the pinch which means that fewer and fewer writers will get “lucky” and score it big through traditional means. Instead, they need to engage in techniques that move them past hurdles and into the minds of their potential buyers. This class will explore both the basic tenets of what comprises a personal brand as well as to talk about the best ways to use new media tactics such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LibraryThing and much more.

The time between signing your publishing contract and holding your book can easily slip away. Most book promotion now falls on the writer, but what to do and when to do it baffles debut and experienced authors. After "What To Do" you should be able to plan your pre-publication schedule and outline your promotion campaign. This seminar includes: planning websites, author photos, social media overview and decisions (including to blog or not to blog,) pros and cons of outside publicists, material you should have, connecting with writers, mailings and e-mailings, book launch parties, taking and rejecting advice, best practices for readings, Ms. Manners for writer’s relationships, your public persona and more. This class will be useful mostly for people who have an accepted published book in the pipeline or newly on the street. For an overview of what to do before your book finds a publisher, check out Grub Street’s other offerings.

Most literary agents receive at least one hundred query letters each week, yet respond positively to a very select few - generally less than two percent, and decisions on writing samples are often made within the first five pages. Would yours make the cut? Do you know the secrets to writing a winning query? Join agent Sorche Elizabeth Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation for a weekend of intensive query and writing critique, lessons on the basics of a powerful synopsis, help on the first five pages, review of a laundry list of Dos and Don’ts, and group and one-on-one analysis of your submission package.

Please prepare and email to chip@grubstreet.org no later than 5pm on Tuesday, November 30th, a query letter of no more than 400 words, and the first five pages of your manuscript (double spaced, single sided, 12pt font, pages numbered) for the instructor, and bring four copies of the query and the first five pages to the first class for group review. Limited to 12 students.

Important: On Day One, bring four copies of your query letter of no more than 400 words. Also bring four copies of the first five pages of your manuscript (double spaced, single sided, 12pt font, pages numbered). Note: you will be reworking your query and first five pages between classes.

For Day Two: Please bring thirteen copies of your reworked query and first five pages. If the class size is smaller than 12, you will be notified on the correct number of copies.

Do you have a website and/or blog but want to learn ways to enhance the design and content? Looking to broaden your reach or boost your professional appeal? This class will offer a venue for receiving feedback on your online presence. Along the way, you’ll learn strategies for more effective design, navigation, usability, search engine optimization, and content. We’ll also do some writing exercises to help your work stand out. Note: this seminar is only for those who already have a designed website or active blog. Submit the URL(s) of your website and/or blog to chip@grubstreet.org by noon on Tuesday, November 30th. If you have a blog, also submit two of your best posts that could be discussed in class. The instructor will prepare thorough critiques of each site before class so submitting URLs as early as possible is appreciated. Amy Marcott is a web writer and editor at MIT who blogs frequently and assists with web redesigns and incorporating new technologies into online strategies.

For many reasons, new and established writers are moving their publications to smaller presses or are even self-publishing. Join two industry professionals for an intensive discussion on alternatives to larger presses. Tara, an editor and author, will instruct on how to make yourself appealing to small presses, how to approach them, how to handle contract issues, how to market/promote, how to handle your book tour in line with your book distribution, and offer tips on making a reading successful. Glenna, who is a book designer and typesetter, will review the pros and cons of self-publishing and then explain how to proceed from the manuscript to the printed and bound book. This will include instruction on how to obtain a copyright and an ISBN, and the important steps of finding and working with a printer and the various other vendors you will need to self-publish. Both instructors will reveal tips and important information that you won’t learn anywhere else. For writers who have a manuscript to sell/publish or for writers with recent or upcoming publications. Co-taught with Glenna Collet. Limited to 18 students.

Janet Silver, Literary Director of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth agency, brings more than three decades of experience as an acclaimed editor and publishing executive to her work as a literary agent. In this Grub Street seminar, you will sit down with Janet and ask her any question that’s on your mind about the role of the agent and get an insider’s view of the life of a literary agency. You’ll learn how to pitch agents and how not to pitch them, how agents make decisions, how the business works, what happens once you have an agent, how nonfiction projects get developed and more. Come with questions. Janet will tell all. Janet can speak to various projects, but, as an agent, she is actively seeking writers of the highest quality literary fiction as well as narrative nonfiction in a range of subjects, including memoir, science, history, and biography.