General Registration is now open for my 2024 publishing intensive with Lisa Manterfield, an information-packed course that covers nearly everything you need to consider, decide, and know in order to successfully publish or be published. In addition to learning from our extensive and varied experience (watch this video to see what we’ve accomplished and how that might help you), you will get the chance to meet and learn from three industry experts: a bookseller, an agent, and a book marketer. As should be evident from the syllabus below, this program has been designed to give you concrete tools and an actionable plan to achieve your publishing goals. Why not in 2024?

PRELIMINARY SYLLABUS

WEEK 1 - 01/09/24
How to think about your book

We will not only discuss but practice how to stop thinking about your book as your art or brainchild, and start thinking about it as a product you want to sell. We will help you pin down genre, audience, and those slippery things called ‘comps’—and we will hear from a professional bookseller to get the inside scoop on why such things are important.
Homework: Market Position worksheet

WEEK 2 - 01/16/24
How to talk about your book

Now we have a better idea of where we fit in the market, we will work as a group to challenge and test our thinking. Then we’ll learn how to craft that all-important “elevator pitch”—that punchy yet pithy encapsulation of what your book is all about. One big tip: be prepared to leave your plot behind.
Homework: Elevator Pitch - first draft

WEEK 3 - 01/23/24
How to pitch your book

After working together to make sure our pitches are on track, we will learn how to build query letters around them that maximize our personal strengths—and how to polish them up to become jacket copy if we are considering self publishing.
Homework: Polished Elevator Pitch and draft of Query or Jacket Copy.

WEEK 4 - 01/30/24
Finding an agent

Now we know what we’re pitching, how do we find whom to pitch to? We’ll discuss several approaches, and try out these ideas for immediate results—then amplify those by harnessing the hive and sharing them. At the end of our session, we’ll be able to address any remaining questions to our guest agent, and a few who are lucky and bold will also get the chance to try out their pitches for some live agent feedback.
Homework: Agent Targeting worksheet

WEEK 5 - 02/06/24
Knowing the biz

The publishing landscape is in constant flux. This week we’ll look at both the current state of traditional publishing, and the alternative paths for getting your book out into the world. What are the pros and cons of the different ways forward? Depending on your individual goals, what would work best for you? We’ll make a pragmatic evaluation, teach you the steps you’ll need to take, and we’ll even get concrete about the $$.
Homework: Best Path worksheet with projected P&L

WEEK 6 - 02/13/24
Donning your marketing hat

Whether you’re traditionally published or choose an alternative route, you are going to assume primary responsibility for marketing your book. Our guest book marketer will discuss why, unless you’re Michelle Obama, you will need to drive your own book marketing—and how. Don’t worry, we’ll discuss how to set a strategy and move forward. We will also look at the specifics of what you can do immediately to find your readers, and how knowing your competition can help.
Homework: Identifying and Finding Readers worksheet

WEEK 7 - 02/20/24
Building your platform

This is a term you’ll often hear—and it’s necessary for ongoing success as an author, as well as helpful for making that first sale. In a nutshell it’s your ability to reach an audience, developed by marketing YOU as opposed to any specific book. We’ll demonstrate how a platform is within the reach of every author, examine key planks for building one, and brainstorm what might work particularly well for building yours. We’ll end by pivoting back to the book, and discuss ideas for your big book launch.
Homework: Publishing Action Plan worksheet

WEEK 8 - 02/27/24
Building a career

In this our last session together, we will discuss how to synthesize all we’ve learned into a strategic, actionable plan that launches your book—and your journey in publishing. We’ll cover how to turn a single book into a writing career; how to recognize and enjoy the many faces of success; and how to keep the victories coming. You’ll get the personal top three tips from me and Lisa, and we’ll end the course with a generous Q&A session to mop up and address any remaining questions you might have. Feel free to pour yourself a “well done” beverage for working so hard and now having your publishing plan in hand!

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We hope you find this proposed syllabus as exciting and robust as we do! The fee for the 8-week course, including the folio of completed worksheets you’ll be leaving with as part of your publishing plan, is $785, payable in advance.*

To register, simply click here, fill in your details and select a payment option. The limited seats will be secured in the order in which payment was received and we will send you an email confirmation.

We look forward to seeing you in class! You can also register by clicking on the button below.