The UIndy Publishing Internship Network (PLUS: A Call For More Presses/Journals)
Posted: April 8, 2014 Filed under: Guest Posts, Shining Examples | Tags: internships, jobs, publishing Leave a commentWhat if all creative writing programs did this? What if instead of expecting our students to figure it out on their own, we gave them some stars to steer by?
Last Lecture: Find Your Tribe
Posted: April 30, 2013 Filed under: Actions | Tags: Book Reviews, literary citizenship, Making a Literary Life, Michael Poore, publishing, Social Media, websites 2 Comments
You’ve all come so far since that first night of class. Remember? Remember where you were just a short time ago?
Think about what you accomplished.
- You got people in Muncie to come to the In Print Festival of First Books.
- You sponsored a public talk about graduate school.
- You gave a kick-ass presentation about social media at a meeting of local small business owners.
- You learned things about publishing that I didn’t know for a long, long time.
- You blogged every week for four months!
- You expanded your circle, your “network,” by at least 200 literary people. Because every week, you had to friend or follow five writers, magazines, publishers, agents, readers, etc. (If you can come up with another name for this than “Charming Notes,” I’m all ears.)
- You reviewed books.
- You reviewed the things you read online.
- You learned how complicated online reviewing is these days!
- You interviewed writers. You spread the word and the love.
- You gave public readings.
- You supported your classmates and plain old showed up to stuff.
- You got involved.
Playing the Digital-Word-of-Mouth Game
Posted: April 4, 2013 Filed under: Online Community | Tags: blogging, Chuck Sambuchino, literary citizenship, publishing, Social Media Leave a comment
The infographic in question.
A few days ago at BookRiot, the writer Andrew Shaffer asked the question, “What do readers owe authors?” He was responding to a much-discussed infographic that’s been making the rounds. Shaffer notes that Amazon’s recent purchase of Goodreads highlights the importance of “digital word-of-mouth” and how authors and publishers need to do “everything in their power to increase the chatter surrounding their own books on social media.”
He cites these familiar examples:
I’ve seen readers tweet to writers that they enjoyed their books, only to have the writer respond with a “small request” to leave their thoughts on Amazon in the form of a review. Snider even suggests that readers “download and print the infographic to use a checklist” when buying books, so they don’t accidentally forget to like, tag, tweet, share, or review their new purchases. When did being a reader begin to feel like such a chore?
Since I’m basically teaching a class that encourages students to be “literary citizens” and directly participate in book culture by “helping” authors in these exact ways, I’ve given this matter a great deal of thought.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 28, 2013 Filed under: Buy Books | Tags: Making a living, publishing Leave a comment
Students always complain that creative writing teachers never talk about publishing. Well, this week, I schooled them, and I schooled them good. You can check out the links in the right-hand column under “Publishing a Book 101.” I also had them read excerpts from Carolyn See’s MAKING A LITERARY LIFE, Betsy Lerner’s THE FOREST FOR THE TREES, Gerald Gross’s EDITORS AND EDITING, Eckstutt and Henry’s THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED, and Ted Striphas THE LATE AGE OF PRINT. It was a lot to take in. Here, Marvin Madison Jones takes it all in and makes sense of it all. In his own words.
The publishing world is a very mysterious world similar to that of Willy Wonka’s factory. No one knows what is going on up in there. The people involved hide their secrets well and do not write about the process of getting a book published very often. First book authors are left blind to the shenanigans and happenings that go on during the publishing process.
Being part of Cathy Day‘s Lit Citizenship class I have been presented with many of the ugly truths and surprising information about the publishing process and I should share some of them with you.
Be warned that some of this information might be a bit disheartening to some writers but also remember that these are only some parts of the publishing world not all. Every single writer has a chance at success, you just got to find the write publisher and people that will treat…
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Publishing internships & scholarships available to Ball State writers
Posted: March 5, 2013 Filed under: Attend/Organize Literary Events | Tags: Ball State, Discovery Group, English Department, internship, Midwest Writers Workshop, publishing, scholarship 3 Comments
Did you know there’s a writers’ conference in Muncie, Indiana?
Well, now you do.
Thanks to a grant from the Discovery Group, Ball State students can 1.) intern at or 2.) attend this summer’s Midwest Writer’s Workshop, a yearly gathering of agents, editors, publishing professionals, and writers whose mission is to help Midwesterners become published authors. Participants can gain real-world experience and build the kind of credentials that will give them an advantage in their careers.
To get this kind of experience as a college student is unusual. To get it as a college student not in New York City but in Muncie, Indiana is amazing.
There are up to 15 internship spots available. Find out more here: Discovery 2013 Internship
There are up to 10 scholarships available: Find out more here: Midwest Writers Workshop Scholarship.
The deadline for applications in Friday, March 29, 2013 at noon. THE DEADLINE HAS PASSED!
For more information, please talk to the Project Director, Prof. Cathy Day of the English Department at cday ((at)) bsu *d-o-t* edu.
Please note:
- Even if you don’t get a scholarship, you can still register to attend the conference. It’s very affordable.
- The internships are for ANY Ball State student, regardless of major. The scholarships are for English majors.
- Graduate students can apply for both of these opportunities.
- Students graduating May 2013 are eligible.
- The 5-page writing sample for the scholarships doesn’t have to be a self-contained piece. It can be the first 5 pages of a 10-page story or a 200-page novel.
You can also grab applications off her office door, 266 Robert Bell!
Literary Citizenship 