Hit Send: Publishing Short Nonfiction is a 4-week class, which includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants a refresher. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
There are countless magazines, newspapers, and websites that need a continual supply of short nonfiction pieces—articles, essays, etc. And they need material on every subject under the sun. How do you get them to publish (and pay for) your work?
You need to bait the hook properly. Here you will learn how to generate saleable ideas, turn them into pitches, and match them to the most appropriate people and places. It’s like fishing, and you don’t always get a bite, so to maximize your chances, you need to be repeating the process regularly.
You will work under the guidance of a successful freelance writer, who will help you identify your best ideas and prepare them for “casting into the waters.”
This course shows you the process of getting your short nonfiction pieces published, and helps you craft a winning pitch letter. Course components:
- Lectures
- Writing and receiving feedback on a pitch letter (each student presenting work two times)
- Week1
- The Pitching Life: Perks of the pitching life. Setting your goals. What is your expertise and/or platform? Pitching basics.
- Week 2
- Who Wants My Writing?: Finding a home for your work. Narrowing the field. Doing reconnaissance. Listening for voice and tone. Moving up the ladder.
- Week 3
- Getting The Job (And Getting It Done): Understanding the editor’s dilemma. Making contact. Query letter basics. The art of the successful pitch. Query letter FAQs. Before you hit send. Handling it when you hear “No.” What to do when it’s a “Yes.”
- Week 4
- The Work of the Working Writer: Getting paid and how much. Contracts, rights, negotiating for more. Should you accept a fee of $0? Conducting research. What it means to deliver the goods. Working with an editor. Getting “killed.” Promoting yourself. Making time for the work. Keys to success.
Content may vary among individual classes.
About
- The Online classes bring students from all over the globe to Gotham—New York City’s most famous writing school.
- The Online classes happen asynchronously—not in “real time.” You can participate in class any time, day or night, but the classes advance week-by-week, and certain things should be accomplished within that week-long session.
- You can take an Online writing class from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. The majority of our Online students are located in the U.S. but we also draw students from practically every country in the world.
- Tech support will be available.
- Aside from the convenience of time and location, you have a record of everything that transpires in class, which you can print out and keep for future reference. (The material is text and image, not video.)
