Led by Kathy MacMillan (she/her), a writer, editor, instructor, nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and signing storyteller. She writes picture books (including The Runaway Shirt and the Little Hands Signing series from Familius Press), children’s nonfiction (including She Spoke: 14 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World from Familius Press and Super Cities!: Baltimore from Arcadia Publishing), middle grade fantasy (the Chronicles of Cavallon series under the pen name Kim Forester), and young adult fantasy (Sword and Verse and Dagger and Coin, both HarperTeen).

Being a successful writer is more than just creating great books – it also means navigating submissions and the publication process and communicating clearly and professionally with everyone from agents to editors to publicists to bloggers.

In this series, we’ll cover techniques for effective agent and publisher research, the nitty-gritty details of formatting your manuscript for submission (with detailed demos), and best practices for communicating professionally in a digital world, including writing effective query and cover letters, following up on submissions, dealing with emotionally charged topics, communicating with publishing professionals, and how to stand up for yourself in writing without being a jerk.

Assignments will allow you to practice these skills and receive detailed instructor feedback.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1 Focus: So You Want to Publish: An Overview of Markets and Resources

Week 2 Focus: Formatting Your Manuscript for Submission

Week 3 Focus: Professional Communication for Writers

Week 4 Focus: Putting it All Together: Creating a Road Map to Your Goals

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to: 

• Identify the publishing avenues and resource that best fit their goals.
• Describe and demonstrate standard manuscript formatting.
• Demonstrate effective techniques for communication with publishing professionals.
  

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: