by Writing Workshops Staff
2 weeks ago
In a literary landscape increasingly measured by likes and shares rather than dog-eared pages, Sanibel Lazar—named after the island, as she is quick to note—navigates the intersection of classical craft and contemporary promotion with a pragmatism that borders on the revolutionary. Her upcoming two-day seminar, Think Like a Content Creator: Social Media for Authors, arrives at a moment when writers find themselves trapped between twin impossibilities: the vanishing opportunities of traditional publishing and the unforgiving algorithms of digital platforms.
"Like a lot of writers, I'm cynical about social media," Lazar admits, leaning slightly forward during our video call, her bookshelf a carefully curated backdrop. The commerce journalist and forthcoming novelist speaks with the measured candor of someone who has made peace with necessary compromises. "But I want to give my book the best chance to succeed, so I'm willing to play the game—for a period."
This temporary surrender to the attention economy forms the philosophical core of her approach. The seminar promises to compress months of social media learning into days, focusing on efficiency rather than endless content creation. Lazar's method deliberately targets the writer's most precious resource: time. "My approach is about minimizing the time you waste 'making content' so that you can spend more time writing," she explains, the slight emphasis on "waste" betraying her literary priorities.
For those who have crafted entire worlds in 80,000 words yet find themselves paralyzed before the tyranny of a caption box, Lazar offers both technical instruction and strategic wisdom. Her course, divided between practical video content skills and broader brand-building strategies, confronts the uncomfortable truth that writing great prose and catering to ultra-short attention spans are not, as she puts it with scholarly precision, "quite the same skill."
Perhaps most compelling is Lazar's insistence that successful author platforms cannot simply function as advertisements. "If you're a fledgling writer, you most likely won't build an audience if all you're talking about is yourself and your writing," she observes with characteristic directness. "To get eyeballs on your content, you need to provide what people scroll for: entertainment."
This balance—between artistic integrity and algorithmic demands, between promoting one's work and providing genuine value—represents the central tension of contemporary authorship. As Lazar's debut novel, To Have and Have More, approaches its Spring 2025 publication date, her seminar offers not just tactical advice but a philosophical framework for writers reluctantly entering the digital arena.
Those seeking to circumvent months of trial and error might find in Lazar's "dogmatic with a splash of pedantic" teaching style exactly the efficiency their literary careers demand.
Hi Sanibel Lazar, Please introduce yourself to our audience.
I’m Sanibel, named after the island. I am a writer and a classicist.
What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
It turns out that my day job as a commerce journalist is essentially copywriting-cum-product-promotion, which speaks directly to content creation. Like a lot of writers, I’m cynical about social media but I want to give my book the best chance to succeed so I’m willing to play the game (for a period). I absolutely do not believe authors need to focus on TikTok (part of what I hope people get out of this class is deciding IF it even makes sense), but if you’re going to take a stab at it, then approach it in a smart way. My approach is about efficiency and minimizing the time you waste “making content” so that you can spend more time writing. The learning curve can be weeks/months, so the intention of my class is to pare it down to days.
Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
1. Understand what TikTok rewards and why people use the app
2. Discuss how authors can/should use it
3. How to brainstorm concepts/headlines
4. Gauging success: quit or continue?
Students can expect a views-first approach (though the goal isn’t to become a professional content creator—it’s to get viewers interested in your ideas and writing). I’m most excited to see the content people come up with.
What was your first literary crush?
Keats is the only correct answer
What are you currently reading?
Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety
How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
My material is usually some form of complaint that I hear repeated (or I repeat). Something about relationships or the decline of etiquette or some social phenomena that people are whingeing about. If a few of these complaints converge--and there’s enough material to say something faceted--then it’s a new project.
Where do you find inspiration?
Being pissed off. I write satire so when something is enraging I find a way to skewer it.
What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
This is fiction-specific. One of my MFA professors said that a common rebuttal to criticism in his workshops was: “But this really happened to me!” Just because something occurred doesn’t mean it’s convincing when you put it in writing. Whenever I include something that “actually happened to me” in fiction, I zhuzh it up. Make it *better* than real life — because you can.
What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
Unpopular opinion: Reading craft books is a way to feel like you’re doing something without doing anything. Bobcat by Rebecca Lee is a collection of short stories—and it’ll teach you more than any craft book. Also any of Tobias Wolff's collections. I think reading outside of your comfort zone is the best way to improve your craft.
Bonus question: What’s your teaching vibe?
Dogmatic with a splash of pedantic
Learn more and sign up for Sanibel's upcoming class, Think Like a Content Creator: Social Media for Authors 2-Day Zoom Seminar.
Sanibel Lazar's debut novel, To Have and Have More, will be published by 8th Note Press/Zandoin in April 2025. Her writing appears in NYmag, ELLE, Air Mail, Literary Hub, and more. She earned her MFA from The New School and is currently working on a satire about the New York media scene. You can find Sanibel on TikTok and Instagram.
