From Writer to Author: Creating a Roadmap to Publication with David Groff (via Zoom)

This interactive class, led by a longtime independent book editor and writer in the publishing world, helps you get the navigational tools you need to chart a path from being a writer who publishes individual stories, poems, articles, and essays to becoming the author of a published book. We’ll collaboratively explore the vast changes occurring in the publishing business and how, as a proactive writer with a sense of your own mission and identity, you can make those changes work for you; how to answer the five questions every agent, editor, and publisher will ask about your book; how to query an agent compellingly; how being a literary communitarian can benefit your book, your career, and the culture; and how you can captain your own journey to getting your words between covers and into the hands of readers.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom (Saturday, October 26, 12:30-4:30 PM ET) and will be capped at 15 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to the email address they use to register. It will arrive immediately after registration so please check your spam folder if you do not receive it. It will also be sent the day before class as a reminder. Please review the course policies page before registering for any classes. Please email misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

All HVWC scholarship applications will be available on May 1 and will be due on May 15 for all summer/fall 2024 classes. 

David Groff’s most recent book, Live in Suspense, was published by Trio House Press. His previous book Clay, also from Trio House, was chosen by Michael Waters for the Louise Bogan Award. His first collection, Theory of Devolution, was selected by Mark Doty for the National Poetry Series. He is the coeditor with Philip Clark of Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS (Alyson) and, with Jim Elledge, Who’s Yer Daddy?: Gay Writers Celebrate Their Mentors and Forerunners (University of Wisconsin Press), winner of a Lambda Literary Award. He is a cofounder and board member of The Publishing Triangle, the association of LGBTQ+ people in book publishing, and a board member of Nightboat Books. An independent book editor, he teaches poetry and publishing in the MFA creative writing program at the City College of New York. www.davidgroff.com