Class Description
Are you hoping to write a book about science, psychology, medicine, culture, technology, parenting, or politics? You're in luck: there's a booming market for this kind of nonfiction! Writing a "book of ideas," however, requires a very different approach than writing fiction, history, or memoirs. In this state-of-the-art seminar, you'll learn everything you need to know in order to convert your idea into a commercial proposal that you can market to an agent or publisher from someone who has sold more than one and a half million dollars' worth of such proposals. We'll pay special attention to the single most important factor in selling nonfiction: the framing. You'll learn about what editors are looking for, what readers are looking for, how to find the best agent for your project, how to craft a winning proposal, how the nonfiction industry has changed in the past few years, and how to come up with the most effective framing for your book. It is highly recommended you take this seminar before jumping into a class on writing techniques since this will help you understand which writing techniques to focus on for your particular project.
We'll analyze successful and failed books of ideas published in the past few years (especially science books), giving special attention to the different styles of Malcolm Gladwell (author of Outliers, Tipping Point, and David and Goliath) and Steven Pinker (author of Blank Slate, Better Angels of Our Nature, and The Sense of Style). Though the main focus will be on securing a deal for your book with a major publisher, we'll also discuss how ebooks are changing the industry and opening new opportunities for self-publishing, and we will discuss how to approach smaller publishers who don't require an agent. The class will consist of lecture, fun slides, and highly interactive discussion with plenty of opportunities to ask questions during and after class. By the end of this fast-moving seminar you'll have a clear sense of what you need to do to sell and get started on your book of ideas--and, just as importantly, what you should not do!
Part of GrubStreet's Starter Courses, classes designed to introduce writers to new genres, topics, and writing practices. To explore more class offerings, click here.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.