Parisian Phoenix Publishing

The other day— it was Gayle’s birthday and a big one at that— I met Parisian Phoenix Art Director Gayle Hendricks for breakfast, primarily so we could walk through my syllabus for PUBL102 at Northampton Community College this winter. (You can still register!)

PUBL102 is their self-publishing course, the second half of their former publishing certificate program. The first course I taught this fall: Pathways to Publication for the Aspiring Author.

Personally, I think the names lack consistency. Based on the content for both, I would have called the first half something like “Traditional Publishing Your Novel” and then the second half being called self-publishing makes sense.

If PUBL101 wants to match content with the name Pathways to Publication, I would spend less time on discussing pitching novels and move into how to get small pieces published and how to move into larger markets.

This got me thinking. I have heard from students in four-year degree programs that the curriculum for creative writing is all about art and craft, but no one teaches them about business. Is that because academic writers don’t fully understand the business?

So this short block of two courses at least addresses the business of writing, putting Northampton Community College on the cutting edge. But is it enough? Me being me, and the type of nerd I am, I listed what I thought would be the quintessential courses in business education for writers— focused not on the quality of the writing, but for the publication end.

What would I teach? Eight classes.

1. Pathways to Publication for the Aspiring Author, but focus on pitching small and regional and working to larger markets. — text: The Intuitive Author by Tiffany Yates Martin
2. Pitching & Pursuing Non-Fiction
3. Pitching a Novel in the Traditional Publishing Market
4. Intro to Editing/Self-Editng (Preparation for Publication) —text: The Intuitive Editor by Tiffany Yates Martin
5. Introduction to Print Publishing (Fundamentals of a Book) — text: People’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Biel
6. Self-Publishing — text: whatever latest editions from Joanna Penn and David Gaughran
7. Author Branding
8. The Business of Being a Writer — text: Jane Friedman’s book of the same name