A Writer's Craft Community discussion

Watch out for vanity publishers that prey on inexperienced writers. One company that seems to be contacting college students in each US state and offering publication in an anthology is Z Publishing. In a recent discussion in the Creative Writing Pedagogy Facebook group, instructors noted that many of their students had been contacted and offered publication, though there wasn't much attention paid to the quality of their writing. Students were naturally flattered, but this may be a ploy to sell books to the writers and their friends and family. The publisher does not appear to pay and does not appear to provide contributor's copies. Writers are urged to make money by joining the affiliate program of the press, presumably earning a small amount for each copy sold by the writer.

To learn more about potential publishing scams or shady practices, check out Writer Beware. Always research a publisher before committing to them, and if something seems too good to be true, it just might be.

I've been gearing up for AWP 2018 in a little over a month. One thing I've lined up is to have 10 copies of A Writer's Craft to give away at the Mississippi University for Women book fair table, T1411. I will also have flyers, so you can order a copy if you don't want to carry it home from the conference. Watch here for more info on how to get yours!

It was great to talk to so many people at #AWP18 in Tampa this weekend. I passed out a lot of flyers, and a few received sample copies, too. If you didn't, then your luggage is a little lighter and you can always request a copy for your class on the book's website: www.macmillanihe.com/writerscraft

I see we already have a couple of new members, and I hope more will join soon. I welcome you to add to the discussions, whether or not you choose to teach with A Writer's Craft!

I noticed today that A Writer's Craft made the list at Poets & Writers as one of the Best Books for Writers. Here's how their review begins: "Either as an introduction or as a refresher, A Writer’s Craft serves as a straightforward guide to the broad world of creative writing."

I'll be at #AWP19 in Portland, OR, this week. Stop by T12107 in the book fair if you're there, too. I'd love to meet someone me of the people using the book or talk to anyone who's interested in teaching the multi-genre intro to creative writing course.

It was great to meet people at #AWP19 in Portland, Oregon! I enjoyed talking to people who use the book or are interested in it. When I got home, I asked my publisher if they could tell me where it's being used, and they sent me a spreadsheet with 205 universities that have ordered it in the US, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. Wow!

I've started a series on my blog about How A Writer's Craft Can Be a (more) Anti-Racist Textbook. in response to The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How To Decolonize the Creative Classroom by Felicia Rose Chavez and Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses. I hope you'll read along with me in the books and on my blog.

Last year, an instructor contacted me with an issue that their college's book distributor listed A Writers' Craft as unavailable. This was a complication of the purchase of Red Globe Press by Bloomsbury. We were able to quickly work this out. I contacted the distributor and sent them the correct ordering information, and I contacted my publisher to make sure they worked with the distributor to correct that mis-information. A Writer's Craft is very much in print, so please reach out to me if you have any issues purchasing copies, especially for your classes! I'll be happy to help.