Publishing Your Short Stories

Loyal newsletter readers already know that I routinely offer a course for short story writers seeking to publish their fiction here in Cambridge. For a time I was also offering that course online. And I'm happy to announce the resurrection (and even an expansion) of that online version for those of you who can't get to Cambridge for the "live" course, starting in January. Here are all the details. Please spread the word!

Publishing Your Short Stories: Online Course
BEGINS: January 15, 2007

This course will teach you how to find homes for your short stories in literary magazines, journals, and reviews. You'll discover where to locate these publications, how to study them, and how to prepare your manuscripts so that they make excellent "first impressions" on the editors whose desks (and screens) they cross. If you're looking ahead to publishing a book-length collection, you'll also find out about publishing options with agents, independent publishers, contests, and self-publishing or Print on Demand (POD). Finally, you'll receive individualized advice tailored to your specific short fiction.

How it works: All correspondence is conducted via e-mail. Lessons, which include both instructor "lectures" and coursework assignments that each writer completes individually and submits to the group and instructor for review/comments, are sent weekly, on Monday mornings (U.S. Eastern time). Your coursework is due back by Sunday evening; Erika responds to each coursework post within 24-72 hours.

You are then provided an additional 2 weeks of unlimited individual online support, to make additional use of the resources/lessons presented in the modules and ask questions. During this time the instructor will review one of your stories (5000 words/20 pages, maximum) and provide specific market suggestions/advice for you. (Note: This is not a critique; critiques are available as a separate service.)

Here's some of what you'll learn:

Week 1: Finding the Markets: Print and online possibilities--Where to look: resources--What to look for: research tips--Where you are: your goals.

Week 2: The Mechanics of Manuscript Submission: The guidance of guidelines--Cover letters--The editorial calendar.

Week 3: Contests: Essential information about contests--Where to find contests--The issue of contest fees.

Week 4: Looking Ahead: Publishing Book-length Collections: Agents--Book contests--Small and independent publishers--Self-publishing and Publishing-on-Demand (POD).

Weeks 5-6: Follow-up/Personal Projects:Continued discussion of lesson material--Individual story placement analysis.

Course fee: $149, nonrefundable, payable by check in U.S. funds (mail to Erika Dreifus, PO Box 382447, Cambridge, MA 02238) or via Paypal.

Please contact Erika directly when you mail your check (so she knows to consider you "registered"; she will also need your e-mail address to activate your participation in the online instruction group). If you are paying via Paypal, you will also need to contact Erika the for payment address.

In order to assure each participant individual attention within the group structure, this course is limited to eight participants. Please register early!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Freelancer and fiction writer Erika Dreifus has published nearly 20 short stories since 2002. Her fiction has appeared in many print and online publications, including Bellevue Literary Review, Lilith, MississippiReview.com, Small Spiral Notebook, Solander: The Magazine of the Historical Novel Society, and The Pedestal Magazine. In 2003 Erika's short story, "Homecomings," won the David Dornstein Memorial Creative Writing Contest; her stories have also received honors/mentions from The Improper Bostonian, Main Street Rag, Moment magazine, and the NLAPW-Nob Hill Soul-Making Contest. Erika is currently shopping a short story collection, Reparation. An interdisciplinary advisor for the Lesley University low-residency MFA program, Erika frequently leads writing and publishing workshops in the Boston area and provides advice on the craft and business of writing to the hundreds of writers worldwide who subscribe to her free monthly newsletter, The Practicing Writer.