I did come away from the panel with a few key takeaways that I think are valuable for all aspiring writers, no matter what path you want to pursue.
Hopefully the diversity of our experiences benefitted the audience. Maria, my fellow author on the panel, had self-published her work but was eventually picked up by a traditional publisher, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. I stuck out a little bit like a sore thumb as the one representative of nontraditional digital publishing. They’ve also all been incredibly successful in their careers, and it was as much a learning experience for me as it was for the audience. Every single one of these women are Northwestern alumni, which is pretty dang cool. I was joined by Marysue Rucci, editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster bestselling author Maria Murnane editor Whitney Frick with Flatiron Books literary agent Renee Zuckerbrot and our moderator, author and editor Christina Bryza.
The panel – called “How to Publish Your Book” – took place this past Monday in front of a full crowd. The day The Guardian compared Paladin to Game of Thrones was a highlight of my writing career, but to be clear, I’m well-aware I’m no George R.R. So imagine my surprise when Northwestern University’s Medill Club of New York – that’s the alumni club for Northwestern’s top-ranked school of journalism – invited me to speak on a panel about publishing. There are a lot of famous writers who went to my alma mater. Instead, I went to NU, where Professor Breslin told me in no uncertain terms that my future happiness would be determined by my freedom to write. If I’d gone to NYU Tisch, or some other musical theater conservatory program like I’d wanted, maybe you’d see me singing on Broadway or in the movies–or more likely, waiting tables. I didn’t even know I wanted to be one.īut Northwestern is what set me on the path to becoming a writer. I say “once upon a time” because it’s been nearly six years since I stepped through the Arch into Northwestern University for the very last time.
0 kommentar(er)
