calling editors and teachers and writers...
So against what might be my better judgment, I'm teaching the weeklong class for 12-16 year olds in "getting published" again this year. I have doubled or possibly tripled the amount of activities I have planned and I think it will go a lot better than last year. The idea is that we learn to "think like editor/publishers" and go over all the parts of getting published except the far and away most important one (improving your writing, which they do in all their other classes).
We're going to practice being an editorial board, actually send out pitch letters and submissions, self-publish a zine, work on good reading-aloud skills as part of self-promotion...
On my list of topics (and St. Rose's when they proposed the class) is the scintillating "preparing your writing," as in getting the editor's name right, proofreading, following directions about format, etc. The editor/pragmatist in me says it's not fair to talk about trying to get published without mentioning these things, because so many people manage not to get them right, and when an editor is buried in submissions, it matters, perhaps more than it should. (Sometimes I think the only reason I have any poems published is because when I send anything out, I tend to focus on sending things that are actually relevant to topical calls for submissions. Anyhow.)
But another part of me says if I can't come up with an interesting activity or three to make those points to skip them, because this is a fun summer program, not boot camp for slacker adults.
So what do you think? My early brainstorm is below, but these are pretty lame and/or short, and the last one is also lot of work to make a small point.
o Call them all by wrong names over and over. How annoying is that? Would you want to publish someone who got your name wrong?
o The importance of punctuation exercise. ("Woman without her man is nothing.")
o Memory game: cover letters, the poems they go with. Some mention name of poem, some poems have author's name, some don't. How fast can you pair them up again?
Can anyone come up with better ideas? I'd be looking to spend a half-hour at most on this. Or should I just make a handout and move on?