Erika Dreifus

This isn’t necessarily a writing-related post, but hey, this is my blog and if I want to go off-course once in a blue moon, I can!

I want to announce/refer you to a new addition to the blogosphere: MyMomShops. The blogger, my very favorite “New York City mom of two (and fanatic online shopper),” happens to be my very own sister.

The new blog aims to find “cute and clever stuff for moms and tots,” and the blogger is always looking for bargains, too. So if the topic appeals to you, please visit. (The writing’s not half-bad, either! Maybe it runs in the family!)

Last call for our online course, Publishing Your Short Stories, which begins on Monday. If you’ve been thinking about joining, please get in touch with me asap.

And if you’ve been thinking you might wait until the class is offered “live” here in Cambridge in March, or until the next online offering, well, I have some other news to share: I’M MOVING TO NEW YORK.

That’s right. I’ve accepted a full-time office (writing) job. A month from now, that’s what I’ll be doing each day.

And when I’m not at the office, I’ll be pretty zealously guarding my (private) writing time.

What does this mean for all of you?

1) I WILL NOT be offering the “live” publishing class in Cambridge, and I have no foreseeable plans to offer the online version again, so, as they say, carpe diem if you want to take advantage of the opportunity!

2) I WILL NOT be updating any more e-books for the foreseeable future, either, so the last three updates (which were made within the past few days) will be the final ones for awhile. (So if you were waiting for a newer version of one of the guides, this is as new as it’s going to get for awhile.)

3) I WILL NOT be taking on new clients for consultations/coaching for the time being.

4) I WILL (of course) continue to work 100% with all my current students in the online short story publishing and MFA book reviewing classes. And, of course, I’m honoring all my freelance contracts/commitments (some extending as far as June deadlines).

5) I WILL continue to publish our beloved newsletter. (I’m going to be researching much of the material for my own needs, anyway.)

6) I WILL continue to post here at Practicing Writing. Just not quite so often. (And unfortunately that’s effective immediately: I’m going to be away the next couple of days apartment-hunting.)

So that’s my big news. I’m very excited about it, and I hope you’re all happy for me, too!

A writer’s voice is supposed to be strong, independent and unique, and healthy debate on a blog never hurts. But when more publishers, editors and agents are scouring blogs, always remain professional. You don’t want to burn anyone who helps get you a paycheck.

So concludes Sarah Weinman in her Writer’s Digest article, “Blogged and Burned.”

This makes sense, of course. But it’s not always so easy to follow. As Weinman suggests in her article, sometimes even well-intentioned comments aren’t read as such online. I try to be professional in all my posts–at this blog and at others’–and still, I, too, have been “burned.” Sometimes it seems to me that such treatment is the price one pays not for being “unprofessional,” but for expressing an opinion (even if it’s an opinion backed by fact), and/or pointing out serious problems with other people’s posts.

For example, I haven’t always been able to restrain myself from posting when I see someone being bullied online, or when I see another writer saying something I know to be inaccurate. This blog’s readers know I’ve posted here about problems I’ve seen on one writers’ organization blog, too. And sometimes, no matter how carefully we construct our posts, or how much they’re supported by fact/evidence, they aren’t received as we’ve intended them to be.

My mother, who does not have an active online life (and seems perfectly happy without one), and who not infrequently tells my sister and me we should stay away from blogs (and discussion boards), has a few major mottos she’s impressed on us. One of them is: “Be Nice.” If only the writing life–and life on all the blogs/boards I visit–were that simple.

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.

I’ll be taking a brief blog break for the Thanksgiving holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to all the American practicing writers out there, and see you all back here in a few days.