Upper Arlington Public Library

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Polish and Publish

with Thurber House instructor, Jen Knox

In this workshop, discuss the keys to knowing when your work is ready to send out and how to know who to send it to. The process of polishing and publication can be fun! Let's do this!

“Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.” ― Paulo Coelho
This class is about the nuts and bolts of publishing. We'll begin by better understanding when a piece is ready for prime time. We'll discuss key questions to ask yourself before sending it out into the world. Participants will learn to understand the ins and outs of submitting, how to tell if a journal is a good fit, and how to set goals for publication that encourage rather than discourage. To conclude, we'll create simple cover letters and discuss strategies for acceptance and rejection alike.  The process of polishing and publication can be fun! Let's do this!

This workshop will be broken down into the following steps:
Polish! How to know your work is ready.
Research publication opportunities and select 2-3 places to send your work.
Set goals for your publication and read the journals you plan to submit to.
Create your cover letter and modify it for each publication opportunity.
Bravely send your words out into the world (to agents and editors alike). I'm cheering you on.

Instructor, Jen Knox is the Founder of Unleash Creatives and an educator at Ohio State University. Her books include We Arrive Uninvited (Steel Toe Books Award Winner) and The Glass City (Press Americana Prose Winner). She received a grant from the Ohio Arts Council to work on a collection of essays tentatively titled About the Work. Jen's latest novel, Chaos Magic, was released by Kallisto Gaia Press in February 2025, and she blogs about writing and mindfulness at Here We Are.

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