I'm writing from my home office desk, looking out to my backyard and the yards beyond. From here, it doesn't look all that different from any other March day: the chickadees are flitting through the still-bare branches and the dastardly red squirrel trying to chew his way into my shed is nibbling on the top of the shed door(really, does painted plywood even taste good?). But all around us, much has changed and continues to change…(More)
Jessica McDiarmid 2020 MFA Writer in Residence
March 15, 2020
Jessica McDiarmid
The University of King’s College MFA in Creative Nonfiction program is delighted to welcome back one of our own as this year’s Writer in Residence.
Jessica McDiarmid(Class of 2016) is the author of Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The book, published in Canada by Doubleday Canada and in the US by Simon & Schuster, was a finalist for the prestigious 2020 RBC Taylor Prize for Nonfiction and is currently a finalist for the 2020 Hubert Evans Nonfiction Prize in the British Columbia and Yukon Book Prizes. The BC prize winner will be announced April 25. More here…
The final assignment is to create a marketing document for your book project, and focuses on publishers’ catalogue copy, platform-building, social media utilization, and other key elements of book marketing.
The first component of this assignment is to create the equivalent of a page from a publisher’s book catalog. This is the marketing material that would be used to sell a book to booksellers and other retailers. The second part of the assignment is to develop a plan for the marketing that you, as author, will undertake for your book including an outline of the steps and tasks you will undertake to create a solid publishing platform. Students may submit this assignment anytime prior to March 16.
Format: Please use 12 pt type, double-spaced, justified left/rag right setting.
File name: Please name your file as follows: YourLastName_Marketing620203
You do not need to do the design/layout of the catalog page, but do need to write the elements that would be included on such a page.
This includes:
Book title and subtitle
Genre
Author name
One line description of book
2-3 paragraphs of sell copy for the book(350 words max)
1 paragraph author bio(100 words max)
Book details: project page count, format(paperback, hard cover), price, subject category(no need to include ISBN or other codes)
Part 2(value 12.5% of final mark):
Develop a plan for the marketing that you, as author, will undertake for your book, including an outline of the steps and tasks you will undertake to create a solid publishing platform. Maximum length: 750 words. Please include references.
Required Text: The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman(University of Chicago Press)
Optional Learning Resources: Sell Your Book: An Author’s Guide to Publicity and Promotion by Suzanne Alyssa Andrew, published by The Writers’ Union of Canada and available as a downloadable PDF for $9.99 at https://www.writersunion.ca/writers-how-to
Letter from Kim (March 18, 2020)
Jessica McDiarmid 2020 MFA Writer in Residence
MFA Newsletters
Final Publishing assignment