"How to Write Nonfiction for Publication: A Guide for Young Students." The theme is that young students may be able to get their nonfiction work published if they are hard working, intelligent, talented, imaginative, ambitious, career-oriented, patient, persistent, and can handle rejection with a smile. Genius is not required. The program introduces students to the world of publishing. Among the subjects discussed are: how young writers can find markets for their nonfiction work in any field, how they can conduct the research they need to gather the information for their work, how they can structure their work for particular markets, how they should communicate with editors, how they should present their work, and how they can overcome the problems of ageism (discrimination based on youth) in having their work accepted for publication.
The presentation can be in lecture form. A workshop would offer
the greatest benefits to students. The workshop would involve my working
with students in two or three sessions over a period of several weeks.
Students will be encouraged to either develop the work (most likely an
article) they are currently doing in their classes or create projects
that interest them outside of the classroom. Students enrolling in the
workshop must agree to send off the work to a publication by the time of
the final session. At the minimum, students will learn the process of
presenting work for a publication. At the maximum, students will see
their work in print and begin to discover career opportunities open to
them.
By way of background, my publications include more than 35 books
and 75 articles. In addition to the young-adult books listed above, the
books are college and el-hi texts in political science, a Navy officer's
memoir, and an advocacy book on a political issue. My articles have
appeared in newspapers, popular magazines, academic journals, an
encyclopaedia, and reference books. I taught political science at the
University of Southwestern Louisiana for 20 years and retired as a full
professor to pursue my writing interests. In my teaching career,
students in my classes had articles (often their term papers) published
in newspapers, academic journals, and books. If they could succeed in
getting their work published, then so, too, can others who are ever so
slightly younger.
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