A Bit About Your Instructor

Before we start, I thought it would be helpful to share more about me and my background as a writer, author, and teacher.

Like many aspiring authors, I have been honing my writing craft since a young age. I wrote my very first novel on the family desktop PC, back when a computer was still in the "computer room" and not a device that could go with you anywhere.

I earned a BA in Classics* and an MA in Education from the University of Colorado, specializing in curriculum design and differentiation for learning styles. After undergrad, I launched my freelance journalism career, writing for numerous magazines, online periodicals, and institutions for over 15 years. Full-time, I was an English teacher helping adolescents hone their own love for reading and writing. On my classroom wall, I had stenciled the opening lines of the first true lesson of your course: write the book you want to read.

After leaving the classroom, I finally pursued the career I had always wanted: becoming a full-time writer. I launched The Writer on the Water, where you can find weekly posts that complement this course, among other musings. I completed my novel, The Last Empress, and entered the querying trenches. And, as I began to consider self-publishing seriously rather than continue the agony of querying, I also started The Odyssey of a Novel podcast, where I chat with independent authors about the journey, the work, and the learnings that led to their published book. Inspired by their incredible stories, I committed to self-publishing and, on the eve of purchasing my ISBNs and ordering my proof copy of my book, I was offered a publishing deal.

For reasons I will get into later in the course, I chose to still publish independently. However, through this journey, my lengthy background in writing and teaching, and the connections I have gained in publishing and editing, I have also compiled an incredible amount of knowledge on the process of publishing a book.

Here, I share that with you. With luck, you will be offered a publishing deal as well, and you will have the choice to take it or to become an Independent Writer.

Enjoy!

Other FREE Resources for This Course

• Follow The Writer on the Water on Substack for free monthly posts with more insight into writing and being an author.
  • If you want to get all the posts, Paid subscribers get access to 2+ posts a week, and students of this course can use this exclusive link for 3 months of paid posts for free!
• Subscribe to The Odyssey of a Novel podcast wherever you listen to podcasts for interviews with published indie authors on their best advice for publishing your novel.
• Follow me on Instagram @emilyelizabethwriter where I will share success stories of other students from the course!

*You might be wondering, like most, what is that? Classics is Ancient Roman and Greek History. For my part, I was an Ancient Roman specialist and took four years of advanced Latin as well as courses in literature, art, history, and architecture. What does one do with this degree? Well, teach of course (I did). And write Roman-inspired stories (I also did).

Before we start, I hope you enjoy this funny and inspiring speech from Frederik Backman on writing a book.