Do you think there is any added value to taking a writing workshop with a teacher who has found financial success with their own work? I'm planning to take another workshop this summer, and one of my options is to study with a teacher who sold her first novel for $200,000 (granted, this was a decade ago, when the publishing climate was more favorable, but still quite impressive).
There are other good reasons for taking the class with this instructor, but I'm debating between two equally good classes. Would you consider this a selling feature of taking the class with this teacher, though? Or do you think it would have minimum impact on what you get out of the class? Best-case scenario I'd imagine she might be able to give advice/feedback about how to write a novel that appeals to a popular audience, or how to find a good agent in New York (and perhaps offer connections!). She might be able to talk about her experiences with that book, and its follow-ups. And also it might be refreshing... the last teacher I studied with was very discouraging to his students about the realities of publishing. Always telling people they'd be lucky to make two or three thousand on a novel. And basically degrading anyone who wanted to reach a popular audience instead of aspiring to write high literary stuff that most people are "too dumb to read".
But I don't know if it's fair to put this much expectation on the teacher who had the amazing book deal. I certainly wouldn't want to approach the class like a silly fan, or neurotically asking questions about how to sell my own book for that much... If you took this class, how would you find the balance between gaining publishing advice from a teacher who'd had financial success, without inundating them with silly/greedy/creepy questions?
There are other good reasons for taking the class with this instructor, but I'm debating between two equally good classes. Would you consider this a selling feature of taking the class with this teacher, though? Or do you think it would have minimum impact on what you get out of the class? Best-case scenario I'd imagine she might be able to give advice/feedback about how to write a novel that appeals to a popular audience, or how to find a good agent in New York (and perhaps offer connections!). She might be able to talk about her experiences with that book, and its follow-ups. And also it might be refreshing... the last teacher I studied with was very discouraging to his students about the realities of publishing. Always telling people they'd be lucky to make two or three thousand on a novel. And basically degrading anyone who wanted to reach a popular audience instead of aspiring to write high literary stuff that most people are "too dumb to read".
But I don't know if it's fair to put this much expectation on the teacher who had the amazing book deal. I certainly wouldn't want to approach the class like a silly fan, or neurotically asking questions about how to sell my own book for that much... If you took this class, how would you find the balance between gaining publishing advice from a teacher who'd had financial success, without inundating them with silly/greedy/creepy questions?
