Marianne Rule

Rule’s innovative teaching idea, “Forging the E-book Frontier,” will provide fiction and poetry students with hands-on experience in the independent (indie) publishing industry. More authors are circumventing the traditional publishing process and are successfully taking on the roles of writer, editor, publisher, and marketing director. This project will allow students to discover writing as a process, draft poems and short stories, self-publish a book of their work, implement a publicity campaign, and network with writers and the local community. Students will use online resources to make a print book and an e-book for use with tablets that will be available for sale online. The program will also teach students about the difference between traditional and indie publishing through effective Internet research and a visit from influential blogger and author, Nathan Bransford, a former literary agent with both traditional and indie publishing experience.