By the time you show up for this class, the description you read here will be obsolete. That is how fast the world of publishing is changing. In the ancient past of, say, five years ago, being a published author or designer generally meant going through a rigorous application and vetting process. Editors stood guard between authors and readers, and what came out in print often barely resembled what the creator had submitted to the publisher. Today, publishing is more like the California Gold Rush—anyone is empowered to spread their own work, and almost anything goes.
We will take a look at media opportunities, from traditional print to blogs and tweets to YouTube and whatever else has sprung up in the last few months. We will talk about decision trees, skill sets, financial opportunities and costs, potential, and ethics. In other words, we will talk about what it means to be a content creator in the craft world today.
This session will be part lecture and part lab. All you need is your brain and the germ of an idea—something you’d like to publish, somehow, sometime.
Linda Ligon started Interweave Press on her dining room table in Loveland, Colorado, in 1975 when her third child was born. Her publishing company grew from a small regional magazine to six craft magazines and more than 150 books in print, and from that homebased sole proprietorship to a corporation with more than 75 employees by the time she sold it to Aspire Media in 2005. She has also launched and divested magazines in the realms of herb gardening and cooking, alternative medicine, and sustainable home design. Linda has remained at Interweave as Creative Director and member of the Board of Directors. She keeps (and uses) a spinning wheel in her office to remember what this business is all about.