J298 – Writing the Nonfiction Book

This is a 4-unit class for students who want to work on a nonfiction book. It is not a class for someone who vaguely thinks it would be nice to write a book someday. It is for the writer who has an original subject, a narrative strategy for making it appeal to the general reader, and the self-discipline to put that subject on paper. The class will have guest speakers and assigned reading, but the bulk of the work will be workshopping several drafts of your book proposal, and of a magazine-length piece based on your material.

If you are applying for this class, do NOT merely show up the first day; you will not be admitted. You need my permission in advance. To get that, send me at adamhochschild@earthlink.net , before Thanksgiving, a sample of your writing and a short (500 to 1,000 words) description of a book idea that you believe will appeal to a commercial publisher. If I agree with you on that score, I’ll be glad to have you in the class. If your idea is not likely to find a publisher, your time would be better spent taking other courses.

So far, two books have been published by people who’ve taken this course in the past few years, and three more are under contract.