Matt Foster
Published: September 14, 2005
Michael Garret, a respected author and Stephen King’s first editor, visited the Pensacola Campus recently to teach some creative writing classes.
All of the courses were designed to compliment one another.
In one of his classes, “How to Become a Published Author,” Garret shared what he considered to be one basic secret to getting published:
“If you write what publishers want, they’re going to buy it,” Garret said. “I’m trying to teach writers to do what publishers expect.”
Hiring literary agents, finding a publisher, researching bookstores, and learning how to submit a manuscript were also touched on.
“Don’t try to emulate huge successful writers,” Garret urged. “Is this a hobby or a profession? It takes years, you have to be serious about it.”
“The need for education never ends, no matter what field you’re in.”
This need for learning was passed on to Garret’s classes as well.
“I thought he was pretty cool,” said Christina Encarnanion, a student at Washington High School. “It was really helpful. I wanted to start writing immediately, as soon as I left his class.”
Since 1986, Garrett has presented highly acclaimed fiction and screenwriting workshops at major colleges and universities nationwide. He has also been a featured speaker at numerous writers’ conferences and currently serves on the advisory board of Kentucky’s Green River Writers.
In Stephen King’s nonfiction book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” Garrett served as King’s first editor. Since 1979 Garret has been published in periodicals ranging from Twilight Zone magazine to his own first novel, “Keeper.”
His short story, “At the Count of Three,” was also optioned as the pilot episode of a late night network television series.
Garret serves as co-editor of the internationally award-winning “Hot Blood” anthology series, a popular selection of the Doubleday, Mystery, Literary Guild, and Science Fiction Book Clubs, and he is an editorial associate of the Writer’s Digest School.