March 21: Spalding’s Business of Writing Seminars
- elichvar
- Jan 20
- 5 min read
Students, faculty, and alums welcome!
The spring 2026 edition of Spalding’s virtual Business of Writing Seminars takes place 11:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. EDT Saturday, March 21, for students, faculty, and alumni of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. Three virtual sessions offer extracurricular instruction in the world of publishing, submitting to literary journals, and ways to earn income with your writing. You can attend one or more of these sessions depending on your interests. There will be time for Q&A at the end of each session.
The seminars are free to School of Writing students and faculty. The sessions are recorded and the recordings are available on Canvas for students after the event.
Alums register by making a donation in any amount at www.spalding.edu/mfa-payments. (On the donation page, use the email address where you want the Zoom links sent.) The registration deadline for alumni is Friday, March 20. Your donation helps make possible these educational events for our community. Recordings are available to registered alums for 30 days after the event.
Saturday, March 21, 2026
What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been:
Entertainment Journalism, Criticism + the NY TIMES Nonfiction Best Seller List
with Holly Gleason (’15)
11:00 a.m. – noon EDT / 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. CDT / 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. MDT / 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. PDT
Holly Gleason—award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and Spalding MFA alum—shares insights from her decades-long career in entertainment journalism and criticism. In this talk, Gleason shares lessons she has learned that will serve writers no matter what type of work they do. She provides a look behind the dazzle into the realities and rigors of being a working writer in the world of entertainment. And she discusses why Spalding matters no matter where you are in the journey. There will be time at the end for questions.
Ways to Generate Income with Your Writing: Traditional and Unconventional
with Andrew Najberg (’10), Dave DeGolyer (’06), and Nicole Moore (’19)
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EDT / 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT / 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. MDT / 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PDT
As Lafayette Wattles, Dave DeGolyer (2006, W4C + Poetry) has published 150+ poems and received a Ucross Fellowship as well as multiple poetry grants. In his role as Director of Communications for tourism in upstate New York, Dave helped create The Days of Incandescence, named one of the “Best October Events in New York State” (TravelPulse) and one of the “Best Halloween Events in the U.S.” (Time Out). Taking his experience from the skills he learned at Spalding, Dave wrote a story that turned into a community-defining "spectacle." This unexpected experience opened many avenues and vastly expanded his network, creating opportunities for further creative innovation. .
For over a decade, Nicole Moore has been an entertainment reporter, specializing in breaking celebrity news, with bylines in Parade, Looper, House Digest, and Heavy.com. She’s also the Chief Content Officer for Woof Republic, an online lifestyle magazine for dog owners. She has interviewed celebrities like Mandy Moore, Rob Lowe, Tan France, and Eva Longoria. She will give an in-depth look at what it’s like to work as a freelance journalist with a creative writing background, how to find paying jobs, and how you can use a graduate degree to your advantage.
Andrew Najberg is the co-editor-in-chief of the horror imprint Aethon: Wicked House and the author of the novels The Mobius Door, Gollitok, Extinction Dream, The Neverborn Thief, and Eat the Light as well as the short fiction collection In Those Fading Stars and the poetry books Fighting Fermi and The Goats Have Taken Over the Barracks. He also works as a contracted editor for multiple presses and teaches full time for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Andrew will discuss his journey from graduating with an MFA to running a publishing company, focusing on the actionable and repeatable elements that formed key pivot points in the process while also underscoring the unique events along the way.
Submitting Work for Publication to Literary Journals or Magazines
Daniel DiStasio (’05), Kelly Hill (’13), Mervyn Seivwright (’19), and Whitney Collins (’17)
2:00 – 3:15 p.m. EDT / 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. CDT / noon – 1:15 p.m. MDT / 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. PDT
Whitney Collins, author of Ricky & Other Love Stories (The Story Prize longlist) and Big Bad (Mary McCarthy Prize, Gold IPPY, Bronze INDIES) is the recipient of a Best American Short Stories “Distinguished Story,” a Pushcart Prize, and the American Short(er) Fiction Prize. Her work has appeared in AGNI, American Short Fiction, swamp pink, and Idaho Review. Whitney finds submitting to literary magazines one of her favorite parts of being a writer. She will discuss prepping your manuscript and cover letter and tips for upping your chances of publication.
Daniel DiStasio’s work has appeared in 45th Parallel, Flash Fiction Online, Bodega, The Louisville Review, Summerset Review, Reed, Stone Canoe, The McGuffin, and more than twenty other publications. He has worked with publishers at Yale Writers Workshop, Vermont College of Fine Arts, and Key West Literary seminar. His growing list of rejections has not deterred him from crying, over-imbibing, and blaming the world for their lack of recognition. Dan has been submitting for more than two decades and will discuss how to find publications that are a fit for you, among other topics.
Kelly Hill holds an MFA in Fiction from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing and a PhD in Humanities from the University of Louisville. Her historical novel A Home for Friendless Women was published by Vintage / Penguin Random House in 2024; her short story collection Just Don't Ask Us What We Do All Day will follow from the publisher in April 2027. Kelly will discuss how she found journals to publish the stories in her upcoming short story collection, how she kept track of submissions, how she selectively applied to contests, and how to stay positive even when rejected.
Mervyn Seivwright writes to balance social consciousness and poetry craft for humane growth. He is Jamaican, born in England. His work has appeared in AGNI, African American Review, Salamander Magazine, Poetry. Online, and eighty-five other journals across thirteen countries. He is the 2024 Marvin E. Williams Literary Prize winner and a 2021/2023 Pushcart nominee. His collection is Stick, Hook, and a Pile of Yarn, published by Broken Sleep Books. Mervyn submits 200 to 300 times a year, and he’ll share his approach to research and upkeep of the submission process. He has tip sheets and more to share.
Save the date: Saturday, September 19.
The fall Business of Writing Seminars will feature a session with Jane Friedman: “Should You Hybrid Publish or Self-Publish?”