Update: Writing, Publishing, and Life

ENGL 318 Fiction Writing Course 

Last year I was contracted to write a brand-new "Fiction Writing" course for BYU's Independent Study Program. This is a college-level course (300-level) available online to anyone who wants to learn more about and practice the art of fiction. I worked on it from October 2025 to April 2026 and had a lot of fun—there are so many prompts, anecdotes, suggested readings, writing assignments, etc. that I think are invaluable to beginning writers. As soon as the course goes live (it's in the review process) I'll probably put a link. It's a great way to get writing and get feedback from a fellow writer (me!) 

Eventually, I'd like to be able to set up my own course outside of BYU's Independent Study, or turn a lot of the course material I wrote into a book...but for now this is a great platform to practice on. 

ENGL 389 American Romanticism Course

From July 2025 until October 2025 (before I wrote ENGL 318), I was first contracted to edit/rewrite a course that I already taught through Independent Study—American Romanticism. I love teaching this class and reworking some of the material was a good opportunity to dig back into a lot of the writers I really admire from the 19th century. Louisa May Alcott always inspires me, particularly when it comes to blending her faith with her writing, and how she incorporated the best of transcendentalism into family living. This one is also available through Independent Study and can be found here. 

ENGL 218 Intro to Creative Writing Course

January 2026 I once again taught "Intro to Creative Writing" in-person. This course covers poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. I had a lot more nonfiction writers in my class this year, which was good practice for me. I love going back to basics, especially in poetry. It reminds me to slow down in my fiction, to remember the beauty of the word, the phrase, the line, the paragraph. With other projects I have going on, I don't know when I'll teach this course again. Most likely Winter 2027.  

Plain and Precious Publishing

In January 2026, I began working as an editor with Plain and Precious Publishing, a new small press that functions out of Provo/Orem Utah with a focus on religious literature and lay scholarship. I've long enjoyed listening to the associated YouTube channel (over at The Stick of Joseph) and have been watching with increasing curiosity as they gradually expanded into publishing. In a time where mainstream publishers are losing their audience and expecting their authors to develop the audience, Plain and Precious Publishing is doing something interesting by starting with the audience (via their YouTube and other social content) and then publishing books that appeal to those same audiences. I've edited two books for them so far—one that has already come out and one in the next few months. 

There's another project we have in the works, but I can't say more, so stay tuned! You can find updates at both thestickofjoseph.com and plainandpreciouspublishing.com. 

Substack and Audience-Building

The great curse of being a writer (of any era, really) is that you don't just exist in solitude. You have to find people to read your work. Which includes this thing called "building your audience." 

Sounds gross. Sounds like an Instagram influencer. Sounds like I'm selling myself. 

But that's the hard reality of wanting to share your writing—you have to find the people who want to read your writing. You cannot just sit there and hope that it finds its people simply by existing. And so you have to learn how to make yourself searchable, and make yourself apparent to the world. If you want any chance at doing good for the individual, you have to wade into the masses and hawk your wares, hoping to catch the ear of someone who wants to engage with what you have to say. 

In order to accomplish this, I've spent the last year researching and practicing the whole networking-marketing-audience stuff. The first platform I jumped into was Substack, a blog/newsletter website where you can post regular articles and notes and engage with other people. TBH, I loved Substack from the minute I got there, mostly because of the conviction I felt from so many people. There's also so much discussion around faith, beauty, truth, civilization, etc., and it heartens me to see those conversations happening. You can find my page over at tannerjwrites.substack.com or by searching "Crafting the Good." I haven't been writing there too much either (since I've been writing about writing for the ENGL 318 course, but now that that's done I'll go back to writing on Substack). 

YouTube Videos and a Brand

Right now, I'm trying to find a balance between marketing/publicity and the actual publishing/writing side of things. I may be headed too far in the marketing/publicity direction, but during this trial period I figure it's okay to get in over my head while I'm figuring things out. 

As part of this discovery phase of publishing, I've also been looking into YouTube as a means for marketing. Building a platform with the (transparent) intention to sell written media in the future. I've started a channel but don't have any videos yet—I'm working on a welcome video. I do, however, have a few appearances on another channel: Small and Simple Screens, with Austin Falter. Great guy, he focuses more on how to critically analyze movies/TV/media for kids. You can two of my episodes with him here (talking about the French deconstructionists) and here (talking about Mulan). 

More episodes to come, as well as more content on my own channel! 

The Engineer's Craft and Publication

If you've made it this far (hi Mom!) you are probably wondering what has happened to my fiction writing. Yes, I'm doing a lot of writing about writing and a lot of talking about writing and a lot of teaching about writing. But has my own fiction gotten anywhere? 

Yes and no, but in a good way. Here's what's going on: 

I'm not quite done with The Engineer's Craft. After I finished the most recent major round of revisions, I shared the book with more people. About 60 people have completed various drafts at this point, which is an encouraging sign. Several people have binge-read it, particularly for this recent draft, and a few people have requested to purchase copies so they can re-read it. That's a new milestone for me, especially when the people asking to buy it aren't related to me! 

Taking this feedback, I've entered a smaller, final round of revisions, tweaking small things in character arcs and plot arcs to create a more cohesive, purposeful plot. It feels like a book. Like something that I'd actually pick up at Barnes + Noble...if I still shopped there...which I don't...because I am poor. Sometime in the near future, I will publish the first chapter either here or on Substack so people who don't know my fiction writing can get a taste for my prose. I may also include the original version of the first chapter, just so you can get a sense for how much it has changed. 

When it comes to publication, I feel like every week I'm closer to just publishing the thing myself. Not because I am discouraged about my chances in the publishing industry—I actually had some good news on this front. A publisher recently gave me a personalized rejection, and it sounded like they read the entire novel of The Engineer's Craft. Here's that rejection: 

We found the writing strong and, for lack of a better word, the moral universe you've created compelling. This just didn't quite hit the mark for us. We would love to see something else in the future.

For those not in the publishing industry, it may sound weird to say that a "rejection" is "good news." But this kind of rejection is good news, as it's an indication that the book is both readable and publishable, but that it didn't fit what the publisher is looking for right now. Usually, your book just gets a form rejection without specifics. Even if those specifics are as cryptic as complementing my "moral universe"...I'm still trying to figure out what that means. 

So, while I'm not getting published traditionally anytime soon, I know the manuscript is working (for several different reasons). Watching the state of trad publishing, though, I feel as though I should veer away from that direction for the time being. I'm exploring a few intriguing small press options...and in the meantime teaching myself how to format and design in case I want to self-publish.