Sara Wigal is an assistant professor and director of publishing at Belmont University. Wigal trained under literary agents, magazine editors and a major publishing house’s marketing department, specializing in literary PR. She began as an assistant and worked her way up to a senior manager role. She has been published by Library Journal, The Tennessean, Publishers Weekly, Writer's Digest, The Chaffin Journal, Miracle Monocle, Variant Literature and is a featured interview in the Writer’s Digest, “Guide to Literary Agents,” 2019 and 2020 editions. Her essay, “Manual Labor Man Cleanse,” was a semi-finalist in the Sewanee Review Annual Nonfiction contest and later when published by Variant Lit received a 2021 Pushcart Prize nomination. Wigal is the Co-Chair for the Next Chapter Society which supports the programming made possible by the Nashville Public Library Foundation. She is the founder of the Nashville Publishing Meetup, which connects publishing professionals. When she doesn’t have a book in hand, you can find Wigal snuggling with her two dogs, dancing salsa or doing DIY projects on her cottage home in East Nashville. She is a personal essay writer and an aspiring historical novelist. Find her on Instagram @shewritespirates and Twitter @sarawigal.