The MFA Myth (and What the Bestseller List Tells Me)

There are writers, especially those new to the publishing world, who believe they need to go out and get an MFA in creative writing to become a published author. It’s an understandable assumption, especially because the MFA has become such a visible credential in literary fiction circles. But when you actually look at what is happening on the New York Times bestseller list at any given time, that assumption starts to fall apart pretty quickly. If you take a current look of the top 10 books...