Schedule

Publishing for Fun and Profit by Amy Deardon

What is the difference between traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing? What might be right for you? This course reviews the positives and negatives of each type of publishing and discusses some important criteria to determine your next steps. Whether it's finding a literary agent and publisher, or organizing tasks to prepare your book yourself, this online class has you covered. If your manuscript is ready to go, don't miss this one!

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Novel Structure by Angela Ruth Strong

Novel structure is about more than plot and character. It's about creating a powerful message through the hopelessness of your black moment and characters so specific to the story that only they can possibly overcome. It's also about seeing ourselves as characters in God's story and believing that we've been given the gifts needed to overcome obstacles in our own lives.

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How to Get From Page One to “The End” by Barbara Britton

Join author Barbara M. Britton as she talks about how to craft a scene and a sequel, so your story doesn’t end after chapter one. Stories have plots and Barb will talk about common plot themes. Where do you begin a story? How do you keep it going? Are you at a dead end? Help! Barb will share what she has learned when drafting her stories. No wimpy characters allowed.

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He Said/She Said: Crafting Super Realistic Dialogue by Gregg Bridgeman

He Said/She Said: Crafting Super Realistic Dialogue uses many examples to demonstrate the difference between “really good” and “not-so-good” dialogue, then gets specific about the differences between the way men and women communicate, all supported by scriptural references starting with Genesis 5:2. The class concludes with practical techniques authors can employ to make their dialogue more realistic and really pop. Students will also take home a list of nearly 600 ways to say the word “said” without ever actually saying the word “said.”

In addition to the live class, the following materials available to students:

• Three online videos covering each of the three acts of the class for later review as needed.

• Comprehensive class notes (everything that is on every slide and most of what I say during the class) in the form of a 27 page organized and searchable Word Document.

• Nearly 600 alternate verbs to "said" or "asked" in the form of an organized and sorted Excel Spreadsheet.

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Newsletter Craft by Heather Duff

Answering the Big Question…“I have a list of email subscribers. WHAT do I send them?”

If it was easy, every author would have a winning newsletter. Unfortunately, many author newsletters are either too boring, too heavy on promotion, too wordy, or Just. Not. Good.  

Maybe, deep down, you feel like you're not quite hitting the mark either.

If you secretly cringe every time you hit the "send" button, read on.

As a fiction writer, you have committed yourself to crafting stories with words. You can have this same mindset (and confidence!) when it comes to your newsletter. After all, you are a craftsman. Words are tools in your skillful hands. This is your strength!

In this course you will learn 3 Keys to creating the right content for your author email newsletter.

My goal is to help you understand these keys. And once you do that, you just may look forward to putting your newsletter together instead of dreading it or putting it off. I’ve seen this happen and I believe it can happen for you too.

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Creating a Standout Query and Proposal for Fiction by Heidi Chiavaroli

If your goal is to break into the world of traditional publishing, you will likely need to present your work in a professional manner to one of the gatekeepers in the industry. While there are no surefire secrets, there are several ways to entice an agent or editor to take a second look at your work instead of passing it by. In this workshop, we’ll go over a sample query and proposal, as well as explore some of the tactics to make you—and your novel—shine.

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What to Do While You Wait by Joanna Davidson Politano 

After you submit your carefully thought out words, what do you do with your time, your anxious thoughts, your heart? Don't waste your wait. Let's talk about practical and soul-refreshing ways to make this waiting season vibrant and refreshing, and set you up for what comes next.

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Working with a Freelance Editor by Leslie L. McKee 

Your draft is done. You’ve re-read it a dozen times and you can’t stand to be near it another minute. Cleaning your house and running errands is more appealing than looking at your manuscript again.

If this sounds familiar, you may be ready to work with an editor! Hiring a freelance editor is one of the most important steps in the writing and publication process, especially if you are planning to self-publish.

An editor will work with you on a number of things:
• plot and character development
• smoothing out clunky sentences and awkward grammar, and pointing out any inconsistencies
• correcting typos, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and word choice errors

This course will cover the basics so that when it’s time to hire a freelance editor, you will be able to move forward with confidence, knowing you are doing all you can to put forth your best work.

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Baking Your Own Book: Get Your Book to Your Readers Without a Contract by Patrick E. Craig

There has been a radical shift in the publishing industry in the last several years. Publishing used to be the domain of traditional publishing houses that signed authors, edited their manuscripts, printed up hundreds or thousands of books and did all the promotion (while paying the author a minimal royalty.)

That has all changed. With the advent of Amazon KDP, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark and other Print-On-Demand publishers, publishing has now become a wide-open industry where literally anybody can create and sell their own book while reserving all the net profits for themselves.

But there is one caveat. Millions of these books will sink to the bottom of the self-publishing ocean because the author did not take the time to make them readable or was unwilling to spend the money to make them look professional. To create and sell your own book you must be focused, you must be willing to work hard and not cut corners, you must have a budget, and, most importantly, you must have a good book.

This course will give you pointers that will set some bars that I hope will get you moving in the right direction and help you to produce a professional, readable, and marketable book.

In this course we will talk about the actual book production, setting up accounts at the major online eBook and print distributors, setting up eBook and print pre-sales and promotion and distribution.

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Writing in the Time You’ve Got by Sarah Hamaker
How many times have you said, “I wish I had more time to write”? While we can’t cram more hours into a day, we can find more ways to incorporate writing into our busy schedules. Learn how to think about time, use time and cultivate a life of writing in Writing in the Time You’ve Got.

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Novellas, Older Sibling to the Novel by Tiffany Amber Stockton
Novellas are nothing new. In fact, it might surprise you to know novellas predate novels by at least a century. Although novels have become something of a publishing standard, novellas are easier to construct, more versatile, and lend themselves to a variety of writing styles or genres. In this course, you’ll learn how to effectively construct a novella and the key ways novellas differ from novels. You’ll also come away confident in your own ability to write a novella. Maybe you’ve struggled with finishing a novel, perhaps you’re looking to stretch your writing skills a bit and try something different, or you might be curious about the reason for the appeal of the novella. Whatever your interest level, if you’re a writer, this course is for you!

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Copyright Guidelines for Authors & Publishers by Teresa Lynn
Copyright Guidelines for Authors & Publishers: Can you put a quote at the beginning of each chapter? What about a line from a song? Or the perfect picture you found online? This class will cover the basic copyright regulations that apply to authors and publishers, including Fair Use, online images, and common myths. We’ll also discuss what happens to copyrighted work when the copyright holder dies. Appropriate for all writers and publisher beginning to advanced.

NOTE: The instructor is not an attorney and the information in this course is not legal advice. Rather the instructor is sharing her takeaways from years of working with attorneys as a publisher.

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Using Kindle Creator by Terri Main

Preparing your manuscript for publication as a Kindle e-book and Kindle paperback used to be a long and tedious process. But with the relatively new Kindle Creator plug-in for MS-Word. it can be done in a single operation that only takes a few minutes. This class will show you how to use this remarkable program.