Will Your Nonfiction Book Sell? How to Evaluate the Strength of Your Project

May 29

If you want to publish a nonfiction book that lands you a literary agent or a contract from a sizable publisher (with a decent advance in the four or five figures), then current market conditions—and your position in that market—will affect your ability to secure a deal.

The good news: More nonfiction books are published and sold around the world than fiction. And typically nonfiction is an easier market to excel in compared to fiction. But you’ll need sharp clarity about your idea or story, why it should be expressed in book form, and how it is relevant and unique in today’s market.

Tell Your Story to Beat the Bots: Thriving and Surviving in the Age of AI

June 5

You have a story to tell, an important story, your story. Getting that story down on paper is hard, though, and with bots taking over the writing market, authors worry they’ll soon become irrelevant. The answer isn’t to surrender to the doom and gloom predictions. On the contrary, it’s time to lean into your humanity, to do what artificial intelligence can’t—be creative. AI is, by definition, derivative, so the trick is to come up with new ideas, new structures, new approaches. In this live webinar, you’ll learn how to harness your innate creativity using science-based creativity-boosting techniques to come up with fresh ideas.

Be Your Own Gatekeeper: Indie Publishing Your Short Fiction

June 12

The traditional short fiction market simply can’t accommodate the many excellent short stories that deserve to reach readers. But with an indie mindset, you don’t have to rely on gatekeepers. Instead, you can take control of your publishing journey, connecting directly with readers who will love your stories, turning them into fans, and generating income from your work. Matty Dalrymple, author of Taking the Short Tack: Creating Income and Connecting with Readers Using Short Fiction, shares how to unlock the potential of short fiction. Walk away with practical strategies to turn short fiction into a powerful tool for building your author brand and income.

Book Coaching for Advanced Writers

June 5 - September 25

Are you ready to take the next step toward a final draft of your novel? This course is for you! Join Mark Spencer in an intensive 16-week coaching session focused entirely on your novel in progress. You'll work with Mark on your choice of up to 60,000 words of your novel or two drafts of up to 30,000 words each. You'll also have the opportunity to speak to Mark directly about your work during two one-on-one phone calls or Zoom sessions.

Please note: this course has a limit of 10 students per session.

Fearless Writing

June 5 - July 17

If you love to write and have a story you want to tell, the only thing that can stand between you and the success you’re seeking isn’t craft, or a good agent, or enough Facebook friends and TikTok followers, but fear. Fear that you aren’t good enough, or fear the market is too crowded, or fear no one wants to hear from you. Fortunately, you can’t write while being in the flow and be afraid simultaneously. The question is whether you will write fearlessly.

In this workshop, we’ll look at several techniques you can you use to keep yourself in the creative flow and out of the trouble and misery fear always causes.

Proper Formatting Technique: Script Format Made Easy

June 5 - July 3

Let Dave Trottier (Dr. Format himself) show you the necessary techniques and currently accepted standards that will set your script apart from the heap. Not only will he teach you the rules of script formatting, he will show you when and how to break them. By applying Dave’s formatting techniques, you will write more compelling description and sharper dialogue. That’s because formatting is not just a box to dump your story into but part of the story itself—it’s a writing tool that will enhance your story and help you create a reader-friendly screenplay.