My first experience with an online course was several years ago when a colleague asked me to teach one through her company. I enjoyed it so much and the students seemed to get so much out of it that I began teaching my own online courses.
Currently, I teach 4 courses for writers and authors:
• Book Proposal Workshop
• Book Promotion Workshop
• How to Write and Sell Articles to Magazines
• Self-Publishing Workshop
How Does an Online Course Work?
It’s as easy as emailing a friend, but much more rewarding and beneficial to your writing/publishing career. It’s like going to school in the comfort of your home. You receive weekly lectures and assignments that you can work on at your convenience. Your instructor will respond to your questions and provide individual feedback. Plan to participate fully and you could complete a successful book proposal for submission by the end of the 8 week course, have an article ready to submit to an appropriate periodical in 6 weeks, start selling more books or self-publish your book by the end of the 6 or 8 week course.
And if you want to complete the course faster—there’s certainly that option available, too. I will work with students who want to move at a faster pace as long as they complete the course within the 6 or 8 week period.
What Does an Online Course Cost?
I see courses and classes advertised on the Internet at a variety of prices. I charge anywhere from $125 to $200 per course. That’s $20 to $25 per class.
I typically charge $50 for editing work and consultations. But, when you take one of my courses, you get individual attention, benefit of my editorial and industry knowledge and plenty of guidance throughout the duration of the course at no extra charge.
Depending on your level of participation, my $125 Article Writing course could result in $500 worth of benefit to you. You might receive as much as $800 worth of value from my $200 book proposal course.
Yes, the value is significant for anyone who wants to establish a career or promote a book by writing articles for magazines, who needs help promoting a book, who wants to establish his/her own publishing company and who needs to develop a book proposal.
We’re all trying to cut corners and save money these days. I read a commentary at a book review blog over the weekend. The reviewer said that she has reviewed many, many self-published books in recent years and that there are very few of them that she would recommend. I think she said it was 2 out of several dozen. She said that a huge majority of the self-published books she reviews are poorly written and in bad editorial shape. And this trend is getting worse because authors are unwilling to spend the money and the time to do the right thing.
Authors, hear me: If you are going to bring out the book of your dreams and you have serious hopes that it will compete with books from traditional publishers—those books you see stocked in bookstores—you MUST do what those publishers do.
• Understand something about the publishing industry before getting involved.
• Determine, before writing it, if there is a market for this book.
• Determine your target audience and write it for that audience.
• Have the book professionally edited.
• Run it by a proofreader.
• Produce a professional-looking product.
• Have a marketing plan for this book.
How do you achieve a level of knowledge about the publishing industry? PLEASE read Patricia Fry’s book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
How do you learn about marketing a book, locating the appropriate market for your book, writing for that market, what is a professional-looking product and so forth? Hire a book shepherd, take several months or a year to learn your way around in this industry and/or go back to school. Yes, sign up for appropriate courses presented by professionals in the industry and cut down significantly on the learning curve as well as the money you spend.
Check out the courses we offer at Matilija Press http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm. If you don’t see a course that you feel applies to you, let me know and maybe we can create one within your specifications: PLFry620@yahoo.com.