Don’t forget I’m offering a 20 percent discount on all of my courses throughout the month of June, 2010—even the newest ones on self-editing and memoir-writing. Check out the May 24, 2010 blog for details. Sign up now. http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm
Have you ever taken an online course? What does it consist of? What is expected of you? How much do you actually get out of it? Here’s what I tell potential students:
Taking one of my online courses is 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 will 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 6 or 8 week course, have an article ready to submit to an appropriate periodical, start selling more books or self-publish your book (of course, depending on which course you take). If you sign up for the new self-editing course, you should have a much cleaner manuscript to turn over to your editor by the end of the course—saving you tons of money. Check out the array of courses at
http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm
Have you noticed all of the new ways you can learn and tune-in to the information you desire? There’s the email course as described above where you can get quite a bit of personalized attention with regard to your publishing project. There’s the webinar, a web-based seminar where you can actually participate via audio hookup. The podcast is a one-way broadcast via the internet which you can download onto your ipod and other devices. It’s basically a digital audio or video file that is downloadable. A teleseminar is conducted through the phone lines—it’s a conference call and can involve hundreds of people at a time.
And then there is the one-way video webinar that some people are conducting at their websites. An expert in some field might record a video featuring him/herself presenting a brief lesson on flower arranging, grooming a cairn terrier, preparing a meal or writing a book proposal, for example.
What’s your pleasure when it comes to your education? I still prefer the conference environment—meeting my instructors/audience members face-to-face, sitting (or teaching) in a classroom or auditorium, breaking for lunch and networking with other like-minded people, etc. And I also enjoy the one-on-one feel you get from the email courses like I present.
Today, I will experience the convenience of a conference call in order to bring together the board of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Board members are scattered across the US in California, Texas, Idaho, Illinois and New Jersey. And the telephone has the capacity to bring us all together as if we are sitting in one room discussing SPAWN business.
Questions? Contact me: PLFry620@yahoo.com