What a blast! Thanks for the fun, and the books, and all the hard work that you put into this month-long party. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

~ Carol A. on the Writer Mama Every Day In May Book Giveaway

Should mothers be celebrated for just one day in May?

No way!

That’s why I had the idea to celebrate my biggest fans — writer mamas — every day in May with a daily giveaway of books by author mamas.

Which authors are participating so far?

We’ve got Cheryl Strayed, Claire Cook, Katie Davis and so many more!

And yes, I will offer an anthology day for my former students who have been published in anthologies in the last year! If you are a former student, please send me an email and let me know what anthologies published your work.

Thanks for telling all your mom writer friends to subscribe to this blog so they won’t miss a single book. The big giveaway begins on Tuesday, May 1st right here! And we are going to have tons of fun!

This giveaway is just one of many free services that I have offered over the past decade for writers of various stripes.

I have given away thousands of dollars in scholarships to my writing career development classes over the past five years, offered free advice and inspiration in my blogs and newsletters for almost a decade, and created and hosted a regional community author series also for five years.

Almost a year ago I started an online fitness accountability group on Facebook called, Writers on the Move. This year I started a Beyond Busy Monthly Global Book Club for folks who are too busy to participate in local book clubs. Anyone who wishes to can join these groups.

Other labors of love include long resource lists I’ve compiled: Movies about Writers and the Writing Life and Books By Women Writers for High School Students.

This is the fifth time I’ve hosted a daily month-long book giveaway. Is it a ton of work? Yes.

Are author moms worth it? Yes. Are writer moms worth it? Do I even have to answer that?

During the first three years, this giveaway took place during September and was a back-to-school giveaway.

In honor of this year’s giveaway, I am lowering the price of my new platform development workbook, Build Your Author Platform, to just $29.99 for the entire month of May. That’s ten dollars off the usual price!

I’m also always offering my books, ebooks, classes, and training groups. Please feel free to check out any of my many offerings. I would love to hear what you think of my work and I would love to work with you. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions at christina at christina katz dot com.

I appreciate your support and I appreciate your support of author mamas everywhere. Go, us!

Classes Start Wednesday & Thursday

This is it, folks. Last time for these classes at these prices. All of my class prices are going up in the fall (August). If you’ve been waiting to take a class with me, now is the best value.

Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff LINK

WPSS is great for writers who are ready to develop article-writing skills that will move them beyond the world of blogging and into opportunities for magazine publication.
~ Sara M.

Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform LINK

Christina’s platform class is designed for you. Just you. She takes you from where you are now and pushes you to see who you could become.  ~ Jan U.

Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries in Six Weeks LINK

It’s obvious from Christina’s teaching style that her heart is to help writers grow and succeed. ~ Gayla G.

Micro-publishing for Mom Writers LINK

Once again Christina has found a way to motivate and inspire writers into creating their own piece of expertise. It’s a stripped down, no holds barred, approach to moving a tiny seed of an idea into something that is ready to be self-published. Christina manages to keep the class above the hype of self-publishing and allows the space for her students to grow as writers. ~ Krysty K.

Last day to register is today. No late registrations will be accepted. Next round of classes begins in August.

• • •

The Northwest Author Series Presents Kevin Sampsell on The Book World: From Reader To Published Author

Sunday, April 14 from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Location: The Wilsonville Public Library in the Oak Room
Time: 3:30 – 5:30 pm
Cost: $5.00
Door prizes: Two copies of A Common Pornography (I’m reading it, it’s great!)

How does the way you approach reading, writing, editing, publishing, and selling impact your professional growth as a writer? Our guide Kevin Sampsell has played all the parts in the book world and will discuss the interplay of these roles in this 90-minute whirlwind tour. Aspiring authors in any or many genres will gain a well-rounded perspective on how to enjoyably immerse yourself in the literary life.

Kevin Sampsell’s memoir, A Common Pornography was published by Harper Collins in 2010. He is the editor of the story collection, Portland Noir and the author of the story collection, Creamy Bullets. Twenty years ago, he started his micropress, Future Tense Books, which has become an influential force among American small presses. A journalist, book reviewer, and essayist, Kevin oversees the coveted small press section at Powell’s Bookstore. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and son, where he is currently working on a novel. Learn more about Kevin Sampsell.

• • •

This weekend I’m appearing at the Mad Anthony Writer’s Conference in Hamilton, Ohio

Friday, April 13, 7:30 pm Keynote: Never a Better Time To Be A Writer Saturday, April 14, 9:50-11:05, The Writer’s Workout, Whip Your Literary Dreams Into Shape
Saturday, April 14, 12:30-1:30, Keynote: The Prosperous Writers, Tips for Navigating the Gig Economy
Sunday, April 15, Master Class: Get Ready To Sweat: A Marathon of Writing Career Exercises For Self-Discovery & Profits

The 2012 Mad Anthony Writer’s Conference is your opportunity to learn from the experts, network with a community of writers, have your manuscripts reviewed, & to give your dreams of being a published writer a chance to come true. The Mad Anthony Conference proudly supports The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hamilton, Ohio.
Miami University Hamilton, Harry T Wilks Conference Center
More info and register

• • •

Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club

I’ve announced the next book for our global book club! Our second book, which we will start discussing on May 1st is “Some Assembly Required, A Journal of My Son’s First Son” By Anne Lamott. Lots of folks are still finishing up Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, and the discussion about Wild continues in this blog. If you would like to join the BBGMBC, please visit our Facebook Group and ask to join.

We had a great time reading and discussing Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Hope you can join us for reading and discussing Some Assembly Required.

I teach pitching to writers because writers are resistant to the aspects required to create an awesome pitch.

An awesome pitch requires:

Focus. You have to be able to push all the other distractions out of your mind’s way, if you are going to be able to clear the way for a strong pitch.

Clarity. You have to know what you are saying to make a good pitch. How are you saying this and not that and how does what you are saying make your pitch a better fit than it might be otherwise?

Understanding. You have to care, first of all. You have to forget yourself long enough to sincerely want to be helpful to an editor’s needs. A pitch is not about you.

Confidence. You have to believe that you can do the footwork and deliver a finished piece of excellent work that is worth publishing.

Willingness. You have to be willing to fail. You have to accept “no” or silence as one step closer to a possible “yes.”

Flexibility. You have to have such a focused, clear, confident understanding of your topic that you can reconfigure it if necessary. You have to be informed yet flexible in your approach. This is hard for some writers who want to stay on the surface of a topic until an editor gives them an assignment. But it doesn’t work that way. You don’t the assignment until you have inspired the confidence that you can carry it out.

Perseverance. Initially learning to pitch is awkward and uncomfortable. But when a writer shifts from partially succeeding to nailing it, that’s a major shift in a writer’s career. It means mastery of a skill that comes in handy in so many aspects of a writing career.

There is an art to pitching. And once you’ve got the hang of it, it belongs to you.

And yes, of all the classes I teach, pitching is probably the most challenging…but it’s also the most rewarding for those who are ready for it.

Yup, the climb is steep. But the victory sure is sweet.

Pitching Practice begins Wednesday. Are you up for it?

~ photo by searching4jphotography

If you are seeking a writing career you will love, I would love to serve as your guide and coach in one of my highly praised, widely respected six-week classes.

A lot of folks go for bells and whistles today. They go heavy on the social pressure. They OD on technology. They want to hurry writers up and get them overloaded with information and tools.

That’s not how I work with writers. It’s also why I can work with anyone, meet them where they are, and help them take their writing career to the next level via my classes and dream teams. I don’t put things in the way, I help my students take things out of the way.

Maybe you have read one of my books. Maybe you have been wanting to take a class with me for a long time but you have just been waiting for the right moment. Maybe you saw me speak and thought you might like to work with me one day.

Working with me is a huge gift to your creative self. It’s a gift because you grant yourself permission to focus on yourself and your own ideas. Focusing on your own ideas is key because this is where everything else in your writing career comes from. Nothing else can happen until you create a context within yourself where you can court and woo your own ideas into something greater.

Nurturing ideas is a key part of my writing classes, my platform development classes, my query writing classes, and my eBook classes.

Of course, having an idea is only the beginning of a writing journey. Sometimes a writing journey is a long journey and sometimes it’s a comparatively short journey, but it’s always an experience involving ups and downs, challenges and breakthroughs, and determination and letting go. There is no way around the sheer hard work of nurturing a writing career.

And that’s where I come in. I can’t nurture your writing career for you, but I can assist you in nurturing it. I can validate your urge to do so by helping you get to work and grow your writing career in ways that make sense to you. Every skill I teach is a career-long skill that will keep benefiting you no matter what you write.

And you know what? Creative growth is a great feeling. And the world is full of creative opportunities right now despite the droning on of the naysayers’ chorus.

What those people are really saying, when they say, “Don’t create, because you’ll never succeed,” is not about you. It’s about them. They are saying, “I am blocked and I want you to be blocked with me.” They are saying, “Don’t create because if you succeed, then I am wrong.” They are saying, “If you succeed while I fan the flames of my fears, then I will end up frustrated and jealous.”

And they will be. And so what if they are? It’s not your problem.

While they are creating a portfolio of grievances, you can create a portfolio of small accomplishments. And those small accomplishments will begin to pile up over time.

You can create. And succeed. And it is not a reflection on anyone but you.

This is why I say, naysayers be damned. I am going to keep creating and keep working with those who love to create. And we’re going to keep succeeding without giving a rip what all the naysayers think.

We have a pretty good time, working hard, believe it or not. We’re a pretty satisfied bunch, so long as we are creating. We create a whole world of possibilities that never existed before we came along and that’s pretty exciting every time.

So, if you want to get creative, stop tangling yourself up with naysayers and do your darn work. You don’t have to change them or save them. Just save yourself. Take a step forward. Focus on creative productivity for six weeks rather than dissipated distraction and you just might amaze yourself.

Classes begin on April 11th and 12th and I’ll be teaching them. I’ve been teaching them for ten years.

I hope you will join us! Please visit my classes page to learn more about the following classes that begin in ten days:

Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff

Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform

Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries in Six Weeks

Micro-publishing for Mom Writers

In my interactions with thousands of writers a year, I often find that when it comes to the topic of eBooks, writers often have stars in their eyes (can I get rich? will it be easy? how long until I get discovered?), instead of focusing on basic truths of eBook writing, which are also basic truths of writing careers in general.

When you create an eBook organically from scratch to serve your readers, you get to stop focusing on getting rich, making it easy on yourself, and getting discovered, and put your focus where it rightly belongs: writing the best darn eBook you can write, publishing it in whatever formats make sense, and getting it in front of people who are interested in its promise so they can decide whether or not to hit the “Buy Now” button.

Here are twenty-one tips on writing, publishing, and marketing nonfiction eBooks for sensible people:

1. Don’t listen to people who say you are going to get rich doing this. Their focus is in the wrong place. Publish eBooks with integrity, just like you would do anything else. Integrity is the focus of everything you do, right?

2. If you focus on serving readers rather than getting wealthy, you will be rich in the ways that matters most and your eBooks will succeed. People who do quality work on a daily basis understand this.

3. Focusing on selling an eBook just for the sake of selling an eBook is just as foolish as focusing on writing a book for the sake of writing a book. Get your game face on. There is no reason to write, publish, and market a book, unless the book/eBook is merited. If it’s not merited, save your energy for other pursuits.

4. EBooks are merited more often than traditionally published books because the marketplace is wider, deeper and more flexible than it is for traditionally published books. This is because of “The Wide Tail.” Bottom line, you don’t have to sell a million copies, you might be better off selling hundreds of copies.

5. EBooks, like books, both take an enormous amount of energy to write, publish, and market if you want them to make any kind of serious impact in the trajectory of your career. And, of course, you do, right? Please don’t believe anyone who tells you something different. If your eBook is not an integral part of your growing writing career, take pause. Publishing eBooks is not a recreational sport. Steer clear of folks who make it sound like it is.

6. On that note, recognize that eBook publishing is not magic. An eBook is  just one more literary vehicle for your expertise to fill, so it can reach readers. There are dozens of literary forms. Some are much less complicated than eBooks. If you have not tried other shorter, nonfiction forms, you probably should before you tackle an eBook.

7. There is an exception to every rule. Let’s take a closer look at a good case study of an exception. The people who write this blog, in my opinion, should be working with professionals who can help them create a saleable eBook on their topic. In this case, they have a platform. They have media interest. They have an incredibly helpful niche that is just radiating integrity. And no eBook. That’s just not right. Even if they have traditional publisher interest, I would suggest they get an eBook done and on sale now. Why shouldn’t they capitalize on their success and on their hard work?

8. Generally speaking the best time to write an eBook is exactly the same as a traditionally published book. When you are the right person, with the right content, at the right time, you should write that eBook. Timing sells books. Content sells books. And solid expertise and thorough research sells books.

9. Let the eBook format emerge out of what makes the most sense for the reader. In teaching my Micro-publishing For Mom Writers class the focus in the class is on writing the most frictionless eBook possible. Nothing else can happen until you have written the best eBook you can write. This should be your primary focus until the job is done. Nothing else is as important.

10. Speaking of working with others, you should probably collaborate with others when writing, publishing and marketing nonfiction eBooks. Don’t go it alone. We don’t need any more poorly written, poorly targeted, and poorly marketed anything in this world. So unless you are committed to multiple collaborations to create, publish, and launch the best possible product, I would hold off until you are willing.

11. Steer clear of cult-like groups. You don’t need a group of people to commiserate with, you need a clear mission and a kick-ass eBook. You need to be an individual, who can partner with others and serve others. Your book serves the world, not a group of cronies. I push my students to be strong individuals with a clear sense of professional purpose and this helps them to become more self-confident professionals, who create their own luck despite external circumstances.

12. Focusing on the reader is not only the most important thing for your sanity and success, it’s also the most important thing in any business. If the customer is always right, then the reader is also always right. Addressing reader needs and frustrations isn’t just one thing, it’s the primary thing.

13. Polish your eBook until your excellence appears effortless. This requires a lot more work than you think. I can think of about thirty-three possible formats for your eBook. But the best possible format for your eBook is the one that will appear seamless to the reader because the reader will be so busy absorbing the excellent content that you provide.

14. Forget everything everybody says about pricing. You will price your eBook according to what the reader will pay for it, period. This is also known as “what the market will bear.” Sell your eBook for the highest price that readers will pay to move quantities of the book. Trial and error is the best way to figure this out.

15. You will know when you have achieved a marketable eBook because advance readers in your target market will rave about the eBook. Until this happens, you are not there yet.

16. If you are not there yet, it’s likely because you didn’t work with a developmental editor, you didn’t have early readers give you feedback, you didn’t have people help you fine tune and proof the manuscript, and you wrote the eBook you felt like writing rather than the one that readers didn’t know they needed.

17. Your eBook is a natural extension of everything you do and everything you offer and everything you are known for. It goes with the big picture of who you are and what you do.

18. You will sell as many copies of your eBook as you offer. No offer. No sales. Not comfortable with sales and self-promotion? This is going to be a problem. Every writer, with very few exceptions, must become comfortable with selling and self-promotion and do it with wisely and well. There is no shame in creating excellence and offering it to others. If you have a problem with this, you need to get over it. If you hang with a crowd of people who have a problem with this, see number 11.

19. Discoverability is a huge factor in the success of your eBook. If I want to buy it but I can’t find it in an online search in seconds, you’ve lost the sale.

20. Discoverability is also key for readers who don’t know about you or your eBook but are looking for any information on your topic. You want these folks to be able to find your eBook, right? Then you need to offer it on a website with excellent Search Engine Optimization. You need old media, social media, and word-of-mouth. Anyone who says that any author does not need all of these things is grasping for straws.

21. The time and energy you devote to your eBook will likely be worthwhile and win-win-win for everyone involved. If it won’t be worthwhile and win-win-win, don’t do it!

Are you willing to get to work on your eBook now? Are you committed to selling it for the life of your writing career? Are you going to devote the best of your writing, publishing production, selling, and self-promotion efforts to the project? Great. Then you are probably going to succeed in both the short run and the long run.

Here are some great examples, in my opinion, of writers who publish eBooks as an integrated part of their existing platform and are richer writers for it:

Malia Jacobson
eBook: Ready, Set, Sleep
http://www.maliajacobson.com/

Judy M. Miller
eBook: Parenting Your Adopted Child
http://judymmiller.com/

Jenny Kales
The New Nut-Free Mom: A Crash Course in Caring for Your Nut-Allergic Child
http://nut-freemom.blogspot.com/

Cindy Hudson
Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guides: Collection One (eGuide)
Book By Book, The Complete Guide to Creating Mother Daughter Book Clubs (Traditionally Published)
http://motherdaughterbookclub.com/

I am the author of three books from Writer’s Digest: The Writer’s Workout, Get Known Before the Book Deal, and Writer Mama. I also published Author Mama and The Build Your Author Platform Workbook in digital formats. Please subscribe to my ezine, The Prosperous Writer, and this blog so we can stay in touch.

If you have taken classes with me before, then you know a few things about them.

For one thing, my classes are designed to take you from where you are right now to the next level.

Each class delivers actionable skills that can pay off for writers in the short and long runs.

You are not “done” when you finish a class of mine, but you definitely have skills and you know how to use them.

What you gain from my classes are insights into your desires and the ability to turn ideas into value.

Most writers who take my classes are willing to work steadily at reachable goals for cumulative success.

These philosophies permeate everything I teach and coach about. You’ll find me beating the drum of steady, gradual growth in my classes, coaching, and writing.

Teaching is the core of my career. It informs everything I do. Developing and offering writing career instruction is what I love.

I have gotten pretty good at it over the years and I am always improving.

If you are ready to expand a skill set and I teach a class in that area, I’d love to work with you.

My students tend to be a pretty satisfied bunch. I ask them to work and they work hard and grow.

In my experience, this is all most writers need to succeed.

Don’t you wish someone had told you a long time ago that it could really be this simple?

Grow, repeat, grow, repeat, grow, repeat—you need to find a way to make this your career dynamic.

Here’s a list of the classes I’m offering that begin on April 11th & 12th:

• Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff LINK
• Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform LINK
• Pitching Practice: Writer Six Queries in Six Weeks LINK
• Micro-publishing for Mom Writers LINK

Next round of classes begins in August after this round.

All of my classes will be updated in August and the prices will go up to $299.00. So last time at this price!

Also, certain classes are required to join Dream Team training groups that begin in August.

Scholarships for WPSS and DYS-LYP will be posted next week.

Hope to work with you!

Next Round of Classes Begins a Week From Wednesday!

Many of you know that I am a writing career coach. The reason that my advice is often more informed than most is that I draw from personal experience, research and interviews, and ten years of working with real live writers.

Therefore instead of serving up a bunch of generic information or borrowed knowledge, I offer a depth of insight and awareness that really only comes with time and experience.

I don’t give my advice and time away for free often. Although I do have structured ways that I give, for example through the Northwest Author Series and formal class scholarships.

The bottom line is that I prioritize my paid work and I coach my writers to do the same. There is a very good reason that my students are not the muck-slingers of Twitter or the folks who spend all day chatting on Facebook. It’s because they are busy working and getting paid to work. They are busy growing solid, lasting writing careers.

If you would like to be one of them, I am offering four upcoming six-week classes:

Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff LINK and Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform LINK begin on February 22nd.

Pitching Practice LINK and 60 Ways To Flex Your Content and Prosper in Your Niche LINK begin February 23rd.

The next Micro-publishing For Mom Writers Class begins April 12th LINK. The class is already starting to fill up and space is limited. April will also be the last time that this and all of these classes are offered at the current prices.

Training groups don’t start up until August LINK, but keep in mind that classes are prerequisites to advancing up the ranks of my coaching groups. So please plan to take classes before you aspire to join one of my Dream Teams.

AWP in Chicago, Here I Come!

I will be traveling to Chicago in the beginning of MARCH to moderate a panel on The Tech-Empowered Writer: Embrace New Media, Experiment, and Earn with Jane Friedman, Robert Lee Brewer, and Seth Harwood. We are going to have some serious fun at this panel. I hope we will see you there, if you are attending AWP. Our panel is Thursday, March 1st from 1:30 – 2:45 pm in Boulevard Room A,B,C, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor. Please come up and say hello afterwards if you will be attending.

Because I have some extra time available while I am in Chicago, I am offering low-cost, one-on-one power up your platform consults. These prices are reduced even further for former students to the point of being ridiculously cheap. Not sure if I will ever offer these again, so if you live in the Chicago area and you would like to have a one-hour discussion about how identify your platform dynamic and use it to take your career to the next level, please email me at christina at christina katz dot com. You do not have to be a registered attendee of AWP to meet with me.

Hope to have a chance to brainstorm with you in the Windy City!

Speaking of the Windy City…I have an essay that will appear online this week and the setting of the story is in Chicago. More on that tomorrow! Have a great week!

I train writers to stretch beyond their comfort zones and grow their writing careers.

I train writers to focus on opportunities that earn and that will likely keep earning.

I train writers to focus on targets they can hit and to hit them over and over while they build up to targets they might not hit as often or as cleanly.

I teach classes on topics that have proven through much trial and improvement to be the most helpful and prosperous to writers.

Upcoming classes I am teaching to writers all over the country include these two six-week email classes turn around on Wednesdays:

• Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff, Especially For Moms LINK
  
• Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform LINK
  

And these two six-week classes that turn around on Thursdays:

• Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries In Six Weeks LINK
  
• 60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper In Your Niche LINK
  

My classes were recently updated and improved. They will updated and improved again over the summer of 2012. Therefore February and April are your last two chances to take these classes at these prices.

In a moment, I am going post the scholarship application to the following two classes:

• Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff, Especially For Moms LINK
  
• Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform LINK
  

I was going to teach Micro-publishing for Mom Writers in February and 60 Ways to Flex Your Content in April, but I’ve flipped the order, so now 60 Ways starts in February and Micro-pub starts in April. Sorry for any inconvenience this change may have caused.

Happy writing. I hope to work with you!

Monday, January 2nd: January – May Dream Teams Begin

All my Dream Teams are full. I look forward to sharing motivational resources, time, and advice with these awesome groups! Next chance to participate is August – December. Take classes now to prepare to enter the appropriate group for your skill level.

Tuesday, January 3rd: Willamette Writers in Portland, Oregon

See you in Portland, Oregon!
6:30 pm at The Old Church
Topic: New Year, Fit Career: Five Flabby Habits To Lose & Five Healthy Habits To Keep
More info / Become a member

Wednesday, January 4th: Two Classes Begin

Work With Me: Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff and Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform begin. A little room remaining in each class. Contact me at christina at christina katz dot com if you want to join us for a six-week workout that will either take your writing to the next level or lay the groundwork to grow a prosperous platform. Scholarship winners have been announced for each of these classes. Stay tuned to apply for the next scholarship in mid-February.

Thursday, January 5th: Two Classes Begin

Work With Me: Pitching Practice, Write Six Queries in Six Weeks and 60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper in your Niche. A little room remaining in each class. Contact me at christina at christina katz dot com if you want to join us for a six-week workout that will either take your writing to the next level or help you make the most of the writing you have already done. These are advanced classes, subject to prerequisites. No scholarships are available for these classes.

Tuesday, January 10th: Global Publication Party for The Writer’s Workout w/a 3-part Flash Class for Readers

Your copy of the brand new Writer’s Workout entitles you to participation in a FREE three-part flash class specifically designed to help you make the most of what you have to offer in 2012. Here’s all the info on how to participate. I need your receipt submitted by noon on January 9th. So don’t delay. Order today and then email me your receipt, if you’d like to join us.

Thursday, January 12th: Willamette Writers Salem Branch

See you in Salem, Oregon!
6:30 pm at Roth’s
1130 Wallace Road NW
Topic: New Year, Fit Career: Five Flabby Habits To Lose & Five Healthy Habits To Keep
More info / Become a member

Friday-Sunday, January 20-22nd, 2012: Writer’s Digest Conference

See you in New York City!
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers
811 7th Avenue (between 52nd St and 53rd Street ), New York, New York
Topics:
Mailbox Full of Money: Micro-publish Your Way from Beginning to Book Deal
Panel Moderator: Hardcore Author Marketing – What to Do to Rise Above in the Digital Age
More info & register

Saturday, January 28th: Making It In Tough & Changing Times

See you in Portland, Oregon!
Lunch speaker & panelist
Lunch Topic: Never A Better Time To Be A Writer
Panel Topic: Risk It!
Saturday, January 28th, 8:30 am – 6:30 pm
Tabor Space, 55th and Belmont
More info & register
Making It in Tough and Changing Times (download the schedule)

Hosting The Northwest Author Series (ongoing)

January 29th
Presenting Karen Karbo
Passions Into Paychecks: Make A Living Without A Brand
At the Wilsonville Public Library in the Oak Room
Cost is $5.00 at the door. Door prizes awarded.
More info here.

UPDATE:

The Prosperous Creative Affirmation Intensive is going to launch on February 1st rather than in January as previously announced. Because I have a pretty busy month.

In less than two weeks, I start teaching one of my favorite classes again. The class is Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform.

There are many things that make my approach to platform development unique. For one thing, I understand that platform means everything to writing career success. At the same time I am able to balance that idea with the knowledge that the best, most authentic and well-rounded platforms don’t just spring up overnight.

My classes take six weeks, and I’d say that six weeks is the minimum amount of time any writer should spend developing their platform concept before they jump online and start blogging or building a site.

Why?

Because every writer has a unique platform dynamic yet most writers are not aware what theirs is. In my class, Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform, we take our time uncovering that platform dynamic, exploring it, and most importantly, making sure it is authentically meaningful to the writer.

You can take the class whether you already have an idea of what your platform should focus on or not. Because guess what? It’s not dollar signs that are going to motivate you to establish your name and get known for what you write, it’s loving what you do so that you can sustain the effort long enough to get known and attract readers.

I hope you are in the platform journey for the long haul because it’s a career-long effort. For the past six years I have been teaching writers how to build a platform alongside their writing in order to amplify their reach, make an indelible impression in reader’s minds, and create future revenue streams to sustain their writing efforts.

Here are several reasons why you may wish to work with me rather than someone else:

• I wrote the book on platform. It’s called, Get Known Before the Book Deal. It’s one of the first and most comprehensive books on platform for writers.
• I recently wrote a workbook on platform called, “Build Your Author Platform & Prosper.” It’s a companion to my book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, and it will launch on January 1, 2012.
• I have written several feature-length articles for Writer’s Digest magazine on platform for writers across the genres and from the perspective of all levels of writers from aspirant to bestselling author.
• I have worked with hundreds of writers over the past ten years, working with many of them over time as they write, get published, build up clips, establish a specialty, break into national publications, write ebooks and books, and create lasting and profitable platforms.
• But perhaps the most important reason to work with me rather than someone else is because I am not interested in leveraging your platform for my own or others’ financial interests. I have my own platform, I have my own paid writing work, and I already teach and speak in a distinctive niche. This means when I am focused on you, I am focused on what is best for your career in the long run, not what you can do for me in the short run. I want you to prosper by establishing your own platform and growing it over time.

Platform development for authors is one of my specialties as a writing career coach. I work with writers across a range of skill sets, so I understand how platform matters in every phase of a writer’s career development.

I prefer to work with writers in this class who are just getting started identifying their strengths and understanding how to better position their platform in the marketplace. My former students have the option to continue working with me via my training groups, if they so choose.

I understand writers, the state of the industry, and the unique challenges that writers face on a daily basis. I don’t want you to sell your soul; I want you to listen to what your inner voice is telling you to do, not what external forces want you to do for them. I want to help you declare and maintain ownership over your career while at the same time helping you partner wisely with others.

Establishing a platform is a whole lot easier, when you take the time to understand your motivations and make the most of your strengths.

You do not have to be a woman, a mom, or a nonfiction writer to take this class. It definitely helps if you are already an established writer and you have some idea of the direction you’d like to go with your writing but you will learn that in the process of the class, anyway.

I will be updating the class in the fall and raising the price accordingly, which means you have three chances to register between now and then. Here are what some past students have had to say about Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform:

Christina embodies what it means to be a great coach. She is direct, honest, not afraid to say what a writer struggling with a particular issue needs to hear. Christina has the tremendous confidence that comes with experience; that confidence made me strong when I needed it. She told me, with conviction, that what I have to say is important, and that I shouldn’t hesitate to say it. ~ Valorie H.

Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform is a great class for writers at any stage of career development. I had been doing a small amount of platform development prior to the class and found that I could enfold that work into my plans going forward. Now I feel so much more professional, focused, and confident. These six weeks of class work have moved me forward months (even years) in building my platform.  I know now where I’m going and can communicate that clearly to others. ~ Lara K.

I highly recommend this class for writers struggling to define their niche or confused about how to communicate it compellingly. Christina is a wise guide who facilitates the kind of inner exploration it takes to find and flesh out an authentic, sustainable platform. This class helped me get clear on who I am and what I bring to my audience. And that’s priceless. ~ Heidi L.

Christina Katz’ Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform class was a combination of therapy and boot camp. She forced me to dig deep and deeper yet, to discover what motivates and inspires me to write. ~ Sandra F.

Christina’s exceptional class focused my thoughts to build a specialty platform plan. Her assignments challenged and helped me look deeply into lifelong experiences to build an organized plan for getting published. ~ Bill H.

Building a platform isn’t for the faint-of-heart, but the clarity I found after digging into the possibilities was an invaluable learning experience. I now have a clearly defined roadmap to follow and a better understanding of how to continue building my writing platform grounded in practical techniques rather than just dreamy possibilities. ~ C. Hines

This course not only taught me more about myself and what inspires me to write, but also showed me concrete actions to take in order to establish a strong platform for my writing career. With Christina’s practical advice and informed guidance, I learned exactly what steps I need to take to reach my writing goals. ~ Sarah L.

Before I took this class, I was struggling to identify topics that would be of interest to editors and readers. Now, I have the beginnings of a platform that will help me generate as much work as I want or need just by developing and marketing my area of expertise. ~ B. Meleski

In an uncertain publishing environment, platform has never been more important for writers. I’m so thankful to Christina for providing me with an opportunity to strategize and for helping me come up with a workable platform plan. ~ Sharon V.

Christina is a real, honest-to-goodness teacher. When I wasn’t working to my ability, she noticed, demanded more, and gave me the tools to succeed. Nobody ever gets where they’re going without a great teacher. Christina helped me find my wings. ~ Lynne S.

I found this class to be much more than I expected. Don’t sign up unless you have plenty of time to devote to it (not to mention paper and ink!) because you will not want to waste the opportunity to have Christina help you find, develop, or fine tune your image and point you in the right direction. ~ Carol A.

Learn more here. Space is limited. Register by December 28th for the class that begins on January 4th.

I hope to work with you in 2012!