I am offering three levels of writing classes this September. Check ’em out and please let me know if you have any questions:
Beginning Level (or Beginning Again):
Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff
You will learn how to create short, easy-to-write articles—a skill that will make it easier to work your way up to longer, more time-consuming articles (like features and profiles) when you’re ready. You will try your pen at tips, fillers, short interviews, list articles, how-tos, and the short personal essays—all within six weeks. And you will learn to submit your work with a basic cover letter.
What former students say:
Christina teaches as a wise friend of the new writer; encouraging through little steps, nudging the timid along, leaving each student thinking, “Gee, I really am a writer!” ~ Johannah B.
The WPSS workshop provided me with confidence, commitment and camaraderie. It was just what I needed to get myself to take the leap of submitting my work to publications. ~ Liz S.
Christina’s class was a great refresher to help me improve the quality of my writing, and distinguish between the kinds of articles I can publish. She had an uncanny ability to give me the right suggestions to improve not only class assignments, but my future writing work. The success of her students is clearly a priority to her. ~ Rhonda F.
Intermediate Level (or Getting Back Into Querying After a Hiatus):
Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries in Six Weeks
In this writing class, pitching is all you do. Over the course of six weeks, you crank out six queries, which is exactly the kind of practice you need if you want to get into the habit of landing better-paying assignments.
After you write and send six queries, you will never again ask, “What makes a strong query?” You will have developed your own style into a muscle that you can exercise over and over to obtain future assignments. Finding your rhythm, not anyone else’s, is what effective query writing is about.
What former students say:
This class exceeded my expectations. And, even better, it helped me exceed my own expectations. I almost didn’t take it—I didn’t think I could squeeze one more class into my frenzied schedule—but I’m tremendously happy that I did. I generated saleable queries, got invaluable feedback, and solidified my confidence and approach. And I’m ready to rock! ~ Malia J.
I needed Pitching Practice more than I realized. Christina taught me how to appreciate and develop successful query writing through practical exercises. Her feedback and gentle critiques helped me to have more confidence in pitching my ideas. ~ Judy M.
This class is the fabulous next step for anyone who’s been writing and is now serious about breaking into the magazine market (and yes, you have to be serious). Christina provides quality instruction and lots of tips on how to break in, along with valuable marketing information. This class is a must! ~ Joanna N.
Advanced (You Have Both A Clear Niche and a Solid Platform):
Micro-publishing for Mom Writers
Why does e-book publishing make sense? For one thing, you can test-market an idea and find out if it might be desirable as a longer book project. For another, you can write your way to a traditional book deal, profiting from your ideas as you build up a body of work. And you can spin off paying articles from e-book topics and get paid twice, once when the article is published, and again when the article drives potential readers to your e-book.
What former students say:
Christina, thank you. The clarity and focus of my writing that has resulted from working with you, has made the past six weeks among the most important of my career. ~ Dylan K.
Christina’s lessons not only help you identify your specialty and write your e-book, they also help you create a polished, professional end project that you’ll be proud to put your name on and market. ~ Cindy H.
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.
I teach writers to prosper by building solid, saleable, life-long career skills via classes and training groups that work even in a rapidly evolving publishing marketplace. If you would like to improve your skills in writing and publishing and prosper, I’d love to work with you in my next round of classes. Until then, happy writing!