We are now a couple of weeks into our first online course, Book Proposal Success, and I wanted to share my thoughts.
The course is designed to help writers construct a book proposal (cover, letter and extract) and then pitch it to agents. The format consists of daily ‘lessons’ that are delivered in a blog post format, with the comment system allowing feedback. In addition, I provide detailed editorial feedback on the cover letter and synopsis PLUS give access to our internal agent database.
The past few weeks of working so closely with a group of dedicated writers has given me some valuable insights, so (in BubbleCow style) I thought I would share my inner most thoughts:
- A safe environment, where writers can openly ask questions, is a great environment for teaching,
- Feedback suggests that, prior to the course, writers are confused about the ‘correct’ way to write cover letters and synopsis,
- Many writers miss a golden opportunity to be published by not treating their cover letter as a sales document,
- Writers are very open to advice and very keen to adopt techniques that will improve their work and chances of getting published,
- Defining genre is a bit scary for some writers and this is not helped by the lack of a definitive list of genres,
- There are a huge amount of excellent books that are not getting published because writers are not pitching them in a clear manner, that will excite potential agents and publishers,
Over the next couple of weeks I will invite a few of the course members to record their thoughts on the course (good or bad) and post them (unedited!) to the site.
In the meantime, I just wanted to pass on some news about the next Book Proposal Success course.
It will start on 1 July and I will be limiting the group size to just FIVE writers. The reason for this is that the close relationship that has developed between the writers and myself is rapidly becoming an essential part of the process. I feel that this may not be possible with more than five.
This means places are VERY limited. I have had a number of enquiries already so time is of the essence.
If you go to the Book Proposal Success site, you can see how the whole system works.
If you go to the Book Proposal Course Outline page, you can get details of what is involved.
If you wish to sign up, then you can add your details below or go to the Book Proposal Success sign up page.