In addition to my long-term collaborations with clients, I offer customized workshops and intensives for those seeking a more focused working environment or as a kickoff for a longer-term working relationship. As so many of my clients are in the midst of busy, purpose-driven lives and careers, this approach often allows for a more satisfying creative immersion and a much more productive use of time.
For certain projects, I also offer an intensive book-writing service (typically four or six weeks). Please contact me if you’re interested in this service.
Each workshop or intensive is tailored to the particular needs of the client/project, but here are some examples of the type of sessions I offer, with sample rates below. Please contact me to discuss your particular needs or to book a workshop.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BOOK (One- or Two-Day Workshop)
Ideal for those who are committed to writing a book but just starting out on the journey, this intensive workshop covers all the fundamentals and allows for a deeper immersion. We begin by working to clarify and focus the core vision and mission of your book, and then connect that vision and mission to the realities of the publishing marketplace and to the readers you care about speaking to. This allows us to weigh up the publishing options, choose the approach that most meets your strategic needs, and determine next steps in bringing your book to market. We can also create a working title and subtitle.
Workshop package includes:
- Pre-workshop review & critique of up to 5000 words of content
- Detailed questionnaire to help you clarify your goals and vision, and identify your brand attributes, target readers, and competitive & complementary books
- In-depth, personalized platform assessment: a questionnaire that will enable me to give you an honest and informed answer to the question “do I have what it takes to get a book deal?”
- 8 or 16 hours (in-person or via telephone/Skype/Google hangout) of one-on-one collaborative workshop time
- Multiple suggestions for a working title & subtitle
- Recommendations for book classification
- Suggested core brand attributes, words, and phrases, to guide you in positioning and promoting your book
- “Your Publishing Options” roadmap—with clear next steps, recommendations, and resources.
BOOK MAPPING (One- or Two-Day Outlining Workshop)
If you’re ready to start writing your book but need a roadmap to guide you, this workshop will help you create a detailed outline to give structure to your creative process. Creating an outline is not just a matter of putting all the pieces together—it is about identifying the deeper patterns that connect the pieces, and letting those patterns guide the structure of the book. Most importantly, it is about the journey you want your readers to take, and how you are going to guide them on that journey.
Workshop package includes:
- Pre-workshop review of up to 50 pages of content
- Detailed questionnaire to identify your target readers
- 8 or 16 hours (in-person or via telephone/Skype/Google hangout) of one-on-one collaborative workshop time
- A customized collaborative process to understand the problems and questions your readers are bringing to the table, and clarify the journey you want to take them on.
- Suggested outline with parts, chapters, and content notes
- Personalized recommendations for how to approach the writing process
BOOK INCUBATOR (Two to Four-Day Workshop)
This workshop combines the “Understanding Your Book” and “Creating an Outline” workshops (see above) in a longer intensive. Ideal for those who want to fast-track the visioning process and get ready to write!
BOOK PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT (One-Day Workshop)
This workshop is for those who have decided to pursue the traditional publishing route, and therefore want to write a book proposal. I will help you understand the purpose of a proposal and the various elements, and work with you to create a detailed blueprint for your book proposal. For each section, we will identify the elements you need to research and write and specific points to highlight. I will advise on style and format, and provide sample proposals.
Workshop package includes:
- 6-8 hours (in-person or via telephone/Skype/Google hangout) workshop time
- Section-by-section worksheets to create your book proposal
- Sample proposals that have been sold to New York publishers
- Personalized recommendations for how to approach the writing process
- Recommendations for finding and approaching agents
- Review & Critique of your first draft (one round)
BOOK PROPOSAL WRITING (Five-Day Intensive)*
This workshop is designed for those who want to write their book proposal fast! During this five day intensive we will write all the major sections of your book proposal, excluding sample chapters:
- Overview
- About the Author
- Marketing & Promotion
- Competition
- Outline
- Chapter Summaries
We will also identify the chapters you intend to write as samples and create outlines to help you in the writing process.
Please note that this type of workshop is intended for authors who have a fairly clear sense of their book’s subject, content, and target market. If you are not clear on these issues, I’d recommend starting with a one-day “Understanding Your Book” workshop.