Dates:
5 October - 5 November 2007 (Write courses@zanybooks.com
to be notified of our next course offering.)
Aim of the Course: This month-long course
will provide an easy introduction to writing for
and selling to magazines.
Who Should
Take This Course: Anyone who wants to earn
from their writing whether on a part-time or a
full-time basis.
Instructor:
Phillip Good has sold to almost every magazine
with computer in its title plus Ozark, Nature,
Sports Now, half a dozen newspapers, and
Volleyball Monthly. He is the author of 18
published books and is now in his sixth year of
teaching interactive online courses.
Prerequisite:
Participants should be able to use and be
comfortable with a word processor and a spelling
checker, and be familiar with the rules of grammar
Organization
of the Course: The course takes place over the
Internet. During each course
week, you participate at times of your own
choosing - there are no set times when you must be
online. Course participants will be given an alias
and access to a private bulletin board that serves
as a forum for discussion of ideas, responses to
publishers, and interaction with the instructor
and other students. The
course is scheduled to take place over four weeks, and should require no more than ten hours
per week. At the beginning of weeks 1 and 3,
participants receive the relevant course
material. During the intervening period, participants are
expected to go over the course materials, and
submit query letters and completed manuscripts to
publishers. Discussion among participants
is encouraged. The instructor will provide
suggestions and comments.
Course
Program: The course is structured as follows
SESSION 1:
Basic Concepts
Finding the Story
Finding the Market
The Query Letter
Tracking Submissions
SESSION 2:
Follow Up and Follow Through
Preparing the Submission
- Understanding requirements
- Cut, expand, cut
- Getting valid criticism
Flexibility
Repackaging old material
