classes & workshops

Here’s another video, this time for the Literary Techniques for Speculative Fiction Online Class. This is my favorite so far.

Discussion and in-class writing exercises designed to introduce a number of techniques to use in your own writing such as foreshadowing, alliteration, rhythmic device, allusion, etc, and ways to test them out in short fiction as well as discussion of when and where to use them.

I’ve been having enough fun with the free version of Powtoons that I’m thinking about upgrading. Here’s a video for the flash fiction that I’m 90% happy with. Please like it or share it if you enjoy it.

Video! Please like it or share it if you enjoy it.

More on the e-book that contains all the class info and then some. Here’s the working outline:

Sign up to be notified when the book is released here

Before You Start
What Do You Want to Accomplish?
Your Online Persona
Your Contact Database
Online Tool: MailChimp
How to Measure Success
What is Web 2.0?
Protecting Your Privacy

Your Website
At a Minimum
Your Name
Domain Names
Press Kits

Blogging
What is a Blog?
Parts of a Blog
Parts of a Post
Choosing a Platform
Getting Started
Deciding What to Write About
Writing Your Post
Example of a Book Promotion Post
Example of a Convention Write-up
Images
Linking
Comments from Other People
Content from Other People
Other Best Practices
Group Blogs
Other People’s Blogs
RSS
Monetizing Your Blog
Publicizing Your Blog
Online Tool: WiseStamp
Near + Far Promotional Posts, Annotated

Social Networks
Networking with Sincerity
How Much is Not Enough?
Best Practices
Online Tool: Namechk
Setting Things Up
Getting People to Take Action
Do You Need to Belong to Every Network?
Reviving Dead Media Channels

Facebook
What It Is
Who’s the Mayor of Your Data?
Fan Pages
Groups
Events
Best Practices
Advertising
Privacy
Facebook Metrics

G+
What It Is
Your G+ Profile
Circles
Hangouts
Pages
Best Practices
G+ Tools and Shortcuts

Pinterest
What It Is
Best Practices
Metrics
How Writers, Editors, and Publishers can use Pinterest

Twitter
What It Is
Hashtags and Twitter Chats
Your Profile
What to Tweet About
Getting Followers
Getting Retweeted
Twitter Tools
Wordpress and Twitter
TwitPic
Twitter Metrics: Basic Metrics
Online Tools: Followerwonk
Online Tools: Klout

Other Social Networks
Webforums and Discussion Boards
Foursquare
Tumblr

Bookmarking Sites
Delicious
Digg
Reddit: How Reddit Works
Reddit: AMAs
Reddit: How a Writer Can Use Reddit
Reddit: Communities
Stumbleupon: What It Is
Stumbleupon: Best Practices

Crowdfunding
What It Is
IndieGogo
Kickstarter
Best Practices

Reader Communities
Amazon
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari
Others
Best Practices

Audio & Video
Podcasting – Audio
Podcasting – Video
Reasons to Use YouTube
Creating a YouTube Channel
Monetizing YouTube
YouTube Metrics
Vimeo/Vine

Search Engines
SEO Basics
Writing Copy with SEO Keywords
Investigating Keywords
Best Practices
Google Analytics
Basics
Best Practices
Resources

Other Metrics
Bit.ly
Klout

Building Your Fan Base
Finding Your Fans
Encouraging Your Fans
Dealing With Trolls
Gamification

Managing Your Time
Tracking Things
Online Tool: Rescue Time
Productive Procrastination

Mobile Devices
What It Is
Making Websites Mobile-friendly
Creating Mobile Apps
Windows Phone App Studio

Miscellania
Introduction
Arguing on the Internet
If You Screw Up
Grouping Up
Managing Multiple Identities
Press Releases
Online Tools: QR Codes
Networks around Us
Self Promotion & Career Building
Selling More Books
Creating an Online Presence For Your Group
Teaching Writing Online
On Award Pimpage
Privacy Best Practices
Online Tools: URL Shorteners
Creative Commons Licenses
Online Tools: Wikis

Appendix: Sites Mentioned.

This Sunday, Folly Blaine and I are teaching another podcasting class. Here’s the description:

Podcasting Basics
Podcasts, both audio and video, are an increasingly popular way to reach an audience. In this two hour session, learn what you need to know to record and edit your own podcast, how to promote your podcast, and what equipment and software to use. As Folly Blaine, Christy records and acts as Podcast Manager for Every Day Fiction, and has also recorded podcasts for Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Wily Writers, and This Mutant Life; Cat is the former fiction editor of Fantasy Magazine and has recorded podcasts for Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Fantasy Magazine. Limited enrollment ““ reserve a slot now!
Sunday, 9:30-11:30 AM PST, February 9
$99

Why might you be interested in podcasting and learning to do your own? Here’s a few reasons:

• It’s a good way to reach a new set of readers. Many of the people who listen to podcasts prefer that to finding your stuff in text form inline. They’ll listen to your story in the car, while exercising, while working, and other places where text isn’t convenient. And they’re always looking for new, good stuff.
• It’s a great way to polish your reading aloud skills. As a writer you’ll need to do readings. We’ll give you some tips in the class, but the best way to get better at it? Practice.
• It makes you comprehend your work in a new way. I always read aloud stories as a last step in polishing them. Combine that with recording a podcast and you’re examining your work in order to figure out how it sounds.
• Last week, my agent told me that authors who record their own books see a significant bump in sales, but that publishing houses don’t like to have them do it, because they’re unsure of the quality. If you can point to previous podcasting experience, you can back up the suggestion that you read your own work and even have samples of what you can do.

When publicizing “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” I made sure it was available in audio form. Did that help earn it a Nebula nomination? I don’t know, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

Enjoy this advice for writers and want more content like it? Check out the classes Cat gives via the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers, which offers both on-demand and live online writing classes for fantasy and science fiction writers from Cat and other authors, including Ann Leckie, Seanan McGuire, Fran Wilde and other talents! All classes include three free slots.

Prefer to opt for weekly interaction, advice, opportunities to ask questions, and access to the Chez Rambo Discord community and critique group? Check out Cat’s Patreon. Or sample her writing here.

I’m glad I’ve got enough students for the Editing 101 online class that starts tonight, but I’d love a couple more. Mention reading this when you mail me about the class and I’ll give you a special deal. 😉

So what do we do and who is the class aimed at?

The class is aimed both at writers who want to learn to edit their work better as well as editors who want to hone their skills and learn about it as a career path.

Here’s what the three two-hour sessions cover. They’re spaced two weeks apart.

1. Developmental edit. I describe my revision process and how people can adapt it to their own. We look at examples of developmental edits, work through a checklist of items to look for, and talk about developing your own theory and process of editing.
2. Line and copyediting. I look at things on the sentence and paragraph level and supply a number of examples as well as working through an in-class exercise. Again, I try to provide a checklist that you can take away and use in your writing and editing.
3. Editors. I talk about working as an editor, and what resources are available to people who are looking for such work, as well as where people looking for slush-reading positions can find them. I also discuss the writer-editor relationship in a way that should clarify it for both sides of the equation and provide tips on making that process work more smoothly. A class exercise is designed to help you figure out story order for collections, chapbooks, anthologies, and magazine issues.

Got questions? I’d be happy to answer them.

The first session of this class went well! Nisi Shawl was a terrific guest speaker.

In talking about reviews, we talked about good reviews and what they do. Here’s the notes from that.

• Provide a sense of the reviewer, their styles and biases.
• Explain what makes the reviewer say something is very good or very bad.
• Provide a sense of the book’s context and comparable books.
• Make you want to read the book but without creating unreasonable expectations.
• Alert the reader to problematic things without providing preconceptions.
• Be diplomatic but honest.
• Provide an educated impression of the book that tells the reader whether or not they should invest time/money in the book.
• Delve into what about the book created a particular impression.

Other topics we touched on: how you get started doing book reviews, what limits to have regarding spoilers, how to write a negative review well, promoting yourself and your reviews, networking, how to evaluate reviews, and the best way(s) to get better at reviewing. I thought it went really well and had plenty of interesting conversation and questions.

The next Art of the Book Review online class will happen Sunday, March 30, 9:30-11:30 AM PST. Nisi will be appearing as a speaker for the class in this session as well.

So I wanted a postcard to put on con giveaway tables advertising my classes because I’m always trying to scare up new students. I know that once they take one class, they’re very likely to take more from me, which really pleases me, but the trick is getting them into that first one.

I had a Vistaprint coupon, so I ended up paying around $40 for 1000 of these. I looked it over pretty thoroughly and made Wayne do the same, but now that I’ve ordered them I’m sure at least one typo will show up. Still, this will give me something I can put out as well as something I can give people when they ask about my classes. Note that I’ve been very 21st century and even included a QR code. I used a Bitly link for that so I’ll be able to track how many people actually use that code (the QR code was Mark’s idea, the bitly URL Wayne’s – see what smart fellows I hang around with?)

One of the things Codex does that I intend to make use of is mailing each other postcards to stick out at cons. I’ve distributed my share, so I’ll try to figure out a couple of conventions that I’m not attending next year where I think they might do well, and then find people attending those who are willing to put something on the giveaway table for me.

Okay, so I’ve realized I have to bite the bullet and learn to do some graphics stuff or else be dependent on other people, which is irritating. So here’s an attempt at a postcard advertising my classes, which I thought I’d use at cons to promote them. I know this is lame, but suggestions are very welcome. First up is a different font, I think.