DCWS - A Reminder and Some Great Feedback

Dzanc Books is pleased to share some of the feedback we've been receiving regarding the Dzanc Creative Writing Sessions.  



This letter is designed to remind you of our program and invite you to sign up for, or let others know of, what we believe is one of the most innovative online writing workshops being offered today.  If you've got a website, literary journal, literary blog, or any other means of spreading information along, we'd greatly appreciate your sharing the news of this program. 

Since announcing the program less than three months ago, we've provided mentoring help for nearly 100 writers - here is what some of them had to say afterward:

"I can't say enough about how valuable this process has been for me -- and will continue to be as I digest her comments and revise my story.  Her insight, encouragement and suggestions are just what I needed.

I will definitely participate in this program again in the future!  Thanks so much for the opportunity."
 
-- Jennifer Hollmeyer

"I am so glad you guys have this, I cannot tell you how pleased I am."

-- James Moore

"I found the experience quite wonderful."
 
-- Caitlin Hamilton

"Thank you so much for your time and for your words of encouragement.  And thanks especially for being so straight with me -- this is exactly the kind of tough coaching I need."

-- Michael Mussman

"Thanks so much for the in-depth critique . . . Also, I'm applying your no-holds barred editorial style to many of my other stories.  I appreciate your time and insights."

-- John Fox

I wanted to let you and Michele Battiste know that your program through her guidance has been extremely useful for me. I had gotten to a point in my project at which I felt stuck, and I don't have an effective writers group here in Japan to help me. Michele's comments and critique reminded me of some long-standing tendencies that I had forgotten I need to avoid, and she also made some insightful points which were new ideas for me. Best of all, I am reinvigorated and working hard on the project again. Thank you so much for that.

-- Jessica Goodfellow

Another student of the sessions wrote up a really nice review over at HTML Giant.

As a reminder, the DCWS is founded on the principle that many authors' lifestyles do not afford them the opportunity to obtain feedback on their writing - be it where they live, their work schedule, or finances.  We feel that all authors deserve the opportunity to have their work reviewed.  Unlike most of the current workshop opportunities - MFA programs, Low-Residency programs, colonies, online classes, etc. - the DCWS is unique in that it allows the writer to determine the parameters for their own review sessions.  With the DCWS, you sign up for what you want and need, not some pre-determined program.  

The DCWS is set up to provide a one-to-one working relationship with a published author, allowing you the benefits of their experience, in many cases both writing and teaching.  Nearly 100 great authors have already agreed to volunteer their services as mentors in our DCWS program.  The names you'll find in our database include award winning authors and teachers such as:  George Singleton, Myfanwy Collins, Dawn Raffel, Peter Markus, Leora Skolkin-Smith, Katrina Denza, Laura van den Berg, Kevin Wilson, Nancy Cherry, Jeff Parker and Mike Czyzniejewski. From this list, writers paying to participate in the DCWS may select an available author to work with. Participating writers will then have their work critiqued and can discuss in detail their writing and any other areas of writing in general they wish to explore with their DCWS author.  

The DCWS will utilize email to reduce the difficulties writers such as yourself have when looking to find feedback on your work.  Our workshops  remove the limitations of both time and distance as you'll send your work and questions to your mentor when and where you have access to the internet.  Each participant will determine how many hours of mentoring they need, as well as how to progress - you asking specific questions about your work, or you asking for your manuscript to be edited (10 pages per hour), or simply looking for a back and forth conversation about your work after the mentor you select has read the work.  

The program is being offered at an extremely low rate - many of the instructing authors volunteering their time to Dzanc do similar work as freelancers and charge much greater rates than are being offered here through the DCWS.  Other workshops and writing programs charge a lump sum of several hundred dollars up front.  Not only does the DCWS allow you to control and target your expenses, but 100% of the money brought in by Dzanc by our DCWS goes to supporting the writing programs we run for students grades 4-12.  These additional programs - currently being run nationally by Dzanc - are offered free of charge to students who would not otherwise be able to afford and experience these sort of writing programs.

The DCWS sessions are set up in hourly blocks and can be ordered as follows:

1 hour   - $20
2 hours - $30
4 hours - $50

The DCWS eliminates your need to travel to a university.  It also eliminates your need to lay out a few hundred dollars up front for an 8 or 10 week online course.  It allows you to jump in and out when you are available, and also allows you to select from the list of authors that have generously volunteered their time to this project.  A full list is available at our website.  This list includes published novelists, short story writers, flash fiction writers, poets and non-fiction writers. If you don't feel the need to select a specific author, we'll simply assign a writer to you.  

For more information on our Creative Writing Sessions program, please send an email to info@dzancbooks.org.

In order to sign up now, head over to visiting the DCWS page at our website http://www.dzancbooks.org/creative.html and select your author.  After deciding how many hours to work with your mentor, click on the Paypal button that corresponds to that number, and fill in the mentor name in the appropriate field and we'll get you started.   

Sincerely,

Steven Gillis
Dan Wickett
Dzanc Books
www.dzancbooks.org

Comments

[Jon R Horton]

Dan,

I am another very, very satisfied customer. I found the perfect critic in Dan Abrams. He's someone who understands the culture I write from and about (the intermountain west), and his critiques are spot on.

Jon R Horton