How to Become a Professional Writer

How to Become a Professional Writer is a seminar Rewired Creatives gives for schools, colleges, writing groups and other organizations interested in knowing how to make a living as a writer. Topics covered are:

Blogging 101

• You know what a blog is, now how do you start one? This segment covers the beginnings from starting your blog, establishing focus, ground rules, publicity, sponsorship, advertising, and beyond.

Memoir Writing

• You’ve been told over and over that you should write a book about something that happened in your life. You are confident about your ability with putting sentences together, but you need guidance on how to create a meaningful arc of your story or how to add drama/humor to aspects of your life so familiar you’ve lost perspective.

Nonfiction Markets

• Print magazines still derive the majority of their content from freelance writers. We’ll share submission secrets and insider knowledge for getting published in magazines, websites and blogs.

Elements of Fiction

• This segment can be adapted to whatever focus your group undertakes. Can a fiction author jump from genre to genre successfully? What exactly is literary fiction and how does it differ from mainstream fiction? What age groups comprise children’s fiction? When is a story considered historical fiction?

Query Letters

• Agents are the gatekeepers to the big publishers. This session explains what makes a good query letter, how to research agents, ways to meet agents, and what NOT to do in a query letter. We provide examples of query letters that got results–that means landed an agent.

Types of Publishers

• Traditional, small press, hybrid, indie and self-publisher. These are names you hear bantered around in writer’s groups and in writing magazines. Exactly what are they and how are they relevant in today’s publishing market?

Self-Publishing

• Self-publishing has changed the paradigm of publishing so much in the last 15 years it deserves a segment of its own. We’ll share personal examples of how/when/why to self-publish and also give examples of personal experiences, along with the pros and the cons.

The flyer below is an example of a recent seminar given by Rewired Creatives at Piedmont Community College. We are available to present this, or a customized selection from the above, for your organization.