All Pennwriters Courses are conducted in a “live” presentation format utilizing the Zoom platform. If a conflict arises based on the required meeting times, please contact the instructor and Online Courses Coordinator to find a possible solution. ALL sessions will be recorded.
Christmas In July: Creating a Holiday Reader Magnet That Works With What You Write! A course for fiction and nonfiction writers who are looking to write the perfect reader magnet to maximize excitement during the holidays and beyond. It’s never too early or late to create a magnet and juice your sales and marketing platform! Even writers who are still drafting, have only begun querying, or are just starting to build their website and social media presence will benefit from creating a reader magnet.
- Lead/Reader Magnets: The concept of a reader magnet can be applied to your writing life throughout the year. A reader magnet is normally a shorter piece of writing that you offer for free or in exchange for things like signing up for your newsletter. It gives new readers a chance to experience your storytelling prowess at no risk and it offers longtime readers an incentive while waiting for your next masterpiece. A lead magnet is a tried and true staple of the business world. Authors who grasp that their responsibility extends into marketing their fabulous books, know this valuable “product,” can be vital to building sales and developing an active, devoted reader base.
- HOLIDAY Reader Magnet:A holiday lead magnet amplifies the benefits that come from creating a free story at any time of the year. Each holiday season, readers search for books and stories to feed their holiday spirit, calm their hurried souls, and to give as gifts. This is your chance to provide an antitidote to their angst. This energized time period between October and early January offers a unique opportunity to “meet” new readers and strengthen your connection to those who already love your work. Think of all the print books that are given as presents and all of the Kindles, Nooks, and new phones that spring to life during the holiday season. Now imagine readers unwrapping a stack of your books or clicking into their Kindle to read your work. A reader magnet can help cultivate an audience that is salivating for your latest, for your next greatest. Give them the perfect little literary bon bon or bauble this holiday season.
Description:
Working with Kathleen and collaborating with classmates during class and in a private Facebook group, each student in the Christmas in July course will brainstorm, plan, and write an unforgettable story or article to use during the upcoming holiday season. The course will allow for time for authors to plan and brainstorm cover concepts. Depending on participants’ goals, they will experiment with making a cover and/or begin the process of locating and collaborating with a cover designer.
Author Benefits/Takeaways—Participants will:
- Receive printed materials sent right to their mailbox. These will be used during and after the course ends to offer initial and continued support.
- Brainstorm, plan, and write a reader magnet to use during the pending holiday sales season.
- Brainstorm and plan holiday cover concepts.
- Begin the process of making a cover or connecting with cover designers.
- “Meet up” with Kathleen and classmates in the private Facebook group or through email for feedback (if desired) between class sessions.
- Learn concepts and skills that can be used in holiday seasons going forward and for marketing at any time of the year.
- Learn and engage with Kathleen and other students during the four one hour zoom sessions.
- Finish the personalized, collaborative course with a full-bodied draft of a story that will help sell their work and them to new and current readers.
BIO:
Bestselling, award-winning author, Kathleen Shoop, PhD, writes historical fiction, women’s fiction and romance. She has written six holiday novellas and novels that provide readers with seasonal magic while introducing them to her non-holiday titles in the process. Shoop’s writing has garnered various awards in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards, Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and Readers’ Favorite. Kathleen has been featured in USA Today and the Writer’s Guide. Her work has been used in university courses and appeared in Writer’s Digest, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Chicken Soup for the Soul and Pittsburgh Parent magazine. Kathleen is co-coordinator of 23 Mindful Writers Retreats, co-coordinated the Pennwriters Conference 2023, and is a regular presenter at conferences and in classrooms.
E-Mail: kathleenshoop@gmail.com
Website: www.kshoop.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Kathleen-Shoop/100057696591811/
Instagram: @kathleenshoop
Twitter: @kathieshoop
TikTok: kathleenshoopauthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Shoop/e/B0051FCVQU