Thanks for the Workshop Comments!
Got Great Comments About My Question Last Night…
Plus a bunch of people wrote privately as well. Thank you everyone. Very much appreciated.
I got one question that came up in the online comments and that was the suggestion we do this on video online.
Answer: Simply, nope.
Never will happen I’m afraid.
There is a reason people call this a “show” and that would not come across at all in video. This is two very long-term, very experienced, professional writers and editors, in front of you talking and making publishing entertaining and fun while you learn.
Not at all sure where, in this modern world, you would get a chance to be with two writers like me and Kris for three days, having us put publishing and writing in perspective and you be able to talk with us and ask questions.
So I understand the desire to have this one online. Nope. Just as the craft workshops would not work as well online. We have taken over forty workshops and a bunch of lectures online. We know what works online, and what works in person. The intense small craft workshops, the Business Master Class, the Anthology workshop, and the Kris and Dean Show will only be in person and now in Las Vegas.
And nope, we won’t record any of them. Again, sorry.
So hope that clears that up. Stay tuned tomorrow for an announcement.
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And speaking of Online Workshops…
MAY INSIDER’S GUIDE Workshops
Sunday the two May Insider’s Guide workshops started. The first live webinars for each will be this upcoming Sunday and they run for four weeks, with recorded videos and assignments every week and a webinar at the end of every week.
The webinars are basically me talking for an hour with you folks asking questions that I answer. It is live, but I am the only one on video. Everyone else is asking questions through a chat function.
These two are going to be great fun. And I am still laughing about the first assignment Kris came up with for the Writing Detective Fiction workshop.
— Insider’s Guide to Writing Serial Fiction (2,000 word parts of a novel) (Starts May 6th)
— Insider’s Guide to Writing Detective Fiction. (Starts May 6th)
$300 each, limited to ten writers plus lifetime subscribers. One time workshops. They will not be regular. Sorry.
(Lifetime Subscribers have access to them of course as well as all new courses going forward. And all workshops as well.)
GO TO TEACHABLE TO SIGN UP.
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MAY REGULAR WORKSHOPS
These started last Tuesday and Wednesday, but still lots of time to jump in. Just starting the second week.
Sign up directly through Teachable or if you have a credit, write me directly to sign up. These workshops have just started. Still Time To Jump In!
https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com
Class #49… May 1st … Depth #3: Research
Class #50… May 1st … Author Voice
Class #51… May 1st … Dialog
Class #52… May 1st … Writing into the Dark
Class #53… May 1st … Writing Fiction Sales Copy
Class #54… May 1st … Writing and Selling Short Stories
Class #55… May 2nd … Depth in Writing
Class #56… May 2nd … Business
Class #57… May 2nd … (open)
Class #58… May 2nd … (open)
Class #59… May 2nd … Novel Structure
Class #60… May 2nd … Writing Fantasy
5 Comments
Karen
Hi, Dean and everyone!
Like Fred Aiken, I attended two Kris and Dean shows, both put on by Southwest Writers. (I think). The first was in Phoenix and the second at the Southwest Writers yearly convention. ( Hi, Fred! I miss the LERA meetings since I moved! Lol)
The benefit for attendees—- and the reason they won’t work in video is as follows. They were intensely interactive. Kris did a segment in both where she and the attendees TOGETHER came up with a short plot for a book, using Wilhelm’s Law and Kris’s writer’s intuition. I still remember without checking my notes the one at the convention. And that’s just one example of what they taught That wouldn’t resonate well on video.
Trust me when I say that the in-person K And D show is worth the money for writers of all levels.
dwsmith
Thanks, Karen. And folks, keep in mind, we now have almost 20 years MORE experience than when we did them the first time. (grin) Oh, wow, will these be fun. That’s why we are going to three days.
allynh
Wow, when I said do a “video” I did not mean the simple screen shoot that you do sitting at your computer.
You guys are thinking the Kris and Dean Show put on by you guys in some conference hall, to a handful of people. I’m talking an actual production, that may not be that expensive, that thousands of people can learn from.
Look locally and see if there is a film training program at the local community college or the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. See if they want to do a documentary style shoot while the “show” is ongoing. Partner with them. You get a video of the “Show” and they get the training on something real.
Plus, you now have access to Las Vegas PBS. I’m sure that they have local shows that they do the same way the local PBS station here in New Mexico has shows, like Colores.
– You have access to resources now that you are unaware of.
Find out at what can be done to capture a full blown record of your K and D show.
dwsmith
Well that made me laugh. And shake my head. You clearly have no idea what our in-person workshops are. We have never, in almost 20 years, recorded one minute of them. And never will, no matter the production values. Why? Because we want to be honest and clear and plain-spoken with those who have paid the money to get there. And we can’t do that if we record it. When I go to a conference that is being recorded, I always hold back and be careful of what I say. The writers don’t get the real me and my real opinions. Sadly.
So yes, I am fully aware of what is possible out there. I have a former Hollywood producer working for us and I worked in Hollywood at different times and actually wrote scripts, one was even made. And our publisher worked for a major corporation doing their conferences. And Kris wrote and produced scripts for major foundations. We know exactly how to do all that crap other conferences do. Our conferences are very different and purposefully so.
So caution on assuming we are ignorant. Sort of insulting. I know you were trying to be helpful, but honestly, we do know exactly what we are doing. For 19 years we wanted rustic at the coast and got it. Now, moving forward, we are going for more comfort, but the same style of learning and focus and honesty. If a writer pays the money and time to get to one of our conferences, we think they are special and give them their money’s worth.
And besides, we have over 40 workshops online and over twenty lectures. So it’s not that we are not doing online teaching. But we are doing that in our own way as well.
Sorry to be so blunt, but I just sort of hate it when someone assumes I am stupid. Except of course when I am sitting across from them at a poker table. They I let them think I am stupid and lucky as I take their money.
allynh
HA! I see. Thanks…
BTW, I’m reading through the Heinlein. I’ve read Grumbles From the Grave, and am now finishing off Expanded Universe. Reading them after all these decades — they are astonishing documents.
– It is so clear what he was doing.
All this fits with my latest WIP, in an amazing way