Owmapow’s Attempted Online Writing Workshop
by KJ Hannah Greenberg

 

 

Dear Ian@Friendly Publishing:

 

Okey-dokey, here's my idea. Let's join together to offer a series of short story writing workshops (see attached for six of my ideas for offerings. I’ve taught all of these courses in a face-to-face mode.) Each course will meet five times for two hours at a time, for a total of ten hours per course.

 

We ought to charge $150 per student. per course (unless you think we can charge more). You take 10% off the top for your services and send the remainder of the payments to me.

 

Your services:

* advertise courses as a Friendly Publishing product on your website and on others of your channels

* collect fees

* pay me, the instructor

* issue certificates to enrolees who complete a course

 

My services:

* provide live course content via Zoom or, provide autoresponder course content via a page on your website as well as via instructor/student emails

* respond to students’ completed assignments

* post additional information for students in either a live or an email format, as dictated above

 

These ideas are merely my initial volley. I think this product, i.e., online writing workshops, is relevant to and potentially profitable for both of us. Please let me know if you like this idea, hate it, or reckon somewhere in-between.

 

Warm Wishes,

Owmapow

(Dr. Owen Brownstone)

 

 

Owmapow:

 

I prefer using existent e-learning platforms such as Udemy or Khan Academy to Zoom as they’re easier to navigate and have recognized tools for manipulating content. Have you looked at their sites? Are YOU comfortable with their interfaces?

 

As the instructor, you’re the one who has to navigate whichever platform we decide upon and has to be able to use it when interacting with students (I’d merely set it up for you.) Unless you say, "yes, I can work with one of those or with a kindred platform," your proposal’s moot to me.

 

I’ve neither the resources nor the skills to set up an independent section of my website for online courses. So, we’d have to employ a preexisting service. See if you like any of the aforementioned platforms and then let me know which course you want to teach first. 

 

Thereafter, we’ll determine pricing. By the way, I KNOW NOTHING about selling online courses. I don't know the market and don't know what we should expect. I've done a lot of research about them, over the last few months. I discovered that the most successful ones are tied either to educational institutions or to large companies that can dump small fortunes into advertising.  

 

Once you let me know what you think about platforms, we’ll move forward.

 

Ian

 

 

Ian:

 

Attached please find a reading list and a homework list for the first course and for the subsequent five.

 

Owmapow.

 

Owmapow:

 

There’s a lot of potential in your offering. I need you to commit to a platform before I can seriously consider your idea. We'll have to work out the particulars and I’ll have to determine how offering this course will impact my workload.. For now, I’m preoccupied with completing this season’s books.

 

I defer to your judgment on running the classes, as you have experience doing so. It may be a good idea to take baby steps, i.e., to start with a short version of "Introduction to Creative Writing."  I’ll simmer on this for a week or two.

 

Meanwhile, it’s essential that you pick a platform. 

 

Ian

 

 

Sis:

 

So, teaching via Friendly Publishing’s website fell through. Their chief publisher only cared about platforms, not course content. That is, dollars drove him, not empowering inexperienced writers. I walked away from the deal.

 

I think I might start a YouTube channel. The problem is that I need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of public watch time within a year to monetize my channel. Content’s no problem. Taking sufficient time away from my volunteer days at the aquarium, though, that’s a difficulty.

 

I still can’t believe that someone would insist on a platform that is known to yield a profit.

 

Owen

 

 

Owen:

 

Even publishers can’t survive on air and high-mindedness. Stay with the stingrays and with teaching small children about guppies’ life cycle. Be grateful that the publisher even made time to consider your idea as well as to correspond with you.

 

I wish that the press, which you referenced, published literary books. I’m still trying to get The Poetry of Sibling Relationships published.

 

Meanwhile, might you visit this summer? We could take a long weekend at Cape Cod. You could look at the local aquatic species. I could work on my tan.

 

Love,

Your Little Sister, Rachel

 

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