[Workshop] Story Mastermind (Mary Kole)

Link: https://www.storymastermind.com/

Welcome to the forum!

How did you hear about Story Mastermind? If it was through something like a promoted post/tweet on social media then you should be quite apprehensive. There are tons of people who do "master classes" online who aren't experts in in the subject matter and all you're getting is a very expensive Coursera class.

Writing retreats/workshops can cost thousands of dollars but you're getting room/board, too, and the teachers are brought to that location as well. But if this is all remote/over Zoom, then there's no reason for the cost to be that high. The "team" has one writer and 3 editors, so is this really "I'm going to tell you what you need to edit" or "I'm going to teach you how to write?" But the fact that this is over 6 months makes the price a little more manageable. It's still Quite A Lot of money, though.

"Beware people hawking editing services online" is generally good and sensible advice, but fwiw, Mary Kole is a well-respected, credentialed, and experienced editor in kidlit.

I can't answer whether or not the money's worth it for the OP, but there's nothing to fear about legitimacy in this particular case.

I subscribe to the same newsletter! LOL! Mary Cole used to be a children's book agent. I am betting the class is good, but this is the first one she's offered so it doesn't have the track record of say- Golden egg Academy (a British class in the same vein). If you can afford it without it being a huge financial drain it might be worth it. I KNOW I can't afford it so I didn't look into it too deeply. You might be better off taking free SCBWI (well- free with membership) webinars. But you'll have to decide. I'm guess there is a lot of one-on-one with this kind of workshop, but I've never taken one like this so I don't know.

I do not know how far along you are in your writing craft; you may have a mature grasp and know what you are about, with a polished draft ready to submit. (In which case, scroll down to the next post.) If this is not the case, though, and, like me, you are still getting to grips with writing, I think I would look at other free resources on the internet first, before stumping up a wad of cash.

Brandon Sanderson has a series of writing turtorials on YouTube that I found interesting. He writes fantasy, but I think they are worth looking up, regardless of your genre/intended market. Check out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6HOdHEeosc

In fact, there appears to be an active author community on YouTube. Check out, for example:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ShaelinWrites/videos and
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=reedsy+writers

There are a load of others. As with everything, some of the stuff is much better than others, but the kicker is that it is all free.

This forum also provides a wealth of advice on writing. Look at the stickies within Basic Writing Questions as a sampler.

Again this depends on how far your writing has evolved, but, if you are relatively newish, then raise your post count up past 50, at which point you may then post a sample of your own work for feedback. That might let you know whether you are ready to enrol on such an expensive programme, or whether you need a bit more application and self-study to make it worth your while.

Rita Koontz said:

I just quit my job to write a book

Click to expand...

I like talktidy's advice - and I'd add that it might be worth starting the writing at once, rather than procrastinating. Quitting your job in order to write a book is a huge step, and suggests you have a book in mind? I'd dive straight in to writing it, while it's fresh - even if it's just note form to start with.

Procrastination is the devils way of wasting time. Or something. Also - it feeds itself. It's best avoided. The masterclass will still be there when you finished the first draft.