I'm so excited to interview Claudine Wolk and Kate Brenton, creators of the Sit & Write: A Writing Master Course. It's a course for writers who know they have a book in them, but don't know where to start or how to meld it into their mission.
Kate Brenton, author and inspired teacher, joins book marketing expert, Claudine Wolk, in this class that combines the spiritual and analytical sides of writing to get your mission and your message into the hands of those who need it. Community calls, video lessons, and one-on-one calls combined with the unique insight of Kate (spiritual) and Claudine (analytical) will provide pieces of what is needed for your book to get written and seen.
Find out more information about their course by visiting their website. Use WOW2022 for an early bird discount! Registration ends 10/15/2022.
Before we get to my interview, get to know a bit more about Kate and Claudine:
Kate Brenton, published author and inspirational teacher, will help you work through the structure and cadence of your story, refine your voice, and reach your audience. Kate has an uncanny knack of intuitively following a thread and unearthing resistance that clouds a writer’s voice. Writers will receive 3 one-on-one calls with Kate to review material, work through voice, or another writer-selected topic on the creative process.
Claudine Wolk, published author and book marketing muse, will help you to identify your book’s message, audience, and hook - the building blocks to determine the viability and focus of your book idea and later marketing materials. You will receive 2 sixty-minute-one-on-one calls with Claudine to flesh out your book idea and get your questions answered on good publishing practices. Claudine will also teach on the art of pitching your book (because it is an art and you get to practice.
-- Interview by Nicole Pyles
WOW: I can't wait to find out more about this course! What can people expect from taking it?
Kate & Claudine: With full committed participation, Sit & Write will be the space where you create the first draft of our book and learn the first, most important steps to successfully market the book.
WOW: That's fantastic! Why do you think people have a hard time disciplining themselves to write?
Kate & Claudine: It's the discipline and time management, coupled with standing your ground against resistance and doubt, which inevitably arrive. Sometimes we doubt the content as a facade for doubting ourselves or we can be so close to what we are creating that we cannot truly see it. The beauty of writing is that it's you and the word, but that is also the difficulty.
WOW: So true, conquering that doubt is such a challenge. Kate, you work with writers on overcoming their doubts while also helping them structure their novel. What are the roadblocks do you notice writer's struggle with the most?
Kate: Accepting that they have 1,000 things to say but there is only room for 10. So, a writer has to trust their intention and the scope of what they have set out to write to maintain a coherence and elegance for the reader. What the writer wants and what the reader needs can sometimes be a dance in creation.
WOW: It is a dance! Claudine, you teach a lot of what goes into the marketing of the book. What do you think are the most important parts of figuring out how to market your book?
Claudine: Number one is to learn the publishing options available so that you understand the correct timeline of the important promotion opportunities available to give your book the best chance to be seen and sold. Marketing starts while you are writing your first manuscript! Number two is to identify your message, audience, and hook. Message, audience and hook are the fundamental building blocks that will inhabit every part of your media kit and marketing plan.
Kate & Claudine: With full committed participation, Sit & Write will be the space where you create the first draft of our book and learn the first, most important steps to successfully market the book.
WOW: That's fantastic! Why do you think people have a hard time disciplining themselves to write?
Kate & Claudine: It's the discipline and time management, coupled with standing your ground against resistance and doubt, which inevitably arrive. Sometimes we doubt the content as a facade for doubting ourselves or we can be so close to what we are creating that we cannot truly see it. The beauty of writing is that it's you and the word, but that is also the difficulty.
WOW: So true, conquering that doubt is such a challenge. Kate, you work with writers on overcoming their doubts while also helping them structure their novel. What are the roadblocks do you notice writer's struggle with the most?
Kate: Accepting that they have 1,000 things to say but there is only room for 10. So, a writer has to trust their intention and the scope of what they have set out to write to maintain a coherence and elegance for the reader. What the writer wants and what the reader needs can sometimes be a dance in creation.
WOW: It is a dance! Claudine, you teach a lot of what goes into the marketing of the book. What do you think are the most important parts of figuring out how to market your book?
Claudine: Number one is to learn the publishing options available so that you understand the correct timeline of the important promotion opportunities available to give your book the best chance to be seen and sold. Marketing starts while you are writing your first manuscript! Number two is to identify your message, audience, and hook. Message, audience and hook are the fundamental building blocks that will inhabit every part of your media kit and marketing plan.
WOW: Yes! I don't think people realize that marketing starts while you are writing. It takes time to build a plan. Kate, what kind of resistance do you see writer's struggle with when finding their voice?
Kate: For some writers there is an un-learning that needs to happen. As in so many areas, they have assumed a voice that is needed rather than trusting their own. This can look like a journal prompt flowing more easily than a significant chapter. Rectifying this is acknowledging how the writer feels (mindset) when they write in that natural voice and leaning in there, until it becomes the voice.
WOW: Getting out of our own way is definitely challenge. Claudine, how do you help writers plan out the marketing method to your book?
Claudine: After a discussion of publishing choices and making a publishing decision, we engage the writer in exercises to identify their message, audience, and hook. Writers come away from the exercises with an elevator pitch for their book and the backbones of a book proposal and/or query. We review the pitching process with tips and suggestions. Once the fundamentals are in place, we discuss book marketing options and how to narrow an author’s focus to what is actually doable from a financial and time management standpoint. Book distribution and book promotion opportunities are discussed for further research.
WOW: That is an exciting but difficult process! Why is the spiritual and analytical side of writing important to consider?
Kate & Claudine: Both are needed. If you are more guided internally you may hide from the marketing thinking that you can't do it or it's not necessary, but it is; not only for book sales, but to strengthen the reach or hook for the reader who does not know you. The analytical side helps take your book and provides the accessibility for your readers to find it! Likewise, if you are completely analytical in your writing and focusing only on the transaction of writing, you aren't allowing your reader the joy to sink in and unfurl to the fullness of your piece or your voice, fiction or non-fiction. For purpose-driven writers you need both.
WOW: So true! Can you share any success stories with us? Either through this class or through one-on-one work you've had with writers?
Kate & Claudine: For some of our early birds on this round, their first (free) consultation call gave them a call to action. For one writer, she decided to go with her gut and broaden her depth in her book and she is already writing before we begin!
Another author, between their intake call and signing up, chose to convert a class curriculum to a book and has also begun writing with a clear directive and a loose structure.
Both writers benefited from the intake assessment for Sit & Write: A Master Writing Course that both narrows the focus and asks the questions to illuminate the true intention of what is being written.
We are both published authors and know what it takes to write, publish and market a book. More importantly, our work with authors over the years, Kate as teacher/mentor, Claudine as book marketer/editor, has only heightened our desire to help authors get their message out there. Why should a writer’s message be stymied because he/she can’t get it out onto the page or because they were not aware of the book marketing steps that from the beginning of the process would have made the difference in getting their book seen and sold? We aim to change that circumstance with this class.
We are both published authors and know what it takes to write, publish and market a book. More importantly, our work with authors over the years, Kate as teacher/mentor, Claudine as book marketer/editor, has only heightened our desire to help authors get their message out there. Why should a writer’s message be stymied because he/she can’t get it out onto the page or because they were not aware of the book marketing steps that from the beginning of the process would have made the difference in getting their book seen and sold? We aim to change that circumstance with this class.
WOW: That's exciting! So much action happening so soon. I am can't wait to see what comes out of this course for people. Thank you again for your time today.
Again, find out more information about their course by visiting their website. Use WOW2022 for an early bird discount! Registration ends 10/15/2022.
Sounds like a great course! I can speak from personal experience that the fear of marketing the book can paralyze me during the writing process. Developing the initial framework for the book is also something that gets overlooked a lot. Claudine and Kate sound like they will offer the best of both worlds in the mentoring/instruction space. Thanks to Nicole for the interview!
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