Introducing She Writes University, incredible webinars for women--plus you can get a 25% discount on my one-on-one manuscript consults when you enroll

Fearless Leader Crystal Patriarche

Just some of the webinars!

You'd be crazy not to want to take a class with Rebecca Skloot!

Need some writing help and publishing guidance?

Here’s an exciting writing series kicking off today (March 2, 2017) and continuing this Spring from She Writes, the largest online community of women writers, that could help you on your manuscripts (and securing an agent and publishing in today’s market). She Writes will be offering 25% off my one-on-one manuscript consults to ALL writers who register and attend She Writes University! Whether you attend She Writes University or not, contact me at carleavitt@hotmail.com if you are interested in working with me on your manuscript.

So what is She Writes University?

It's a 7-week webinar series led by New York Times bestselling authors (many with ties to Oprah!) and publishing insiders. Each class is one hour, you can attend live or watch the recorded webinar at your leisure, and includes an hour-long Q&A with each instructor following their course, as well as membership into a dedicated Facebook group to interact with the instructors (via dedicated "office hours”), the moderator and other attendees.

She Writes University kicks off today (March 2) with Rebecca Skloot (whose book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, spent over four years on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted for HBO with Oprah starring and producing). Rebecca will be teaching “The Game-Changing Power of Structure” today at 7 pm EST. Don’t worry if you miss the live class or can’t attend live today, you can still register for She Writes University and have access to Rebecca’s recorded class (and all the classes) for 30 days so you can attend at your leisure (and return back to the recording if needed).
Other classes  - one per week for seven weeks - will be taught by bestselling memoirist and novelist Dani Shapiro, author Natalie Baszile (whose Queen Sugar was adapted for OWN and co-produced by Oprah), expert Regina Brooks on securing an agent and more.

Sounds great, right? See the fabulous classes and register for She Writes University here.

 I’m thrilled to be talking to Crystal Patriarche, CEO of SparkPoint Studio (parent company of She Writes) about it. Thanks for being here, Crystal!

So tell us about She Writes University? How can it help writers? How is it an offshoot of She Writes itself?

Crystal Patriarche: Thank you for having me, Caroline! Like you, I’m truly passionate about giving women the tools they need to succeed with their writing. I realized that within our SheWrites.com community (founded over seven years ago by the incredible Kamy Wicoff, who is still very involved today), there are so many ways we can learn from each other. The community is a mix of never-been published, debut and established authors alike, and She Writes University is a reflection of that. Whether you are a member of SheWrites.com or not, we have writing classes meant to help you get your manuscript started or put the final touches on it or hone your craft for the next book. There are also classes about securing an agent in this overcrowded market and classes about exploring non-traditional roads to publication. The instructors were handpicked for their dynamic and diverse backgrounds. These women are disruptors in their respective areas of publishing and their journeys to becoming recognized, established writers are paved with lessons learned that we are thrilled to share with other writers. Their passion drives their classes and they will be teaching some incredible lessons. You can attend all classes or pick and choose which classes interest you most.

How is this webinar different from others that are out there? How does it work and what can writers expect to gain from it?
Crystal Patriarche: These are so much more than webinars. They’re truly online writing classes and workshops, from incredible and diverse women, that have been in the works for over a year. We handpicked the instructors for their credentials and accomplishments, but also for how they complement each other. Each class can work well for a beginning writer as well as an established writer. They’re also completely accessible. The online nature allows students from all over the world to participate. And let’s face it – the fact that you get to attend in your pajamas from your couch is pretty great, too! These classes feature the online lecture but also a LIVE Q&A with the instructors right after class, plus office hours with each instructor, our moderator and other attendees in our private She Writes University Facebook group. It’s unprecedented access to these respected writers and professionals. And, if you can’t make the live event, you can always register and view the recording of the event at your leisure and still participate in the Facebook group with your fellow students.

You do a lot of things in addition to SheWrites.com and She Writes University, I would love it if you would talk about all of the programs under the SparkPoint Studio umbrella, including BookSparks.
Crystal Patriarche: I feel grateful everyday that I get to do what I love. As a lifelong reader and writer, I’ve always been passionate about stories and female voices in particular. SparkPoint Studio is the umbrella brand/ parent company that I started (after years of working with start-ups and brands on PR and content). Our tag line is “All Your Story Needs”. Essentially we offer authors everything their story needs - publicity, publishing and platform, all under one roof. But they can also pick and choose among our services. For instance, we work with authors and publishers on their publicity (PR, social media and marketing) through our leading BookSparks division. At this point, BookSparks has worked with roughly 500 authors and over 25 publishers (all word of mouth in the last 8 years).

Many authors realize that they need to invest in publicity and we are honored to work in conjunction with their publisher (if they have one) or directly with them to help bring their stories to national and online media, to build their brand and social media. Through our SparkPress and She Writes Press divisions, we also publish more than 300 authors and our lists continue to grow each year, under the direction of our incredible publisher, Brooke Warner. We are disrupting the traditional publishing industry by giving authors the best of traditional publishing and the best of self-publishing into a new way to publish called hybrid publishing. And then we have our incredible platform / community of  women writers at SheWrites.com, which has more than 30,000 members across the globe and is a wonderfully supportive place for women writers to learn from each other and celebrate one another. So, we have publicity, publishing and platform for writers and I get to do what I love every day with an incredible team and amazing authors – and we get to constantly launch new, innovative ideas and programs to help serve those authors, like She Writes University. 

And am I right, you are giving out discount manuscript consults for writers? How do writers find out about this?

Crystal Patriarche: That’s right! Anyone who registers for She Writes University (one class, three classes, all of them – attendees can pick and choose which classes they want to take) will also receive a coupon for 25% off of a one-on-one manuscript consultation with you! Thank you for helping us spread the word and for all you do to support women writers!