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THE GREAT BUNDLE Workshop. Brand New Coast Workshop

THE GREAT BUNDLE workshop

May 5th – May 12th, 2018

Announcing a new and innovative and fun writing workshop on the Oregon Coast. The Great Bundle workshop.

So what is The Great Bundle?

— A major writing workshop
— A series of short story bundles curated by writers.
— A promotion web site
— A branding of a series of books.

First off to the Workshop Structure

–Limit of 50 writers. (Same size as the anthology and master class workshops)
— Writers attending who want to be curators turn in bundle ideas ahead of time.
— For the six weeks ahead of time, five bundle ideas will be sent out per week.
— Writer attending can write short stories for none or one or all five bundles per week. No limit.
— Lower word count of 2,000 words per story. No upper limit.
— At the workshop each bundle with spots still available (each bundle limited to 10 stories) will be posted on white boards to show which bundle still has slots open for writers to write for.
— New bundle ideas will be created and written for at the workshop as well.
— Writers can write for any bundle they want, as many or as few.
–Every story turned in will end up in a bundle one way or another.

Writers will meet twice per day, once in early afternoon and once in early evening. Topics will include writing short stories, marketing, editing, and the business and value of bundling in all its forms. One major topic will be cross-promotion with other writers and other writers’ works which is a major new way of promoting all our work and the reason for this workshop at its core.

Night sessions will happen back at the Anchor.

Also networking lunches will happen as normal with all the large workshops here at the coast. Kip has said he will cook breakfasts for everyone and some lunches as well.

Structure of Each Bundle

— 10 stories per book/bundle.
— Each book/bundle will have its own title and unique cover.
— Each book/bundle will have a short introduction by the curator.
— Each story will have a short introduction and author information, also done by the curator.
— Each book/bundle will be sold on all major markets both in electronic and in paper.
— Each book/bundle will be branded in a way to make it clear it is part of The Great Bundle.
(Curator rules will be discussed closer to the start of the workshop after everyone is signed up.)

Copyright Information

–Each story for a Great Bundle book will be licensed as non-exclusive. That means you can put it on your web site, give it away, put it up live, put it in collections, and whatever else you want to do with the story.
— We would hope you would not do some of that until the book/bundle came out, but there are no restrictions.
— You will also get a copyedited file of your story from The Great Bundle which will save you copyediting on your story.

Payment Terms for Money Earned by Each Book/bundle

–Authors split 70% of money received (or in other words 7% since there are ten stories per book).
— Curator gets 10% and is also encouraged to have a story in the book as well to get another 7%
— The Great Bundle gets 20% for the production work.

The Great Bundle Will…

–Get the final file from the curator in a Word file.
— Do all contracts with each author.
— Format to match the Great Bundle branding.
— Copyediting of the entire book/bundle.
— Design cover of the book/bundle.
— Load the book/bundle to all sales channels.
— All accounting and monthly distribution of money.
— Web site promotion of each book/bundle.
— Social media promotion of each book/bundle.
— And much more.

Publication Schedule

–Starting about one month after the workshop, The Great Bundle will publish one book/bundle per week. There should be enough book/bundles to last for an entire year at a weekly rate.
— The weekly rate will allow subscriptions for The Great Bundle. All money from subscriptions will be split monthly under same payment terms to authors and curators and The Great Bundle.

What is In This For the Writers?

— A major learning and networking workshop. This is a writing workshop so writers will be writing as well as networking and attending class the entire time.
— Talks and informational meetings and lessons every day about deadlines, short story writing, marketing, bundling, publishing, covers, short story marketing, writing speed, editing, and so much more.
— Another monthly cash stream for each writer. (This will go on for years and years.)
— Major experience in editing a book from the start to turn-in for the curators.
— Group promotion. Each bundle will be like an issue of a magazine with your story in it. In each book will be contact information for readers to find more of your work.
–Each week The Great Bundle website will have an author spotlight, focusing on one author and where to find their work.
— Immense fun with the creation of so many books in one week. We see this possibly getting around 50 books/bundles out of the week.
–An excuse, a focus to produce a lot of short stories that will help your inventory and make you more money that way.
–And so much more. It is going to wild fun.

I expect most writers attending to write between six and ten new stories over the seven weeks. (Six weeks ahead, one week at the workshop.) That alone will be a major bonus for many writers, not counting the income for the stories, the networking, the cross-promotion, and so much more.

Some Limits

–No story from any writer outside of The Great Bundle workshop can be in a Great Bundle. No invites from outside no matter how big a name. You want to be in this new and innovative way to promote books and make a little money? You must attend the workshop.
–Only stories written for a Great Bundle book ahead of time or at the workshop can be in a book/bundle in this program. None of your older stories can be included, even if they fit a bundle topic.
–By the first week of June, 2018 you must have a Paypal account so The Great Bundle can pay you.

–This will be strictly limited to 50 writers with a waiting list after that.
— As with the other major workshops, payment of the $650 workshop fee reserves you a room in the Anchor. First come, first served on that.

CONTACT… Dean Wesley Smith with any questions and if you have not been to a coast workshop before, contact Dean to see if you fit in the craziness of coast workshops. More information on Coast Workshops under the Coast Workshop tab at the top of the page.

Come join the writing fun and story promotion in a wild and innovative writing workshop.

4 Comments

  • J. D. Brink

    I was skeptical at the very beginning of the post, then a little confused, then… Well, the more I read, the more fun and benefit I found.

    This does sound like great fun. Do you have an idea of “when” yet? (I don’t know that I could get off my masters’ leash, but I’d sure like the chance to try…)

  • J. D. Brink

    Okay, never mind, that question, Dean. It was the very first line of the post!

    May of 2018 I expect to be free of my indentured servitude, and possibly living in the Pacific NW. Too far out for me to plan at this time, though… But it sounds great!

  • J.M. Ney-Grimm

    Wow! This sounds like incredible fun! I wish, wish, wish I could participate in it. What a fantastic experience it will be. Is this the project you and Kris have been working on, that you mentioned a few posts ago? It’s wonderful! No wonder you were excited. 😀