Speaking

Writing Workshops

For two decades I’ve made my living writing, and I love sharing my writing experiences—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and expertise to help others strengthen their own writing and find their markets.

30 Seconds Till Shutdown: Crafting Your Pitch to Raise Interest

You’ve got a great idea for a book. Now all you need to do is find someone interested in publishing it. You’ll only have about 30 seconds to catch an editor’s attention. This interactive class will teach you how to craft your “elevator pitch,” the two or three sentences that encapsulate your idea and make an editor or agent ask you to fill in more of the details.

Analyze This: Breaking a Magazine’s Secret Code

If you understand what makes a magazine or e-zine different from its competitors, you can more easily craft a query an editor will respond to. How can you analyze a magazine without spending hours reading back issues? This hands-on workshop will include a magazine/e-zine evaluation sheet and an opportunity to evaluate one magazine in class, so you’ll know how to analyze any magazine and increase your article sales.

Your Passion in Print: Writing About What Matters to You

You really want to write about the things that matter to you, the things that break your heart or get you excited. But how do you do that for markets that are not quite as passionate about your topic as you are? This workshop talks about identifying passions, earning trust, and building bridges and platforms, as well as knowing when to cut your losses.

  • “Carol Cool’s copywriting class is for the experienced writer who wants to make a consistent income honing their writing craft. Carol provides practical tips and provides specific examples as to how a writer could write marketable and attention grabbing copy. Carol’s class is the copywriting 101 class you’ve been looking for!”

    Michelle Lazurek, author and speaker, Coopersburg, PA

Grab Them by the Throat: Writing Magazine Queries That Get Attention

Envelopes overflow your in-basket. No matter how many you open, more magically appear. And the ones you do open contain letters that are mind-numbingly dull. Ah, the glamorous life of a magazine editor. So what do you do if you’re an author whose query is going to wind up in that pile? How do you startle an editor out of the tedium? (Hint: It’s not with neon green stationery.) Learn to craft queries that grab the attention of editors from the first words and convince them that you can capture their readers’ attention as well.

Making It Fly: Organizing Your Piece for Effectiveness

It all sounds great in your head, but once you try to put your article on paper, that’s another story—and not a pretty one. When writing nonfiction, how do you organize the information you wish to communicate so that it all hangs together and your readers get the point while enjoying themselves? We’ll talk through the basics of the process, give you some skeletons to hang your work on and help you craft pieces that sell and minister to your readers.

Break Out of the Writing-Rules Prison: Knowing When to Break the Rules

Attend a writers’ conference or read writing magazines, and you’ll hear all sorts of rules—Write what you know. Study several issues of a magazine before querying. Query the little publications first to get experience. Write for free to gain clips. But in order to be successful, some of these rules need to be bent or even broken. You’ll discover ways to expand your writing as you flaunt the rules, and you’ll pick up some tools to help you make your way “over the wall” to freedom.

Make the Big Bucks: Copywriting for Fun and Profit

It can be tough to make a living as a full-time writer, especially in the Christian market. You can increase your income by writing marketing copy for corporations, educational institutions, nonprofits and small businesses. Learn about the opportunities and how to identify stakeholders, craft an effective call to action and develop your business.

Self-Editing for the Grammatically Challenged: Correcting Your Own Work

So you flunked fifth-grade grammar. Get over it! Editors don’t have time to rewrite your work. Learn editing techniques from a professional copy editor who had no formal grammar training. No talk of subordinate clauses and dangling participles, just solid advice and easy-to-remember tips. You’ll also learn secrets for professional proofreading and receive resource recommendations.

6 Secrets of Effective Advertising

Advertising can be costly, so you want to make it count. Using social media to “advertise” can be free, but you need to cut through the clutter. How do you do that? In this interactive seminar, Carol teaches you six key factors that advertising professionals use so you can ensure your advertising is the strongest it can be. You’ll have a better grasp on whom you are targeting and how best to reach them, and you’ll know what the core of that message should be.

Speaking Topics

Learn more about my speaking topics and how to book for your upcoming event.

 

Have Carol Speak For Your Group

An accomplished and flexible speaker, Carol tailors her topics to fit the theme and timeframes of your meeting, conference, seminar or retreat.