What if you could take a writing course, be mentored by a
published author, and at the end, have your book published?
That’s the idea behind the Christian Writers Guild program “Published.”
Besides the shockingly creative name, there are other distinctives
about the course. Jerry B. Jenkins, founder of the Christian Writers Guild,
calls it “come-alongside publishing.” It’s kind of a halfway house between the
traditional publishing industry (which is not open to new authors) and
self-publishing (which doesn’t have much chance of success). The course, which
comes with editorial, design, and marketing help, ensures that the books being
printed are of a higher quality than your average self-published book, and
professional enough to get the reading public to take notice.
And it can be yours…for only $9,995. That is, if you stay
within the page limit and don’t need “substantial editing,” which accrue extra
fees. In the comments section of the CWG blog post explaining the new course,
the price was what many people mentioned as a negative factor.
Off the CWG site, bloggers got a little more intense. Some
people think the Christian Writer’s Guild is essentially ripping people off,
using the promise of a published book to up the price for a writing course.
Might as well print a fancy certificate instead, they’d say.
One blogger said of Jerry Jenkin’s newfound desire
to help aspiring authors, “I have a feeling that the epiphany had at least as
much to do with dollar signs.”
