I am very excited to announce the launch of The Christian Writers Institute! Come visit at www.christianwritersinstitute.com.
Over three years ago I began thinking of the need for a place where writers could find the best teachers all in one spot. The idea percolated for awhile until this year when its development began in earnest. It is great to see it finally become a reality.
This new online site has been created to help Christians become proficient in the skills, craft, and business of writing. To build the Kingdom of God word-by-word. It does so by providing audio, video, and pdf courses taught by some of the industry’s best teachers. In addition, the Institute will publish a number of books on writing for writers, including The Christian Writers Market Guide (coming in December). Originally founded in 1945, it is estimated that over 30,000 students have been trained by the Christian Writers Institute. Its venerable history can be found here (link).
There are nearly 100 courses uploaded and available for you. We will be adding new offerings regularly with the goal to have hundreds online over time.
Every class can be used on any device. Once you have registered and paid for your class it is yours to revisit forever. We have audio classes that you can listen to while driving or running. Over a dozen video courses that you can view on your phone, your tablet, laptop, or computer. This is not a subscription site with a monthly fee. Instead we make all the material available a la carte to be enjoyed at your own pace and under your own budget.
We have nearly 40 teachers with lectures on everything from the book proposal, to “show don’t tell”, to travel writing, writing for children, marketing your books, and even a lecture on grant writing!
Our first published book under the CWI banner will be the 2017 edition of The Christian Writers Market Guide coming in December. That will be followed with books by Cec Murphey, Kathy Tyers, and many more.
The audio learner, the visual learner, and the reading learner can all benefit from what CWI offers.
I believe very strongly in the value of education and particularly in our profession. No matter where you are on your writing journey, from novice to veteran, the learning never stops. Having taught at over 100 conferences over the years I’ve seen the benefit for those who attend. But not everyone can go to a conference. And the conference should not be the only time a writer is learning. Thus the vision for the Christian Writers Institute began to percolate. It doesn’t replace the conference but instead enhances the learning experience. Plus, by going online we can cross all international borders.
Please take a look and let us know what you think!
I’ll have to check this out in more detail. It looks like there are some great courses over at CWI. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love, love, love that you can choose the specific class that you are interested. Most of the online education anymore wants you to sign up for a monthly fee whether you use the materials or even need them. This is a wonderful opportunity, and I thank you for being an innovator here!! I look forward to exploring the offerings more closely soon…
This is awesome! I don’t think we can begin to thank you for providing and preserving all the great teaching available to writers!
Congratulations, Steve! This is very exciting. Aspiring writers often ask me for info, so I’ll be glad to pass this on.
Wow! What a valuable asset for writers! Thank you for making this available!
Wow Steve! Congratulations! This is an amazing asset. I will be certain to share it with writers I coach. I love the format and the affordability. Thanks for once again, leading the pack!
Thank you for providing this. Love the idea of individual classes. Will be taking advantage of this great offer.
Wow! I just looked at audio lessons and this is wonderful! Thank you so much for providing this resource.
Great idea, Steve! Sharing this info with our critique group. I love the a la carte approach and affordable price.
I’ll be back when you’re up and running. Lifelong learning is important for writers, educators, and all others.
Jane,
Up and running? Not sure what you mean. The site is Live and working.
Steve
Great concept. It’s fun to peruse the topics and I have already purchased one of the lessons. My only question would be is it possible to list in the description or somewhere if it’s a recording from a conference class or a lesson recorded with no audience? Maybe it’s already there and I missed it. Thanks so much for putting this together – such a wonderful resource for writers!
Jan,
The course you purchased had this in the course description copy:
“The lecture was originally given at an American Christian Writers conference. If you want more information on their conferences and services visit http://www.acwriters.com.”
We’ve tried to do the same for every course so you know its origin. A majority of the video courses were not done “live”. If they are they are indicated as such. For example, some of the video courses are recorded video webinars. And two of my video courses were live courses I presented last Summer (both are indicated as such).
Thanks for your interest!
Steve
Ah, yes. Perfect. I’ll be using this site on a regular basis and spread the word! So many writers I know can’t afford to go to a conference or other travel to take advantage of similar opportunities.
I love the way this is set-up. There are definitely certain courses that I know will be invaluable for me as a novice writer and I’ve been praying for a way to work on my writing craft and to become a better writer. I am so excited about this and I can’t wait to get started! At the moment, I can’t afford to do conferences so I’ve been looking for a way to learn.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Wow! What great courses at an affordable price. CWI leaves no room for excuses for any writer, aspiring or accomplished. I’m looking forward to honing my writing from the comfort of my favorite recliner.
Thank you Steve, what a wonderful site. The cost is remarkable for the poor writer. I’m so excited I want to get started right now, but the kids are whinning, they say they are hungry, again.
I love this! I’ve been invited to “join” other online places where they offer courses and other services, but I would have to pay a monthly fee, whether or not I use their services. I am thrilled that this is an a la carte place where I can go to learn/brush up on things I need more help with.
So glad you shared this, Steve!
Oh, my goodness! This is so exciting. I’m really looking forward to taking some of these lesson after graduation in December. I LOVE that it’s set up so you can pay for each lesson rather than having a huge subscription fee. That’s gotten me in trouble so many times because of schedule changes.
Hi Steve,
The Christian Writer’s Institute is a fantastic idea. I plan to take advantage of the vast range of information you have made available. As a newbie, I welcome new learning opportunities.
Thanks!!
Oh my goodness! I’m so jazzed for this! I will definitely be cruising around the website! Thank you so much for this! 🙂
Exciting stuff! I’ll be back. 🙂
Love it when a desire becomes a reality. Congratulations, Steve. Excited for the opportunities to learn and grow from The Christian Writers Institute. Thank you for all of your dedicated work to organize this for us.
Love this! Thank you, Steve! I look forward to taking many of the classes. This is such a wonderful opportunity for all of us writers. Thank you again!
Such good news. And needed resource. Grateful for the a la carte style. Thanks for all your work for our industry, Steve.
brilliant idea. I know how much I benefited from Margie Lawson’s writing packets. Couldn’t afford her lectures but same info. at $22/packet.
As a missionary, I can’t spend $100’s doing courses and conferences. So thank you from people who have a limited budget.
This is definitely something our community needed. Thanks so much for putting this together–I’ll definitely be using it and passing it along to aspiring writers!
Excellent idea and excellent teachers! Congrats, Steve!
Thank you for putting this great opportunity together. Making decisions on where to start.
What a fantastic gift to the entire publishing industry, Steve!!!
Steve,
I’m so glad to see your initiative for the Christian Writers Institute. I’m in my senior year at a secular college working on an English/Fiction degree. What I’ve learned most from my curriculum is how much this college belittles Christianity and promotes immorality and applauds absurdity. Consequently, I’m inadvertently learning a lot about propaganda and perhaps even brain-washing techniques used in today’s secular fiction—which includes television.
How wonderful. Congrats! I look forward to hearing more. I’m ready to launch my first book – but want to move toward traditional publication. Would greatly appreciate your wisdom Steve. (I already do follow you and learn a lot from your posts…but this will be great!)
This is wonderful! I have always wanted to go to a conference but it has never been possible. This will be a nice way to learn until I can. 🙂
Hello Mr. Laube,
I am surprised and not very pleased that the majority of the courses are either audio or video. I would much rather have a text book and have written communication with the instructor and/or other classmates. Audio and video recordings simply wouldn’t hold my attention, nor could I watch or listen to them while doing anything else. Although I’m very familiar with multi-tasking, something is lost in the process, at least for me.
Do you think you will have more courses that are text based rather than audio/visual based?
Mina,
I’m sorry for the disappointment. As I mentined in the post there are multiple ways for people to learn….audio, visual, and text.
What you have described is the correspondence course model. Unfortunately they are harder to find nowadays. The main reason is they are expensive to administrate and expensive for the student. Having an interactive instructor is like having a personal coach. A wonderful thing, has become an unsustainable model for a school like ours. What has taken its place are teachers who are book coaches. They can be hired to work with you one on one. Ginny Yttrup, our admin person, is a book coach. C.S. Lakin, one of our instructors, is also a coach.
We have one pdf-only class right now called AN INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN FICTION WRITING. It is intended for the beginner. About 1/3 is written by me and the other 2/3 is from Gilbert Morris’ book on fiction. There are extensive exercises in each section to help the student implement the material they have read.
There are other PDF courses in development, but they take a lot of time to create.
Hope that helps,
Steve
This is a great resource as I’ve met or know many of your great instructors and wanted to share their information with others – now I can! And sometimes it helps to listen more than once to let a message really take root. Grouping the best minds together in one place, rather than several scattered membership sites, will be a super resource regardless of your level of experience. Thank you for bringing this to life for the industry. My favorite thing about knowing many authors has been watching those with a constant learning attitude and this will be an affordable option in step with the latest technologies.
I am thankful you are doing this because of the flexibility it offers. I have been to a few writing conferences, and they are worth the money for the great connections made. Conferences do cost a lot to attend, and I’ve had to cancel at least one registration because of a health issue. I got no return for my lost fees. This will be excellent for people who are not sure if they can make it to a conference. I am curious, assuming you will have a library from most popular conferences, how soon will the videos be available after a conference? I have not read through the materials yet. Forgive me for asking if it is covered there.
Janice,
An excellent question.
Our licensing arrangement is not yet comprehensive with all the major writers conferences. Part of the discussion is when to release that year’s material. Since many conferences have their own sales vehicle for courses they may not become part of CWI. For others we are limited to only those classes from previous years, not the most recent one.
So if you have a particular conference in mind, at this point I would recommend working with their online CD and mp3 sales offerings direct. Few courses are videotaped at conferences so most will be audio.
It may change over time. CWI is going to be a service to our writing community for many years to come. It is an ongoing and evolving resource.
We currently have five well known teachers working on brand new content for CWI. Some will be video courses. Some will be audio and powerpoint video combos. Some will be audio only. Some will be PDF only format.
Check back regularly or sign up for the newsletter where we will update our information periodically.
Steve
Congratulations! I share this with my writers group and we are all excited to get quality instruction from a trusted source. Thank you!
Thanks, Steve. I think your a la carte offering is something that has been needed in the online education market for some time. It makes your courses more available to writers–especially those just beginning their journeys.
Wonderful news! I am a new writer and am hoping to learn all I can about writing.
My first writing training was with the Christian Writers’ Institute in the 70s. Not kidding.
Cynthia,
Then we better get you to write an endorsement! That is so cool to know that CWI was the beginning. I hope this new iteration can have some of the same results.
Steve
There was a direct connection between CWI and my 33 years writing for radio. It’s a long story. 🙂
Thank you for preserving information from people, like Ethel Herr, who are no longer available to teach. I’m sure this will help lots of people.
Steve, I am so excited about CWI! I joined Jerry Jenkins’s Christian Writers Guild several years ago when I decided to start writing but needed courage and direction to begin. I felt like I lost a good friend when the guild dissolved. (I still follow Jerry, of course.) CWI sounds like it’s set up to give aspiring writers the tools and encouragement they need to start (and finish!) a book. I can’t wait to check it out. So many good things (Gilead, the market guide, CWI) are coming out of the agency. Congrats!
After so many replies, what more can be said? How about a reply in another language, like, Muy bueno! Gracias.
Anne Braly