YOUR BIG IDEA
Get serious about becoming a thought leader and design a pitch deck for your book
An intensive workshop with Jennie Nash, Founder and CEO of Author Accelerator and Sunni Brown, social entrepreneur, global keynote speaker, and best-selling author of Gamestorming and The Doodle Revolution
March 25 to 28, 2020 in Downtown Austin, Texas at the Center for Deep Self Design
12 seats available | $7000 investment
Research shows that 80% of Americans long to write a book and are motivated to make an impact by sharing their experience and expertise.
If you were launching a new product or a business initiative, you would begin by building a business case and getting key players to buy into your vision.
Serious writers begin their books the same way and even use visual-thinking techniques to deepen and accelerate the process.
In this hands-on, intensive workshop, we will use visual-thinking facilitation techniques to move you step-by-step from a general idea for a nonfiction book to a complete, crystallized pitch deck that captures your vision, your voice, and your purpose.
It’s the essential work you need to do in order to develop a book proposal that will capture the attention of an agent.
If you’ve been talking about writing a book, dreaming of writing a book, or writing the first chapter of your book over and over and over again, this workshop will get you past that hurdle and into the stages where serious writers must go.
Over three days, we’ll work through the eight essential modules to finalize your idea and pin it to the page.
You’ll be supported by expert book coach Jennie Nash and master visual-thinking facilitator and best-selling author Sunni Brown. Together with Jennie and Sunni, you will have all the resources you need to finally stop talking about the book idea inside you and truly bring it to life.
About Jennie Nash
Jennie Nash is the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator, a company on a mission to help writers write books worth reading by training book coaches to support them through the entire creative process. For twelve years, writers serious about reaching readers have trusted Jennie to coach their projects from inspiration to publication. Her clients have landed top New York agents, national book awards, and 5- and 6-figure book deals with houses such as Random House, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette. Jennie is the author of 9 books in 3 genres. She taught for 13 years in the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, as an instructor at CreativeLive.com and speaks on podcasts and at writing conferences all over the country. Jennie was instrumental in transforming Sunni’s forthcoming book, Deep Self Design.
About Sunni Brown
Sunni Brown is a social entrepreneur, best-selling author, keynote speaker, expert facilitator, Deep Self Designer™ and dedicated Sōtō Zen student. She recently founded the Center for Deep Self Design in Austin, TX and was named one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” and one of the “10 Most Creative People on Twitter” by Fast Company. Her TED talk has drawn almost 1.5 million views and her work on visual thinking has been featured in every major U.S. publication including The New York Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, WIRED, and Entrepreneur, as well as being featured twice on CBS Sunday Morning and on The TODAY Show. Sunni’s two globally-beloved books—Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers and Changemakers, and The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently—have been translated into 25 languages and counting. She is widely credited with the rise of visual thinking as a tool for deeper inquiry. As a facilitator, Sunni and her team have designed and led hundreds of group experiences in diverse industries, and CDSD reflects her evolution after more than a decade of interactive, facilitative work. Drawing on her expertise in creatively solving external challenges in business, Sunni turned her attention toward dissolving universal internal challenges, and is crafting a method of inner science called Deep Self Design™ which will be featured in her third book.
Workshop Schedule
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25
Arrive in Austin, TX
7:00 - 8:30 pm. – Meet Jennie, Sunni and fellow attendees –12 writers who, like you, are ready to become thought leaders by writing a book.
Welcome Talk – Jennie talks about goal of weekend, hands out successful book proposal samples.
Get a good night’s sleep – we’ve got a lot of collaborative work to do!
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
8:00 to 9:20 – Module 1: Why do you want to write this book? Find your deep-level why.
9:20 – 9:30 – Break.
9:30 - 10:30 – Module 2: Why are you the best person to write this book? Claiming your authority.
10:30 - 11:30 – Module 3: Who is this book for? Define your audience.
11:30 - 11:40 – Break.
11:40 - 1:00 – Module 4: What transformation do you want your ideal reader to make? Defining your point.
1:00 - 1:45 – Lunch on site.
1:45 - 2:45 – Module 5: Design a Table of Contents. Determining structure of your book.
2:45 - 3:00 – Homework instructions.
3:00 – Released for the day with homework to flesh out TOC and refine everything.
Dinner 6:30 - 8:00 – Small groups. We put them together and send people off to restaurants w/ reservations we have made. Each night groups change.
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
8:00 - 10:00 – Whole group sharing, Jennie checks in with each person (10 min each person), Sunni draws their ideas.
10:00 - 10:10 – Break.
10:10 - 11:00 – Module 6: Who else is speaking to this ideal audience about these ideas?
11:00 - 11:10 – Break.
11:10 - 12:30 – Module 7: How will you connect with your audience? The beginning of a marketing plan.
12:30 - 1:15 – Lunch on site.
1:15 - 2:15 – Module 8: Draft your one-page book overview.
2:15 - 3:50 – Module 9: Draft Chapter 1.
3:50 - 4:00 – Break.
4:00 - 4:30 – Print out overview + Chapter 1 draft for Jennie to review.
4:30 – Released for the day with homework to review + revise everything.
Dinner 6:30 - 8:00 – Small groups. We put them together and send people off to restaurants w/ reservations we have made. Each night groups change.
SATURDAY, MARCH 28
8:00 - 8:30 – Receive Jennie’s feedback, ask questions.
8:30 - 9:15 – The agents’ place in the publishing universe. How to find agents.
9:15 - 9:45 – Common book proposal mistakes and how to avoid them.
9:45 - 9:55 – Break.
9:55 - 10:15 – Facilitated Game for creating project timeline to finish book proposal.
10:15 - 12:00 – Module 9: Draft your last chapter.
12:00 - 12:45 –Lunch on site.
12:45 - 3:00 – Graphic Recording: Sunni’s Large-Scale Visual Capture of Group Ideas.
3:00 – Released for the day.
Dinner 6:30 - 8:00 – Jennie and Sunni join everyone for dinner.
Post-Retreat
Submit one-page book review to Jennie for polish edit.
Who Is This For?
Writers (and those wanting to be writers) who are ready, willing, and able to work hard in a concentrated workshop environment to develop a pitch deck for a nonfiction book. This workshop is for people who are experts in their field – whether their field is sports injuries or hair care, potty training or financial investment, public speaking or yoga – and who are itching to share their expertise and become a thought leader in their field. This event will not serve memoir writers, biographers, or fiction writers.
We require an application for this event. We will send a Q&A to those writers interested and Jennie will review them on a first come, first served basis. We will let you know within 48 hours if you are accepted.
Note that acceptance has nothing to do with your ability as a writer or your experience as a writer, nor does it have to do with the quality of your idea – the workshop is about taking an idea from vague to awesome. It has to do with your readiness to receive the kind of help Jennie offers. This is a highly structured program that is not right for all writers. Consequently, we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone if we feel the experience isn’t the right fit for you.
NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE FIRST SIX WRITERS TO APPLY and get approval, please DO NOT book flights or hotels until we have six writers confirmed for the workshop. We will not run the workshop with less than six writers. We will alert you when we reply if you are one of the first six and we will alert you when we have six confirmed writers.
Who Is This Not For?
If you are writing fiction.
If you are writing memoir.
If you already have a finished manuscript. This is NOT a revision course.
If you are looking for someone to write your book for you. This is NOT about finding a co-writer or a ghostwriter.
If you are not willing to work hard. This is NOT a course for people who believe it is fast and easy to write a book worth reading.
If collaborating with and being supportive of others isn’t available to you. Part of what makes this workshop so powerful is the good-natured quality of our exchanges. This also raises the bar on everyone's work.
Participant Investment
$7,000
$7000 covers the workshop and all visual-thinking materials, lunches, and snacks.
Participants are responsible for their own travel, lodging, breakfasts and dinners — but you will not eat alone. Participants will be curated into smaller groups for dinner each night and reservations made at restaurants within walking distance of The Center for Deep Self Design.
Additional Service Options with Jennie Nash
For any participant who wishes Jennie and her team to edit their full book proposal -- $10,000, pending space in Jennie’s schedule. (Other book coaches available for lower fees.)
For any participant who wishes Jennie and her team to help researching agents, developing a pitch letter and pitching -- $6000 pending space in Jennie’s schedule. (Other book coaches available for lower fees.)
Lodging Options
The Center for Deep Self Design has lodging options for you to stay either onsite or within a 10-minute walking distance to the workshop site. These are AirBnB rooms — CDSD is a Superhost. Details will be available soon. This is one of the available rooms:
Refund Policy
There will be no full refunds given, as it is unlikely, due to the nature of the experiences, that we will be able to refill your seat. If you are not able to attend the workshop, we will grant a 50% refund. If the cancelation is on our part, we will honor a refund.
FAQs
Is a payment plan available?
For ease of planning, payment is due in full to reserve your space.
I have dietary restrictions and/or allergies. Are you able to accommodate me?
Prior to the experience, we will provide all participants with a form to fill out to share any dietary restrictions and/or food allergies so we can accommodate them.
What happens if I've paid but can no longer participate in the experience?
There will be no full refunds given, as it is unlikely, due to the nature of the experiences, that we will be able to refill your seat. If you are not able to attend the workshop, we will grant a 50% refund. If the cancelation is on our part, we will honor a refund.
Can I speak to someone about the workshop?
Yes! After you fill out your Q&A, Jennie can set up a 30 minute call to make sure the workshop is right for you.
Apply Now
12 students will be invited to this experience
Write to Jennie’s assistant to apply: Lianne@jennienash.com
We’ll send you a Q&A so you can tell us about your book idea and your publishing goals. We’ll also ask for a short writing sample.
We’ll evaluate your application within 48 hours. This isn’t about your idea or your ability to write. We believe that all ideas are workable and all people can learn to become writers. This is about whether or not you can take advantage of what we are offering. We want to make sure we can add value to your project, that you are in the right place to get the hard work done.
If you would like to discuss the workshop at this time, Jennie can set up a 30 minute call to make sure the experience is right for you.
We’ll let you know if you are accepted and send you a link for payment.
NOTE that we will only run the workshop if we have a minimum of six writers. If you are one of the first six to pay, we will alert you NOT to purchase plane tickets or lodging just yet. As soon as we have six, we will let you know.