KREST CREATIVE CONSERVATOIRE - LEVEL UP YOUR TALENT

 WHAT THE CONSERVATOIRE IS

The KREST House is spreading in all creative directions, like fast-growing vines tunneling their way steadily into every industry. We currently consist of KREST Publishers (a book publishing house), KREST Cars (a new magazine publication by the publishing house), KREST Snapshots (a photographic division that primarily feeds the magazine and also book covers), KREST Stories (a ghostwriting team that works on all commissioned books and film scripts), and our well-known KREST Online Bookstore. Together, we are The KREST House. We are always on the search for talent  as we have a myriad of opportunities to offer. 

We want to share these opportunities with you. But you will need to know how to aptly fulfill them if we do - in fact, if any publisher offers you any opportunity at all. Be it a publishing deal, the chance to shoot a magazine spread, or the opportunity to manage someone's blog... you'll have to be worthy of it.

This is what the KREST Creative Conservatoire aims to do. It aims to take your raw creative talent and smooth it out through weekly lessons. The skills you learn DIRECTLY FROM A PUBLISHING HOUSE will make you must-have talent for not just the KREST House opportunities, but any publication opportunity as you will have professional know-how.

It's basically a platform for weekly lessons in creative writing, but with the aim of up-skilling you to a professional writer's level. You'll learn everything from novels, to website copy, to blog posts, to travel articles, to film script. It will also spread out into other creative topics - like photo editing, how to publish your own book, layout design etc.

WHAT THE CONSERVATOIRE IS NOT

It is not a set course with a start and end date. Lessons run weekly and you may join at any point or leave at any point. 

It is not a set of pre-recorded videos. All lessons are real-time online and the group interacts with the editor on a personal level.

It is not a writing circle. Each lesson revolves around a structured topic and is co-ordinated by KREST editors. 

It is not a compulsory must-do if you want to be published by KREST Publishers. Our normal submission guidelines apply to everyone i.e. anyone can submit manuscripts provided they follow the instructions on our submission guidelines page.

It is not a guarantee that we will say yes to anything you submit for publication. These are pertinent lessons in training you to write specifically in ways that catch publishers' attention (as we are a registered publishing house ourself). So yes, you have the upper hand compared to your compatriots who haven't taken any publisher-affiliated courses. But to say that we will publish anyone based on the fact that they have paid us for lessons would be unethical.

HOW IT WORKS

Lessons are held online every Saturday 7 a.m. - 8 a.m via video conference (similar to Zoom.)

The link to the video conference will be sent out just before the lesson. All you need to do is click it and it will take you to the video conference.

The tutor will give their lesson for the day and interact with the participants. Participants may ask questions about the lesson or even about their own personal books that they are working on. Sessions may extend over 8 a.m. for questions, but all lesson material will be delivered before then so any participants who are comfortable with the teaching may leave as they wish.

After the session is over, detailed notes from the lesson will be emailed out.

Anyone is welcome, from anywhere in South Africa, with any level of experience and of any age. Whether you are a beginner who wants to write a book that can be published, or a veteran who wants insider industry info, these lessons will be suitable for you. Everybody will walk out knowing something about publishable work they didn't know before, that they can use when submitting to any publishing house at all.

HOW PAYMENT WORKS

Lessons are R300 per lesson. It includes the following:

- The 1 hour session around the lesson topic for the day

- Extra time with the editor afterwards to discuss questions around your own book

- A set of emailed notes with the course content for the day's lesson (if you have paid for your lesson but are unable to attend, you will still get your notes emailed to you.)

THE LESSON TOPICS FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS

MAY

1ST	Very specific dos and don’ts for each genre of book. Includes things like publisher-approved word counts, genre conventions you will not get published without, and character tropes publishers do not accept.
8TH	The different ways to structure your plot. And most importantly… the 1 plot structure publishers and producers look for when picking up stories
15TH	How to split your story into chapters and scenes. Ties into book outlining methods – the snowflake method used by J.K Rowling and the beat sheet method used by film scriptwriters.
22ND	Creating realistic characters. How to write proper backstories about their lives – their occupation, their appearance, their attitude – without it seeming too conveniant. Access to the KREST Stories character sheet used in our ghostwriting jobs.
29TH	Keeping the momentum. Answering thoughts like how long it should really take you to complete a book, how many drafts till a decent manuscript, and the big one… how to move past writers block.

 

JUNE

5th	Writing a catchy first line for your book, that will carry the reader to the last page. And writing that last page that will leave readers thirsty for your next book!
12th	The grammar and punctuation rules that you absolutely cannot afford to get wrong if you want a publisher to take you seriously. And the rules that will leave a lasting impression on them if you can demonstrate good usage of.
19th	How the vetting process in a publishing house truly works – because it isn’t actually all about how good your work is. Talented writers like J.K. Rowling got turned down multiple times and alarming writers like E.L James (fifty shades) got snapped up. Learn why this is and use it to your advantage.
26th	Prepping your completed manuscript for a publisher. What are the different requirements for Penguin, Pan Mac, KREST, Jonathan Ball etc. … Overview of essential submission etiquette – cover letters, making a good impression…

 

JULY

3rd	Adapting writing rules for children’s books. Their preferred plot structure, word count limits, illustration dos and don’ts, characters they relate to
10th	Considerations for writing poetry. Acceptable manuscript length, layout designs for your work, font types to use or avoid, whether to go modern or keep it traditional
17th	Overview on how to write business plans. Style, tone, structure, contents. A useful skill that you can freelance out to many businesses – or even make use of yourself if you want to turn your creative talent into an income-earning career or business.
24th	Short stories and how their structures differ from full-length novels. How to start and end them correctly. Covering the correct amount of detail in the body.
31st	The rules of writing autobiographies and biographies. What legalities surround the use of real names, how to write about real events, is it safe to write exposés, why you shouldn’t use your face on the cover etc.

 

AUGUST

7TH	Writing subplots, or ‘B’ and ‘C’ lines, in a novel – because there is no bestselling novel on earth that only focuses on the main character. Subplots catapult you into the league of professionals – here’s how you craft them
14TH	Difficult foundation concepts explained and applied – different POVs, different tenses, and different tones among others
21ST	Writing natural-sounding dialogue. How to avoid your dialogue sounding stiff, how to create good back-and-forth conversations between characters, how to avoid using ‘he said’ and ‘she said’ too often, and how to correctly punctuate direct speech in different situations.
28TH	Avoiding mistakes that make your work sound distinctly amateur. You can be a beginner writer without sounding amateur – we’ll go over these specific mistakes to avoid and what professionals replace them with instead.

 

SEPTEMBER

4TH	Pointers on the indefinable ingredients that make a book a delicious page turner – plot twists, themes, symbolism and foreshadowing, pace etc.
11TH	Researching before you start writing – How much detail should you go into? Can you set your story in other countries? Are there any topic matters publishers avoid or take particular interest in? How much leeway does creative license allow?
18TH	Every publisher expects you to work with MS Track Changes when you get drafts back. It is an essential skill you need to be proficient at if you want to write on a professional level. Even self-publishing editors will likely hand your work back as a Tracked document – here’s how the function works and here’s how to use it without messing up the manuscript.
25TH	Bits and bobs. Writing a title for your book, the rules for writing a blurb to go on the back (as they differ), and writing forewords/prefaces (especially covering the subject of whether your book needs these things.)

 

OCTOBER

2ND	Villains and antagonists. Writing them both favourably and unfavourably. Should your villains be having their own backstories and traumas that made them how they are? How much of their own personal tragedy and emotion should you reveal?
9TH	Book finances. What is costs to publish a book, how many copies should you print if you self-publish, how royalties work if you traditionally publish, how bookstore sales work and whether it is financially feasible, how many copies does the average debut author sell…
16TH	Writing the perfect blog post – word count, style, structure, tone, pictures, advertising, frequency of posting. Especially geared towards freelance blogging for the KREST blog and other commercial blogs
23RD	Editing your own drafts – is it recommended, how to do it should there be a need, how many rounds of editing should be done, which spellchecking software to use if you need to do it yourself
30TH	How to convince a publisher to take on the least-published genre in SA – fantasy! Building your world correctly, going into the correct amount of detail about this world when writing, balancing explanation of the universe with a forward-moving plot

 

As you can see, the lessons are invaluable as they are industry-specific. Coupled with that, you will have notes from every session as well as the opportunity to discuss your own personal work with the KREST editor running the session.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

Don't hesitate to reach out to info@krestpublishers.co.za with questions before you make a decision. If you've already made the decision (very wise of you!) then simply let them know which lesson (or lessons) you would like to attend.

Once you're happy to proceed, you will be given your invoice.

Thereafter you can access the lesson on the Saturday in question by clicking a link that gets emailed to you at 6.55am on the day. Clicking the link takes you straight to the video room - you do not need to install any apps or do anything further. Simply click the link to join the lesson.  

The KREST Creative Conservatoire does aim to become a feeder academy for The KREST House projects, so you may intermittently find yourself being offered opportunities to work with KREST on the magazine, book editorial, photography sub sect, or ghostwriting jobs. The weekly lessons will certainly provide you with the know-how for these tasks, which you may use in your future with KREST or even offer out to other creative endeavours. 

CONTACT US

www.krestpublishers.co.za

info@krestpublishers.co.za

031 035 1664