For the last 4.5 years we’ve primarily been known as The Young Writer’s Workshop.

YWW has given thousands of young Christian writers in their teens and twenties permission to dream again by equipping them with the high-level resources and supportive community they needed to hone their craft, write books, and publish their work.

 Over time the workshop has grown to include three different programs:

— Standard (Learning community and content library)
— Academic (Earn high school credit in Creative Writing)
— Author (College alternative focused on writing craft and career)

Nothing is changing with Standard and Academic.

But today, I want to make a big announcement about the Author Program.

….

First… a little necessary context.

We started the Author Program for students who want to pursue writing as a full-time career.

We teach them advanced writing craft and entrepreneurship so they can write incredible books and support themselves financially.

These students are personally mentored by published authors, professional editors, literary agents, and successful business owners.

They actually write books, start business ventures, and earn real money.

Here’s just a sampling of what our students have accomplished in the last month or so:

• Jasmine completed a 107,714 word novel.
• Faith enrolled three new clients in her health/wellness business.
• Grace completed a 75,356 word novel.
• Rachel received a manuscript request from Uncommon Universes Press.
• Jenny received a manuscript request from Tyndale House.
• Livy landed a new pet sitting client that pays her $450 per month.
• Elena completed a 56,370 word novel.
• Valari landed two new writing jobs worth thousands of dollars.
• James received manuscript requests from two different publishers.
• Calissa completed a 66,411 word novel.
• Abi Lyn completed a 60,043 word novel (her first one ever).
• Juliet made $700 from her house-cleaning business in one month while working only 20 hours (that’s 5 hours per week at $35 per hour).

The Author Program has been so successful that it’s created some problems.

Ever since we started, I’ve noticed our students struggle to communicate to other people exactly what they are doing inside the program.

It’s called The Author Program, but what is it exactly?

Well, it’s a program for authors. But what is it? Is it a college? No. It’s more like a mentorship, trade school, real-world experience sort of thingamabob.

But yeah… It’s hard to explain.

And even once our students explain it people might still think they signed up for an Internet scam — especially if the student is doing it instead of college.

People have never heard of anything like this before, so they are justified in being a little suspicious.

It’s unfamiliar. It’s unorthodox.

But here’s the thing… This idea is not new. This sort of program has actually existed for hundreds of years — since the 16th century in fact.

It’s called a conservatory.

A conservatory is a school for the study of the arts (e.g. music, film, theatre, writing, etc.). But even more specifically, conservatory programs are designed for career-oriented students who want to achieve the highest levels of excellence in their field while learning hands-on from professionals.

Consider these excerpts from articles about why students might prefer a conservatory program:

“Picture spending all day every day doing only what you love, all while working closely with and learning from people who are experts in what you want to do. That’s a conservatory: intensive artistic training in a creative environment designed to push aspiring artists to develop their skills to the highest level.

A conservatory program is a little bit different than traditional college. Rather than requiring classes in a core curriculum of all subjects, a conservatory allows students to focus exclusively on their subject. The intensive focus allows conservatory students to develop a unique depth of understanding for their craft and receive specific training relevant to their specialty in the arts.”

(Source)

“It really comes down to how serious you are about your craft,” said Abby Siegel, a college counselor based in New York City. “If this is something that you really want to pursue as your career, and you’re not interested in liberal arts and the sciences, and you have the talent, then maybe a conservatory is going to be the right thing.”

A conservatory might appeal to you if you are very focused on professional skills and don’t care whether a school offers lots of extracurriculars that have nothing to do with your craft. Conservatory students tend to be less interested in activities such as sports, student government or Greek life, Siegel said. They are centered on the arts.

(Source)

These articles basically describe The Author Program. We are a conservatory of writing.

Conservatories are designed for high-talent students who are focused on a career in the arts.

One of the top ranked high schools in America is a conservatory. Wheaton has a conservatory. Oberlin has a conservatory.

Everyone has heard of Juilliard, which is one of the top conservatory programs in the world.

All that to say, after a lot of thought and discussion, we are changing our name from “The Author Program” to “The Author Conservatory”.

Our goal with this change is to communicate to students, parents, as well as family and friends that this program is professional and legitimate.

We are NOT just an online course or a class. We are a three-year conservatory program that launches Christian students into sustainable writing careers.

Our mission is to raise up the next C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

And we are ready to start introducing ourselves to the world.

Hence a new name, a new logo, and a new website.

If you are looking to write books, get published, and turn your writing into a real career… we’d love to have you apply.