Craft Nail Your Concept and Discover Your Book’s True Purpose with Amy Bernstein

I found the content and homework gave me confidence in my preparation for a podcast where I am speaking on an uncomfortable topic as a survivor/writer. Amy talked about how I may protect myself when looking for podcast shows to be a guest on and how to manage any questions I may not want to answer. Etiquette is something I appreciate. Even though I have a podcast show myself I learned what I could expect of my guests and will apply to my podcast prepping with guests in future. The intro, conversation guidelines and the closer were interesting to see set out in writing. The critique exercise, live with Amy, showed me I do know my subject and what kinds of questions I might be asked. It showed me how I can feel like I'm answering a question but when I reviewed the recording - I could do better at staying on topic! Interestingly, where I was going to talk on my book's topic, there is also an audience who will appreciate my writer's journey, sharing a survivor story, and all I learned along the way. I hadn't thought about being a podcast guest in terms of it being a writer's healing journey. Overall, it was great value for such a low cost! Thank you Amy for making yourself available to help me shape a podcast pitch a few times; and for the live interview practice.

The one-on-one time with the instructor was the saving grace for this class. It was an extremely valuable half hour where I learned what works and what doesn't for podcasts, and it helped me hone my skills for future use.

The reason why I only gave three stars for the course is because my expectations were not met. I signed up for a two-week course, which made me believe that there would be daily check-ins, skills to learn and build on each day, and a continuous discussion. Instead, I received all the information for the entire two weeks in the first hour (which took me less than an hour to read through and make notes on). There was one homework assignment that the instructor provided a bit of feedback on, but no further discussion past that point besides general clarifications on expectations of the assignment. The instructor also provided links to pages where we could see examples of podcast pitches, but as far as I could figure, you needed to create an account to be able to access the information.

To me, this was not a two-week course, but rather an opportunity to pay for some info sheets and a professional critique. If the "course" was advertised this way, I would have had very different expectations coming into it.

I'd recommend this course for anyone who wants to get a critique on podcast pitches and practicing being interviewed on a podcast. If you are looking for information on podcasts (finding them, prepping for them, etc), a Google search will be just as good.

The Concept class was so useful. I highly recommend doing the exercises. The instructor offers amazing and quick feedback. When I saw her name, I knew the class would be useful, since I've previously had classes with her. The knowledge, experience, insights and feedback one receives is priceless, if one makes an effort. I'm an so pleased I registered for any of her courses. You won't be disappointed!

Amy's class lays out succinct techniques to use for research while passing along a few examples. I found the examples extremely helpful so that I began to broaden the things I considered for my book. She also provided feedback on my work to get me to think deeper and advice about just the right amount of material to add to make it authentic without being to heavy.

Unfortunately I lost internet and my phone last week! I managed to run to my daughters a couple of times to read a bit. Many thanks to Amy for her clear, kind and concise lessons and input. I’m resigned to studying everyone else’s queries and her invaluable feedback.

This class far exceeded my expectations. First person POV can be more than difficult. Amy offered lessons with to-the-point homework and feedback that worked for me. Thanks.