This program is intense, consisting of eight weekly modules and requiring a commitment of approximately 4-8 hours per week (on average) of writing, rewriting, and responding to other students online. To maximize the results of participating, plan on at least 8-12 hours of weekly writing to have a professionally written, sellable proposal ready to submit after eight weeks. It's the type of "cinch up your suspenders" schedule that will, for many, finally get the concept out of the head and into the literary marketplace.

Although the learning environment is asynchronous and can be done on any computer with Internet access, each module of the program includes exact weekly due dates to move the process forward and give your online colleagues a fair shot at commenting on your work and vice versa without losing rhythm.

It is helpful to have a first draft of a sample (first) chapter done before the course begins. If you haven't taken a writing or APA style course lately, that will help as well. Commercial editors don't suffer errors in spelling, grammar, style, or syntax kindly. Also be prepared to have a "home team" of family and friends to give you critical feedback on your assignments before posting so you don't reduce your colleagues' brilliant analyses to spell and grammar checking.