MasterClass Announces New Co-Author Competition with James Patterson

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Online education platform MasterClass announces today that the world's bestselling author, James Patterson, will hold a second writing competition for MasterClass students. MasterClass invites aspiring authors across the nation to put their skills to the test for a life-changing opportunity to collaborate with the bestselling writer. Earlier this year, Patterson selected another student from his MasterClass, Kecia Bal, to co-author a book with – THE DOLLS will be published in June 2017.

The competition was originally proposed by Patterson after seeing his students' work. "I've been really impressed by my MasterClass students, and by the caliber of their writing. They inspired me to take the course one step further, by providing them with the opportunity to become a published author. We received so many promising entries that we felt it was worth giving students a second chance," said James Patterson.

The Co-Author Competition
Beginning February 1, 2017 at 9:00am PST, students can submit their work on MasterClass' website. The competition is only open to MasterClass students enrolled in James Patterson's MasterClass. You can enroll in James Patterson's MasterClass on writing at https://www.masterclass.com/jp. After finishing the class, students can submit a two-sentence hook for their story (100 word maximum) and a sample chapter (1,000 word maximum). Patterson himself will hand-pick the top 3 proposals. There is no additional fee after enrollment and submissions are limited to one per entrant. The submission period ends March 1st, 2017 by 11:59pm PST. In his MasterClass, James guides students through the process of writing a bestseller. He covers everything from ideas, to plots, to first lines, to research and outlines.

The top 10 semifinalists will be awarded $1,000 after being announced on April 6.  From there, the selected 3 finalists will be announced on April 13th and will receive an additional $2,500. The finalists will be asked to provide the first draft of their outline for their stories by May 5th. After receiving feedback on their outlines from James, the finalists will be asked to submit their final outlines May 19th. The final winner to co-author a book with James Patterson will be notified by May 31, 2017, and will be officially announced in June 2017. The final winner will also be awarded $5,000.

THE DOLLS by James Patterson and Kecia Bal
Earlier this year, James picked one of his students, Kecia Bal, to co-author a book with. Kecia is a business reporter for a small town paper in Western Pennsylvania. She first signed up for James Patterson's MasterClass to improve her writing. Now the winner of the first James Patterson Co-Author Competition, Kecia is the co-author of THE DOLLS, available for pre-sale today.

"I entered the competition thinking it would be the craziest, most wonderful thing in the world if I won. It turned into an amazing opportunity to improve my writing and my creativity," said Kecia Bal. "And now I'm an author of my first fiction novel, written with the world's bestselling author. It's truly a writer's dream come true."

MasterClass was created to give anyone the ability to gain the wisdom and knowledge of the world's best creators. The current roster of courses includes Christina Aguilera (singing), Kevin Spacey (acting), Usher (performance), Serena Williams (tennis), James Patterson (writing), Dustin Hoffman (acting), Aaron Sorkin (screenwriting) and Werner Herzog (filmmaking), Gordon Ramsay (cooking), Hans Zimmer (film scoring) and Deadmau5 (electronic music production).

About James Patterson's writing class:
Class synopsis: James Patterson, the author of a record breaking 19 consecutive No. 1 New York Times Best Sellers, teaches you everything he knows about writing a bestseller.

Class Includes:

• 22 video lessons (3.5 hours)
• 40-page class workbook
• Additional class materials like excerpts from Patterson's first drafts.
• Collaborative learning: students can upload writing samples and receive feedback from other students (and sometimes even James himself!). When James gives feedback, he shares it with the whole class so everyone can learn from it.
• Class discussions via an online community forum
• Q&A: James answers select questions submitted by students the whole class can access.

ABOUT MASTERCLASS
San Francisco-based MasterClass was founded by David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen on the idea that everyone should have access to genius. MasterClass makes it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to learn from the best through immersive online classes from the world's greatest authors, actors, performers, athletes, filmmakers, and more. For more information, please visit www.masterclass.com.

SOURCE MasterClass

Related Links

https://www.masterclass.com/jp