Atlanta hasn’t been known as a literary town in the past, but it’s slowly making a name for itself, partially due to SCAD Atlanta’s beautiful Victorian writing center, Ivy Hall. Ivy Hall offers opportunities to hear a mix of famous and local writers speak, but also topic-specific workshops and boot camps open to the community.
On Saturday Dec. 7, Ivy Hall will be offering a Digital Boot Camp at the Digital Media Center that will focus on social media and how such platforms are becoming essential for modern writers. Unlike the Writers Series, which is more lecture-based, this is a hands-on forum. “The Ivy Hall Writers Series is for writers to talk about their work, their way of writing, their methods,” said Georgia Lee, Director of Ivy Hall. “The main focus is to bring in great writers to read, to inspire and to give SCAD students an opportunity to meet one-on-one with them, and offer to the community a literary series. They rarely talk about this kind of stuff.”
Open to both students and the general public, the boot camp runs from 1 to 6:45 p.m. with four different components. The first section will be “Nonfiction: Your Story, Your Brand,” led by author, publicist and media consultant Alison Law. Law will discuss the new age of marketing nonfiction books, and the role social media plays. Next, Professor Dr. Catherine Ramsdell will cover publishing opportunities, costs and expectations in a segment called “Publishing Now – and Beyond.” Kimberly Brock, author or “The River Witch” and winner of the 2013 Georgia Author of the Year Award, will explore the e-book evolution, connecting with online book publishers and establishing an authentic presence in a virtual world in “Stories and Snake Oil.” The boot camp will close with a hands-on component in blogging called “You Can Do It!” led by Steve Aishman, Dean of Academic Services.
“Everybody that leaves will have a blog,” said Lee. “WordPress is not an easy format to learn, so that’s a very valuable thing.”
This boot camp follows very much in the tradition of the writing program, which highlights professional writing and the evolution from page to screen. “The SCAD Writing program is very much oriented to new media, social media and writing for the web,” said Lee. “Not that that’s exclusively what we do – we do have fiction and nonfiction classes – but those skills are what we feel jobs are seeking. You have to have those skills.”
The Writers Digital Boot Camp costs $55 for early registration and $65 at the door. Space is limited so early registration is encouraged. Online registration is available here. This event is taking place at the Digital Media Center.