Virtual University Announces Free Class on "Writing for Fun and Profit"

SANTA BARBARA, CA, September 24, 2010 (Press-News.org) A free writing course will be offered this fall at Virtual University, a popular e-learning community. "Writing for Fun and Profit" is aimed at aspiring and novice writers who want to write for publication and earn a living doing it. The course will be taught online and students can learn at their own pace from the comfort of home. Those who complete the course and pass a final exam can earn Continuing Education Units which will be recorded at no cost.

The course will explore issues of importance to writers such as how to come up with great story ideas, how to write material that editors will publish, tips for polishing grammar and style, and how writers can move forward on a fast track to success - while having fun doing it! Students will learn how to find writing assignments, make sense of editorial guidelines, produce quality material efficiently, and know when a "final" draft is ready to submit.

In addition, the course will reveal why many aspiring writers will never break into print, and how students can gain a competitive advantage over other writers and seize on opportunities to get published quickly with the least amount of effort. Time-honored techniques used by working journalists will be examined, such as how to conduct an interview, write a review, cope with rejection slips, and better yet, how to avoid them.

The focus of this course is on nonfiction writing, a huge market where good writers are in high demand, the earnings are steady, and writers who are able to produce material in this genre will see their work published again and again.

First-time students who have not taken previous classes at Virtual University can enroll free. In addition, members of Virtual University's "Writers Roundtable" group on Facebook may enroll in the course free of charge. Those interested in joining the Writers Roundtable group can visit http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=129811440400578 and simply click the "Join" button at the top of the page.

The enrollment deadline for this free class is October 25, 2010. After that date, a $24.00 registration fee will apply.

Gloria Oren, a published author, editor, book reviewer and proofreader, will teach the class. Oren has published book reviews in the Association of Jewish Librarians' Newsletter and won honorable mention for her personal experience article submitted to a contest sponsored by Bylines Magazine. The same article was accepted for publication in the Thin Thread Stories anthology due out this fall. Currently, Oren is working on an autobiography about her life as an adoptee and the challenging, successful search that led to a reunion with her birth mother and family. In her daily life, she wears many hats as a daughter, wife, mother of three, cancer survivor, baby boomer, oldest of ten birth siblings, avid reader and writer of nonfiction articles on personal experience, parenting and senior issues.

Those wishing to enroll in "Writing for Fun and Profit" should visit http://vu.ksurf.net/catalog/3140.html and register before the October 25, 2010 deadline.

For information about more than 100 other classes offered at Virtual University, browse the current catalog of classes at http://vu.ksurf.net/calendar.html

Virtual University is a friendly and supportive e-learning community that offers over 100 low-cost courses for continuing education, corporate training and self-improvement. Instructor-led and self-directed classes are available on today's in-demand subjects including HTML and Web design, Internet technology, creative and nonfiction writing, self-help/inspirational themes, and academic subjects. Virtual University is sponsored by KSURF Knowledge Web and can be reached at http://vu.ksurf.net/