Tom works with students in three different ways:

Tom works with students through his IIWC 1 & 2 Programs or you can choose his Query Letter Review service if that better suits your need.

The Individual, Intensive Writing Course (IIWC) is Tom’s best offering as he mentors you through the writing of your book, submission package (used to gain the representation of a literary agent), and query letter, and through the acquisition of the proper literary agent to represent your book, and then the right publisher (if you choose to publish via the conventional route) or the right book formatter if you prefer to self publish.

IIWC offers two unique alternatives from which you can choose.

IIWC I is specifically designed for students who most aspire, as soon as possible, to make a career out of writing or who aspire to be a best selling author. It is specifically designed to provide everything needed in this area in as little as a 6-9 month period, severely reducing your learning curve for becoming the published author you want to be . Besides the opportunity to work with Tom, this option also brings in the talents of legendary editor Paul D. McCarthy, who not only is a New York Times best selling author himself, but is also responsible for the success of nine #1 New York Times Best Selling Authors, including Clive Cussler, Stephen Oates, Nelson DeMille and Stephen Coonts.   Once Tom has moved you through his portion of the program, and your book is written and has been approved by him, Paul will add his expertise and put his best selling skills to work. The duo will then personally walk you through each of the steps leading to acquisition of the perfect literary agent for you and your book.  They will then serve as your own personal, executive board as they walk you through every major phase of the publishing process, applying their vast knowledge of the publishing industry to guide you to the best decisions and the fastest tract.

 

IIWC II is a four month program in which Tom guides you through the necessary life transitions that need to be made to write your book, submit your query letter and acquire a literary agent, publisher or formatter. In many ways it is similar to IIWC I, with the exception that:

It is limited to four months (however, extensions are available)

• IIWC II covers only a light review of your finished manuscript while IIWC I covers the necessary type of thorough review of all of your writing to prepare a student for his/her work with Paul
• IIWC II does not guarantee you an opportunity to work with Paul as the finishing editor of your work while IIWC I does
• IIWC II  does not offer you the opportunity to employ  the combined talents of both Tom and Paul to serve as your personal consults and guides to structure then implement  a program for your work to be positioned before an exclusive group of the top literary minds in the industry; industry heavyweights who can oftentimes only be accessed through recommendations of Tom, Paul or both. 
• However, IIWC I offers a nearly unlimited exposure to both Tom and Paul.  Under the guidelines of IIWC II,  exposure to Tom is limited.
• While prices for IIWC I are quoted on an individual basis and frequent discounts are consistently offered for Tom’s students, especially those who have recently graduated from his Releasing Your Author Within Retreat,  the price for IIWC II is standardized at $1580 (if you pay for it all in advance) and $1700 (if you choose to make monthly payments).

More in depth descriptions of both IIWC I and IIWC II follow.

Tom also offers a Query Letter Review Service. You may purchase this service by contacting our office at: 928-203-0265 or by e-mail at: TomBird@TomBird.com. At the time of purchase, you will be given directions on how to submit your query through e-mail, for Tom's review. It’s a great way to ensure your letter goes out at its very best.

 

The Individual, Intensive Writing Course

The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving – Oliver Wendell Holmes

General Overview:

The writing, completion and then publication of a book does more for the personal and professional stature of an aspiring author than anything else ever could. Yes, as Tom has illustrated for years, it is possible to complete your first book in 30 days or less. However, even though it may take more time to get to where you want to be as a published author, as IIWC  proves, it doesn’t have to take that long. And, while you may certainly be able to do it on your own, again, as Tom has been lecturing for a quarter of a century, the route that you take to reach your desired destination can be made a whole lot less bumpy and long (from possibly several years of writing books to a few months or less than a year). To do just that, the Individual, Intensive Writing Course (IIWC ) has been developed. In a nutshell, it offers you everything you need to make your literary dreams a reality. Quite simply, this is Tom’s most extensive, and thorough offering. 

The basic foundation upon which IIWC  is established is something that the formal educational industry fails to realize; there is far more that goes into the writing of a book than just putting words on paper.  If that were the case, everyone would be enjoying the fruits of being an author.  The truth is though that to fully succeed at authoring a book, whether it is for publication or just for personal growth and expression, the process is basically the same.  That transition revolves around an aspiring author going through a clearing of all the inappropriate information that has been absorbed and the emotional effects it has had. Once that information and the aspiring author’s deep rooted reaction to it has been cleared, and a proper system is put in place, not only for the author to write a book but also to rebuild his or her confidence to do so as well, the book he or she has felt inside comes flowing forward.

It is Tom’s specialty and responsibility to move you through this process.  In IIWC I, it will be the responsibility of renowned literary editor Paul McCarthy to refine your book for submissions to publishers, or to hit the shelves, in the finest possible way, as a self published work.

Also with IIWC I, it will then be up to both parties to see that your book reaches its highest literary potential possible. You will do all the work while Tom and Paul, offering the finest knowledge, insight and encouragement possible, will clear the way for your acceptance in the publishing world, and guide you all the way to where it is that you and your book are destined to go.

To guarantee the individual attention you deserve, only a select number of students are offered entrance into IIWC.  So, if after reading the following, you find yourself wanting to be a part of the IIWC , it is suggested that you contact us as soon as possible, to secure an interview to be considered for the first available opening.

 

When I first met Tom Bird, I was a burned out lawyer with a dream of writing a mystery. Tom was an inspiration and an incredible mentor. His system works…Mark Cohen, Author of The Fractual Murders and Bluetick Revenge, Mysterious Press

 

• The IIWC  was established to move aspiring authors through all of the necessary developmental, educational and expressionistic phases of writing a book, while guiding them through the process of getting it published at the highest level possible.
• It has been designed to offer you complete independence as an author, and to do so at a fraction of the time and cost of the typical university education, which has proven to be generally unsuccessful in this area.
•  IIWC I not only  utilizes the time, energy, motivation and talent of Tom to do so, but also brings into play the ingenious talents of New York’s top editor Paul D. McCarthy, who has been the personal editor for such best selling literary giants as Clive Cussler, Nelson DeMille, Stephen Coonts and Stephen Oates, and has been personally responsible for the success of nine #1 New York Times best sellers.
•  Graduation from IIWC I will offer your book the absolute best chance available of a sale to a big name conventional publisher, such as Simon Schuster or Random House, or success in the world of self publishing, not only through the appreciation of the quality of your work but also the array of long standing, personal contacts available through Paul and Tom.

 

Thank you for showing me how to get published…over 250,000 books sold to date…Jan Larkey, Author of Flatter Your Figure, Simon and Schuster

 

Payment for IIWC :

• The needs of all interested parties are thoroughly accessed through an interview with Tom.  If after the interview Tom feels that IIWC I would be a good match for a student based on his/her individual needs, an individually determined price to complete the course is offered.
• During the assessment process, special consideration is given to several areas including:  the developmental phase at which the student will be entering the program, whether he/she has the desire and commitment necessary to successfully complete the program, and if he/she can devote the average of twelve hours a week to do so.
• If an opportunity to enter the program is extended to a student, he or she will be provided with two payment options: the first based upon payment of the full tuition due or the second as a significantly discounted tuition based upon Tom and Paul receiving a percentage of the revenue generated through the sale of the student’s work. Upon entering the program, it will be requested that the student pay one quarter of the total amount due as the first month’s payment, with the remainder of the balance due being paid equally over the remaining months of the contract.

The Phases of IIWC :

Phase One: The Author’s Boot Camp

Anyone who has ever attended any form of boot camp will attest to the fact that the necessary rewriting of who they were was absolutely essential to the release of who it was that they wanted to become.  Nowhere is that situation truer than in the area of authoring a book, where what we have been taught, and the effects it has had on our progress as writers, needs to be weeded out to make room for what works, which is exactly what this phase was designed to do.

Those transitioning immediately from one of Tom’s Releasing Your Author Within Retreats are usually at least partially exempt from having to complete this phase.

How is the necessary conversion, which opens one up to the author he or she innately is, completed?

Simple. Here’s how The Author’s Boot Camp works.

• After thoroughly evaluating your background, Tom will share with you a series of exercises, which he will guide you through, specifically designed to release the author inside of you.
• Once your Divine Author Within (DAW) has been released to the point where he/she is flowing consistently through you at a specified speed and you have created room in your schedule to allow your DAW to come through an average of six days a week, you are ready to move on.
• If you are truly ready and willing to write your book, you should be able to move through this phase in no more than a few weeks .  Some have completed it in as little as a few days. As with each phase in this curriculum, extra time is always allotted to take into consideration real life events which may interfere with your progress; as a result, a month is budgeted.

• In IIWC I, this phase concludes with the writing and submission to Tom of an outline of the book you will be writing.

Phase Two:  The Final Step in Preparing to Write Your Book (this phase is exclusive to IIWC I)

In this step:

• This will comprise the final step taken before launching into the writing of one’s book in IIWC I.
• It will be assumed that the student is comfortably writing on a six-day-a-week-basis and at the suggested writing speed.
• Once that is complete, the student will be asked to create a thorough outline of his/her book project, focusing on writing an average of 300 descriptive words per chapter; if he/she is writing fiction, time will be spent developing the author’s full understanding and command of any characters; after that is complete, he/she will be asked to develop a detailed outline (average of 300 words per chapter) of his/her book.
• This phase is deemed complete once the student has submitted a complete and thorough outline of his/her book to Tom, and it receives his okay to move on.

Phase Three: Writing Your Book (IIWC II students transition directly from Phase One to this Phase)

This is when all of your effort and commitment up to this point receives the opportunity it deserves to shine.

• As a result of all of the unnecessary personal, emotional and educational blockages being removed, and all of the developmental work you will have done up to this point, all that is needed is a simple, yet very effective, exercise to cause your book to come flowing straight out of you.
• Once this happens, you will be averaging around 3,000 finished words written on your manuscript each day.
• Allowing you to complete the rough draft of your work in between 2-6 weeks.
• Because of the depth and thoroughness of the developmental approach and preparation utilized up to this point, on an average, the majority of the work that needs to be done to complete your book will be finished.

Phase Four: Revision

One of the many problems associated with the revision of one’s writing and in how it is approached, even and especially by those who do it professionally, is still a large amount of guess work.  Through this phase, all of the guess work is removed and you will be taught a series of very deep, thorough, efficient and complete methods, sure to tune your manuscript to its peak, expressionistic potential.

Phase Five: The First Eyes, Outside of Your Own, to Fall on Your Work

This is when you send your manuscript to Tom for review.

During the time that Tom is reviewing your book, he will suggest that you begin work on your next book. This is a very important action to take for several reasons:

• Once you get your literary juices flowing, especially on you first time through this system, it is important to keep them flowing
• With all of the cathartic associations removed, the second book offers you a clean playing field to showcase who your literary soul really sees you being as an author
• As a result, the second book oftentimes houses your truest literary voice and purpose, so it is to your advantage to get to the writing of your second book ASAP
• Because of #2, an author’s chances of receiving the acclaim he/she seeks and deserves usually stands a better chance of transpiring from book two forward

 After you have received his evaluation, you will be offered time to institute any of his suggested changes. You will then submit it to him a second time for his review, and the same procedure will be followed. After you have received his okay to move forward, Phase Six (IIWC I) begins with his contact of Paul with the necessary recommendation needed to have your book reviewed and fine tuned for submission by him.

Phase Six: Your Book is Given Every Chance at Publication Possible Through a Review and Edit by the Top Editor in Publishing (exclusive to IIWC I)

Once Paul receives your material, he will quote you a price for the review and any editing of your work. Because you will have been recommended by Tom and are part of the IIWC I, substantial discounts are offered from his usual hourly rate.

Tom will normally ask you to continue with the writing of your second book during Paul’s review of your first work.

Two months is usually budgeted for the successful completion of this step.

Phase Seven:  Out Into the Market We Go

Once your first book has gotten the necessary okay from Paul in IIWC I, the three of you will go to work on the final stages of what needs to be completed before the submission of your work to publishers. Or, if you are going the self publishing route, your material will immediately be shipped off to an already chosen formatter, who will them be responsible for getting your book on the shelves and distributed internationally in as little as six weeks.

If you will be approaching conventional publishers in regard to the potential publication of your work in IIWC I, Tom will begin work with you on the successful completion of your query letter while Paul will assist you in the completion of a winning submission package.

Once those tasks are complete, the three of you will put your heads together to consider and then choose the most compatible, powerful and thus best literary agents to contact about your work.

Letters of recommendation will be completed, your query letter will be submitted, and you will be guided, step-by-step, through this process by two of the most experienced and knowledgeable literary minds in the business.

Every door will be open to you, not only because of the quality of your book and presentation, but also because of the letters of recommendation that will accompany your efforts.

In IIWC II, you will be guided through the completion of your query letter and directed to submit it through Tom’ Selective Guide to Literary Agents database, which has led to tens of thousands of positive submissions just like the one you will be submitting.

Phase Eight: You’ll Never be Alone (exclusive to IIWC I)

Once you have acquired the services of your chosen literary agent, Tom and Paul will be there, at your side, to guide you through the submission of your material to publishers; the sorting through and evaluation of offers and responses; the choice of the ideal publisher and the review and negotiation of any contract offered to you; editorial board meetings where suggestions may or may not be made for the  alteration of your work (hopefully for the better); any and all drafts submitted to your publishing house; and through the promotion and marketing of your book.

It will be during this process that your second book, if it has already been finished, will be completed, reviewed by Tom, then sent over to Paul, and readied for submission and publication as well.

Conclusion

IIWC offers everything you need to become all that you deserve to be; the published author, completely in control of your own life and art form.

IIWC I also offers you the opportunity to be guided through this process and offered complete access to the individual strengths of both Tom and Paul, two of the literary world’s finest authorities, teachers and mentors.

The only thing you need to decide is if you are ready. If so, give us a call at 928-203-0265 to schedule your initial interview.

Sample IIWC1 Contract

Sample IIWC2 Contract