Plain answers,
plainly given.
Cost, curriculum, admission and what the Academy is not. If something here is unclear or missing, write to the Dean and it gets added.
About the Academy
What is Author Academy?
Author Academy is an online professional school for fiction writers, founded by bestselling author David Viergutz. It teaches a twelve-course core curriculum modeled on the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, taught by working authors who earn their living writing books rather than by career academics. The Academy opens for its founding Spring Term in April 2027.
Is Author Academy an MFA program?
No. Author Academy is not an accredited degree-granting institution and does not award a Master of Fine Arts. Its Core curriculum is modeled on the traditional MFA in Creative Writing — the same disciplines, studied in the same depth — but it is a professional school rather than a university, and it awards Academy ranks rather than academic degrees.
Is Author Academy accredited?
No. Author Academy is not accredited by any regional or national accrediting body, and it does not grant degrees or qualify for federal student aid. Students who need an accredited credential should pursue a university MFA instead.
How is Author Academy different from an MFA?
Three differences. Author Academy is taught by authors who currently sell books rather than by tenured faculty; it teaches the commercial side of publishing alongside craft, including what makes a book sell; and it costs a fraction of a university program, with no debt and no relocation. A traditional MFA typically runs two to three years and tens of thousands of dollars.
Who founded Author Academy?
David Viergutz, a bestselling author of more than thirty novels, holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and is a disabled veteran and former law enforcement officer. He serves as Founder and Dean.
Cost and membership
How much does Author Academy cost?
Author Academy has four levels. Associate membership is free. Annual membership is $999 per year, or $99 monthly. Professional membership is $1,999 per year, or $199 monthly. The Novelist Cohort is $5,900 for the full one-year program and is admitted by application.
Is there a free way to join Author Academy?
Yes. Associate membership is free and permanent, with no card required. It includes the founder’s book The New Foundations in Storytelling, access to the Academy community, open weekly writing sprints, one open lecture each term, and early notice of new articles and podcast episodes.
What is the difference between Annual and Professional membership?
Annual membership at $999 includes the full twelve-course Core curriculum, weekly live sessions, moderated critique circles, the bi-weekly Dean’s List Q&A, and Academy Partner Perks. Professional membership at $1,999 adds every elective, all specialty curricula — screenplay, novella, anthology and publisher — instructor forums with direct faculty access, and priority admission to the cohorts.
Are scholarships available?
Yes. Author Academy offers scholarships for veterans and educators. Prospective students should contact admissions directly to ask.
Do members receive anything physical?
Yes. Every paid membership — Annual, Professional and the Novelist Cohort — includes a welcome package posted to you, containing a printed curriculum, a signed welcome note from the Dean, an enamel pin, a bumper sticker and a printed resource list. Graduates of the Novelist Cohort are presented with a graduation certificate in person at the Capstone in Las Vegas.
The curriculum
What does Author Academy teach?
The Core curriculum runs twelve courses across two terms in one academic year. Term I covers structure, character, scene, voice, close reading and writing practice. Term II covers the novel engine, dialogue, setting, revision and the business of being a professional author. Electives, chosen between the two terms, add Genre Studies on modern novels and masterclasses on specific problems.
How long does the Core curriculum take?
One academic year — two terms of twelve courses total. Members work through it at their own pace with new material released weekly, and the full archive stays available for as long as membership is active.
Are Author Academy classes live or recorded?
Both. Course material is released weekly and archived permanently, and there are live sessions every week alongside moderated writing sprints, critique circles and a bi-weekly Q&A with the Dean.
Does Author Academy give a certificate or qualification?
Author Academy awards four progression ranks — Apprentice, Journeyman, Professional and Master Storyteller — earned through coursework, examination and finished work. These are Academy honors, not accredited academic credentials. Novelist Cohort graduates additionally receive a graduation certificate.
The Novelist Cohort
What is the Novelist Cohort?
The Novelist Cohort is Author Academy’s flagship program: twelve writers, admitted by application, who spend one academic year writing and publishing a complete novel with a faculty mentor, a critique group, a developmental edit and a full-manuscript copy edit. It costs $5,900 and ends with a capstone week in Las Vegas.
How do I get into the Novelist Cohort?
Admission is by application. Applicants submit a one-page premise for the novel they intend to write, a short writing sample, and an honest account of the hours they can commit each week. Author Academy admits for seriousness rather than for credentials or existing audience — no publishing history is required.
Do Novelist Cohort students actually finish a book?
Yes. Finishing and publishing a novel is the structure of the program, not an aspiration attached to it. The year runs outline, draft, revision, editorial and publication on a fixed schedule, ending with the class taking a signing table at Reader Nation in Las Vegas with finished books in hand.
What is the Academy Anthology?
Halfway through the year, every Novelist Cohort writes a story for the Academy’s annual anthology and carries it through the entire publishing cycle as a class: ideate, write, edit, peer edit, format, choose cover design and publish. It exists so that students learn publishing on a short story before staking a novel on it.
Practical questions
Is Author Academy online?
Yes. Author Academy is fully online, and the Core curriculum will remain online permanently. A physical campus has been announced for 2028 for residencies and in-person intensives, but no course will move behind a plane ticket — every campus program will have an online equivalent.
When does Author Academy open?
The founding Spring Term opens in April 2027. Admission is by application and applications open to the waitlist first. The first Novelist Cohort convenes in autumn 2027.
Do I need to have published a book already?
No. Author Academy admits writers who have never finished a manuscript alongside writers publishing regularly. Admission weighs seriousness and available time rather than publishing history or platform size.
How much time per week does Author Academy require?
Membership is designed for working adults and can be fitted around a job — live sessions are optional and everything is archived. The Novelist Cohort is more demanding, since it carries a fixed drafting and revision schedule across a full year, and applicants are asked to be honest about the hours they actually have.
Where is Author Academy based?
Author Academy operates online. A physical campus has been announced for 2028, with site selection under way; location and opening dates go to Academy members before they are announced publicly.
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