By Katrina Glover

It’s that time of year again—Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference is just around the corner!

Is anyone else excited? For me, this conference is one of my favorite things I get to do and I look forward to every year. The mountains, the facility, the music, seeing everyone…there’s nothing quite like it!

For those of you who don’t know me, Hi, I’m Katrina! I have been coming to BRMCWC for years now and, well, they just can’t shake me. Most of my years, I have come and talked websites with everyone (don’t worry—still doing that) but last year, I was entrusted with teaching and I guess I didn’t do too bad because they’re letting me take the mic again (ooo the power)! 

This year, I am really excited to announce that we are offering not one but two different author website classes. To avoid any confusion, we thought it would be a good idea to give you an overview of each class as well as the differences between the two.

The first class we debuted last year and it was a hit, so we’re bringing it back: Building a Basic Website with WordPress. This is a Continuing Class Practicum, which means it runs multiple days and each day builds upon the previous day. This is a hands-on class where we take class attendees through the steps of building a website—from buying hosting and a domain name all the way through to installing a pre-determined theme, plugins and creating basic pages. Our goal is that by the end of the conference, you will have a basic WordPress website that is ready for content to be added.

Who this class is for

Attendees who currently have no website. 

Who this class it not for

Attendees who want to brush up on/expand their WordPress skills. (If you have an existing WordPress website and want to learn how to use it better, check out class #2 below)

Important requirements each participant must meet in order to be a part of Building a Basic Website with WordPress.

1. ***You must pre-register for this class***
   Pre-registration is open now and is on a first-come basis. In order to pre-register, you must email info@kikawebdesign.com. You will receive an email confirming your place in the class. There will be a waitlist as needed.
2. The class is limited to 12 people
3. You will be sent an email with a short list of items that must be completed a week prior to the start of the conference. Each item will have detailed instructions. If you have not completed the list a week before conference—or we have not received confirmation that the list has been completed, you will not be able to remain in the class and your spot will be given to the next person on the waitlist.
4. Every day of class, you’ll need to bring a laptop that is able to connect to the internet

And now onto class #2.

Class #2 is brand new for 2024—and it has been requested a lot (like a lot a lot). Without further ado, ladies and gents, I give you: Maximize Your Author Website. This is a standard Workshop class—open to all attendees with no pre-registration required and it will be offered only once during the conference.

In Maximize Your Author Website we will be discussing (drum roll please…) Author Websites! This is a class that has been a long time coming. Why so long? Because every author website is different! Every website has their own theme, plugins and content—how could one class cover it all?

Well, the truth is we cannot cover it all but we can definitely cover the important stuff like how to navigate the backend of WordPress to make basic content changes, add pages, adjust menus, install plugins, run updates, create backups and more. The goal of this class is to get rid of the “this is too <hard, scary, frustrating, etc>” stigma that many authors feel when it comes to their website.

Who this class is for

Attendees who currently have a WordPress website

Who this class it not for

Attendees who use a software other than WordPress for their website (ie. Squarespace, Wix, etc.)

Thanks for letting me come on and share with you today. I am so excited to get to share these classes with you and I look forward to seeing everyone in May.

PS. For those of your wondering, I’ll still be offering my usual free consults throughout the duration of the conference. A schedule will be posted on kikawebdesign.com during the conference and you can always sign up at my desk as well.

PPS. I’m also teaching a class on MailerLite so make sure to check that out!

You can find a list of classes I’ll be teaching as well as more info about me on the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference website here: https://www.blueridgeconference.com/2024-classes/#KatrinaGlover

In 2011, Katrina founded kikaDESIGN and began offering web design services to small businesses. It wasn’t long before writing friends began reaching out for help. With experience in both web design and marketing as well as knowledge of the book industry, Katrina found herself in a unique position to understand what authors needed and what readers, agents, and publishers wanted. Using this background, Katrina has helped over authors all over the world establish their brands. She is also the proud developer a custom author system that allows authors to easily update their entire website within minutes. You can find her online at kikawebdesign.com