As I mentioned in my file about teaching needlework, there are four primary reasons a student would take your class:

• picture of the class project
• description of the class in the festival brochure
• your reputation (either personally-known or on recommendation of a friend)
• pure chance

The main draw for your class is the written description since not all brochures have pictures. Those that do have pictures have small ones which do not show details (such as which stitches are used).

Normally you write your class description. If not, ask if you may. Or ask (insist) that you see the copy someone else wrote before it is finalized. It is to the festival's benefit that you be given a right to review: if you make a lot of money for them, they want you back and will want to cooperate with your reasonable requests. Asking also tells them that you take a lively interest in how your materials are presented through the brochure; not all teachers care.

Usually there is a word-count limit for the description, so be prepared to be concise.

Decide who your target market is. Advanced students? Aida stitchers? Any level? Those who like small projects? Early American-themed samplers? You want to pitch your class directly at these people. If other people sign up, too, that's fine (and if you have room in your description to toss in some items of general interest, this is a good way to attract someone not in your original target market), but write your description so it's aimed squarely at the folks for whom you designed the project and the class!

What should go in your brochure description? Some suggestions:

• genre of the project (cross stitch, Hardanger, etc.)
• kind/count of ground: aida, linen, canvas (note if there is any over-one stitching if project is primarily over-two on evenweave)
• stitches taught (beyond cross stitch/tent stitch)
• general color description ("dusty rose and cream with gold accents")
• general image description ("English cottage set amidst a profusion of spring flowers" - - ok, this is probably more wordy than you'll be able to be!)
• size of finished project
• kit contents; (detail depends on how much room you want to devote to this; "all materials" is one way to say fabric-thread-needle; if there are special kit components such as silk thread or a laying tool from rosewood, be sure to mention this in your description, as your kit costs and hence class cost reflect addition of costly items; if your class is designed to teach use of a certain type of thread, emphasize this in the class description)
• "mood words," such as primitive Americana, elegant, traditional, geometric, quaint, cats, etc. which will give your readers an idea of the type of piece (especially if there is no photo or only a small one)

To give you more ideas, look at brochure descriptions from previous years. What was mentioned? What was omitted?

Look at brochure descriptions by popular teachers. How were those written? What was emphasized or played down?

Overall, look at the descriptions and analyze them statistically. How many mentioned "mood words?" How many played up stitches? By having some numerical values for certain components of the description, you can see what other teachers (or the staff author) thought was important. Now compare those stats with the descriptions of the classes by the most popular teachers. Do they match or depart?

Last, go back to your target market again. Imagine you were such a stitcher. What description would make you want to take your class? What would catch your eye?

Count the number of words in several descriptions and calculate an average. Write a class description in -half- that number of words. Hard, huh? Now use the other half of your allotment to spice up your bare bones description and entice stitchers to your classroom!

copyright 1999, Martha Beth Lewis
Contact me about reprint permission.