Marketing Workshop for Writers - Announcement

I just received this info from Writers at Work. I participated in Terry's Women at Work weekly workshop for 5 years and found it invaluable.

This one-day workshop looks terrific!


Let's Talk Marketing: a workshop for writers

Sunday, April 13 2-5 p.m.

Instructor: Terry Wolverton

Location: Writers At Work, 4022 Fountain Avenue, Suite 202, Los Angeles, CA 90029

Cost: $25

Pre-registration required: send checks made out to Terry Wolverton to the address above.

Many writers cling to the myth that their job is simply to write, and once they have, other people will take over the business of promoting and selling their books to a mass audience of strangers eager to read what they have written. If this was ever true, it is no longer. Increasingly, publishers expect writers to do most or all of the promotion and marketing of their work--sometimes even requesting a marketing plan BEFORE accepting the work for publication.
The time to think about cultivating one's audience (readers, listeners, book buyers, reviewers) is not when your book is ready to be sent to publishers but RIGHT NOW, at whatever stage you are in the creative process. There are a bewildering array of possible vehicles for reaching readers, but knowing whom you want to reach and which methods suit your personality will help you plan a strategy that's right for you.

Instructor Bio:
Terry Wolverton is the author of six books (fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry) and the editor of fourteen anthologies. She has published with mainstream publishers, small presses, and on the Internet, and she has published five books through her own small press, Silverton Books.


Writers At Work
inspiring, encouraging, empowering writers since 1997
4022 Fountain Avenue, Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90029-2220
323-661-5954 telephone
email: WtrsAtWork@aol.com
website: http://www.writersatwork.com
blog: http://writersatwork.wordpress.com/

Lasting Impressions Book Review Contest from IRB

Lasting Impressions - Arthur C. Clarke left some.
Acton Cemetery

Thanks to the Elegant E over at Lexiconscious for letting me link to her blurb about the Lasting Impressions Book Review Contest from IRB. She's done a great write up, so I won't belabor the point.

Be sure and check out the rest of her lovely lit-news links and commentary.

Market - AGNI Magazine - Fiction, Essays, Poetry

Click image for AGNI's submissions guidelines.

AGNI Magazine is reading new submissions through May 31, 2008. They've been around since 1972 and they're currently published by Boston University.

I mention this because they have a stated interest in publishing both new and established writers, and they actually pay for the privilege whether your work appears in the print edition or the online edition.

I love literary magazines that offer a sampling of their material online, which AGNI does, quite generously.

All publications urge us to read and learn what type of work they're looking for. But honestly, tracking down print copies in libraries or waiting for a sample copy to arrive in the mail is time consuming and expensive.

They're looking for fiction, essays, poetry, reviews and interviews.

" Literature for literature’s sake is not what AGNI is about. Rather, we see literature and the arts as part of a broad, ongoing cultural conversation that every society needs to remain vibrant and alive. What we print requires concentration and takes some time to digest, but it’s worth that time and effort: writers and artists hold a mirror up to nature, mankind, the world; they courageously reflect their age, for better or worse; and their best works provoke perceptions and thoughts that help us understand and respond to our age."

Beyond Baroque Lives!

I don't know if any of you wrote in support of Beyond Baroque, but if you did, thank you!

Beyond Baroque has announced an extension of its contract with the city to rent the building at $1.00 a year for the next 25 years.

Writing Challenge!

Just some participatory fun for your Friday afternoon or weekend entertainment....

Presumably your high school cheerleader's uniforms were better than this! This was Louisiana State University's idea of a good time back in the early 40s. (Click on the photo for its source.)

I hunted this up because an online acquaintance and I briefly riffed on high school mottos. I thought it was fun, and I thought I'd give you a chance to wax nostalgic or get your snark on and write a faux motto for your high school.

Here's our conversation:

Tiisi: My best friend in high school and I used to roar our alma mater when we were drunk. I always wanted our colors to be red and white, so they’d rhyme:

“Guided by our love for Mary
And our motto, ‘God, my light!’
Ever onward, alma mater,
With our colors, red and gold!"

Sundry: Oh, that does kind of stink. ;) I don’t think we had a motto. If we did it would have probably been more like:

“Guided by our love for corn
We are farmers, local born
Graduate and live near home
No one expects any better of you, you smart-aleck little upstart.”

But we did have a real Cougar skin nailed up above the basketball net in the gym.

Tiisi: Blurt-splat!

That’s hysterical! Our mascot was a cougar, from what I remember, but this was a suburban, all-girls, snotty Catholic school in the Bay Area, so no animal skins. A more honest verse would have been:

“Guided by eating disorders
And our motto, ‘You’re not enough!’
Ever onward, desperate cokeheads
With our colors by Benetton!”

I'd love to hear your faux mottos, darlings. They don't have to be this catty.

C'mon, show some spirit!