Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Feb 4th Meeting Report

Last night about thirty people gathered at the Albertsons store to critique three readers and also hear a presentation about platforms from writer Maxwell Alexander Drake.

"Platform" means the avenue you take to sell your books, your visibility as an author, the way you get your 'brand' or product to your public. How that is done will be different for each author and depends on your genre, personal interests, time, and abilities.

Essential aspects of building your platform include:
Understanding your readership (Who is your audience?) and how to reach them.

I was impressed by the amount of time both Drake and fellow group member Donald Riggio put into their platforms, and by how different their approaches to marketing were. I don't have funds to spend 100 days of the year on the road traveling to conferences and conventions (Drake) or time to spend four hours a day networking social media (Riggio), but I trust that when the time comes to build a platform for my own book I'll figure a way to do it.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

We are still looking for volunteers for our writer's conference this April. Please contact Jay if you are interested. You don't need to volunteer for the full conference, if you have time to participate and help part time that would be great.

Thank you to Whole Foods Market in Henderson for donating a gift basket to be raffled off at the conference. If anyone has items they would like to donate, please contact Amanda Skenandore at askenadore [at] gmail [dot] com. The raffle supports HWG student writer's contest.

BRAGS:

Congratulations to Darlien Breeze who sold $40 of books on Amazon.com

Congratulations to Leslie Hoffman who had a few poems published in the magazine MUSED

Congratulations to Judy McFadden who had a nice article about her and her writing ("Great Scott" in "Chicken Soup for the Soul: I Can’t Believe My Dog Did That!”) published in her local newspaper.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

"This industry [the publishing industry] has NOTHING to do with telling stories. It is about making money, and if you think otherwise then you're living in a bigger fantasy than what I write."
- Alexander Maxwell Drake

WRITING TIP from Jo Wilkins:


Emotions. If you don’t express the emotions of your character (fear, love or even exasperation) we as readers have nothing to latch onto and make us care if they reach their goals in the story (e.g., Throwing his hands high into the air, he said, “I just don’t care!” But his eyes told me a different story.) Letting us see and feel their frustration keeps us turning the pages of your story.


DID YOU KNOW?

Joyce Mochrie is a local copy editor who recently contacted us. She said:

"I would like to offer my services to the Henderson Writers Group... In addition to detecting punctuation and grammar errors, I have a natural ability to recognize when a writer drifts away from the story line.  y background as a legal secretary groomed me to be very astute in perceiving how documents are written in order to accomplish the goal of getting the reader to understand what the author is saying.

I offer an exceptionally low rate for the quality of work I do. Based on recent research I've done, according to The Writer's Market, proofreaders are often paid $3 per page and copy editors $4 per page. In order to generate a following, develop recognition, and cultivate relationships, I'm offering both proofreading and copy editing for the low cost of only $1.50 per page. Anyone who chooses to work with me will find that I not only take tremendous pride in my work, but I also personally care about making the writer shine."

She can be reached at proofpro7 [at] mail [dot] com and 702 457 2610.

UPCOMING MEETINGS:

Our next weekly meeting is Monday February 11th at the Lutheran Church on Tropicana.
And since the calendar on our standard website is currently blank, here is a calendar for the next 6 weeks:


Feb 2013

Sun           Mon           Tues          Wed            Thur           Fri             Sat

4
Albertsons in Henderson 6:30-8:30 
5
6

7
28
9

10

11
Lutheran Community Church
Fellowship Hall
6:30-8:30
12
13
14
15
16
17

18
Albertsons in Henderson 6:30-8:30 
19

20


21
22
23
24
25
Lutheran Community Church
Rm 2C
6:30-8:30 
26
     27
West side meeting Skinny Dugans
6:30 p.m.

28
Mar1
2
3

4
Albertsons in Henderson 6:30-8:30 
5
6

7
8
9
10
11
Lutheran Community Church
Fellowship Hall
6:30-8:30 
12
13
14
15
16

Have a great week!

Editor- Jenny Ballif



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Upcoming Events & Places for Writers & Readers

At the Henderson Writers Group we support education and events around the Las Vegas Valley

Las Vegas Writers Conference


April 18-20, 2013
http://lasvegaswritersconference.com

Annual Student Writing Contest

The Henderson Writers Group is serious about educating writers. We believe that our youth, specifically students, are the place to start. To further these efforts we have established this writing contest to award scholarships to the best of these budding authors.
See Website for details & submission guidelines.
http://hendersonwritersgroup.com

Vegas Valley Book Festival

http://www.vegasvalleybookfestival.org/

Clark County Nevada Libraries

http://www.lvccld.org/about/locations.cfm