May 13 meeting report

About forty of us met this Monday at the Tropicana church to hear and critique seven readers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

We have a speaker next week! Consequently, there will not be much time for readers (perhaps one or two people is all).

Come meet us at the Coffee House on Monday April 20th at 6:30 to hear from Kevin Parsons about his adventure of driving through all 50 states of the U.S.A. in 50 weeks, as well as information on the intriguing topic of "Passive Agressive Marketing."

BRAGS:

Congratulations to Lauren Tallman on the publication of her book “Erotic Tales of Renni.” It is now available online; the first chapters are free.

Congratulations to Andre Fragoso on the successful start of a small critique group. They meet Saturday at Tips Coffee House and they can use more people, if you're interested contact Andre.

Congratulations to Will Damron on the good sales of his book “Cop Out.” He spoke recently at a conference and got invites to more.

Congratulations to Gigi Honour on being an actress in Audrey’s film showcase.

Congratulations to Audrey Balzart on having 3 films in Nevada State's showcase, one is posted on Facebook and the other one soon; many thanks to HWG members for helping as actors.

Congratulations to Robert Stanelle on having several agents from the conference request more material from the books he pitched.

Congratulations to Donald Riggio on a fabulous number of book sales on Amazon over mother's day.

Congratulations to Darlien Breeze on her acting debut in Audrey’s film and for the lovely earrings Loraine Erikson made from her business card handcuffs.

Congratulations to Morgan St. James on the upcoming publication of her book "La Bella Mafia." She's setting up a blog tour, contact her if you'd like host her as a guest blogger.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

"If you'd ever had a parakeet and a falsie, you'd know."

WRITING TIP from Jo Wilkins:

"I can’t find the time to write. How many times have I heard this said? Thousands! My problem as a writer is—I can’t find enough time to put it all down. There are so many stories flashing through my head that I get lost in them. Like many authors, I have multiple characters living in my imagination. The trick is to concentrate on the current ones and tuck the others into bed until their morning. 

Set aside the same time every day to sit at your desk and, even though it’s hard at first, eventually writing will fill your day."

DID YOU KNOW?

Bill Walles showed me a nice article about debut books by authors over 40: http://www.randysusanmeyers.com/2013/04/debut-novels-by-writers-over-40/


ARTICLE by Jenny Ballif: 

Five Gems Gleaned From a Conference

I had such a great experience at the Las Vegas Writer's Conference. It was my first conference and since then I've been on the lookout for any conferences with in a day's drive that I might attend. Last weekend I was able to go to the ldstorywriters conference in Provo Utah. Here are five things I learned:

1. "A little publisher can do nothing for you, or a little publisher can do a lot for you. A big publisher can do a lot for you, or a big publisher can do nothing for you. But when a big publisher decides to do a lot for you, it can do a LOT MORE."

At a workshop on small verses mid-size verses large publishing, I heard a presentation from authors who had published with both big and small companies. The take home message was that the help with advertising and editing can vary greatly. There is no guarantee that an author will get more from a large publisher, but the potential is greater. With that greater potential for editing, marketing and distribution comes higher competition and reduced flexibility (marketing picks your title and cover... not you).

2. "It's better to have no agent than the wrong agent."

Read some of the books of agents you are querying. If you like the books an agent has represented, there's a better chance they'll like your book and you'll be a good match. If you don't like the books they've represented, then you're probably not going to be a good fit.

3. From "taxes for authors" I learned that if my dream of publication and receiving a royalty check ever does come about, I'll need to be aware of things like "Self employment tax" and getting a business license.

4. A presentation on newspaper writing was very encouraging. Don't be deterred if you didn't major in journalism. There are lots of magazines and papers out there that accept submissions from the general public, and often they'll pay you for an article too!

Don't expect to land a job writing a column though. That appears to be even more competitive than publishing a book.

5. "Your query should be a story. If you can write a good 90,000 word story, you should be able to write a good 350 word story about your book."

Your query should be easy to read and follow submission guidelines. A good query should elicit requests for more material. (Unless you are writing about something that agents and publishers feel is a "dead market." In the genre of YA dystopia or paranormal romance, several agents said that the best route was to let the book sit on a shelf for a few years and work on something else.)

Thanks for reading.

Jenny Ballif (Newsletter Editor)

CALENDAR:

May / June 2013 Sun       Mon      Tues      Wed           Thur           Fri                 Sat
			May 15	16	17	18
19	20 THE COFFEE HOUSE Kevin Parsons speaking  6:30-8:30	21	22 West side meeting Skinny Dugans 6:30 p.m.	23	24	25
62	27 Lutheran Community Church 6:30-8:30	28	29	30	31	June 1
2	3 The Coffee House in Henderson 6:30-8:30	4	5	6	7	8
9	10  Lutheran Community Church Judge Steel speaking 6:30-8:30	11	12	13	14	15
16	17 The Coffee House in Henderson 6:30-8:30	18	19	20	21	22