Springs Writers provides a FREE conference-quality workshop the first Monday of each month (except December, July & August) from 6:00–7:45 pm, Woodmen/Academy Hobby Lobby Classroom Room [against back wall behind "Employee Only" double doors], 6950 North Academy, Colorado Springs, 80918

Saturday, March 28, 2009

April Workshop: Discover Your Article’s Focus

"Success demands singleness of purpose."—Vincent Lombardi


April Workshop: Discover Your Article's Focus

When:Monday, April 13, 2009, 6:30–8:00 p.m.

Where:Stone Chapel, 280 East Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Writing an article is an exercise in focus. You have a set word count which means focusing on a relatively small chunk of information. Finding that focus adds maturity and depth, plus it's crucial to writing something an editor will love and pay you for. Discover how the "Why" of the story is the most significant question you need to answer.

Speaker: Steven Saint earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Northwestern University and has been writing articles for newspapers and magazines for the past 20 years. He has worked as an award-winning daily newspaper reporter at the Gazette and editor of five community newspapers in San Diego. His freelance work has appeared in more than 50 publications including Time Magazine, the Denver Post and Contemporary Christian Music. Steve teaches nonfiction writing for Perelandra College's Creative Writing Program.

Snow Policy: If road conditions are dangerous due to snow, please log on to this blog to see if a meeting is cancelled. If District 20 closes, the meeting is cancelled.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Book Signing: This Saturday

Book Signing—Join Springs Writer Paulette Harris

Paulette Harris, along with other contributors to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith: 101 Stories to Offer Hope, Deepen Faith, and Spread Love, are participating in a book signing. Paulette invites you to come and join the party this Saturday.

When: Saturday, March 28, 2009

Time: 1:00 pm to 5 pm

Where: Barnes and Nobles, 960 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80246

Phone: (303) 691-2998

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith

Product Description:These 101 poignant and spirit-filled stories written by Catholics of all ages and religious experiences cover the gamut, from fun stories of growing up Catholic to serious stories of sacraments and miracles. Affirming God's unconditional love, these stories share the role the Church plays in personal and professional lives, expressed in religious rituals and everyday activities. Catholics will be blessed to see how the secular is often saturated with the sacred.

Whether the reader is a cradle Catholic or a convert; lay, clergy or religious; simply curious or struggling, these stories describe what it means to be a Catholic. They bring happiness, hope, and healing to everyone, from the teenager celebrating confirmation to the elderly looking back on a long life.

Paperback: 380 pages

Publisher: Chicken Soup for the Soul

ISBN-10: 1935096230

ISBN-13: 978-1935096238

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Writing Contests: March 2009 Deadlines


"In all honesty, at that time, I never saw myself as an author. I was just a Mom in a state of panic, trying to enter a short story contest to win the prize money in order to keep the lights on in my home."—Leslie Banks



Annual Writers-Editors International Writing Competition

Genre: Nonfiction Division: (A) Previously Published Article/Essay/Column/Nonfiction Book Chapter — (B) Unpublished or self-published Article/Essay/Column/Nonfiction Book Chapter

Genre: Fiction Division: (C) Unpublished or self-published Short Story — (D) Unpublished or self-published Novel Chapter

Genre: Children's Literature Division: (E) Unpublished or self-published Short Story/Nonfiction Article/Book Chapter/Poem (judged together as one category)

Genre: Poetry Division: (F) Unpublished or self-published Free Verse/Traditional (judged together as one category)

Entry Fee: Entry fee of $5 (active or new Writers-Editors Network members) or $10 (non-members) must accompany each fiction/nonfiction entry under 3,000 words. Entry fee of $10 (members) or $20 (non-members) must accompany each entry of 3,000 words to 5,000 words. Entry fee of $3 (members) or $5 (non-members) must accompany each poem entered.

Prizes: First Place in each Category - $100 plus certificate. Second Place in each Category - $75 plus certificate. Third Place in each Category - $50 plus certificate. Honorable Mention certificates will be awarded in each category as warranted.

Deadline: March 15, 2010

2009 Human Potential Writing Contest

Genre: Short Story, 1000 words maximum.

Entry Fee: None

Prizes: The winner (first prize) will be published online.

Deadline: March 28, 2009

Jane Austen Short Story Award

Deadline: March 31, 2009

Genre: Fiction, 2000-2500 words, inspired by Jane Austen or her writing.

Entry Fee: £10

Prize: Win £1000, 2 runners-up £200, all three win week's writing retreat at Chawton House, 15 shortlisted win £40, publication in annual prize anthology. Postal entry. £10.

Review Fuse Short Story Contest

Genre: Short story, Stories must be 3000 words or fewer and adhere to clean content policy.

Entry Fee: There are no entry fees or purchases of any kind required to enter and win the contest. After you submit your story to the contest, you will be required to complete assigned critiques of other authors (4 for free members and 3 for premium members). You will receive three critiques of your story in return. Those who do not complete their critiques will not be eligible to win the contest.

Prize: $50

Deadline: March 31, 2009

Annual Writecorner Press Prize

Genre: Poetry. Any style. No erotica. Maximum lines: 40.

Entry Fee: $5 first poem, $3 each additional poem.

Prizes: $500, $100. Winners published on Web site.

Deadline: March 31, 2009

The Wilde Times Sci-Fantasy Writing Contest

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Entry Fee: $10

Prizes: $1,000, $500, $350, $75, $75 plus other awards.

Deadline: March 31, 2009

OnceWritten.com Annual Poetry Contest

Genre: Poetry

Entry Fee: Daily Writing Sparks Subscribers: $10, General Public: $15

Prizes: First Prize: $500 and publication; Runner Up: $100 and publication

Deadline: March 31, 2009

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest

Genre: Short stories, essays or other works of prose, up to 5,000 words each.

Entry Fee:
$15 per entry.

Prizes: First prize: $2,000. Second prize: $1,000. Third prize: $500. Fourth prize: $250. There will also be five High Distinction Awards of $200 each, and six Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. The top 15 entries will be published on the Winning Writers website (over one million page views per year) and announced in Tom Howard Contest News and the Winning Writers Newsletter, a combined audience of over 25,000 readers.

Deadline: March 31, 2009

Thursday, March 19, 2009

23 Planks to Build Your Writer’s Platform

If you want people to listen, you have to have a platform to speak from, and that is excellence in what you do.William Pollard

By Scoti Springfield Domeij

What Is a Writer's Platform?

An author platform is—

  • You—who you are
  • Your expertise and credibility
  • Your reputation and public visibility
  • Your publishing and speaking resume
  • What makes you and your expertise unique

What Does It Do?

When a publisher offers you a book contract, the deal includes a complete package—the book, you and your platform. Your platform convinces others that you are the best choice for a speaking event, a keynote address, a consulting gig, or a book contract. It assures others that you are skilled, enthusiastic, and experienced in promoting yourself in the national or international marketplace. Your writing platform—

  • Creates buzz for book sales
  • Produces a product or service to sell
  • Communicates your expertise to others
  • Promotes your book to your target audience
  • Endorses you, whether you are a writer or a speaker

Where Do I Start?

It's not all about you.

What?

Isn't my platform about me?

If it's all about you and what others can do for you, your audience will catch on fast to your motives.

Your platform begins with your God-given passion, understanding how God gifted you, and using your writing and speaking to make a difference in the lives of others. Begin by asking,

  • Who is my audience?
  • What is my distinct message, specialty, or niche?
  • How can I serve my audience?
  • What information am I offering to benefit my target audience? Or, am I just nagging them to buy what I'm selling?
  • How can I serve my audience?
  • What is my most important heart motivation? Communicating values? Making money?
  • Am I presenting myself as a caring professional or am I bragging about what I've achieved?

Read Rob Eager's sage advice "Are You a Selfish Writer or Speaker?" Annie Jennings offers questions to ask yourself when building your platform.

What Planks Support an Author Platform?

To read how-to articles, see examples and log on to websites mentioned, click on the links below.

Business Card

Design your business card, which may include the following: recent photo, real name not pen name, title, tagline, writing genre, address, fax or phone numbers least likely to change, email address, blog URL, website URL, name of your ezine. Some author business cards only communicate contact details. Others are mini-promotional brochures, listing the range of services provided. Carry your cards along with tape and thumbtacks to post in coffee shops or on library notice boards. Exchange cards at writer's gatherings and conferences. Collect business cards from potential readers to add to your marketing database. Not a designer? Try Vista Prints designs. Please note that their FREE business cards include postage, so they're not exactly "free."

Website

What are the elements of a great author website? Marketing guru, Rob Eager provides a list of the essential elements. When I wrote the copy for the website I plan to launch, I copied and pasted each page of each of Rob's clients' websites into separate documents related to each webpage. Then I evaluated the format, especially the value statements, to help me write my copy. Check out his clients' websites.

Endorsements

Consider endorsements from celebrities, well-known names or professionals, experts in a field that supports your writing topic, or authors with similar writing topics. Author and speaker Kathy Pride provides practical insights in her article "Securing Endorsements." Keep your request letter short. Ask the endorser to sign a formal release or provide written permission that doesn't have a time limit to use their name and endorsement in all of your marketing efforts. Ask how they want to be identified. Obtain a jpeg or tiff of their photo. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the endorser to return his endorsement to you. After you receive an endorsement, send a thank you. On the endorsements page of your website, copy the best reviews from Amazon.com reviews and place them under the title "What Others Are Saying on Amazon.com."

Media Kit

Develop a media kit which includes: a one-page press release bulleting strong hooks for the book's contents, a one-sheet, jpeg of a recent professional photo, jpeg of your book cover, videos of your media clips, links or PDF's of published articles on your topic, two 500-750 word articles that can be reprinted without charge based on your book or key topic, a sheet listing interview questions & answers to be used by interviewers. Here's info on a one-sheet for fiction writers. These one-sheet examples for nonfiction writers also promote your speaking to event organizers: Shannon Ethridge, Rudy Wilson Galdonik, T. Suzanne Eller, and Dr. Jada Daves.

Press Release

Stay abreast of relevant news stories. Beth Vogt's press release "Will a Late-in-life Mom be American's Next Vice President?" garnered a number of radio interviews. Every press release is based on a cookie cutter format. Keep the word count to 400–500 words max. Write a press release related to your expertise and the news event or a holiday. Start with your local news outlets. Develop an email and fax list. Send out press releases via email, fax or distribution sites such i-Newswire, Free Press Release, PR Newswire, PRWeb, Business Wire, Fast Pitch Networking, PR Compass, Free Press Release, PR Leap, 24/7 Press Release, PR Log, 1888 Press Release, Click Press, Free News Release, PR, PR 9, and Press Base. Create a holiday linked to your book topic. Submit it for publication in Chase's Calendar of Events. Promote your holiday each year with a press release announcing how you and others celebrate the occasion.

Expertise

Does your novel feature an obese child, someone with a disability, or a political topic? Think of creative ways to connect your expertise or book topic to breaking news. When interviewed discuss the hot story and direct them to your website.

Focus Groups/Surveys

Conduct focus groups or conduct surveys to convince publishers that your idea is saleable. Conduct online surveys at SurveyMonkey.

Online Communities

Build your social networking skills on Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Twitter, Red Room, Shelfari, Goodreads, Linkedin, and Meetup.com. Post comments on social networks, widely read blogs or online forums in your genre. Post on blogs written by agents, editors or publishing professionals. Add your URL in the comment section. The clickability of the Internet links to your website or blog. Build your Twitter following by tweeting fascinating facts from research for your book.

Blogging

Build an audience through a blog of your own or blog for an established website. Start your blog well in advance of pitching your book. A few bloggers have been discovered by book publishers, but that's not common. Update your blog often. Provide useful, practical information. Contact book review editors or join the blog reviewers for Thomas Nelson and NavPress. Review their books on your blog and also post your review on amazon.com with a link back to your blog or website. When posting comments on similar blogs with your target audience, don't pitch or sell your book. Contribute to the discussion. If appropriate, comment on something in your book that adds to the discussion. Include a link to your blog or website in the comment section. Interview famous authors. Litfuse Publicity and The Blog Tour Spot offer opportunities to participate in the blog book tours of other authors. Set up Google Alerts related to your topic to alert you when others blog about it. After your book is published setup Google Alerts with your name, book title, competitor's names, competitive or complimentary book titles so you can participate in online conversations. Create contests on your blog to win prizes. Develop a list of all the top bloggers for your niche. Interview bloggers on your blog and ask them to do a Q&A with you on their blogs.

Newsletter/Ezine

Create an ezine or email newsletter to connect with those interested in your topic. Distribute it to your regular subscriber email list. Or write a column or articles for another newsletter that targets your audience.

Media

Pitch your expertise or book topic to radio and Internet talk shows and television talk and news shows. Connect your topic or expertise to breaking news. There are 10,000 radio talk shows that need interviews. Radio-locator, a radio station search engine, links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world. Christian Radio.com links to individual radio and internet stations, radio shows and networks. Check the library reference section for Bacon's Media Directories to compile a customized media distribution list by publication, market, beat, or other criteria.

  • Bacon's Internet Media Directory includes information on more than 15,000 news sites, including the sites of daily and community newspapers, business, trade, and consumer magazines, online-only news sites, broadcast and cable network, and news service sites.
  • Bacon's Newspaper and Magazine Directory contains information on every daily newspaper in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, all community newspapers in the U.S. and Canada, over 18,000 trade and consumer magazines, newsletters, and journals.
  • Bacon's Radio/TV/Cable Directory contains detailed editorial and contact information on every U.S. and Canadian broadcast outlet – be it a national or regional network, a broadcast or cable station, a network news bureau, program syndicator, or a news, talk, entertainment, or public affairs program.

Speaking

Develop keynote speeches based upon your book or chapters in your book. Join Toastmasters and polish your speaking skills. Speak to small, medium, and large local and civic groups. Scan the calendar of events in local newspapers for groups that are appropriate for your speaking topic. Call the number listed to offer your speaking services. Keep a list of where you spoke, the target audience, and how many people attended. If you're asked to speak at retreats, conferences, seminars, or universities, check with organizer to see if you can sell your books at the event. Ask the event organizer if they will purchase a copy of your book to put in each attendees registration packet.

Podcasts/Videos/Slideshows

Create and post videos on TubeMogel, which posts them to YouTube and the other main video sites. Keep them to ten minutes or less. Janine Turner's "Holding Her Head High" is an excellent example of a video that says it all in 35 seconds. Ask bloggers to post a video or podcast interview. Pitch ideas to podcasts or Internet radio shows. Produce your own Internet, radio, or television show. Create a slide presentation to publish on SlideShare. Post images of your book cover on Flickr, PhotoBucket and other photo gallery websites. Include tags that reflect the book's topic.

Writing

Write an essay or op-ed linked to your book topic. Research five media outlets and the type of news or information they need or want. Pitch a different story idea to each. Contact book review editors across the country to review your new book. Ask if you can review books for them. Include your byline with your "forthcoming" book's title, your URL, ezine, and blog. Write articles on your topic and submit them to the appropriate publications. Submit stories to well-known series such as Chicken Soup for the Soul, A Cup of Comfort,Guideposts "The Incredible Power of Prayer Series," or the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition.

Workshops/Webinars

Create one or more workshops around the theme of your book. Use the Internet as a teaching tool. Set up email courses or run webinars. Collect testimonials to add to your website.

Tip Sheets

Write and distribute a tip sheet, which is a news release offering tips or advice in a bulleted or numbered format. Writer, speaker, and mentor, Sandra Beckwith offers great advice in her articles "How to Write a Tip Sheet" and "Keep Your Nonfiction Book in the News."

Services

Do you offer services related to your writing niche or target audience? Do you conduct conferences or workshops? Advertise your services.

Products

Offer excerpts from your book on your website. Include a summary of your book to encourage the reader to purchase it. Create a special report, an e-book, or other products. Create products in Word or Publisher templates and then publish as a PDF using the free software, Cute PDF. Send out a news release offering a free copy of a report related to a current event.

Database

Collect email addresses on your website. To build your email database, offer a free chapter, a free e-book, free tip sheets, and discounts. Whenever you attend or speak at an event or workshop collect business cards and email addresses. Remember to ask for permission to add people to your email list. Seek out people who read, write, sell, or publish books to add to your database. Use your mailing list to publish a newsletter, ezine or notify people of speaking engagements or book releases.

Amazon.com

Use Amazon.com's promotional tools. Post author videos and special gift offers. Link to your blog. Send free copies of your book to reviewers and ask them to post their positive reviews on Amazon.com reviews. Don't have a book? Post your book reviews on Amazon.com and link back to your blog or website.

Memberships

Join writers and publishers groups. Become known by participating or volunteering. Do you know any associations, societies, or organizations whose audience relates to your writing topic? Would they commit to buy a hundred or more copies of your published book? Include their letter of commitment with your book proposal. Offer to lead workshops for them, do a book signing event, agree to a co-promotion deal, speak at one of their events, or write for their website or magazine.

Bookstores

Get to know managers and buyers for your local chain and independent booksellers. When you do a radio or TV event, direct readers to one store to purchase your book. Sign up for their email or mailing lists. What type of author events do they host in their stores? One author got to know the managers of local bookstores and then expanded her list to include all the bookstores in her state. Every time her publisher released her new book, she sent postcards to every bookstore manager.

Mentoring

Arielle Ford and her publisher, Harper One, jointly hired http://www.GlobalEventSource.com to build her book website and the promo page for The Soulmate Secret: Manifest the Love of Your Life with the Law of Attraction. Some authors hire publicists or marketing professionals to polish their presentations and introduce them to media contacts. Hiring any professional is expensive. Rob Eager of Wildfire Marketing specializes in helping authors define their platform to spread their message. He teaches you the "how" so you can repeat your success without hiring a publicist for each new book release. If you want to sell more books, land more speaking engagements, and grow your platform, check out Rob's WildFire Marketing Mentor Program. Check out all the services Rob provides for authors here.

Online Must-Read Articles

7 Ways to Build Your Author Brand Online, Michael Hyatt, CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishers

10 Tips to Creating a Powerful Platform, Annie Jennings, Publicist

Building a Platform, Chip MacGregor, Agent, MacGregor Literary

Marketing-Platform-Branding, Rachelle Gardner, Agent, WordServe Literary

Recommended Reading

Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina Katz

The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books, Stephanie Chandler

The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, Patricia L. Fry

Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors, Book Publicity through Social Networking, Steve Weber

Write is a Verb, Start Writing, No Excuses, Bill O'Hanlon

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Call for Submissions: The General Mills Spoonfuls of Stories Contest

Are You the Next Great Children's Book Author?

Cheerios® is searching for the next great children's book author for their third annual new author contest. It could be you! The winning book will be distributed for free inside Cheerios cereal boxes.

Deadline: July 15, 2009

Genre: Children's Fiction

Grand Prize: $5000 and the winning story submission will be offered to a reputable Children's Book Publishing company for possible future publication. Publication not guaranteed.

First Prizes: Two (2) First Prizes of $1000 each will be awarded. The stories of all prize winners will appear on www.SpoonfulsofStories.com.

Details:The rules are here.

Submit your story here.

Simon and Schuster is publishing the first year's winning entry, The Great Dog Wash.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Writing Opportunity: Guideposts

"Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart." —Mother Teresa

Guideposts Is Sponsoring: The Incredible Power of Prayer Series

Prayer—the heartbeat of the Christian life—is an amazing gift from God to us. A prayer in faith can spur God's heart to "move mountains" on our behalf. The incredible power of prayer can accomplish miracles that go far beyond anything we humans can accomplish on our own.

Guideposts reaches millions of Americans with their upbeat message of God empowering us. And now, Guideposts is launching a series of 12 books on various aspects of prayer and how people from every walk of life have been transformed through God's responses. These books will be mailed monthly as part of a book club promotion, and will be exclusive to their readership.

Praying from the Heart

The series compiler, James Stuart Bell, is now collecting submissions for the first three books in the series and would welcome as many stories as you wish to submit. The first volume is Praying from the Heart and covers God answering our deeply felt prayers of great passion, sincerity, and trust. These prayers may be repentant, express deep gratitude, or describe desperate cries that lay bare a person's deepest needs.

The Healing Touch

The second volume, The Healing Touch, deals with stories about prayers that lead to physical, spiritual, relational, or emotional healing. They may involve relationships that don't resolve perfectly, but bring a closer relationship with God and a new sense of purpose and greater ability.

Expecting Miracles

The third volume, Expecting Miracles, includes personal experience stories about audacious prayers with powerful answers. This is where the need is great and God responds extraordinarily. The answers don't need to be purely supernatural; God can work in mysterious ways using all kinds of means.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions can be up to 2000 words. Each story should have a creative title, an attention-grabbing lead, main body explaining a conflict or challenge, and a resolution. These need to be descriptive and compelling personal experience stories—not simply testimonies. We prefer original stories but you may also submit previously published stories. The payment is $25 for stories under 1000 words, and $50 for longer stories. You may retain the rights to publish the stories in magazines and books with smaller distribution sources.

On each manuscript, please include—not in headers or simply in the e-mail—your name, contact information (address, phone, e-mail, rights offered) and a bio of up to 30 words. Please attach to the e-mail rather than pasting text in the body.

Deadline: Now until at least June 15, 2009 for the first three volumes. Finalists for the first volume will be announced around October 15.

Send to: Please direct all inquiries and manuscript submissions to Jeanette Littleton at IncrediblePrayers@earthlink.net.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

2009 Mountain of Authors Event

Pikes Peak Library District's third annual Mountain of Authors event showcasing local authors will feature New York Times best-selling author Beverly Lewis as the keynote speaker on March 28. Lewis, a Springs resident, is the author of more than 80 books, including the popular trilogy "The Heritage of Lancaster County." She is known for her Amish sagas and her novel, "The Parting," was on the New York Times best-seller list for nine weeks.

At two panel discussions, book lovers and writers of all experience levels will find tips and inspiration from a wide range of speakers. Local authors will be available for one-on-one discussions and book signings during the author spotlight and showcase.

The free program will be from 1 to 8 p.m. March 28 at East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd.

No registration is required. For more information, call Krista Federico, 531-6333, ext. 1315.

Words & Pictures Panel

Todd Caudle, photographer of six books and dozens of calendars featuring his home state, including "14,000 Feet: A Celebration of Colorado's Highest Mountains," an award-winning coffee table book.

Michael Hague, a locally based illustrator perhaps best known for his series of children's classics, which includes such favorites as "The Wind in the Willows," "The Velveteen Rabbit," "Mother Goose," "The Secret Garden" and "Peter Pan." He has also collaborated with his wife, Kathleen Hague, on several best-selling books.

Maria Faulconer, a writer published in newspapers, magazines, journals and anthologies for children and adults. Her children's book, "Arianna and the Strawberry Tea," was selected as a self-talker for Barnes & Noble

Publishers Panel

Doris Baker, publisher at Filter Press, which has won numerous awards, including the WILLA Award from Women Writing the West and the Colorado Book Award.

Lisa Gilman, Communications Manager for the Small Publishers Association of North America, an international trade association (www.spannet.org). She assists authors and small publishers in creatively promoting their books and improving their businesses.

Michael "Mick" Silva, a writer and editor for WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group with more than 10 years' experience in shaping, acquiring, and developing books for the spiritual/religious market.

March 28 Schedule

1-2 p.m. panel - Publishers
2:30-3:30 p.m. panel - Words & Pictures
4-5 p.m. - Author Showcase Spotlight
5-6 p.m. - Author Showcase (Book Signings)
6-7 p.m. - Keynote Speaker, Beverly Lewis
7-8 p.m. - Beverly Lewis Book Signing, Reception

Source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/authors_49495___article.html/author_march.html

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Writing in a Hurricane

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."—Rabindranath Tagore

March Workshop: Writing in a Hurricane

When: Monday, March 9, 2009, 6:30–8:00 p.m.

Where: Stone Chapel, 280 East Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Workshop Description: Can you stop a hurricane from coming? Nope. It's coming. Now…or later…but, it is coming. It's a disaster outside of your control, but it doesn't need to kill you, or your writing. Leslie Yeaton Koepke survived a life hurricane. In the midst of the trauma, she wrote…sometimes. Her pages got wet, ideas scattered, and her resolve nearly drowned.

Amazing grace kept her.

She secured her book project in a lifeboat and continued to write amid the surging surf.

  • How will your commitment to write fare when a CAT 5 lands in your life?
  • What can you do now to prepare?
  • What story will you tell while dodging debris and picking up the pieces of what was?

From one writer to another, discover the insights Leslie garnered from her own storm. This interactive workshop will equip you with writing survival skills to outlive the swirling winds of a hurricane, threatening to destroy your writing dreams.

Note: Be sure to bring a tablet…you will be brainstorming and writing before the winds blow…again.

Speaker: Leslie Yeaton Koepke: Leslie is an International speaker with a 20-year career in marketing and communications. She's gifted, witty, energetic, creative, compelling, engaging. Her articles have been published in Brio magazine and Belief.net. She's also published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Empty Nesters: 101 Stories about Surviving and Thriving When the Kids Leave Home.