Would you like me to come speak to your chapter? Your writing group? Your editor and art director about your cover art? I can’t promise any success with that last one, but I am an experienced workshop presenter. I come armed with entertainment and slides if need be, and I can speak on a variety of topics.
Plus, if you’d like to invite me to your writing group chapter’s conference, I’m happy to attend and cover the event live via Twitter and online at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I think local writer conferences are amazing, and the readers at our site do, too.
For workshops, I’m available for full and half-day presentations, and here are a sampling of potential speaking topics.
Digital Promotion for Authors
Do you have to digitally promote your book, and isn’t it expensive? Yes, you do, and no, it’s not. Digital promotion is essential in the current literary marketplace, and the manner in which you choose to promote yourself and your book can make a world of difference. In this workshop, which can be full or half-day depending on the group’s needs, I discuss the essentials of digital marketing, and the things you do not have to have, no matter what anyone tells you. In a full-day workshop, by the end of my presentation, authors will have a structure for a marketing plan in hand, ready to rock and digitally roll out.
Blogging: If You’re Going to Do it, Do it Well
Many, many blogs populate the internet. Do you need to have one if you’re an author? And if you want one, what do you do with it? The setup is easy, but the maintenance and the writing, much like any project, takes some planning and some stamina, not to mention a sense of humor. In this half or full-day panel, I discuss the basics of blogging, how to set one up, and what rules to follow to make sure your site doesn’t attract attention for all the wrong reasons — and what to do if, perchance, it does.
Author Websites 101
Good websites, much like good books, are hard to create. I will outline the best of and the worst of author websites (my least favorite author website may surprise you) and reveal what readers really want when they visit your homepage online.In the full-day workshop, more in-depth development of ideas will help those present write a bio, develop a press kit, and come up with a unique hook for their website.
Digital Reading: What do Digital Readers Want?
Want to harness the power of digital reading? Focus your attention on fiction reading women, for we are the readers you’re looking for. I can tell you the ideal device design, the ideal purchase environment, and the key factors women fiction readers use when deciding what book, what ereader, and what bookstore. Portions of this presentation have been seen at O’Reilly’s Tools of Change in Publishing 2009, and at the IPDF’s Digital Book 2009.
Romance Reviews: How to Get Reviewed, and How to Put a Review in Your Rearview Mirror
Any press is good press, right? When someone slaps your book silly, it’s not always a good time. As someone who has both dished it out on several occasions and taken it when my own book came out in April 2009, let me tell you: reviews are indeed tricky. I will reveal the basics of how to approach different review websites that specialize in romance – and how to identify other review websites that might help you promote your book. I’ll discuss good reviews and how to truly savor them, and bad reviews and how to make lemonade out of them.
I’m also available to moderate panels and can customize workshops and presentations to suit your needs. Please for details and to inquire about speaking fees.