TGIF: Events and an Announcement

Plenty of interesting writing-related events are happening this weekend and the coming week, but first I have an announcement regarding our own Mary Jane Honegger, a regular Writing North Idaho contributor.

As part of their program to advance the filmmaking workforce in Idaho, the Idaho Film Office in Boise recently awarded the KNIFVES (Northwest Independent Film & Video Entertainment Society) Organization a grant to produce Mary Jane’s screenplay Root Bound. The concept of the film addresses complications that arise when a young professional denies his Idaho roots when he is hired by a national television show. The pre-production, filming, and post-production process of Root Bound will be used as a series of learning opportunities for members of the KNIFVES group. Pre-production will begin the spring of 2011 and filming will take place during the summer.

Congratulations to Mary Jane on the production of her first screenplay, and to KNIFVES on their grant award!

And now, following are several upcoming events you may want to check out:

This evening, October 22, Shawn Underwood will be signing copies of her travel memoir, Mommy, Are We French Yet? at Aunties Bookstore.

Other book signings this weekend at Aunties include John Bladek signing his book Roll Up the Streets!, and Rich Faletto signing his book Four-Eleven, both on Saturday.

On Sunday, Portland author Dana Haynes presents his suspense novel, Crashers, at Aunties.

On Monday evening, Jane Porter will present her latest release, She’s Gone Country, also at Aunties.

Also Monday evening, poet and author Philip Burgess will tell a story of Western settlement in his presentation Penny Post Cards – Homesteading Women, at the Coeur d’Alene Library.

Check the times, locations, and other details of these events on the Events page of this blog.

BEYOND THIS BLOG: The First and "Fourmost" Elements to Include on Your Website

Here's some useful information from bookhitch.com for authors and writers who have websites, or are thinking about creating their own website.

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In this day and age, web pages are old news - but does your author website live up to expectations? Is it doing all it can to market your books? Check out these four must-haves for any author's web page.

1) Book details. Showing thumbnail images of your covers helps to establish visual recognition if viewers see your book elsewhere. Short summaries of your books will give your readers the gist of each of them and allow them to decide whether they are interested or not. Lining them up side by side on the same page can introduce readers to your other titles if they're not familiar with all of them. Most importantly, make sure you provide links to where all of your books can be purchased online!

2) Book reviews and excerpts. There's no better place for tooting your own horn than your website. Here you can unabashedly boast by posting the most favorable and full-of-praise book reviews you've received in their entirety, or by highlighting blurbs from other authors. For a potential reader teetering on the fence about whether they will enjoy your book or not, these reviews can be very convincing. Another way to hook a potential reader is by giving them an excerpt, whether it be from the climax of your book, or the introduction to a main character, or even the whole first chapter. Chances are, once they start reading, they won't want to stop. For readers who visit your web page because they are somewhat interested in your books, these items will help to seal the deal.

3) Special features. Give your readers access to additional content online, which will make them feel privileged to be your fans. Think the B-side of a DVD. The possibilities of what can be featured online are essentially limitless, but here are a few suggestions of what to include: illustrations or pictures from your book, character bios and back stories (especially if you write a series in which they recur), or a downloadable audio recording of you reading a passage from the book. You can link to message boards for your fans to discuss your work and ask you questions - this is a simple way to find out what they liked and didn't like, and to get suggestions for your current writing. If your genre is more specialized, like nonfiction, you can post links to some of your research, or if you've written a "how to" book, you can film yourself demonstrating. Children's books authors can have related activities on their website, such as printable coloring pages of book illustrations. And of course, if you have a book video, it belongs front and center!

4) Author Info. That's you! If your readers visit your web page, they probably want to find out more about you as a person! Give them more a more detailed bio than they would find on the back cover of your book, and consider rotating quirky questions (perhaps posed by fans on your message boards) like "What was your first car?" or "Who's your favorite author?" under a "Get to Know Me" section of your website. And if you blog, post the link so that your interested readers can follow it! Keep your readers up-to-date with the latest news about you and your books - post any interviews or press releases, and tell them about any promotional events you have coming up. A mailing list that your readers can sign up for will also help to keep them informed about your events, which can help to generate more support at them. Give your readers a place to contact you via email, snail mail, or both. You'll be able to receive feedback, comments, and questions from them - but of course be wary of the lack of privacy on the good old World Wide Web; you may want to get an email address or P.O. Box to be used just for your author correspondence.

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This article written by the editors of bookhitch.com for the bookhitch.com newsletter, reprinted with permission.

Kindle for PC: I'm Lovin' it!

Earlier this summer our son called to tell me a fellow was giving away free goats along Highway 2. Free Goats? Sure. As someone who once owned two adorable pygmy goats, I knew, in this case, free didn’t exactly mean FREE. It meant a continuous supply of alfalfa pellets and, all too often, treks around our acreage rattling a can of those pellets to bribe the little rascals to return home after ANOTHER escape, followed by ANOTHER fence repair.

Free is seldom free.

But recently I discovered something truly free. This may be old news to some, but if not, you might find it useful, and fun.

A week or so ago, while browsing the ebook section of Amazon.com, I noticed a link in the right column that read Available on your PC. So I checked it out, wondering how I could read Amazon’s ebooks without a Kindle.

With digital publishing and ebooks growing in popularity, folks can choose from a variety of gadgets for downloading and reading ebooks. Barnes & Noble offers the Nook. Amazon offers the Kindle. Apple offers the Ipad. And there are others. But, priced anywhere from $139 to $499 and up, I’m not ready to lay down my money for one. (Not to mention the fact that I am still working through a stack of print books on my side table.) But, at times, browsing through an ebook on my laptop, which is fairly small and lightweight, would be handy.

Because Kindle readers begin at $139, I guessed the Kindle for PC would cost a few dollars. Instead, it surprised me to find that Amazon does not charge for the program.

So I clicked a few buttons and downloaded the program and it was ready to receive ebooks. I downloaded sample chapters of a book and tested it. I found that I could make notes in the sidebar as I read, highlight words and sentences, adjust font size, scroll through the book both vertically and horizontally, and change the color of the book's pages. Wow. And I’m sure there are other tricks I have not yet discovered.

So far I have purchased one ebook, a mystery for $2.99. But even if I don’t use it for buying many books, it is a great place to download sample chapters to read at my leisure and discover new books and writers, rather than paging through Amazon’s, sometimes clumsy, Search Inside tool.

And, although you might argue that Kindle for PC is not really free because it is a platform for purchasing ebooks from Amazon, to me, it is certainly “more free” than goats.

TGIF: Ann Rule and other fine authors holding book signings this weekend.

A variety of author events are happening within the next several days. But before we get to the events, I'd like to remind you about an upcoming deadline for authors, November 5, 2010. Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) is compiling a 2010 Holiday Catalog they plan to distribute via email. Here are the details from a recent PNWA newsletter:
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If you are a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (Annual membership, $65.00), you have a great opportunity to promote your book(s) and reach more readers. Back by popular demand, PNWA is putting together a 2010 Holiday Catalog. The catalog will be distributed through our PNWA email list, and to other selected writers' group lists.

Catalog details:
1. You must be a current PNWA member to have your book(s) included in the catalog. To join visit http://www.pnwa.org/.
2. The catalog will be distributed via email the day after Thanksgiving. Reminding families to add local authors to their holiday wish list this season.

Required information for each book listed:
1. Book genre listing (i.e.: fiction, nonfiction, memoir, thriller, fantasy, etc.).
2. A high-resolution (300dip) jpg cover photo.
3. Book Title and Author.
4. Up to 100 words of description (author's website optional).
5. Publisher, ISBN, Binding, Price.
6. Required information should be sent via email to kelli@pnwa.org by November 5, 2010 (no exceptions).
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According to Kelli Liddane, Managing Director of PNWA, PNWA emails the catalog to approximately 8400 recipients consisting of authors, readers, and various writing groups. If you would like to view last year's catalog, click the following link. (Note: Disregard the page breaks and inoperable links, a result of the pdf format.)  2009 Holiday Catalog


Now...to upcoming events. Following is a list of author events happening this weekend and next week in the Spokane area. Be sure to check our Events page for details of these and other events.

Today at Noon, author Sam Lien Le will be at Yokes on Indian Trails Road signing copies of his autobiography about his escape from Vietnam, The Spirit Stills the Storms.

This evening at Aunties Bookstore, Susan J. Cobb presents her book, Virgin Territory, a memoir about retiring to Mexico.

On Saturday at 2:00 pm, bestselling author Ann Rule visits Aunties Bookstore to present her latest book, In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds. The book is a saga of true crime set in Spokane.

Next Wednesday, 5:00 pm, Jan Brett will talk about her latest storybook, The 3 Little Dassies, at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane.

Thursday, bestselling science fiction author Lois McMaster Bujold will present her latest novel, Cryoburn, at Aunties Bookstore.

And next Friday at Aunties, October 22, Seatle author Shawn Underwood presents her travel memoir, Mommy, Are We French Yet? Tales of an American Family Living in France.

Have fun!

BEYOND THIS BLOG: Public Speaking 101

Here's a helpful article I ran across offering practical advice for those planning to speak at a public venue such as workshop, conference, or a book signing and presentation.

How to Sell Yourself and Your Product without Stressing Out

The number one thing that adults fear is a not shark. Nor is it drowning. Nor is it even death. The number one fear is public speaking. But are people really afraid of speaking in public, or are they just afraid of being embarrassed in public? Public speaking may have the potential to humiliate but it also has the potential to draw new interest in your product. Public speaking is necessary for promoting a book and here are some tips to keep your presentation interesting for your audience and stress free for you.

Planning the Presentation

Know your audience. When preparing your presentation, keep the age, gender and background of your audience in mind. If your topic is very specialized but you're presenting to a general audience, don't forget to explain unknown vocabulary. No matter who your audience is, you want to engage them, not bore them.

Know your venue. Bringing a PowerPoint presentation to a place without a projector is probably not going to work out very well. Does this place have a microphone? Does it have a podium? How big is the venue?

Know your time limit. No one likes to be told a presenter is going to talk for an hour and two hours later, he's still talking. Yes, your work is important, but people do have other obligations. Going over a time limit could cause you to lose an otherwise interested audience to constant watch checking and frustration.

Practice! This is the best way to work out the kinks. This will also allow you to experiment with the pitch of your voice and when you're going to pause as well as giving you more confidence in your ability to deliver the material well.

Dress comfortably and professionally. What you wear depends on what type of presentation you are giving, but you should be comfortable in your outfit. Testing out whether or not a new blouse will show sweat stains is best left for another time.

Giving the Presentation

Be confident. Apologizing for being unprepared or having poor speaking skills can sabotage the presentation before it even begins. Stand up straight and if you appear self-assured, your audience will be more likely to take your presentation seriously.

Make eye contact. This is very important. If you have note or cue cards, make sure you know your presentation well enough to not lose your place when making eye contact. Making eye contact with as many people in the room as you can makes you more approachable.

Eliminate filler words and poor speaking habits. "Ah", "uh", "um", "like", "really" and "know what I mean" detract from your presentation and make you look less professional. Audience members will focus more on the distraction of your fillers and not on the content of your presentation.

Slow down. Inexperienced public speakers tend to make the mistake of rushing their presentations due to nerves. Pause after a thought to give the audience time to digest what you've said.

Bond with your audience. Body language says a lot. Warm and inclusive body language goes a long way towards allowing your audience to relate to you and to what you have to say.

After the Presentation

Don't forget about questions... If you've been engaging, there's a strong likelihood that people will want to know more. You have two options for this. If you don't mind being interrupted from time to time, you can ask for questions throughout the presentation. This will likely generate more questions, as the topic is fresh in the asker's mind. However, this can also make it easier for your audience to challenge your points. The other option is leaving time at the end of your presentation for questions. How long you want to leave depends on how long your presentation was to begin with.

…but questions aren't the only option. If you would rather facilitate a discussion with your audience at the end of your presentation, leave more time. Audience members will feel robbed if they don't get to share their opinion. A discussion is also a great way to engage with audience members that might not be able to come up with a topic on their own.

Make sure that everyone can hear. If you decide to engage with audience members, be sure to repeat comments so that everyone in the room is on the same page. Often times, presenters make the mistake of getting into what ends up being a one-on-one conversation with an audience member because the people in the back can't hear.

Stick around. Some people might not be confident enough to ask questions in front of a group. Give these people the opportunity to talk to you. Engaging positively one-on-one is what can get you lifelong fans.

While these tips may vary slightly depending on your topic, venue and audience, one thing is certain: if you believe in your ability to give a great presentation, your audience will too. Public speaking is a necessary part of promotion and being good at it can only help you in the long run.

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This article written by the editors of bookhitch.com, reprinted with permission.

Five Ways to Make Every Word Count: A Guest Post by Literary Agent Sammie Justesen

As a literary agent and publisher, I see mistakes from hundreds of authors. Certain basic errors mark writers as careless or unwilling to edit their work.

I hope these five tips will enhance your writing repertoire.

Avoid Vampire Verbs

Nothing sucks life from your writing like a lazy verb. The worst offenders are “to be” verbs, such as was, were, are, have been, and is. In most cases you can rescue a weak sentence by using a strong verb to eliminate passive voice. Yes, this takes time, but your writing is worth it, right?

Avoid anemic verbs that describe emotions instead of showing. Vague words like felt, feel, thought, and think inhabit weak sentences. Compare these two examples:

Weak and distant: “I felt so bad I thought I’d never get over that cold.”

Vivid: “My head throbbed, my nose turned red, and I spent three days in bed.”

Other feeble words include: went, looked, and seemed. The sentences below sound like excerpts from a primary reader:

I felt horrible. I felt like walking out.

The girl looked sad. The restaurant looked busy.

She seemed confident. The weather seemed nice.

I went down the street to Claire’s house. I went to bed early.

I thought about going down the street to Claire’s house. I thought about leaving.

You can do better than this! Show specific actions that reflect what each character is thinking, feeling, or doing. A few simple rewrites will rescue your prose from the vampire syndrome.

Adverbs are Sometimes Horribly Ineffective

An adverb changes or identifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Perhaps you’re tempted to let adverbs prop up wimpy verbs and adjectives. For example, in the above heading, I used the adverb “horribly” to enhance the adjective. This made things worse. Perhaps I should’ve said: “Adverbs Suck.”

In some cases, an adverb tells (instead of showing) how a character does something, as in: “The woman talked rapidly.” We might revise this to: “She spit the words rapid-fire.”

Banish the following adverbs from your vocabulary: very, really, just, totally, absolutely.

The best policy for adverbs is to sprinkle them like hot pepper. Two or three per page is enough.

Check for Overused Words

Everyone uses pet words and phrases out of habit, both in speech and writing. I recently edited a memoir wherein the author chose one single, bland adjective at the beginning of a paragraph, and then used it in every sentence. He would describe a beautiful lake, his beautiful wife, and a beautiful sunset, all in one block of text. He didn’t notice the repetition. To prevent this syndrome, identify your favorite words and use the “find” function on your computer to check for overuse.

Don’t Repeat Yourself: Cut the Clutter

Thousands of fiction and nonfiction authors, especially those with teaching backgrounds, tend to repeat information as though readers aren’t smart enough to grasp a concept the first time around. Authors find ingenious ways to repeat themselves by saying the same thing twice in different words. These writers focus on one thought and beat it to death. Like a pedantic instructor, they want to use everything they know about a topic, even if the reader already understands.

Annoying, isn’t it?

Tweet!

Twittering helps you practice using vivid words to address a topic with 140 characters. I tweet several times a day, for fun and to market one of my books (http://twitter.com/SammieJustesen). You needn’t be brilliant, or even coherent, on Twitter, because you always get a second chance.

Whether you’re writing a two-word quip, a 140 character Tweet, or a compete book -- Make every word count.

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Sammie Justesen is a founding partner of Northern Lights Literary Services LLC, a literary agency representing fiction and nonfiction authors. Prior to opening the agency, Justesen worked for many years as an independent writer/editor for publishing houses such as Mosby, Springhouse, Lippincott, and Prentice Hall. She has published a medical guide, technical articles, poetry, and short stories, and is the author of Speaking of Dialogue, a how-to book for writers. Writer's Digest (the popular magazine for writers) has twice featured Northern Lights Literary Services as one of 25 agencies open to new writers and building a client list.



Learn more about Speaking of Dialogue HERE.
Sammie's website: http://www.northernlightsls.com/

Writing related events this weekend…

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8

Retired EWU professor John Keeble presents his critically acclaimed novel, Broken Ground, which was recently reissued; Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane 7:00pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9

B. J. Campbell and Cougar Bob will have a book signing for Close Call The True Tales of Cougar Bob at Black Sheep Sporting Goods, 308 W. Seale Ave., Coeur d’Alene. Meet the north Idaho native who has packed more thrills into a lifetime than a dozen people and lived to tell about them. His wife, B.J., is the skilled author of these stories as well as other tales of Cougar Bob. 11:00-2:00

J.R. Parker, a 19-year-old author from Idaho, will sign copies of his young adult fantasy novel, Kestrel’s Midnight Song at Auntie’s. 1:30

Betty Hodges, local author, will sign copies of her beginning reader book, Jamie and The Haunted Lighthouse. Auntie’s. 1:30 pm

Play-Makers Spokane is back at Auntie's with a staged reading of short plays, Hit & Run IV: A Staged Reading of Short Plays by local authors Sandra Hosking and Paul Ruch, as well as by playwrights from as far away as New York. Plays range from a drama that takes place in a snow globe to a comedy about a man who finds a surprise guest in his closet. Directors include Anne Selcoe, David McCallum, Toni Cummins, Will Gilman, Kat Malcolm, and Ron Ford. Free admission. 2:00-4:00

A heads up for FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15

Novelist Sara Paretsky to Speak in Coeur d'Alene on Friday, October 15, 7:00 pm

The Idaho Humanities Council is bringing best-selling author, Sara Paretsky, to Coeur d’Alene for the 7th Annual Northern Idaho Distinguished Humanities Lecture and Dinner. The event includes dinner, lecture, Q & A period, and book signing. A special reception to meet with the author prior to the dinner will be held at a private home and is included in a benefactor level ticket. Paretsky will explore in her talk the theme “Truth, Lies, and Duct Tape: Writing in an Age of Silence,” based on the title essay of her 2007 best-selling collection of essays. The event will begin with a no-host reception at 6:00pm at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Dinner will begin at 7 p.m., with Paretsky’s talk to follow. Hastings will be facilitating book sales and book signing after the lecture. There are two ticket levels. The general ticket ($45) includes admission to the dinner and lecture. The benefactor ticket ($100) includes admission to and preferential seating at the dinner and lecture, and access to a private reception with Paretsky in a local home prior to the event. Tickets are available by calling 888-345-5346.