Post #117 – Memoir Writing News – Matilda Butler
NEWS ITEM #1: New Podcast Available About the Literary Entrepreneur
Want to know more about building your platform, promoting your book, and possibly putting legs on your book? Then I have a podcast that just might interest you.
Tyora Moody contacted me recently to see if I’d be interested in being interviewed for her helpful set of audios that she calls The Literary Entrepreneur Podcast. I love connecting with other authors and was delighted to take part. We had so much fun with the interview that we talked for almost an hour. Hopefully, you’ll find it contains some useful information as you begin or continue on your path to becoming a successful author.
Ty asked me a number of interesting questions and I thought I’d share them with you so that you know what to expect in the podcast. The first question caught me off-guard but was lots of fun to talk about.
1. Tell us what you like to do with your free time.
2. You have published several books. Were the books traditionally or independently published?
3. From your bio, I see you have been a “Woman in Technology” and no stranger to business. Tell us a bit about what led to the creation of Knowledge Access International where you served as president until it was sold to a large publicly traded company in 1997.
4. Being in technology most of your career, did you find embracing digital media like Ebooks distribution easier? What changes or direction would you like to see happen in the publishing industry… Especially with giants like Amazon.com?
5. You have published more than 50 articles, contributed chapters to several anthologies, and in 2007 you co-authored the four-time, award-winning Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story. Tell us about the project and what inspired you and your co-author.
6. I read where you “… didn’t expect that the creation of Rosie’s Daughters would become such a powerful personal journey and source of new beginnings for both the women you interviewed and for yourself.” How did womensmemoirs.com become a reality? What can visitors expect from visiting the website?
7. Speaking of anthologies, what led you to becoming a contributor to the anthology, Will the R.E.A.L. Authorpreneur Please Stand Up?: A Collection of Inspirational Stories Celebrating R.E.A.L. Authorpreneurs
8. The Literary Entrepreneur’s mission is to share with authors how to attract readers to their books, in particular using online platforms. What are your favorite platforms?
Don’t have time for the full podcast?
That’s fine. Hope you can stay tuned at least through Question #1. It may give you a different way to think about your writing and your marketing efforts.
I definitely urge you to go over to Ty’s website and check out all her fantastic resources. She has several books and a blog as well as her podcasts. Here are the relevant links:
Tyora Moody’s Podcasts — including mine
Thanks Ty. It was great fun talking with you.
NEWS ITEM #2: Want to Write the Best-Ever Holiday Gift? Then Consider Taking My Newest Online Memoir Class
I’m going to teach a fun memoir writing class through Story Circle Network that’s open to non-members as well as members. It’s called:
SET THE TABLE: Serve Your Favorite Story and Recipe as the Best-Ever Holiday Gift
In SET THE TABLE, you’ll create your best-ever gift. The holiday season and family festivities are coming soon. Start now with this class to use a family recipe as the tantalizing background for your memoir vignette. Create strong character descriptions, capture the emotions, learn how to make dialogue carry part of your story (even understand how the shrug of a shoulder or the wag of a cautionary finger reveals as much as the words), engage your readers with sensory details, remind them about the time and place of the story.
Craft your story/recipe combo, and prepare to give it as a holiday present to family and friends. It might contain a life lesson, a cautionary tale, or simply a treasured memory. Hone your writing skills while having fun developing a gift you’ll be proud to deliver and the recipients will be thrilled to keep as a cherished gem.
Class Description:
SET THE TABLE is a short course with an enduring impact. In three classes, you’ll begin or continue to develop your understanding and use of the five key elements of writing—character, emotion, dialogue, sensory description, and time and place.
At the end of the class, you’ll not only have a valuable present for friends and family, you’ll have a methodology to dig deeply into the details and story elements that allow you to bring stories to life.
Want to be a purposeful writer? Once you sign up for this class, I’ll provide you with my recently expanded introduction to Writing Alchemy, a methodology for uncovering and writing powerful stories. Exercises will help you learn how to become a powerful writer who knows how to use the five key writing elements in ways that make your stories sparkle.
Consider. A scene surrounds me. I can smell the scents of cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin in the air. When I cut into the juicy turkey breast using my grandmother’s bone handled carving knife, I find a piece of loneliness tucked into the stuffing. Why is it there? Does the sweet and sour of the cranberry sauce symbolize my parents relationship? Oh wait. The scene changes. I see five little girls in starched cotton dresses, twins with pigtails tied in red plaid ribbons, a third girl with a short bob and bangs, one with a pageboy that swishes across her shoulders as she runs, and the fifth with a ponytail that can’t quite hold the curls escaping from the rubber band As the last girl makes her way across the lawn, her giggly voice that shows her joyfulness. They’ve gathered for your birthday party, but there is an acrid aroma in the air from the burned hotdogs on the grill. Well, surely the birthday cake, even without icing, will give you something sweet to remember.
Come join me in capturing a small piece of your history along with a recipe that accompanies your memory. A tasty treat for sure.
To learn more about this class, click here. There are a limited number of spaces in the online class so register today.
Interested in learning more about Story Circle Network? It is a wonderful organization for women who want to write about their life experiences. SCN was founded in 1997 by Susan Wittig Albert, a NYT bestselling author of multiple series. SCN offers regular opportunities to publish, has online classes, conducts a bi-annual conference called Stories from the Heart that is fabulous and numerous other offerings for women writers. SCN membership is $55 per year and is more than worth the price. By the way, SCN members receive a 20% discount on all online classes.
NEWS ITEM #3: Story Circle Network Invites Your Proposal to be a Conference Speaker
Where will you be on April 15-17, 2016? If you submit a proposal to be a conference speaker at Story Circle Network’s (SCN) Stories from the Heart conference, you just might be in Austin, Texas enjoying spending time with about 150 women who are all eager to learn more about telling their life stories.
This is the 8th Stories from the Heart Women’s Writing Conference. I’ve been a number of times and can highly recommend the experience. As SCN says,
You Can Be a Star @ Stories From the Heart!
Proposals must be submitted by September 15. It’s not a lot of time, but if you have memoir writing or marketing content you want to teach, be sure to go to this link for more information.
Writing teachers, coaches, memoirists, novelists, poets, dramatists, publishers, the Story Circle Network invites you to star in our 8th women’s writing conference. Here’s why you should join us:
**Our writing conference is unique. It’s all about women. It brings together women writers from all over North America to celebrate and explore women’s writing and women’s lives.
**Our 3-tiered program invites you to submit proposals aimed at novice or experienced writers, or at all levels.
**The conference program offers a large showcase for your work. We covet your creative proposals in personal writing, writing as craft, the writing life, publishing, marketing, and the business of writing.
**Have a favorite format? Want bells and whistles? You can propose either a workshop or an interactive lecture. We can accommodate your PowerPoint or online presentations, too.
**You can participate in our popular face-to-face coaching sessions and gain extra advance publicity as a coach.
**You won’t get lost in the crowd. Our conference is personal-size, about 150 participants, with lots of networking opportunities.
**Our conference bookstore will feature your book.
**Our advance publicity (national email mailings, Story Circle Journal, print advertising) will feature you, your work, your website, your blog—YOU are the stars of our show.
**And if you’ve got a little extra before-or-after time, the Texas Hill Country invites you to get acquainted with all it has to offer.
Remember that the proposal deadline is September 15. If you are interested, be sure to check out the details on their website.
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