Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Writer's Conference Coming Up!



It is that time of year again.

The West Virginia Writer's Conference will take place at Cedar Lakes, WV (in beautiful Jackson County) on June 7th, 8th and 9th!

See the covered bridge at the top of my blog - it is located at Cedar Lakes.


I am so lucky to live close by!

I will be there. Will you?

Some of the people giving workshops, that you may be familiar with, are:

C.  Hope Clark of Funds for Writers.com. Her site has been chosen by Writer's Digest for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for the past 12 years. Her newsletters reach 35,000 readers (including me) each week. She also has the cutest dachshund named Roo!

 Marc Harshman, writer of numerous picture books and West Virginia's Poet Laureate.

Marilyn Sue Shank, author of Child of the Mountains.

Two literary agents, Marlene Stringer and Christine Witthohn, will also be there to receive your pitches.

You can go here to find out all about the conference.

Grab your Goodie Bags and name tag and come out and post your prose and poetry on the Writer's Wall. Attend the banquet on Saturday night. Browse through  the book store where members sell their books. Stroll over the lovely grounds of Cedar Lakes and just have a good time chatting with all the friendly attendees.

Do you think you live too far away to come? In the past, we have had people in attendance from Washington, Nebraska, Ohio, etc.

Have you went to a writing conference before?
What is your favorite part of a conference?


Posted by Janet Smart  on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.





Monday, May 13, 2013

Creating an Author Brand



I have been reading on the internet lately about creating an author brand and growing readership.

You need to create a distinctive theme-tagline that draws your writings together under a single identity. You want one to capture your reader's imagination. Something different or noticeable so people will remember it.
You can put your tagline on your book covers, title pages of your works, in your Amazon descriptions, etc.
You get the point, eventually your name will be recognizable with your tagline.

Also you need to create an author biography to put inside all your books, even your eBooks. Always keep the bio the same.

You can read more about this over at this site.  It is really interesting and something I think we as writers need to do.

Here is another site where it talks about this.

I have created a theme-tagline for me. Here it is: (I notice this doesn't come out right. My name, the words and my picture are supposed to be all on the same line.
Janet Smart   Shhhh! A child is reading

Here is the bio I have created.
Janet remains a child at heart. Writing articles, poems, picture books and middle grade novels to touch the lives of children. She brings her thoughts, dreams and imagination to life – refusing to grow up.  Her inner child flows onto the paper.
A mother of three grown boys, she and her husband live in picturesque West Virginia. They have a yard filled with apple trees, flowers, blackberry patches, blueberries, grapevines, birdhouses and bird feeders.  When not outside enjoying nature, she sits at her desk and writes for children.

Any suggestions to make mine better?
What do you think about this idea?
Do you have one you put with all your writings?