Want to succeed with your writing? Invest in it.

There comes a time in every aspiring writer’s life when you have to stop playing at being a writer and actually become one. The day will dawn when you have plum run out of excuses, and then you will have to make a choice. Either you are a writer, or you are not a writer. What’s it going to be?

For many people a writer is simply someone who writes. Though your words may never be read by a stranger’s eyes, the simple act of putting pen to paper or fingers to keys is enough. And that’s fine. But for others the dream is to write professionally – to make a living at this wordsmithing, storytelling craft. I fall into the second category.

By many standards, I have already achieved this dream. I do, after all, make a living with my words. But, each time I answer the dreaded so-what-do-you-do question with “I’m a writer,” I cringe just a little. I know that the person I’m addressing is going to assume I write fiction, when in truth I write marketing copy – websites, ebooks, case studies, and so on. I’m not embarrassed about my work. In fact, I’m damn proud of what I do, and on most days, I really enjoy it. The projects are like puzzles and my clients are a fabulous bunch of people who appreciate my strategic and tactical skills and bring a lot of fun into my workweek.

The thing is, I didn’t grow up saying, “I want to be a marcom writer.” I grew up wanting to become my favorite authors: JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula LeGuin, Madeleine L’Engle, and all the other weavers of the fantastic tales and outrageous adventures that made my childhood imaginings so rich and full. And now, as a grown-up, though I put my mind to work on comparatively pedantic tasks, I still adore and aspire to emulate the writers who bring the exotic, unusual, and unbelievable to life. I read Neil Gaiman, Charles DeLint, Erin Morgenstern, Lev Grossman, Catherynne M. Valente, Philip Pullman, and others and am drawn once again into worlds of magic, mystery, and often mayhem. This is what I want to create with my words: stories that entice and enchant – tales that whisk the reader away and change her in the telling.

But, up until now I haven’t invested in that dream. Not enough, anyway.

I haven’t invested my time, or my money. I haven’t taken action to prove that this dream is important to me. I have thought about and talked about writing. A lot. I have written hundreds of journal entries and read thousands of blog posts. I did do NaNoWriMo … once. I did participate in a writing group … for a little while. But those concrete actions took place a long time ago. I’ve given over my days and nights – all my precious hours – to my other work and to pastimes that are enjoyable, but which do not feed my dream of writing stories.

I’m changing that. Now.

Step 1: For Christmas last year, I bought myself a copy of Scrivener – the beloved software of so many fiction writers.  It wasn’t a big an indulgence, and I know that software does not a writer make, but it felt good to put that particular tool in my bag of tricks.

Step 2: A month ago, I attended the Grub Street Writers’ annual conference – Muse. I forked over the cash and carved out a whole day to just hang out with other writers, listen to them speak, take notes on what they were teaching, and generally immerse myself in an atmosphere of literary blossoming.

Step 3: Today, as you read this, I will be sitting in my first Grub Street Writers classroom taking the first of a 6-class series on unlocking the power of fairytale and myth.

I’m ready to start putting my pen where my mouth is. No more dancing around with the idea of being a writer. It’s time to step up and BE a writer – the kind of writer I always dreamed I could be, the kind that writes stories like the ones I loved as a child. If my “wannabeawriter” years have proven anything to me it’s that I can talk a really good game, but if I’m going to actually get anything done, I need to ante up. My good intentions have delivered little in terms of results. Investing in things like this class provides me with more than exciting opportunities to learn from professionals, meet other aspiring authors, and stretch my writing muscles. The fact that I’ve paid for and committed to this class means that my butt will be in that chair for four hours each week for the next six weeks. That’s 24 hours of working on my craft. Given that I haven’t spent that much time in the last two years combined, this investment – though small – is a pretty big deal.

I’m excited. How about you? What can we get you excited about?

How do you define writing success? How badly do you want it? What will you invest to reach your goal – make that dream come true? What can you do today? What can you do next week? What can you commit to doing before the end of the year? 

Jamie Lee Wallace is a writer who also happens to be a marketer. She helps her Suddenly Marketing clients discover their voice, connect with their audience, and find their marketing groove. She is also a mom, a prolific blogger, and a student of voice and trapeze (not at the same time). Introduce yourself on facebook or twitter. She doesn’t bite … usually.

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Image Credits: “If it’s important” – from Scrappin Along; “Dreams don’t work” – from Lucious Works

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Meeting other writers

Do you find it hard to meet other writers? Writers are everywhere, but we aren’t a boisterous bunch.

Even if we work somewhere surrounded by people, we’re focused on our screens or our notepads. And even if we’re looking around, it’s uncommon to make eye contact when our minds are in ‘writer mode.’

The Burton Rascoe quote is perfect: “What no wife of a writer understands is that a writer is working when he’s staring out the window.” We might be looking right at each other, and not recognize a similar soul.

Letting the story work its way into my mind

But there are ways to meet other writers.

Blogs – such as this one. All of us are in New England, but we each have different networks and areas of interest.

Writer-focused or author Web sites can be a way to connect with the authors of the site, and their bio pages may then have names of writing groups or organizations they belong to. Then when  you visit one of those pages, you’ll find even more ways to connect with other writers and maybe even discover a group of like-minded writers just around the corner!

Cafés and coffee shops are natural places for writers to congregate, so check out bulletin boards and newsletters at these locations to see if groups meet that might be of interest. Asking a barista or bookseller at these places can lead you to local people, too.

Events coordinators at libraries can let you know if there are any local groups that meet. Local community colleges and high schools that offer adult education classes are also resources to check into.

Meetup.com is an international resource. You can find people with similar interests in your area – or if you’re planning to travel, you can easily find people at your destination to start a conversation with before you leave.

Facebook is another resource for meeting writers. I haven’t found way to search on multiple keywords, but there are certainly quite a few writing-related groups and pages there to get you started in meeting other writers.

In New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Writers’ Project offers “Writer’s Night Out” at various venues across the state on the first Monday evening of every month. It’s a fantastic way to get out and socialize with other local writers. Perhaps there’s something like this in your area. Start by searching for a state writing organization.

The best luck I’ve had to date is with book store writing groups and meeting writers through the mystery writer’s organization that I belong to. But lately I’ve noticed the more I talk about being a writer wherever I go, the more writers I’m meeting.

Maybe we just need to wear labels saying “Hi, I’m a writer”!

Where have you met most of your writer friends?

Lisa J. Jackson is a a New England region journalist and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom. 

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Writers Write

Yesterday, I signed up for a writing conference. So excited! I went last year and had a wonderful time. It was so different from my normal life, but I felt so at home there. This year, I’m even going to attend some “Master Classes.” Doesn’t that sound good? Makes me sound like I’m learning a lot. Which I’m sure I will.

But…it turns out, there’s this phenomenon where just signing up for something (a writing conference, a gym membership) makes us feel like we have accomplished something. This can actually make it harder for us to reach our goals. Since we have this feeling of accomplishment, we don’t feel the need to do more. We start to slack off a little.

A writing conference registration does not a writer make. The only thing that makes us writers is sitting our butts down in the chair and writing.

So while I am thrilled at the prospect of attending New England Crime Bake 2012, I am determined to keep writing every day until the conference (it’s not until November but, if you’re interested, it’s already more than ¾ full, so sign up now!)

If I keep rewriting my mystery novel, which is a major goal of mine this year, then I may have a completed manuscript to pitch by the time Crime Bake finally rolls around. Even if I don’t have a completed manuscript, I will be that much further along so that, when I get my five minutes with an agent (yes, that IS part of the conference!) I can pick his or her brain in a useful way.

And then get back to my chair, and start writing again.

How can you use the energy and excitement of a “to-do” related to writing to help you get back to your chair and write?

Diane MacKinnon, MD, is currently a full-time mother, part-time writer, and part-time life coach. She is a Master Certified Life Coach, trained by Martha Beck, among others. She is passionate about her son, her writing and using her mind to create a wonderful present moment.  Find her life coaching blog at http://www.dianemackinnon.com/blog.

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Let’s write or read a poem

If you haven’t heard yet, April is National Poetry Month. 

As a writer, I believe it’s important to always stretch and grow in the craft, and that entails writing daily and trying different types of writing.

I don’t consider myself a poet, but I did have a poem published in 2007. Specifically a haiku, using my pseudonym. Here it is:

Loss

by Lisa Haselton

Death knocked on the door

Two brothers separated

Pain too deep for smiles

A traditional haiku follows a 5-7-5 rhythm. I wrote this one after having one of my two cats got ill and I had to let him go. It’s a remembrance to Gizmo, a sweet soul gone too soon.

The Huffington Post is featuring “four great poets” this month at the rate of one poet per week. The first author they talk about is Eileen Myles. Ever heard of her? I hadn’t, until now. Reading her work has entertained my muse and sparked a couple of ideas.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying I find a lot of poetry challenging to read. I think of poems like sampling wines. You can’t rush through them – you need to be ready to take your time and enjoy each part of the experience.

A lot of libraries in my area are promoting poetry month. The one in my town is hosting a contest with a local poet. I’m working on a free verse poem (it doesn’t follow any ‘official’ form at that I’m aware of) to post in the library and then read at an open mic night later on this month. I like the poem, but I can’t quite get the ending to work – yet.

I may just be using my well-honed procrastination skills, at the moment, but deep down, I know it would be a great experience to read my poem in front of an audience. Just something I can add to a list of things I’ve accomplished.

I encourage you to find a poem or a book of poems to look at this month. Take a few minutes and see what comes from dabbling in this type of writing for a little bit.

The Academy of American Poets has 30 ways to celebrate – I bet one might catch your eye, or your muse, if it hasn’t already.

Do you read or write poetry on a consistent basis? If not, will you read a poem or a book of poems this month (other than my haiku above)? How about writing a poem this month?

Nothing to lose, and only experience to gain!

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent editor, writer, New England region journalist, and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom. 

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Giving script writing a shot

I’ve done it. I couldn’t wait for November this year for another National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so I went ahead and signed up for April’s madness known as Script Frenzy.

Where the NaNoWriMo challenge is to write 50,000 words in November’s 30 days, the Script Frenzy challenge is to write 100 properly-formatted pages of original scripted material in April’s 30 days.

The script can be: a screenplay, stage play, web series, TV show, short film, or graphic novel.

Like NaNoWriMo (the two are related) Script Frenzy:

• is no cost to enter
• uses the same login as NaNoWriMo – so if you’re a wrimo, you’re ready to go!
• has cool banners and badges (like the one to the right) to download and post to a blog, website, or Facebook page
• has forums for moral support and advice
• offers regional forums to connect with other participants in the local area
• sends participants motivational emails
• is a great opportunity to push to achieve a new writing goal
• looks like a lot of fun

This will be my first-ever Script Frenzy and I haven’t decided on the type of script I’ll write yet. I started a TV show script a million years ago while working on my master’s degree in writing and literature, but have been more into short and novel-length fiction since then.

What drew me to Script Frenzy?

• Perhaps it’s that I got a discount on Scrivener (writing software) for ‘winning’ November’s NaNoWriMo, and Scrivener has a tool to help format scripts so I don’t have to stress about formatting
• Perhaps my muse needs something completely different from the non-fiction articles I’ve been focused on the past few months
• Maybe it’s the 2012 Script Frenzy logo that caught my attention

I’m not sure what drew me to this challenge, but in looking around the scriptfrenzy.org site, I’m impressed with the how-to guides they offer under Writer’s Resources.

They have great descriptions of the different types of scripts, examples, and even some self-paced ‘boot camps’ to get folks started. The only thing I know for sure is that I won’t be scripting a graphic novel. Every other script type is up for grabs though!

The scriptwriting starts at midnight the morning of April 1 and ends at midnight the night of April 30, your local time.

What do you say? Are you ‘frenzied’ enough to join me in the April challenge?

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent editor, writer, New England region journalist, and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom. 

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Silent Writing

One of the most powerful writing experiences I ever had took place almost ten years ago at a retreat called The Self as the Source of the Story. The teacher was a wonderful woman, Christina Baldwin, who had taught a workshop that I attended at a medical conference. The topic was not writing, but I had enjoyed learning from her and was thrilled to find out that she hosted a writing retreat every year.

Back then, I was slowly rediscovering my passion to write but I was still very self-conscious and unsure of myself.

The pace of life at the retreat was so different than my daily life–it was heaven. For a week this is what I and my fellow writers did: Get up and write, then attend a lecture on writing. Have lunch, then time to write again with another writing lecture in the late afternoon, then dinner and more time to write. I felt like I had come home to a part of myself I’d been missing for a long, long time.

Then we entered silence. We all agreed to remain silent for 36 hours. The time of silence began after dinner one evening, and continued throughout the next day, ending on the morning of the following day. During that time we ate together, spent time together, or at least near each other, and wrote together, all in total silence.

At the end of that day and half, we met outside to end our silence. We ate breakfast together, and then we met in circle to share something that we had written. Most people shared what they had written while in silence, but not all.

I wrote a poem.

Other than one really fun, epic poem about a food fight that I helped my brother write when we were both in high school, I had never written a poem.

I wrote that poem from a deep part of myself that I had never previously acknowledged. I wrote it during the long day of silence, a day in which I also ran in the woods and walked on the beach. The voice in the poem was in my head and then the pen was in my hand and the words just came. I wrote and revised and, when it felt complete, I just stopped. I remained in silence.

The next day as I read my poem to the group, I was very scared. I had never written anything as honest as that poem and I was literally shaking as I attempted to read it aloud. I made it through the poem and my fellow retreat participants were positive and supportive.

The other participants read their work and I was moved and amazed at the quality of the writing and, most striking, by the level of emotion that the work called out of each writer (and, as a result, out of us, the audience.) I don’t know if it was because of the silence, but every participant seemed to have accessed a part of themselves that was deeper and more authentic than usual.

It makes me want to do it again.

My life is not currently set up to allow me to go on a week-long writing retreat, though Christina is still hosting them (see her website for more information), but I am determined to find ways to incorporate silence into my writing life.

Recently, I found out about an online group called The Silent Writer’s Collective. They meet via Twitter and Facebook every Tuesday and write in silence for an hour. I didn’t think it could possibly be as powerful as my time in silence on the writing retreat, but I thought I’d try it.

Here’s what happened: I got a lot done.

Yay for silence!

Have you experienced writing in silence? How did it work for you? 

Diane MacKinnon, MD, is a family physician, mother, Master Certified Life Coach and writer. She blogs for her life coaching business, Healing Choices. She is currently rewriting a novel she wrote for NaNo 2008, and putting in her “10,000 hours” to (try to) master the craft of writing.

Check out her life coaching blog here.

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MWA University – a day with mystery writers

I love mysteries. I’ve read them forever and it’s my writing genre of choice. There’s just something intriguing about trying to figure out the answer to the puzzle before “the end.”

So, I was quite excited to spend this past Saturday in Boston attending MWA-U. Fellow NHWN blogmates, Diane and Julie were there, too.

MWA-U is a full-day writing ‘university’ put on by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) organization. The day teaches skills for writing a novel from the spark of an idea through to publication. This particular day was open to MWA members and non-members, was quite affordable ($50), and was conveniently located. All instructors are published novelists, several teach at the college level.

This post highlights a few of the speakers and some take-aways I had.

First up on the agenda was Jess Lourey who spoke about what to do once you have a story idea. She put us right to work, too!

Jess uses a pyramid approach to writing her novels. Step 1 is to write a one-sentence summary of your book. This was the first time I’ve heard to start there. I always considered it the last thing to do.

Jess believes that if you put in the time to get a solid 1-sentence novel summary at the start, you’ll be more focused as you get to writing.

After listening to her, and actually trying to develop my own 1-sentence summary, I agree. She says it’s worth spending a few days on this step. We only had a few minutes to try it.

The second step is to expand the sentence into a paragraph, and the fifth step is to expand the paragraph into a page. (Yes, I’m skipping around.)

The third step is to develop a character bible. It’s as simple as using a single subject spiral notebook. Glue photos or pictures from magazines in this bible and write out general descriptions for your characters and you’ll always have the details at hand, and visuals for those moments when you need inspiration.

We also got to spend time describing our antagonists.

Why don’t you take a couple of minutes to do what we did: Do you know your antagonist’s full name? What he/she physically looks like? What is in his wallet/her purse, refrigerator, or trash can right now?

The day featured 2 fellow New England mystery writers: Hallie Ephron and Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Hallie spoke about revisions, and, wow, she gave me a couple of tricks I knew of but didn’t apply to my own work.

The biggest is that once the first draft of the novel is done, put it away for at least 2 weeks (I knew that), then when you do go back to it, read it through from start to finish.

That italicized part gave me an “ah ha” moment. I have a few novels ‘in the drawer.’ One is a favorite that I long to get back to, but when I got stuck, instead of plowing through (which is what a writer should do), I started rewriting from the start. I never truly finished a solid first draft.

Print the manuscript and read it through from start to finish. Make marks on the pages, make notes wherever, but read the manuscript through from start to finish. Look at the work as a whole before going back with the editing hat. The best revision can only be done with the full story laid out in front of you first.

I won’t accept a client’s manuscript that isn’t finished and until now, I hadn’t applied that rule to my own novels!

Hank spoke about the writing life. Hank has a career as an investigative journalist. She’s been writing fiction for the past 7 years.  She spoke to us about things she wished someone had told her as she entered the fiction world.

Points such as:

• Your first draft will be terrible – so accept it. The majority of writers, successful and not, think ‘this has got to be the worst drivel ever written.’ Let yourself be okay with crappy first drafts. You can’t polish a story into perfection without first getting some words on the page to play with.
• Rejection is not always about the book. Have you ever read something that just didn’t strike you, and then read it later and wondered how you could have put it down at all? It’s all about getting your manuscript in front of the right person who is in the right mood at the the right time.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to a pdf list of Recommended Reading we received. Not all books focus on the mystery genre, but most do.

I came away from the full day tired, but energized; overwhelmed, but inspired; over-full with ideas, but ready to get to work.

Spending any time with writers has those effects on me. There’s just something  about being able to talk writing with writers that can’t be matched.

MWA-U is offered several times a year across the country. Maybe it’ll be hosted at a location near you soon.

Do you enjoy attending writing workshops? There are so many out there – how do you find ones that you want to attend?

Lisa Jackson is an independent editor, writer, New England region journalist, and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom. She is a member of Sisters in Crime (mystery writers), and is a board member of the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She’s also getting back to writing her favorite novel.

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Top 10 Gifts for Writers

What do you give a writer? You can’t bottle inspiration, buying an agreeable agent would probably be out of your budget, and I don’t think the antidote for writer’s block has been discovered yet (though I’m betting a placebo would do just as well).

Have no fear. There are plenty of widely available and reasonably priced gift ideas for the writer(s) in your life. Here are my top 10 picks (which may or may not be on my own list).

• Pens and Notebooks: If you’ve been hanging out here at Live to Write-Write to Live, you already know we have a pretty strong addiction to pens and notebooks. They are, after all, the writer’s constant companion and tools of the trade. We can never get enough. Seriously. Never.
• Online and Offline Classes and Workshops: Nothing makes writing procrastination more palatable than being able to say the “distraction” (in this case an educational opportunity) is actually helping you with your craft. Enable your writer friend with a seat in a virtual or real world classroom. There are also a lot of different book-ish courses out there in the online world, covering everything from writing to publishing to e-publishing to proposal writing. Worth a look.
• Coffee Shop Gift Certificates: Cafes are a writer’s home away from home. Help us pay our transient rent by tossing us a few bucks for one of those fancy, foreign drinks that make our fingers twitch and our brains reel.
• Writing Software: This one could go either way: procrastination tool or productivity booster. Writing software can be tricky to select, but I don’t think you can go wrong with the cream of the crop – Scrivener (originally only for Mac, now also available for PC).
• Writing Books (and E-books!): Like pens and notebooks, we can never get enough books on writing. In moments of desperation, we’ll take advice from anyone so don’t worry too much about which title to choose. Just find something with a comforting looking cover. (May I suggest anything by Larry Brooks?)
• Consultations and Services: Perhaps your writer friend could use an editor’s assistance or a professional review of a book proposal. Giving professional services may be just the fire your writer friend needs under the proverbial butt.
• Tickets to an Event: Professional networking events, author speaking tours, and writer’s conferences can be pretty pricey. Give your writer friend the opportunity to rub shoulders or admire from afar with tickets to a special event. (Earlier this year, my beau and I went to the Portsmouth Music Hall to see Neil Gaiman speak – loved it!)
• Reading Accessories: Writers are, by default, readers, so anything related to reading works. There is, of course, the ubiquitous e-reader, but you might also consider a subscription to Audible Books (audio books aren’t cheating), or some nifty something-or-other from Levenger.
• Reading Material: Books, magazine subscriptions, e-books … we don’t really care about the format, we just want more good stuff to read. (And, please, try to support an indie bookstore if you can!)
• Time: The best gift of all for any writer is time. Is your writer friend a mom who has a hard time carving writing time out of her busy day? Offer to babysit for an afternoon. Maybe your writer friend is a colleague who can’t finish his book outline because he’s always having to work late. Offer to help out at the office so he can leave on time. Maybe your writer friend is your spouse. Skip the honey-do list for a weekend and give him or her forty-eight hours of uninterrupted (and enforced) creative time.

Whatever gift you choose, something to do with writing and/or reading will let the scribe in your life know that you support that creative urge. That’s what we love to hear. So, merry-merry and happy-happy and good writing to all!

What was your favorite writerly gift ever – given or received?

Jamie Lee Wallace is a writer who also happens to be a marketer. She helps her Suddenly Marketing clients discover their voice, connect with their audience, and find their marketing groove. She is also a mom, a prolific blogger, and a student of voice and trapeze (not at the same time). Introduce yourself on facebook or twitter. She doesn’t bite … usually.

Image Credit: Oliver Hammond (“sparkled” using iPhone app LensLight)

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Micro fiction – stories in 140 characters or less

There is a site called Seedpod Publishing that will “publish” (push out on Twitter under their account) your 140 character piece of micro fiction.

That’s right, a full story in one tweet. 

The idea is based on Hemingway’s “saddest story ever written in 6 words”

“For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”

And yes, for the record, that little story can bring tears to this mom’s eyes.

Last week we played around with anagrams of our name, how about this week we play around with a complete story in 140 characters or less. The only requirement is that you have to include your twitter username (for attribution) in your story. Mine is @wendyenthomas which cuts greatly into my word count, oh why wasn’t I named SueWest?

With only 140 characters, you’re going to have to put some thought into your story. It must have tension, convey a bit of a plot, and get readers interested. In short, it may not be as easy as it looks.

Some previous stories from Seedpod’s twitter feed are:

His wife: “And just what are we supposed to do with a used gondola now?” @darrencormier

“If only you were born one hundred years earlier,” my wife said, “you would have been fifty years ahead of your time.” @EvertAsberg

Old now, toes gnarled and deformed; it hurt to walk, but she had loved wearing stilettos. Pretty shoes came at a high price.@GayleBeveridge

And here’s my entry:

By buying the wrong brand of coffee, I knew that once again, my mother was wishing I’d never been born @wendyenthomas

So go ahead, try your hand at micro fiction and then send it off to Seedpod Publishing and let us know what happens. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll end up being a published micro fiction author, 140 characters at a time.

***

Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons.

Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens).

And yup, you can bet 140 character stories are being added to my “get the juices going” exercises. 

Photo credit: roadsidepictures

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BlogHer Writers ’11

BlogHer, one of the Internet’s best known sites for women bloggers and blogs of interest to women is offering a one day conference for “writers ready to use social media skills as authors”

The conference is sponsored by Penguin Publishing, home to such imprints as The Penguin Press, Penguin, Berkley Books, and The Viking Press among others. Many of the speakers and mentors for the event will be Penguin staff, authors or agents who have successfully worked with Penguin in the past. Penguin’s imprints represent a broad range of authors and titles, for example, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan and Otherwise Known as Sheila The Great by Judy Blume.

BlogHer Writers ‘ll is structured to be a mix of large group learning and small group mentoring and brainstorming. According to Erin Groh, from BlogHer, “[A]ttendance is capped at 200 people, including our speakers and small group leaders/mentors. We intentionally keep this event small to foster a sense of intimacy and in depth networking.”

Who should attend? Bloggers and other social media writers looking to expand their writing outlets. Groh says “As bloggers, our audience are already experienced writers in the online and social media fields. This conference is an opportunity to help them leverage that experience to break into more traditional publishing.”

Writers ’11 will be held Friday October 21, 2011 at the Hilton New York. A welcome reception will be held the night before from 6pm – 8pm. The cost is $199 (+ a $5.97 processing fee) per person. Conference details are at http://www.blogher.com/blogher-writers-11. Registration information can be found at http://blogherwriters11.eventbrite.com/. BlogHer has a block of rooms at the Hilton for $299 per night. There is also a conference community where you can find a roommate, discuss conference expectations and meet other attendees before the event.

What do you think?  Are you attending? Why? Why not?

Disclosure: Information presented here is for educational purposes only. NHWN has no relationship with BlogHer or Penguin.

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

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