TWC SPOTLIGHT

Autumn falls again. The kids are back in school, the leaves are beginning to turn (here in Western Pennsylvania, at least), the sweaters are being located, and it's time to think about...the high price of heating fuel. Let's put those depressing thoughts aside, and enjoy September's issue of the TWC Spotlight! 

For many people, it's convention time. Karina L. Fabian shares some practical tips for making a conference easier, safer, more cost-efficient and profitable. I've already implemented a couple of her tips for a local business event in October.

Then Lisa Haselton  tells us about her fabulous find, the Romance Divas NGTCC - the Not Going to the Conference Conference. I didn't know about this one until she mentioned it. I may check it out next year.

Speaking of conferences, have you signed up for the Muse Con yet? HURRY! Maybe you can still squeeze in. You will have to beg Lea. Who knows what favors she may ask for in return?

Lisa J. Jackson brings you the second installment of her new Grammar-licious column. Good heavens! We just might learn grammar yet. She sure makes it seem easy.

We'll close this Spotlight with a review of "Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead" by Saralee Rosenberg, our September 14 guest. Put your drink down before attempting to read this book, or that will be the end of your keyboard.

The critiques have started. Information is on our forum. http://www.writerschatroom.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=73  I need more submissions if we're going to do this weekly!

Have you been following the TWC soap opera, The Bold and The Italics? Believe me, this is a show you don't want to miss! Catch it at http://www.writerschatroom.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=74

Keep writing!

Audrey

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Conferences--whether book fairs, trade expos or conferences with other writers or fans--are a part of a writer's life. Here we network, trade ideas, get leads, hear kudos about our works and, hopefully, sell a few books. Plenty of folks have written articles on what to expect and what to bring. If you've done your research, you'll know about the candy jar and having a nice display and working your "elevator pitch" until you can rattle it off in your sleep. Here, I give you ten tips you might not have considered. 

#1 Get a booth buddy. It's expensive going it alone, especially if you only have a few titles to sell. Find others interested in sharing the expense and the work. If you belong to a writers' group, even if it's on Yahoo, see if anyone's willing to share, or let your publisher know what you're doing and see if anyone else is interested. For the Chicago Tribune Printer's Row Book Fair, I shared a double-table with the Lost Genre Guild and told my Catholic writer associates that I'd display their books for $25 plus shipping of materials. My booth looked full and more interesting than if I'd had two titles. For the Catholic Marketing Network Conference, the Catholic Writers' Guild had a booth where we displayed the works of 15 of our members, six of which came for a day for a book signing. 

If you go alone, meet the person in the booth next to you. That way, you can help each other out in an emergency or watch each others' booths while the other walks the conference floor. 

#2. Pack a junk box with pens, tape, safety pins, band-aids, a notepad, Tylenol, a thick marker and a thin marker, etc. Trust me; either you'll need it or someone there will need something, and you'll be the go-to person (which might get you a sale or at least a conversation.) 

#3 Have an Emergency Numbers paper. On it, list important phone numbers--a spouse, parent or other contact person, the number and room of your hotel, your flight numbers, etc. Then make sure someone knows about it--either your booth buddy, or someone running the conference.  

The evening before the last day, one of our Guild members took ill--ill enough to need to go to the emergency room. Fortunately, several of us who knew her were still there. (She was going to be alone Friday.) Even more fortunate was the fact that she was conscious and able to give me the phone number for her husband, who was able to drive down the next day and get her. Imagine what could have happened if she'd been alone and didn't have that information handy. 

#4 Pack comfy shoes with thick soles!  I wore my most comfortable pumps, but after two days on the cement floor of the conference room (even taking off the shoes while at the carpeted booth), my feet rebelled. I went home, through three airports, in stocking feet.  

#5 Have at least four copies of your book on the table at a time. This is a trick a bookseller taught us for the CWG booth. People hesitate to pick up a book if it's the only one on the table and are even more hesitant to make you "part with your last book."  Be sure to have lots of flyers out, too. 

#6 If you are doing a signing, advertise. Ask if there's a way to announce it. Put up signs. Print some 8 x 11 that say, "Signing at (time) and (booth)" and your book cover and short synopsis. (You can fill in the booth later if you don't know it.) Put them in popular places, like the snack area and the bathroom--just be sure to take them back down.  If someone is walking the area (we had some girls passing around coffee at the CMN fair), ask them to let folks know. 

#7 Walk the floor. Not everyone will come to you, especially if they have a booth of their own. At both conferences, I had my booth buddy watch my stuff while I took flyers and business cards and walked the aisles, saying hello and handing out information. I got several great contacts that way and some sales for myself and for the authors on my booth--some from folks who never visited the booth. 

#8 Ask folks what you can do for them. At CMN, one vendor pointed to a book on the table and complained that he'd only been able to sell 3 of the 30 copies he'd bought. (The book has sold 90,000 so far.) I gave him a few suggestions on occasions to promote it and on how to reach its specific audience. Test some marketing ideas of your own. The Guild has two projects it's working on--a Seal of Excellence in Catholic Writing and an advertising newsletter that would highlight just a few titles each time. While I expected positive response about the newsletter, the response to the seal was beyond my expectations. 

#9 Make a "card catalog." When you get someone's card, tape it to one side of the page. On the other WRITE NOTES! Why did you talk to this person? What did he say? Does she want you to follow up on something?  Be sure, too, that the card has an e-mail address. Many vendors do not put e-mail addresses on their business cards because they want customers to go through their website. If you get a card while walking around, write notes on the back and tape it to the page so you can flip it over. 

#10 Follow up. If folks asked for info, provide it. If they were interested in your book, send more info. If they bought it, thank them. I sold very few books at the Chicago book fair, but one of my authors made sales afterwards by contacting the people himself using the info I sent him.

If you did sell space on your booth, be sure to share anything you learned with your authors. It helps them and gives you a good rep. If you have a booth again, they'll be more likely to buy space--and they may return the favor themselves.

Conferences are generally not the place where you make money. Rather, they're where you make friends, cultivate fans, and regain enthusiasm for your craft. Hopefully, these extra tips will help make your experience an even better one.

Bio: After being a straight-A student, Karina now cultivates Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun. From Nuns in Space to a down-and-out Faerie dragon working off a geas by St. George, her work takes quirky twists that keep her amused--and others, too. Winner of the EPPIE award for best sci-fi and the Mensa Owl for best fiction. In addition to juggling the stories from at least three different universes, Karina is President of the Catholic Writers' Guild  and teaches writing and book marketing seminars on-line. Her next anthology, Leaps of Faith, comes out in November from The Writers' Café Press. 

Karina's Websites: www.fabianspace.com, where you'll find info about her, her writing and her eclectic writing/homeschooling/humor/just-gotta-say-it blog. Join her each Friday as she blogs about writing her latest novel.

www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com, where she'll gladly advertise your book if you'll return the favor to someone else

www.dragoneyepi.net,  where you can learn more about the fantasy noir dragon detective Vern, his partner Sister Grace, and the world of Dragon Eye, PI.

How to Avoid Pouting During RWA Nationals  By Lisa Haselton 

If you're a writer and belong to Romance Writers of America (RWA), you're aware of the annual four-day national conference held each summer. Wait! I know it's a sad reminder if you're one who couldn't go, but keep reading, please! 

BIO:  Lisa Haselton is a freelance writer and editor. Her award-winning published fiction includes horror, romance, and humor. She's currently writing a novel based on the humor (or is it stress) she finds as her parents age. A lifelong NH resident, she enjoys intelligent conversation, cafés, meeting people who love words, delicious iced coffee, cycling, Sudoku, reading, and b&w film photography. Stop on by her site at http://lisahaselton.tripod.com.  

(PS: Many of the TWC team members are involved in the 2008 Muse Conference!)

For more information, visit our schedule page.

All chats start at 7 pm EST.

The weekly chats at The Writer's Chatroom are wonderful!  Each night I attend a chat, I learn something new.  The support and encouragement during the "general chats" keeps me motivated and excited about writing. The weekly "guest" chats are informative, educational and fun!  I leave each chat saying  "I can do it, I know I can.      Patty Hopkins

Lesson Two: Good versus Well  by Lisa J. Jackson

Welcome back! If you're new to the newsletter, feel free to look in the archives for last month's TWC Spotlight and the inaugural grammar column on who/whom.  

She trained Spot well. (adverb describing the verb 'trained')

   Break down the sentence: She trained Spot. How (adverb) did she train him?

Book Review

BIO: Audrey Shaffer is running as fast as she can, trying to keep all the balls in the air. Her business website is http://audreyshaffer.com and her blog is at http://www.audreysays.blogspot.com/ .