We had another great meeting at Barnes & Noble yesterday, with seventeen of us gathered to exchange ideas and recommendations. Alison McBain, Elizabeth Chatsworth, Ed Ahern and I bragged — just a bit — about our time travel anthology, When to Now, for which we did a reading and signing over the weekend at the Inaugural Saugatuck StoryFest in Westport.
If you like meeting authors face to face, plan to attend the latest Connecticut Authors Reading Series on Sunday, October 21, at 2pm at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library in Newtown. Among the featured authors are: Georgia Hunter, (We Were the Lucky Ones), Betsy Lerner, (The Bridge Ladies and The Forest for the Trees), Marilyn Simon Rothstein, (Husbands and Other Sharp Objects, and Lift and Separate), and Tom Seigel, (The Astronaut’s Son)
The Westport Writers’ Workshop has expanded its activities to include some popular Saturday workshops, for those who can’t attend during the week. On offer are A Writer’s Most Important Tool: The Power of ” What If “  with Jessica Speart this Saturday, October 20, Fall In Love With The Lyric Essay on Saturday, October 27, and Building a Multi-Dimensional Scene with Julie Sarkissian on Saturday, November 10. $75 each.
November 1 – NaNoWriMo begins! Click the link to find out more, and to find places where you can join your fellows to write your 50,000-word novel together.
The Fairfield Library will be offering a Writers’ conference on November 3, which will include an all-day writing space for NaNo people. Registration gains you access to all workshops:  Pathway to Publication, From Phone to Book:  a Digital Approach to Publishing, Poetry:  Writing, Readings and Getting Published, Memoir Writing, Writing and Publishing Short Fiction, Sales and Distribution.  Book Sales & Signings with Local Authors.  Register here.
Author Janet Evanovich celebrates the publication of her 25th Stephanie Plum novel, Look Alive Twenty-Five, on Wednesday, November 14, at 7:00pm at the Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford, CT. She’ll be talking to Gina Barraca, and the $30 registration fee includes a copy of the book.
On November 8 at 7pm in Westport CT,  member Alex McNab will be interviewing author Eric Burns about his first novel,  Mid-Strut, after decades of non-fiction books. Details here.
I want to recommend Authors Publish, a free website that will send you weekly lists of places where you can submit your work directly to publishers, rather than via agents.  Among other recent lists are: a list of 25 literary journals that accept reprints, and publishers open to mystery submissions.
One way to promote your book, once it’s in your hands, is to get it featured in as many places as possible. One of these is  BookTrib, a hub for book-lovers dedicated to on-the-rise authors.They review books, have a podcast, organize giveaways etc. There’s a charge to use some of their services, but take a look and see what you think.
Another place that might be worth being listed on is Recommend Me a Book. The site gives readers the first 600 words of a book, but doesn’t reveal the title and author until you’ve read it. The idea is to bring new books to readers’ attention, without the prejudice of knowing who wrote it.  They allow authors and publishers to promote their books on
Finally, Sandra Beckwith of Build Book Buzz has three good ideas for ways to promote your book as a gift. Read her article here.
A quick note: NEXT MONTH”S MEETING will be at a different location, since Barnes & Noble is gearing up for Christmas. A soon as I know where, I’ll let you know. Happy writing!
 
 
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