I love the fact that there are so many opportunities for writers, which is why I try to include as much as I can in these posts. Here’s the second part of the August update. Feel free to add any information of your own in the comments.
The Westport Library continues to offer its popular memoir writing classes with Mary-Lou Weisman, bestselling author, personal essayist, and memoir writer. Her Introductory Memoir Writing Workshop runs for six Mondays, September 20 through October 25 from 12:30-2:30pm ET. $15. Her eight-class Advanced Memoir Writing Course takes place on Thursdays, every other week, from 12:30-2:30pm, beginning September 23. To be accepted into the advanced course please email a sample of your memoir or personal essay writing (approximately 500 words, double-spaced) to Jennifer Keller at jkeller@westportlibrary.org.$15.
Writers Relief, a company that helps authors with submissions, self-publishing, and web design, has a useful article entitled The Best Facebook Groups for Writers. It includes some I hadn’t heard of like Beta Readers and Critique Partners, and 10-minute Novelists. Check it out for more information.
The Poets’ Salon runs a monthly Meetup for poets, followed by a blog post with poetry-related events, as well as places to submit your poetry and other useful information.
The Connecticut Literary Festival is back live in 2021. Fingers crossed they will return to Real Art Ways for a very (big) terrestrial festival on October 22-23. Save the date and stay tuned for details. Wally Lamb (I’ll Take You There) and Elizabeth Hinton (America on Fire) are among the authors who’ll be speaking there. If you’d like to get closer to all the speakers and participants, you might volunteer for a three-hour shift at the festival. Details here.
If you like to have numbers to back up your choices, Pick FU might suit you. It allows you to run inexpensive polls on things such as book titles and covers. They offer a range of options including head-to-head polls, $50, (for when you have two book covers), or a $65 ranking poll, when you have several ideas/titles you want to rank in order. This is a relatively small investment when you consider the impact they can have on book sales.
Gotham Writers Workshop has started a new online literary magazine and is looking for submissions. The Razor wants your best story in a 2,000-word box. The story that might have been 3,000 words, but didn’t need to be. Click here for more info and to submit.
If you’ve finished writing and editing your book, Sandra Beckwith of Build Book Buzz recommends
Almost Done Writing: Now What? an accessible workbook that offers an overview of everything from cover design to front and back matter and launch teams. Check it out at the links above.
Some of you may already use Scrivener for your writing, in which case, you don’t need me to tell you about its many features. But if you’re like me, you haven’t had a chance to learn everything it can do yet. If so, Gwen Hernandez, Scrivener guru and teacher, has a couple of articles that may be of interest: Organizing your Research and Notes and Creating a Series Bible.
Member Alison McBain provided a whole lot of fabulous information for the rest of us this month. She told us about a list of book reviewers who review indie books. Access the list here: The Indie Review
She also mentioned a support group for people having trouble submitting their work. The Meetup group Happy Writing is based in Munich, Germany, and has various activities for writers, all on Zoom right now, so you can join an international group that’s run by English-speaking people. This Meetup group offers a submission party every other month. The next one is scheduled for October 24. They sound like a fun group!
She mentioned the magazine Poets & Writers, which has a searchable list of small presses. Check the list for places to submit a book of essays, poetry, or short stories.
That should keep you going until next month! In the meantime, keep writing!
