Writing and Publishing News

Do you go out and speak as a way to promote your book? Or do you still shake in your boots at the thought of speaking in public? But it is such a great way to get word out about your novel or a nonfiction book. If at all possible, you really should be doing it.

Here are a few pointers to help get you started:
• Start out in a safe zone. Arrange to speak before small groups of people you know well and are comfortable with—your writing group, church auxiliary, neighbors, family members, co-workers, biking group, etc.

• Don’t look at this as a speech. Just pretend that you are sitting across from a dear friend sharing stories from your book or information on your topic.

• Sometimes we are fearful about speaking before a group because we think there will be others who know more about our subject than we do. So not true. You know more about your story or the topic of your book than anyone else in the room. Remember that.

• Do not make excuses about your lack of speaking skill. Just act confident and do your best. You may be surprised at the positive impression you leave with your audience. Most people won’t notice that you forgot a portion of your speech, that your voice tends to drop at the end of sentences, that you are extremely nervous—unless you mention it. They are most interested in your story or the information you are sharing.

• Practice, practice, practice. Speak often in a variety of circumstances—in business meetings, during charity events and socially. Schedule speaking opportunities for yourself frequently so you are forced to stay on the horse.

• Join a local Toastmasters club. Whether you just want to feel more comfortable while speaking in public or you hope to do a multi-state book tour, a year (or less) in a Toastmasters club will give you the confidence and skill level you seek. http://www.toastmasters.org

For more on public speaking, read this article: http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/speaking-gigs.htm

I have eight blog posts related to public speaking for authors. Check them out by scrolling down. Look to the right of this blog post where you see “categories.” Click on “Public Speaking.”

I also include a section on public speaking for authors in my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

We’ve talked before about the importance of being prepared to speak on the subject of your book. Well, it’s a good thing I follow my own advice because I found out Friday evening (quite by accident) that I am speaking in San Luis Obispo, California today at noon.

I applied for a speaking slot when I signed up for my booth at the Central Coast Book and Author Festival several months ago, and was told that they would let me know if I was chosen to speak. Last week, I received a notice from the organizer saying that they were still organizing the speaker schedule and they would notify me if I was selected. Friday night, I decided to download the event program to check directions, etc. And there, I found my name as a speaker—my presentation scheduled for noon today. (Still, no one has notified me.)

So yesterday, I outlined a fresh talk within the parameters the organizers have set and prepared a bunch of handouts. Wish me luck.

If you’re in the vicinity, drive on up (or down) and visit my booth today. The Central Coast Book and Author Festival is small and quaint with a charming hometown flavor. I always enjoy this casual event. It’s from 10 to 4 and it’s all FREE. There will be 64 authors and others representing their books, reading and literacy. If you’ve never been to a book festival, it’s a great place to pick up really wonderful and unique books—books you will likely see no place else. You’ll get to meet the authors and ask them about their publishing experiences.

If you’re not along the southern or central California coast and can’t make it to this festival, make it a point to attend those near you in Texas, Nebraska, Florida, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania or…

If you do attend a book festival, be sensitive to the author’s time and space. Don’t interfere with potential sales. Never slap your backpack or bulky purse on top of a display of books. Don’t set your big gulp slurpy on the table while you’re searching for a business card. This is common courtesy etiquette, I know, but there are folks who need reminding.

If you are interested in or you are actually planning to participate in a book festival, you may want to read my article, “How to Work a Book Festival So it Works for You.”
http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/promo_bookfestival.htm

For more articles on writing, publishing and book promotion, visit http://www.matilijapress.com and click on “articles.”

To learn more about my services and to sign up for a free ebook, The Successful Author’s Handbook, visit http://www.patriciafry.com

This is a good time of year for authors to establish a speaking calendar. How do you get speaking opportunities? And why would you want to go out and do speaking engagements, anyway?

Contrary to what many people believe, program chairpersons don’t generally go in search of speakers for their groups; that is, unless they’ve heard about the speaker or they read about him or her in the local newspapers, for example. Typically, if you have a book to promote and if you’d like to give presentations around the theme of your book, you’ll need to make it happen.

As for why you should pursue speaking opportunities? That’s a darn good way to sell books. I sold three dozen copies of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book after speaking to a fairly small group of writers in Nashville a few years ago. That same year, I sold ten books at a writers’ conference in Baltimore, fifteen at the LA Times Book Festival, fifteen at the Wisconsin Women’s Writers’ Conference and ten in Atlanta. That’s 76 more books than I would have sold if I hadn’t appeared personally on behalf of my book. And that’s 76 more people who might buy any subsequent books I’ll write on the topic of writing and publishing.

How can you land speaking engagements? The first step is to get a list of local groups and organizations that meet regularly. You may find them listed in the front pages of your phone book. Or check with the local Chamber of Commerce. If you plan to travel, check the Chamber in the cities where you’ll be visiting.

Seek out organizations related to your topic. When I plan a trip, for example, I check to see if any writers’ groups are meeting nearby during my stay.

Plan ahead—most groups schedule speakers in advance. I would shoot for summer/fall engagements. Locally, you might find opportunities in the spring.

Do a Google search in order to locate appropriate opportunities in specific areas. Use keywords, “health conference Nashville,” “spring pet events New York,” for example.

Here are a few sites for you to study. To locate conferences on topics such as cooking, arts/crafts, writing and photography, go to: http://www.shawguides.com

http://www.tsnn.com They list events world-wide on over 100 topics.

http://www.eventseye.com They list over 15,000 trade shows, events, conferences, fairs throughout the world between Oct. 2009 and Sept 2011.

http://www.eventsinamerica.com. Here, you’ll find events related to photography, catering, advertising, education, architecture, business, health/foods, travel and others.

For more about how to prepare for a presentation about your book, read the blog posts under “Public Speaking” and “promotion.”

Today is the first day of my online Book Proposal Course. It’s not too late to sign up. Contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. Learn more about the course here: http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm

Are you thinking about going on the speaking circuit? Or to put it in more realistic terms, are you considering going out and speaking to a few groups about your book? As I’ve told you many times, this is a good way to sell books and to get exposure for your book.

Okay, so you’ve joined a Toastmasters club and you’re becoming more comfortable as a speaker. You’ve contacted a few program directors for local organizations. You may have even set up a speaking engagement. Now what? What will you talk about?

First find out something about the organization or group you’ll be speaking to and then learn something about your audience. How much time will you have to speak? Your subject matter, slant and way of delivery all depend on the circumstances you’ll be facing.

You have more options and possibilities when you have more time to speak. While some people prefer brief time slots in which to speak, I crave the hour-long or even 2-hour-long opportunities. I can give and teach so much more when I have more time. You can barely establish a rapport with an audience and introduce yourself in only thirty minutes, for example.

Here are some ideas for your next speaking engagement:

• Talk about what prompted you to become a writer or to write this particular book.

• Talk off the cuff about your experiences while writing and publishing this book.

• If it is a novel or children’s book, share parts of the story and read a few sections. (Read from your book only if you have practiced reading out loud and you are very good at it. Otherwise, don’t bother.)

• Ask audience members to help present your story. Give them parts to read or act out.

For a nonfiction book:
• Share the premise of your book, what prompted you to write it. Offer anecdotes.

• Expand on a point in your book. For a book on how to make your life more green, focus just on recycling, for example.

• Give a demonstration. Maybe your book features handmade kites. Actually show how to create one. Involve the audience.

• Present an experiment or a lesson related to the theme of your book.

• Talk about something new that has come to your attention since you completed your book—a new theory, process or concept…

• Talk about some of your experiences as a published author.

Before you go out and speak, jot down possible topics or themes you could talk about. Go through your Table of Contents to discover subjects. Thumb through your chapters. Some of your headings might give you clues as to subtopics you could expand into speeches.

Once you have a list of speech topics, start outlining them to see which ones actually hold water—or will hold the audience members’ attention.

Learn more about speaking as a means of promoting your book in Chapter Thirteen of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Sign up for my online Book Promotion Course at
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

I’m sure that this heading perked up your ears and made you feel a bit perky. We all like to use what we have to score some sort of benefit or advantage. For example, being an author brings you recognition. And it affords you opportunities that you might not otherwise have. But it’s often up to you to create and accept those opportunities.

As an author, you might be invited to special events, be able to justify trips to interesting places, land lucrative writing assignments, be treated to some unusual experiences. The possibilities are endless.

I know the author of a war story who, because of his book and his passion for his story, traveled to the South Pacific, met with dignitaries there and, because he launched an important project, has received enormous publicity. There is even a documentary about him and his story.

Dan Poynter travels thousands of miles every week to cities all over the world talking to authors about the topic of his book.

I, too, have visited many cities because of my status as an author. And I’m planning something very exciting as we speak. I told you that my friends’ screenplay will be presented next year near Atlanta. I really, really want to see it. So I am attempting to arrange some speaking engagements at local writers’ group meetings in that area during the play’s run in order to justify putting out the money to travel. I’ll let you know how it goes. Watch the “Activities Schedule” at my website for the details. http://www.matilijapress.com

In the meantime, if you belong to a writers group in the Atlanta area, check to see if they need a speaker for a February or March meeting and please let me know.

Likewise, I’ll be in Las Vegas and maybe Phoenix areas in April. Do you belong to a group in these regions? I’d like to talk to your program chairman.

I’m traveling this weekend, but it is all family—no business. I hope to be back Monday with some great tips for locating those sometimes elusive submission guidelines for writers/authors at websites.

Contact me at: plfry620@yahoo.com

Do you belong to a writers’ club or group? Do you bring in experts to speak at meetings? Are you affiliated with an organization that presents conferences for writers and authors? Please consider me as a speaker/workshop leader.

For those of you new to this blog, I am a full-time freelance writer, the author of 29 books and the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). I am one of those rare authors who earn a living through my writing and I have for the last 25 years or so.

I’m an Advanced Toastmaster Silver and I’ve been traveling around presenting workshops and speaking at various venues for the past decade.

On behalf of SPAWN and my own publishing pursuits, I attend approximately half dozen book festivals each year and I’m guest speaker/workshop leader at anywhere from 5 to 10 writing/publishing-related conferences and other events annually. Past venues include the Much Ado About Books event in Jacksonville, FL; a National Association of Women Writers (NAWW) conference in Arlington, TX; the St. Louis Writer’s Guild Conference and Book Festival in St. Louis, MO (two consecutive years); the Pen Women Conference in Honolulu; the PNWA Conference in Seattle; the Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Association Conference in Janesville, WI; Spring Book Show and Writers’ Conference in Atlanta (two consecutive years); the San Diego State University Writers’ Conference (several consecutive years) and several others throughout the U.S. I was the lead speaker at the SPAN Publishing Conference in 2006. And in May of that year, I was the first woman ever to be invited to give the keynote speech at a Toastmasters Convention in the Middle East. I spoke before 800 Toastmasters in Dubai.

I also visit writers groups. I’ve enjoyed speaking before authors in Nashville, TN; Prescott, AZ; Phoenix; San Luis Obispo, CA; Simi Valley, CA; Ventura, CA; Los Angeles and others. I’m headed out to White Plains, New York next week to speak at the annual Cat Writers Association Conference.

I can speak on many aspects of publishing, book promotion, writing a book proposal and establishing an article-writing business. Just look at my array of books and articles at my website to get an idea of the scope of my expertise and presentations. http://www.matilijapress.com

And if you want to book me to speak before your group or at your conference for next year, contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com. Hurry. My calendar is filling fast!