Working Titlez

Reading Las Vegas to offer few frills but many thrills

By MAGGIE LILLIS
VIEW STAFF WRITER

Author Carolyn Schneider will be sharing memories of her Uncle Bing on April 28th.

 The month of April will make you laugh all the way to the library, if Reading Las Vegas: A Sure Bet organizers get their way.

The ninth annual adult reading incentive program will include authors known to spin a phrase while tickling the funny bone, program co-chairwoman Leah Ciminelli said.

The monthlong program also will include writing workshops, a murder mystery event and a book festival. Absent from this year’s festivities will be prizes, giveaways and the popular Reading Las Vegas tote bag due to budget cuts within the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Jennifer Schember, adult services coordinator, said this year’s theme, For the Love of Reading, emphasizes getting back to the basics of reading, without the frills of prizes and other incentives.

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Author appearances and readings aren’t always the laid-back affairs they seem to be. Just as there is much anticipation felt by audience members, there is also pressure on the author’s part. These masters of the written word are expected to be as captivating in person as they are on the page.

To help ensure an enjoyable experience for all involved Chuck Thompson, author and bookstore-appearance veteran, recently shared with ShelfAwareness his tried and true “Six Rules for Better Readings.”

1. Don’t Read for More Than Five Minutes at a Time. Ever!

For the book I’m promoting now, To Hellholes and Back, I usually spend 10 minutes giving a little behind-the-scenes background on the book, then read two segments from different chapters. The first segment takes three minutes to read. The second takes four or five, depending on the audience member dragooned into service for Rule 2.

2. Get the Crowd Involved

Q&As are nice, but events are much more lively when you find creative ways of engaging the audience.

For Hellholes I’ve been doing a couple different bits. Often I recruit someone from the audience (there’s always an itchy extrovert at these things) to read a piece of dialogue with me from a section about haggling with street vendors in India. I have my ad hoc confederate take the part of wily merchant and read from a script with their lines in bold-face. I make sure they get the best lines–jokes often come off funnier when someone from the audience reads them for the first time.

I also occasionally ask for a die-hard soccer fanatic in the crowd to offer a rebuttal to a two-page screed in which I delicately point out that soccer is evil, stupid and anti-American, a corrosive influence on our nation’s vulnerable young. Soccer fans get extremely uppity when you criticize the lamest sport in the world, so this gambit also tends to yield superb emotional results.

3. Easy on the Visuals

More than 15 travel slides and it starts to look like you’re bragging, not edifying. Any PowerPoint feels like a business presentation.

4. Hand Out Gift Certificates

The first thing I do when I walk into a bookstore is buy two or three $20 gift certificates. This is a good way of conveying appreciation to the store for hosting me and a way to thank audience members brave enough to pretend to be sleazy merchants or debate soccer with me. Anyone who gets on stage with me gets a gift card.

When promoting a book called Smile When You’re Lying a couple years ago, I passed out index cards and had people write questions for me on the cards. I told them to be sure to include their names on the cards for a gift-certificate drawing at the end of the Q&A. This kept people around and interested until the end of the event.

5. Cut Off the Q&A Early

Don’t mistake a few questions for mass interest. Some blowhard or aspiring writer will always hang around asking questions until the lights are turned out. Most people get fidgety after 35 or 40 minutes. By that time, they expect to be getting their books signed and on their ways to the 20 other things they have to do before the night is out. If your mother never told you, I will: it’s always better to leave a party 30 minutes early than 30 minutes late.

6. Don’t Be Afraid to Say Something Stupid

Writers are expected to be smart, which can make getting in front of an audience intimidating. The typical writer reflex is to become overly thoughtful or cautious when speaking off the cuff. At readings, this makes them about as appealing as a damp sock.

I try to speak at readings the way I do with friends over drinks. Even if I wind up saying something dumb, audiences are generally forgiving, and it rarely makes them like my book less. If all that people wanted was what’s in the book, they’d just stay home and read, so I’ve never seen the point of giving them more of the same when they’ve come out to see me.

By following these rules I’ve managed to have, if not always good crowds, at least a good time at readings.

Read the full article here.
Excerpt from ShelfAwareness 2/10/10

All my authors know I’m a huge fan of speaking engagements as one of the very best ways to market books and build an author’s audience. Speaking opportunities abound for the author who is personable and offers a useful, educational, or inspirational program. Guest blogger Amber Stidham’s article offers some very practical tips. CHU

Making the most of your workshops and speaking gigs

By Amber Stidham

Dare I say that there is an upside to the economic downturn? Yes.

Rapt audiences are the goal of many a book author (Library of Congress)

Any professional out ‘n’ about knows there is a new information sharing environment that exists as a result of the new economy. Professional development seminars, industry-specific discussion panels, mixers, luncheons – the list goes on. There is an overabundance of information for the person willing to spend a bit of time learning something new – often at no cost, making attending these events very attractive.

For those of us searching to learn more, protect our business and increase sales, these events are an opportunity to do so. More importantly, for the sake of this blog anyhow, it’s an opportunity for businesses to gain added exposure.

If you are a business looking to maintain and grow your market share, please pay attention. Take advantage of speaking opportunities. Your audience is searching for advice (The kind of advice that cannot be gained from Internet searches alone.), personal interaction and relationships with businesses they trust. There is no better way to achieve these goals than to be the “expert” providing the information to them.

“How do I find a platform or venue to give a presentation?” you ask? Here are a handful of ideas you can start with.

• Host a workshop at your office. Don’t have space? Find a friendly business who will host a workshop at their location for you.
• Contact your local chamber of commerce and offer your presentation for free to their members. Be sure to showcase how your presentation can serve as a value-added member resource to a majority of the chamber’s members.
• If you belong to a trade or professional association, contact their respective representatives and ask if you can host a workshop for members.
• Partner with one to two other like-minded businesses that offer similar, but non-competitive, services to yours and host a joint workshop or presentation for all combined colleagues, clients, vendors and contacts you share.

Critical note: Make certain your workshops are educational and not used as a sales platform for your company. If you provide an educational opportunity to people, they will better trust your expertise, respect you as a professional and will connect with you to do business. Rest assured.

“I have a place and a time. Now how do I get butts in seats?” you ask? Some more helpful tips.

• Announce your upcoming workshop/speaking engagement to your contacts, whether by e-mail, e-newsletter or in person. Do it several times.
• If you’re partnering with a business or organization, be certain they are announcing the event to their lists. Also, offer to submit a short written description or verbal announcement during events taking place before your presentation date.
• Write a press release and send out to news outlets. Many news outlets regularly publish business calendars. Don’t forget to submit to non-traditional outlets such as local professionals who host their own highly-visible Web calendars, like-minded trade/professional organizations as well as those you belong to and to sites such as Craigslist.
• Blog about your upcoming event.
• Post event details your Web site and any social networking profile you have, such as Facebook.
• Use Twitter to announce your event and post a link to your blog or Facebook within your “Tweet” to ensure readers can get event details and how to RSVP their attendance.

Workshops and speaking gigs are a great place to start when you’re looking for new contacts to generate new business. It is a powerful business growth tool – and a low-cost one at that.

Amber Stidham is the Director of Strategic Planning for Imagine Marketing. Contact Amber at astidham@imnv.com

Carolyn Uber and Tony Curtis (Photo by Megan Edwards, Living Las Vegas)

Presented the long-planned Tony Curtis/Norm Clarke event today at the Flamingo branch of the Clark County Library. Started with a private reception for Tony and invited friends. Tony was so charming, taking the time to chat and give each guest undivided attention. Enjoyed chatting it up myself with many friends including Norm and Cara, Sal and Georgeanne, Mark and Megan, Denny and Pam and many others! Following the reception we adjourned to the theater where 400 Tony Curtis fans (and another 100 watching a live video feed in an adjacent room and the lobby). Oscar winner Curtis (The Defiant Ones)acted in over 100 films during Hollywood’s golden heyday. Norm interviewed Tony on stage, and Tony told each story with good humor and dramatic flair. From his very first film role (as a corpse) to auditioning on set to act opposite Yvonne DiCarlo, Tony shared his experiences with wit and joy. Advancing age keeps Tony in a wheelchair, but when telling the story of convincing the director he could rhumba with DiCarlo, Tony rose and strutted his moves to the delight of the crowd. Asked who, among the many leading ladies he’d kissed, was the “best kisser”, Tony grinned and answered “me”. Cary Grant was the actor he admired most, always a “classy gentlemen” while Marilyn Monroe was his favorite actress, a “real” down-to-earth and sweet person who could, nonetheless, be “as tough as Joe DiMaggio” when needed. Following a standing ovation, a book signing (Tony’s American Prince and Norm’s Sinsational Celebrity Tales) took place with over 200 folks waiting patiently. As always, Suzanne and Julie and the rest of the amazing library staff were here, there, and everywhere, and pulled off another successful event.

Who WOULDN’T want to get paid to speak? Find out how and much more when Stephens Press hosts the remarkable Judi Moreo for a WORKSHOP FOR AUTHORS. Judi has traveled the world, speaking at conferences, conventions, and corporate gatherings — and been properly rewarded for entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences large and small. BOR (back of room) sales at speaking engagements can be most rewarding for authors, so getting booked for gigs is important. Getting PAID to speak — plus selling books — is the best! We’ve only got 40 seats available for this workshop and when they are gone, they’re gone, so contact Krissy asap if you want to attend. workshop flyer can be downloaded here.

Today I’m interviewing author Betty Auchard. Betty’s first book, Dancing in My Nightgown, the Rhythms of Widowhood is her memoir of losing her husband of 49 years, getting through the grief, and learning to live again—in a whole new way. Far from being a morose downer, Betty’s stories are touching, inspiring, upbeat, and even funny. Betty had a lot to learn having married at 19, and never having lived as a single person before. Betty’s quirky, loving, and funny personality makes her one of my favorite authors to know and to work with. In this interview she shares her thoughts on the writing process:

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started writing. Did you always have a secret desire to be an author?

My secret desires were to be invisible, to fly, and to play the piano. My unconcealed desires were to be a movie star and an artist. I became an artist, so I still have time to become a movie star. But all my life I loved writing letters and telling true stories because I saw, and still do see stories in everything. And I’ve always jotted things down that I didn’t want to forget—sort of like a grocery list for my life.

Becoming a widow at 68 when I had never been single before meant I had more to write about than ever. I wrote about everything that was happening to me because life felt like the twilight zone. It was unreal. I had no way of knowing then that writing was my tool for healing.

Grief recovery was the hardest work I’d ever done in my life and grievers must be allowed to babble about the same old things over and over. It’s the only way we can accept that our loss is real. Writing was like talking to paper. If I felt good I wrote about it. If I felt bad I wrote about it. One day I saw that Postum (Denny’s favorite beverage) was on sale and I almost put a jar in my cart. I was so blindsided by that unconscious act that I had to abandon my grocery cart and run outside to cry. Naturally, I wrote about it. I knew that someday I would look back on my experiences and realize how far I had come.

Writing was more important to me than eating. Naturally I lost weight, but gradually, I regained consciousness and the act of writing took on a life of its own. I became aware that my journaling on junk was starting to use a lot more paper and my writings were becoming pretty good stories that I liked a lot. One thing led to another and I started taking writing classes. This all happened over about six months. By six months I was in love with telling about life from my point of view which sometimes made me cry, but it felt good; like vomiting from my eyes. Sometimes my quirky point of view made me laugh at myself. As hard as I tried not to come off as a widow I always revealed that I was one. It made me feel vulnerable. I may as well have worn a talking T shirt that shouted, “This Lady Lives Alone.” But, to be honest, I liked my stories so much that I practically forced strangers to read them. I knew then that Betty, the Writing Beast had been born.

2. Tell us about your writing habits. When you write do you need music? Or quiet? Is there a special place, time or ritual you use to get in the groove? And has this changed over time? For example from the time you wrote the first draft of the first book until now as you work on the second?

Eleven years ago when I wrote all day long in my nightgown, I didn’t know how to use the computer so I did a lot of writing in bed where the light from the window was perfect. If not there, then I wrote in my lounge chair where the good lamp was located. I wrote on a lined tablet on a clipboard, and used only a fine tip Pilot Precise pen. My thoughts landed on paper as easily as I talk.

Once I learned how to use the computer I relocated upstairs to what used to be my art studio and is now my computer room. I first TELL myself the story out loud a few times and then I start typing without stopping, typos and all. It’s still a lot like free writing but it’s on the screen and I feel as though I’m still talking.  I write best in the mornings when my brain is awake and lively. But I still write at night or any old time I’m in the mood or when I know I won’t be interrupted.  Sometimes that’s into the morning hours. I let other things go unattended, which is slothful but true.

My best writing time was two months ago when I treated myself to a hotel room. I checked into a Holiday Inn Express, 25 miles away so I wouldn’t be tempted to dash home for any reason. I told my children not to call or e-mail unless it was really important and a request for a recipe was not important. It was wonderful. I stayed one week, went home for one week, and returned for one more week. I ate sparingly and used the small fridge and microwave in my room for simple food.  I managed to get ahead on my second manuscript. The cost? About $2,000, but I told myself that I deserved it.

When I think a story is finished, it’s imperative that I read it aloud. Only then do I hear what is clunky or awkward. The sound of the words and the cadence of a sentence are critical. A radio is distracting and never on when I write, which means that it is never on. I watch TV only when I eat something or to watch Dexter or The United States of Tara. The truth is that I sit way too long at my computer because I’m in love with it. And where the day goes I’ll never know. Time just races by when I’m in the writing zone.

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The C-SPAN Civics bus will be in Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 4th and the producers are looking for local authors who would like to talk about government, politics and how the local economy is sending folks to libraries to take advantage of free services. If you’d like to participate, show up at the Clark County Library at 1401 East Flamingo between 2 and 4 PM.

The National Writing for Children’s Center is the home of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC), and a growing resource for children’s writers, aspiring children’s writers, parents, elementary school teachers, and librarians. The Center also produces Listen to Book Bites for Kids live every weekday afternoon at 2:00 CST on blogtalkradio.com. Each episode features an interview with a children’s book author who has a new book coming out or a book currently in bookstores.

Host Suzanne Lieurance is a former classroom teacher, now a freelance writer, children’s author, speaker, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She is the author of over 20 published books for children.

Four Stephens Press children’s authors have been featured on Book Bites in recent months. You can listen to their interviews by clicking on the author’s name below.

Mike Miller

Mike is the author of our popular Tomas the Desert Tortoise series of six books about plucky Tomas and his Mojave Desert friends. His presentations include “Draw Tomas” lessons! The web site includes downloadable teacher guides and kid’s activities.

Polanco

Jorge Betancourt Polanco is the author/illustrator of Dreamygirl’s Field of Wishes which is printed in Spanish and English, side by side. The book was just named a finalist for the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.

Lewis Kimberly

Miss Kimberly is the author of Granny McFanny, the zany grandmother who lives life with zest. Kim is also the founder of the Dare to Dream program, offering school fundraisers to promote children’s literacy.

Kevin Janison

Las Vegas Channel Three weatherman Kevin Janison is the author of Deputy Dorkface: How Stinkville Got Cleaned Up and the soon to be released Deputy Dorkface: How Sugaropolis Got Dessert Back. Kevin is the chair of Clark County Reads, an avid literacy advocate and presents popular school assemblies.

Broadcast interviews — radio or television — help authors expand their reach to share their message, create new fans, and establish their expertise on their book’s subject. With so many programs filling the airwaves and cyberspace (Internet radio is growing rapidly), authors can find plenty of shows to suggest themselves for an interview.

Once a show is booked, be sure to offer the producer a list of prospective questions. This saves the interviewer time (and allows you to direct the focus of the interview). More often than not, the host will use the supplied questions, and even if they don’t, it is the mark of a pro to provide them.

Interviews might last just a few minutes, a fifteen to thirty minute segment or a full hour. It may include just you and the host or a panel of people qualified to discuss the show’s subject, and often includes questions from callers or emailers. You’ll have to think on your feet, but they can be clad in fuzzy slippers, since radio interviews are commonly conducted via telephone. If you live nearby, you may be invited to conduct the interview in-studio.

Most television and radio stations have websites where they will post your interview. Ask the producer when it will post and then add a link on your website so future visitors can view or listen at their convenience. Review it yourself, several times. You’ll catch little mistakes or spots you could have answered differently and your next interview will be even better.

Regardless, you’ll want to be prepared. Laurel Howanitz of Hot Guest, Inc., an interview booking service, offers 25 tips for “hot guests” who producers will want to book again and again. Newly uploaded on the Downloads page.

Judi Moreo

It is no secret that one of the best ways for authors to sell books is at speaking engagements. Becoming a published author stamps you as an “expert” on your non-fiction subject and there are eager audiences everywhere ready to listen to you.

Join Stephens Press author and pro-speaker Judi Moreo for an evening of in-the-know tips and tricks in the world of professional presentations.

In this exciting program, Judi will answer your questions about: How to get started ~ What makes a great speech ~ How to choose a title ~ What you should do to minimize disasters ~ How people will find out about you ~ Whether or not you should buy advertising or hire a pr firm ~ What promotional materials you will need ~ How much you should invest ~ How much you can make ~ What is product and how you can get it?

Powerhouse Pros Toastmasters
U. S. Bank Building, 11th Floor
West Sahara and Rancho Drive
Las Vegas ~ 6:15 pm ~ October 6th

Email pamela_shinkle@yahoo.com to reserve your seat.