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This Week’s Sponsors |
Need help with social media?
You’ve gotten the message that your business needs to master Web 2.0, become active on social media sites like Plaxo and Bebo, start posting on Twitter, syndicate online, produce lenses on Squidoo, author a blog, keep up with Digg and Newsvine. You know it will improve SEO, and monetize your expertise. But how are you supposed to do all that and still run your business?
www.Expertizing.com.
Need help with blogging? Looking for a ghost writer? Andrea Warren is a journalist, editor, and author whose experience includes newspaper reporting, magazine editing, and copywriting. She'll write your blog from scratch to your specifications or edit what you write. She's fast, efficient, and professional. Contact Andrea@
AndreaWarren.com. Office: +1 913.722.2343. Fee: $100/hr.
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From Our Contributors |
Meg Weaver
This week we feature IAW contributor Meg Weaver with a special report on Writing Queries That Sell.
Terry Whalin
Next week we feature Terry Whalin with a special report on Platform Ideas for Every Author.
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Featured Speaker |
A Crack in the Earth: A Journey Up Israel's Rift Valley
“A Crack in the Earth” takes a geological object, the rift valley that stretches from the Red Sea up to Lebanon, and examines it through the voices of scientists, archaeologists, settlers, farmers, and others who study, live, and tell stories about the valley.
Haim Watzman is a Jerusalem-based author, writer, journalist, blogger, and translator.
Book Haim Watzman as a speaker for your next meeting or conference.
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Featured Expert |
Craig Malkin, Ph.D is a licensed clinical psychologist who taught and trained at Harvard and has been published in peer reviewed journals.
Book Craig Malkin as a speaker for your next meeting or conference.
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Featured Author |
Janice Hunter is the author of the new novel The Dream Girls. She is living her dream as a writer and workshop presenter. She is a member of The Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, and the Romance Writers of America.
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Featured Book |
Peace, Love, and Lemonade
Nancy Stampahar
“Peace, Love and Lemonade is a refreshingly, inspiring work for someone who is contemplating making life changes. The author, sharing her life experiences, lends significant credibility. While it does not profess to have the final answer, it certainly offers direction and hope.”
Book Nancy Stampahar as a speaker for your next meeting or conference
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Featured Syndicated Article |
The Top 10 Mistakes Fiction Writers Make with Point of View
Diane O'Connell
Book Diane O'Connell as a speaker for your next meeting or conference
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Featured Query |
Culture and Society / USA
— Andrea Campbell
Valuable scientific research about our lives, our behavior and the behavior of the people around us, based on thousands of research studies and presented in easy-to-read, look-yourself-up style is the basis for this book.
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Attend a Talk |
Attend a talk with IAW Director Fern Reiss:
If you'd like to hear Fern in person in 2009, she will be speaking at:
- Bulldog Reporter Media Relations Conference, New York (17-19 May)
- Independent Book Publishers’ University, New York (26-28 May)
- Book Expo America, New York (28,31 May)
- Private consults, Europe (July & August)
- Publishing Game Workshop, Jerusalem (July 28 and August 4)
Please contact us to book her for your event or conference. Or if you’d like to book a private consultation on writing, publishing, or publicity while she’s speaking in your town, let us know.
Follow Fern online:
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Need professional advice? |
If you need some personal input on your writing, publishing, or publicity dilemma, consider a consultation with IAW Director Fern Reiss. Fern consults to clients all over the world via telephone; the charge is $300/ €200 per hour or $1500 / €1000 for six sessions (six hours for the price of five) for publishing consultation. If you'd like help with your Expertizing/branding, her rate is $1500 / €1000 per hour; non-profits pay $1200 / €800) for Expertizing consulting. Sign up at PublishingGame.com/
consulting.htm or www.Expertizing.com.
5 May, 2009
Welcome to our new members in Liberia and the United States, and welcome to our new members from The American Society of Journalists and Authors.
The International Association of Writers Newsletter
WELCOME to the International Association of Writers, Speakers, and Experts. Thanks for joining us.
Just back from speaking at the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) conference in New York City—a not-to-be-missed conference for anyone in journalism, and always a lot of fun, as well.
This week we’ve got Meg Weaver with a special report on Writing Queries That Sell (a must in any market, but particularly useful in this one!) We’ve also got the latest on the industry and some tips on how to maximize your Literary Agent Query Letter Profile, so that literary agents and publishers are more likely to take an interest in your submissions.Members—If you haven't already done so, please visit the Member Center and upload a photograph of yourself (it's easy). To be the Featured Speaker, Featured Expert, Featured Author, or to have your article selected as the Featured Syndicated Article, we need your photograph. While you're there, if you've authored books, please submit book profiles describing your books so that we can help publicize them. Please help us to help you!
Best,
/Fern
Newsletter Plus
If you’re interested in more media attention from journalists, more speaking invitations from meeting planners, & more interest from literary agents, consider joining the International Association of Writers, Speakers, and Experts.
This Week's Feature
Special Report: Writing Queries That Sell
with Meg Weaver
- Start with an eye-catching title.
- In the first paragraph, include the opening sentence (or deck) of the proposed magazine article. Make it as enticing as you would the finished article.
- In the second paragraph, show the editor that your article is intended for their target audience, and demonstrate how it’s positioned.
- In the fourth paragraph, offer to write the article for them (in a one sentence offer.) Then offer them clippings of your previous work.
Meg’s special report also includes:
- Examples of sure-to-capture-editor’s queries
- The two statements to never make
- How to discuss photographs
- What to say about experts you’d like to interview
- The clincher line that will land you the assignment
Members can read the entire special report here.
Next week: Stay tuned for IAW Contributor Terry Whalin’s special report on Platform Ideas for Every Author.
Special Reports
Getting People To Your Website: 25 Simple Tips for Top-Notch Search Engine Optimization
by Fern Reiss
If you missed our special report last week on Getting People to Your Website, it’s not too late. You can still find out:
- How to choose keywords so your customers will find you
- How to get other websites to link to yours
- How to track both your visibility and your competitors' visibility
Members can read the feature right now.
New Members:
If you missed any of the articles, audios, or reports below, you can still read and/or listen to them in our Member Archive.
| Report: | Writing Queries That Sell with Meg Weaver |
| Report: | Entrepreneurs: Take a Tax-Deductible Road Trip or Long Vacation by Marcia Yudkin |
| Report: | Getting People To Your Website: 25 Simple Tips for Top-Notch Search Engine Optimization by Fern Reiss |
| Report: | Social Media Marketing with Sally Falkow |
| Report: | No Time To Go After Your Dream by Valerie Young |
| Report: | 89 Ways to Write Press Releases by Joan Stewart (263 pages) |
| Audio: |
What a Publisher Looks For |
| Report: | How to Sell to Magazines with Meg Weaver |
| Report: | The Secrets of Compelling Writing by Lisa Tener |
| Report: | Get More Media Attention for Your Business with Fern Reiss |
Media Leads & Magazine Update
New: UK Independent Publishers Group trade association growing despite economy (www.thebookseller.com/news/79970-walker-follows-bloomsbury-into-the-ipg.html)… US Consumer magazines dropped 26% in the first quarter of 2009; Business-to-business pages fell 27% in just the month of January… There are now, astoundingly, more professional bloggers (earning their living by blogging exclusively) in the US than there are computer programmers, firefighters, or bartenders, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article…
Members can read more by clicking through to:
PartyLine Media Leads and
Wooden Horse Magazine Update, and
Or get the latest updates by following Fern on Twitter:
twitter.com/fernreiss
Tip of the Week
Interested in starting a subscription website/membership organization of your own? Stay tuned for IAW Director Fern Reiss’s special report on this topic, coming soon to IAW members only.
Writing and Publishing Spotlight on...
England
Whether you’re a business traveler or an armchair traveler, here’s what’s going on in the writing and publishing world for writers in England.
The British book market sold almost 237 million books in 2008. The four largest publishing houses in Britain are Hachette UK, Random House, Penguin, and HarperCollins, followed by Pan Macmillan, Bloomsbury, Pearson, OUP, Wiley, and Egmont. Academic and children's books are on the upswing in England. Indy press Canongate grew 155%, but most independent publishers were down.
Members can read more at Spotlight.
(Members: Interested in sharing what’s going on in your part of the world? Become an IAW ambassador.)
Max Your Membership
Agent Query
Each month, the International Association of Writers sends a newsletter featuring our latest agent queries to literary agents and publishers worldwide. The list of agent queries also runs in several locations on the website, and each week we feature one of the queries in our newsletter. Here’s how to make the most of your Agent Query listing:
- Fill out the form completely. You can list as many agent queries as you like, so if you have separate projects, list them separately. (This will help with attention from search engines, too.)
- Select the category that best describes the topic of your query. Some literary agents and publishers look at all our listings, but others scour the listings for queries in a particular category or genre.
- Write an enticing title for your project. Literary agents skim our listings, so craft a title that hooks them in quickly.
- After writing the full description, take some time with the summary. Only the summary will be displayed in the thumbnail description on the query page; based on how saleable agents think the summary is will determine whether they go on to read your full description. Write the summary as if that's the only thing anyone will read.
- Each query letter should include an intriguing hook; a short description of the audience for the book; a description of the book itself; and your credentials for writing this book.
- Remember that this portion of the IAW site is public so only post content that you want the entire world to be able to see.
- Don't forget to upload your photograph to your agent query (and all your other queries.)
Next week we'll look at maximizing your Syndicated Articles Directory listing.
Spread the Word
The more members we have, the more clout we have with journalists, booksellers, literary agents, librarians, etc. Want to help make others aware of the International Association of Writers? Here are some ways you can help:
- Become an Ambassador from your geographic area, or become a web ambassador and mention us on listserves and writing forums online.
- List us as a favorite on Digg.com or Delicious.com.
- Email a friend or colleague to tell them about us.
- Add this to your Facebook or Twitter Status line: “Looking for publicity as a writer or small business? Check out AssociationofWriters.com”.
- Remember—sign up three friends or colleagues, and get a free one-year extension on your membership!
Talk Out
Q: Is there a way to find a place to be a guest blogger (the equivalent of HelpaReporter for blogs)?
A: Try bloggerlinkup.com. As a writer, you can use it to find bloggers to showcase your blog posts (bloggers can also use it to find guest posters.) The service is totally free.
Members can post their Talk Out questions here.
Kudos
“A few days after I posted my speaker profile on the International Association of Writers’ website, I began receiving inquiries from meeting planners who wanted to book me for high-paying speaking gigs. The International Association of Writers rocks!”
— Linda Gradstein, correspondent, National Public Radio
“I’m loving the site—thank you!”
— Kristin J. Eckstein, producer, ArtsImagine.com
Members send your kudos & we'll print them in a future issue.
Highlights from Our Calendar
The Ann Arbor Book Festival, 15 - 17 May, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Book Expo America, 28 - 31 May, New York City
The Australian Booksellers Association Conference, 21 - 23 June, Sydney, Australia
Read the entire Calendar. (Members—post listings at no charge.)
Copyright © 2009 International Association of Writers
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The International Association of Writers | Newton | Massachusetts | 02459 | USA