May 22: A Blogging Workshop in Philadelphia

A few years back, I spoke at the Pennwriters conference about the importance of writers being able to market themselves, especially online; it was one of my first major public speaking engagements on the topic, and I got a lot of great feedback from it, and I’ve stayed in touch with the organizer, Lisa Diane Kastner, ever since. Recently, she launched a new organization called the Running Wild Writers Community in downtown Philadelphia, and it looks like she’s put together some great workshops on matters of both craft and practicality for the city’s literati, so I’m delighted to tell you that I’m planning to take the train down on Saturday, May 22, and teach an afternoon-long version of the blogging workshop I’ve given for the creative writing and professional education programs at several universities since Pennwriters helped me get my start.

Here’s the course description:

“We’ll talk about how writers can use blogs to develop their personal brands and establish an ongoing relationship with readers even before they’ve published their first work, as well as the opportunities for creative expression. We’ll also discuss some of the available technical resources, including their strengths and weaknesses, and touch upon elements of social media technology that can be integrated into a blogging strategy, and about how authors and publishers are using all these tools in today’s publishing environment.”

I use a lot of examples from blogs you’ve seen me talking about here and at GalleyCat, as well as drawing upon my own experience at both websites, and now that I’ve gotten comfortable with the topic, I don’t faint at the podium nearly as much as I used to, so you’ll really be getting your $54 worth if you sign up. I mean, obviously I’m going to recommend it for anyone within striking distance of Philadelphia, but I’ve been assured that it really is a good class, so if you’re in the neighborhood, I’d be delighted to see you!

12 May 2010 | events |

Greenlight Bookstore: Sarah Pekkanen & StackedBlog.com

I’ve been curating a series of events at Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore for the last few months, where we start out with an author reading from his or her latest book, then segue into a conversation with a local blogger about the book and its themes, and about writing and life and the writing life, then open it up to the audience for questions. Tonight, I’m looking forward to introducing Sarah Pekkanen, who will be reading from her debut novel, The Opposite of Me, and Christina Oppold, the creator of Stacked, one of the best in a recent wave of new book blogs. If you’re a fan of contemporary women’s fiction, I think you’ll really enjoy this evening—and if you’re a fan of indie bookstores, you’re going to love Greenlight if you’ve never been there before.

(One of my favorite things about this series is that I’m getting to work with a fantastic array of bloggers, and not all of them focused strictly on the book world, as you’ll see in the months ahead…)

26 April 2010 | events |