On the Road Again: Empire State Book Festival

If you live in the vicinity of Albany, New York, you might want to come into town tomorrow for the inaugural Empire State Book Festival. I’m delighted to be taking part in two panels towards the end of the day-long conference sessions—first, I’ll be moderating a conversation about romance fiction with Lisa Dale, Kellyann Zuzulo, Jackie Kessler, and Hope Tarr. (Full disclosure: Hope is one of the co-founders of Lady Jane’s Salon, the monthly romance reading series I emcee here in New York City, and Jackie’s YA fiction is published by my employers at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.) Then, immediately following and in the very same room, I’ll be a participant in a conversation about “the future of the book” led by Don Linn, with additional input by Guy LeCharles Gonzales, Jennifer Gilmore, and Andrew Albanese. I’ll be wearing my marketing cap for that session, but I’ll probably have something to say as a blogger as long as I’m there…

And we’re just a handful of the several dozen authors who will be on hand, talking about all sorts of stuff and signing our books afterwards! I’m planning on having fun, and if you have an opportunity to join us, I hope you will.

9 April 2010 | events |

Naomi Wolf’s Nonfiction Writing Workshop

I got an email from Naomi Wolf recently about a three-part workshop she’ll be teaching in New York City this April on writing a nonfiction book proposal. The classes will take place on 4/12, 4/19, and 4/23 and will cover, respectively:

• the basics of good nonfiction writing and the fundamentals of an excellent book proposal
• the publishing and media cycle
• making a long-term real life as a working advocacy or nonfiction writer

In addition, the last two sessions will include one-on-one editorial coaching. You can attend any one class for $175 or all three for $450; submit a nonfiction writing sample to Rashmi Sharma at rshar@optonline.net to apply. (Ms. Sharma requests that you be sure to state in the subject line of your email which class or classes you wish to attend). The classes will take place at In Good Company (16 West 23rd St., 4th floor) from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. each night.

(UPDATE:I’ll actually be taking part in the second workshop, chiming in on the publishing/media cycle discussion with some thoughts about social media, blogging, and getting attention from blogs and other websites.)

31 March 2010 | events |