Writing and Speaking Update

God is doing amazing things in my life with regard to my writing and speaking. Over the summer I completed a Writer’s Digest course where I submitted 35,000 words from my latest manuscript for critique.
The biggest lesson I learned was that I need to be more authentic in my writing. I heard it from so many people – most importantly GOD – that I’m changing my manuscript a bit. No, I’m changing it a lot!
 
Rather than skim over some of the challenges I’ve faced in my life story, I’m sharing from my heart and telling more of the journey to wholeness and healing.
It’s scary. I’m afraid. But I’m working it through.
The other cool things happening on the writing and speaking front involve a writing conference I’m attending this month and an intensive speaking class and one day workshop I’ll participate in next month.
Here are the details of the one day workshop open to members and nonmembers who want to improve their craft:
October 9, 2010: One Power-packed Day, 2 Incredible Choices!
Both sessions run from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
BILL BUTTERWORTH – Finding Your Speaking Voice (www.BillButterworth.com)
In this one day event, Bill will cover Putting Together a Successful Presentation, Humor, Storytelling, and How To Be More Persuasive in Your Speaking. The intent is to help you take your speaking to the next level.
Bill Butterworth’s extraordinary ability to blend humor, story-telling, wisdom and practicality has made him one of the most sought after speakers in venues throughout North America. Through his wit, warmth, insight, and realism, he brings help and hope to his audiences everywhere. Because of his remarkable abilities, Bill was awarded The Hal Holbrook Award by the International Platform Association, whose past and present members include Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Bob Hope, and Elizabeth Dole. They consider him one of the select few to be named a Top Rated Speaker.
In the writing world, Bill’s latest contribution is a series of business books with the overall title On The Fly. The first two books are called On The Fly Guide to Balancing Work and Life and On The Fly Guide to Building Successful Teams. They are being published by WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House. Besides the On The Fly series, Bill has written over a dozen books including The Promise of the Second Wind and When Life Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned.
REBECA SEITZ – The Publicity Process & Powerful Strategies  http://www.glassroadpr.com/about/seitz.php
Part 1: Wanted: First Time Published Writers Who Have No Idea What To Do Next. What does it mean to publicize a book? How does a literary publicist let readers know your book is coming? What can you do to join in the process? Which things should you do and which will your publisher accomplish? For those who are just beginning their trek into the world of literary publicity, come have your questions answered and learn the process that most books follow from acquired manuscript to publicized book.
Part 2: Powerful Publicity: Building Book Sales. Do you have two or more books just sitting on bookstore shelves? Perhaps you’ve wrestled with the disappointment of not hitting the best-seller list right out of the gate and yet you’re certain this is what God created you to do—write. Agents and publishers have warned you if your sales don’t increase, you’ll be hard-pressed to continue finding book contracts. What can you do to help increase sales of your books? Publicity!
Rebeca Seitz, President of Glass Road Public Relations and author of five novels, has assisted a wide variety of authors from debut novelists to New York Times best-sellers. She’ll share strategies that you can employ to raise awareness for your books among consumers and get those sales numbers climbing. Also, if you’ve tried publicity tactics in the past but experienced lackluster results, be sure to bring your stories to this workshop! Rebeca will help you determine what didn’t work and why so that you can begin practicing effective, powerful publicity.
NCWA Member Rate – $115 – Non-Member Rate $135 – includes lunch and snacks
Location: Northshore Baptist Church, Bothell WA
http://nwchristianwriters.org/events.html
 I hope you feel God’s touch on your life today.
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi