Summary and Audio link to “Who are your Writing for?”

Who are you writing for? Summary and Audio This program was pure magic! We created an intimate, relaxing environment to address topics that usually stress women authors, like marketing and publishing. The feedback from the women, as you will read below, is that they were energized and inspired. “I was so uplifted by the call, and thank you for the book gift! Really. I’m searching for a good novel right now and the best ones are always gifts. Best of luck in your program, I think it’s a great thing to do.” Nancy Marmolejo Visibility Expert Award winning business woman Write to Dream Radio Show is able to present in a fun and interesting manner, ideas and tips for publishing your books. The program host, Maria Mar, invites professionals with knowledge and sensitivity that address the possibility of marketing and publishing at a large scale. I realized, after listening and participating in two programs, that their interactive format and open dialogues are eliciting new ideas and potential for my books. I highly recommend Write to Dream Radio Show to all women, especially Latinas, who are writing and want to reach more audiences. Myrna Nieves Award winning writer and professor It was such a delight to be on your wonderful show. I felt an INSTANT connection with you, too. I learned so much from your wisdom. One of my favorite thin gs you said (and I’ve quoted you twice today) was “Obstacles are arrows.” Wow! Denise Coates Author of “Feel it real” Law of Attraction coach Free ebook for all subscribers! I (hostess Maria Mar) created a FREE ebook to help women develop their Book Marketing Strategy. You can get “30 Marketing Points to get your Book Published by Top Publishers or Sell Tons of Books Yourself” at this blog, under the post “Get your Free Ebook on Book Marketing and Publishing Here.” The ebook contains true stories of authors who have managed to use internet resources to become instant celebrities, raise a platform and get top publishing contracts, as well as ideas that can help you see if and how you have or can readily build a platform. It also contains 9 steps to turn the marketing points into a marketing plan, plus resources. Enjoy! Subscribe to get the ebook. If you already subscribed, we’ll send you the password. Amy Tannenbaum Amy Tannenbaum, associate editor of Atria Books (Simon & Schuster) talked about three important aspects of capturing the attention of the publishers. 1. Build your platform. A platform, according to Amy, is an author’s network. If you are a famous person with a large following, that would be at the high end of the spectrum. But if you are not, then two things can help you: make sure you have a story that is strong and interesting and that can appeal to a large audience, and BUILD your platform. 2. Use online resources creatively. Amy mentioned Tila Tequila, who raised 2.7 million MySpace friends and got a role on the A Shot at Love reality TV show. NOTE: We have many similar stories in the free ebook. Download yours and start creating your marketing plan right away! 3. Know the trend. Scan the shelves. Amy recommended that you see the trends that are emerging. You don’t want to write just about trends, because you need to write about something that you are passionate about, as Anjanette commented (See below). But you can see what’s on people’s minds. What’s catching the public eye, and work with that. Scan the shelves of books in your genre and see what is being sold and read to get a sense of the content, quality and style. 4. Know your audience BEFORE you begin your book. “Being clear on who your audience is affects your style, your voice and your content,” Amy reminded us. Anjanette Delgado Anjanette Delgado, author of The Heartbreak Pill, revealed her secret for getting published. Her publishing story “I was doing my job at Univision, training a group of writers, when this woman, who turned out to be the editor of Atria Books, told me that I should write a book. I said I had a book. At that time I had been rejected by an editor, and my book was in a drawer, where I had put it after lots of tears. Johanna Castillo told me to send it to her after I got over the funk. I dug out the book, dried my tears, and sent it. One day I received a call. ‘We want to buy your book.’ That was it.” The power of availability Anjanette revealed that she uses this availability approach for connecting to readers, events and venues. She is available for activities. She goes to events, no matter how many or how few people there are in the audience. “You never know who is in that audience. You never know who knows who in that audience. I have gotten really good opportunities and invitations because I went somewhere and someone heard me and invited me to an amazing event.” Angling: be creative with your book promotion Another thing that stroke me was her creativity for marketing tactics. She told a story about wanting to be in one of those literary parlors that gives instant glamour to the writers who attend, but not being able to get in. Everything was booked. Then she came up with this idea. Why not do a Heartbreak Night? We’ll prepare a Heartbreak cocktail, read the book, and create an entire environment to address heartbreak. The curators loved it, and they opened the space in a day it was usually closed, just to get this event going. Anjanette is a great example of what I said in my opening inspirational meditation. Authors need to release the fear, negative attitudes and assumptions about book marketing. We have to see it as an Act of Power. We need to re-define it so that we can find a path to our readers, our people. Ironically, there lies the strength of our appeal to publishers. Persistence and commitment Anjanette also personifies the persistence and resilience we must develop as artists and authors. We cannot afford to take rejection personally. We need to persist and maintain our self-esteem intact. The way to do this, Anjanette showed us through her acts and choices, is an open attitude of learning and improvement. “The first editor who rejected me was right in doing so,” Anjanette reflects. “I read the feedback and worked the manuscript, and that is why it was ready to be accepted by Atria Books.” Passion keeps you going Many women in the audience have called me to comment on Anjanette’s presence. Simply put, they love her! She is a passionate, people-loving author, and it shows. Another important message that Anjanette gave to writers is to write about what you are passionate about. “You will have to write for a long time. Then you will need to do one or more revisions. Then you may need to do or review the translation. And then you have to read your book. Talk about your book. Sell your book. This is not a month-long event. This is an event through many years. You have to be passionate about your topic.” Have a clear vision of your reader While Anjanette says that she writes about what she is passionate about, she also says that she has a clear vision of her reader. She sees this ideal woman reader to whom she writes, and that helps her to find an intimate voice, a connection. What do you think? See question below. Honored Women in the Audience Myrna Nieves Award-winning writer and educator Myrna, who has dedicated 20 years to the Boricua College Poetry Series, bringing 243 Latino poets to an audience of 8,500, congratulated the Write to Dream Radio Show for opening a space where women authors, experts and readers can find inspiration, support and insights. Myrna is an advisor and supporter of WRDS and I was honored that she highly recommended the experience. For more information about Myrna, please see the post. Session 2: Women experts and writers in the show- Who are you writing for? Nancy Marmolejo Award-winning business woman Nancy Marmolejo, Visibility Expert at http://www.vivavisibility.com, was excited to share with creative women. She observed that each of us has a Medicine and that we need to express this Medicine in the world. Nancy encouraged all women writers and experts to express their “Medicines” and become highly visible. Writers and experts need to find coaches like Nancy who can help them develop skills and strategies for presenting and marketing themselves, getting noticed by the media and using social media and networking to create a strong platform for their books. “There are too many unpublished authors out there and you need to come out and become visible, so that you can share your unique Medicine with the world,” Nancy prompted. Denise Coates Law of Attraction Coach Author of “Feel it Real” The surprise guest for the show was Denise Coates, the author of “Feel it Real”, recently published by Atria Books. Denise teaches the most powerful secrets of the Law of Attraction: your emotions. Denise will be the guest to our next show, and she made a cameo appearance to say hi. My encounter with Denise shows the Law of Attraction at work. I had read her story earlier in the week in connection to another research I was doing. When I was preparing the ebook, I decide that I wanted to include her story and contacted her to confirm that the story was true. I also invited her to the show. She responded saying that not only the story was true, but Amy Tannenbaum, the woman I was interviewing in the show, was her editor at Atria Books! To find out how Denise used the Law of Attraction to attract a publisher for her book, visit the post Next Show: Your Expert System and your Book. Writer of the Month Award goes to: Annecy Báez Author. Artist. Annecy Báez writes poetry and fiction. Her most recent literary work, “the Red Shoes”, was translated by Ruth Herrera and appeared in Spanish as “Tacones Rojos”  in Caudal, a literary journal in the Dominican Republic, “the Silence of Angels” appeared in. Callaloo, an African American Literary Journal from John Hopkins University, other works have appeared in Vinyl Donuts an anthology from the National Book Foundation, Brujula and in Tertuliando/Hanging Out, a bilingual literary anthology published by Hunter Caribbean Studies and Latinarte. She is the member of Daisy Cocco De Fillipis Latina writer’s group, “La Tertulia”.   Annecy Báez is the winner of the 2007 Miguel Mårmol Prize for her collection of short stories, My Daughter’s Eyes and Other Stories. My Daughter’s Eyes and Other Stories, winner of the 2007 Mármol Prize, is a collection of fourteen interrelated stories about young Dominican women living in the Bronx as they deal with the choices they make in their daily life. These stories span three decades, beginning in the 1970s, and their topics range from mother-daughter struggles, father-daughter betrayal, family, and child abuse, to emerging sexuality, love, loss and healing. Reminiscent of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, My Daughter’s Eyes contains stories about various compelling neighborhood characters so that collectively these stories have the impact of a novel, characterizing the dramatic changes that can occur in an immigrant’s life. Annecy Báez’s daring treatment of taboo themes, such as sexual child abuse and the struggle of the individual against restrictive traditional values, makes this book unique in Dominican fiction. Annecy receives these awards: Spotlight on the live show and in this blog. Gift copy of Anjanette Delgado’s novel The Heartbreak Pill 30 minute consultation with Maria Mar. Visit Annecy at: http://www.annecybaez.com http://annecybaez.blogspot.com Audio. Listen to this radio program. A new window will open to the program archive. Scroll down and click on menu to hear the recording. Related posts: Who are you writing for? (Introduction and about the guests) Who are you writing for?/Questions and Answers Features award winners and their questions, as well as posted questions and answers. Who are you writing for/Links, events and resources Links events and resources mentioned in the show, and more! 13 Marketing Points to get your Book Published by Top Publishers (Preview of free ebook) Get your free ebook on Book Marketing and Publishing here (Free ebook. Subscribe to get your password.) Questions for you… Writers: Do you have your readers in mind when you start writing? Amy recommends this, while Anjanette says that you got to write about what you are passionate about. But then Anjanette adds that she has a clear image of her reader when she writes. Can you reconcile these statements? How do you feel? Readers: What compels you to buy a book? What makes you put the book back on the shelf and walk away? Let your writers know! Best Post for this question gets a gift of Anjanette’s novel delivered to her home! Go for it! To post your comment, click on the “Comments” link at the end of the tiny blue string of words at the bottom of the post.