Events:

APRIL

• April 23-24, Writing a Bestselling Novel, Embassy Suites Portland Airport. Portland, OR. Contact Tiffany Colter with questions 734.474.5489 or tiffcolter@gmail.com, www.TheMasterSeminars.com. In this two-day workshop, Susan May Warren and literary agent Chip MacGregor will explain the basic elements of a bestselling novel, show you how to create great characters, and get you going on plotting a story that will be both memorable and meaningful. We’ll make the whole process understandable, and you’ll leave having taken a major step forward in your novel writing. $349 which includes all materials and lunch on Saturday.

• April 24, Diving into Deep POV or Using Your Senses to Strengthen Your Scenes, Speaker: Martha Rogers. The ACFW chapter in Oklahoma City meets on the fourth Saturday of every month from 1-3 pm at the Mardel Christian & Education store in Edmond, OK. More information here.

• April 24, U.N.I.Q.U.E. The Best ME I Can Be: Finding My Unique Place in the Writing Industry,Speaker: Janice Hanna Thompson, The CenTex Chapter of ACFW meets Monthly in the Lane House at the First Baptist Church, Round Rock, Texas. There is a fee for this event more information here.

• April 27, Author Debby Guisti- Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense Author. The Atlanta WORD group of ACFW meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at Sugar Hill United Methodist Church in room 160 at 7 PM. There is no cost to attend meetings, but our annual dues are 10.00 a year. You do have to be a member of the National ACFW chapter–or join when you join our group. You can attend two meetings before becoming a member. contact us at acfwword.com.

• April 30-May 1, Workshop for Women Writers, Mt. Horeb, WI, at Life Church. Contact Nicole O’Dell with questions 708-691-0081 or nicoleodell6@gmail.com, Or visit the facebook event page. This workshop is $39.00 and that includes lunch and dinner on Saturday.

 
MAY

• May 7-8, Adding Depth to Your Fiction, Orlando, FL. Contact Tiffany Colter with questions 734.474.5489 or tiffcolter@gmail.com, www.TheMasterSeminars.com.  A chance for novelists to share a weekend with two nationally-recognized writers (Lisa Samson and award-winning writer Susan Meissner), in order to explore how to add depth and power to your fiction. Registration: $399 includes seminar materials and lunch both days.

• May 10, 2010, Courage for Your Calling, Speaker: Robbie Iobst, author. HIS Writers, the north Denver chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers, meets at 1-25 and 104th Avenue in Border’s Bookstore the 2nd Monday of each month at 7 pm

 • May 15, “Painting Historicals With Authenticity” AND “Taking Settings To the Next Level”. Two Workshops for the price of one With Lena Nelson Dooley! $35.00/Continental Breakfast and Lunch included 9:00 am-2:00 pm @ WoodsEdge Community Church, 25333 Gosling Road, Spring, Texas 77389 Sign up (281-364-0415) NOW! Spaces are limited. More information here.

 • May 15, Kassy Paris (writing as Kasandra Elaine) – Title TBA (writers and taxes), The CenTex Chapter of ACFW meets Monthly in the Lane House at the First Baptist Church, Round Rock, Texas. More information here.

 • May 22, Agent Q&A, Speaker: Terry Burns. The ACFW chapter in Oklahoma City meets on the fourth Saturday of every month from 1-3 pm at the Mardel Christian & Education store in Edmond, OK. More information here.

• May 24-June 25, Writing Women’s Fiction, online writing course taught by Deborah Raney. www.WIESworkshops.com. This 5-week workshop will key on the elements of writing that pertain particularly to Contemporary Women’s Fiction, with an emphasis on characterization, evoking emotion, using setting as another “character,” and using social issues in the story plot. Registration $120. Deadline to register is Monday, May 17th.

JUNE

• June 9th,Plotting and Pacing Are Not Dirty Words, Speaker: Carla Rossi, The Texas Chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers meets for lunch on the first Wednesday of the month from 11:00 am–1:00 pm at Taipei China Bistro, $5 at door. R.S.V.P. zarcom1@aol.com. More information here.

• June 14, Making the Internet Work for You, Speaker: Deb Kolaras, Small Business Coach & Copywriter, President Boulder Writer’s Alliance.  HIS Writers, the north Denver chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers, meets at 1-25 and 104th Avenue in Border’s Bookstore the 2nd Monday of each month at 7 pm.

• June 18-19, Writing a Bestselling Novel, Embassy Suites Denver Aurora. Contact Tiffany Colter with questions 734.474.5489 or tiffcolter@gmail.com, www.TheMasterSeminars.com. In this two-day workshop, Susan May Warren and literary agent Chip MacGregor will explain the basic elements of a bestselling novel, show you how to create great characters, and get you going on plotting a story that will be both memorable and meaningful. We’ll make the whole process understandable, and you’ll leave having taken a major step forward in your novel writing. $349 which includes all materials and lunch on Saturday.

• June 19, Writing for the Brand,Speaker: Author Bob Sheffield.The CenTex Chapter of ACFW meets Monthly in the Lane House at the First Baptist Church, Round Rock, Texas. More information here.

• June 22, The Art of Research For Today and Yesterday, Historical Author-Jennifer Hudson-Taylor. The Atlanta WORD group of ACFW meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at Sugar Hill United Methodist Church in room 160 at 7 PM. There is no cost to attend meetings, but our annual dues are 10.00 a year. You do have to be a member of the National ACFW chapter–or join when you join our group. You can attend two meetings before becoming a member. Contact us at acfwword.com.

• June 26, Taking Setting to the Next Level, Speaker: Lena Nelson Dooley. The ACFW chapter in Oklahoma City meets on the fourth Saturday of every month from 1-3 pm at the Mardel Christian & Education store in Edmond, OK. More information here.
JULY

• July 12, Advanced writing: RUE;WFI;Flashback, Speaker: Donita K. Paul, Novelist. HIS Writers, the north Denver chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers, meets at 1-25 and 104th Avenue in Border’s Bookstore the 2nd Monday of each month at 7 pm.

• July 17, How to Get Your Manuscript Submission Ready, Speakers: Blooming Tree Press Editors.The CenTex Chapter of ACFW meets Monthly in the Lane House at the First Baptist Church, Round Rock, Texas. More information here.

• July 23-24, Adding Depth to Your Fiction. Detroit, MI. Contact Tiffany Colter with questions 734.474.5489 or tiffcolter@gmail.com, www.TheMasterSeminars.com. A chance for novelists to share a weekend with two nationally-recognized writers (Lisa Samson and award-winning writer Susan Meissner), in order to explore how to add depth and power to your fiction. Registration: $399 includes seminar materials and lunch both days.

• July 24, author Q&A/Conference Prep, Speakers: Vickie McDonough and Margaret Daley. The ACFW chapter in Oklahoma City meets on the fourth Saturday of every month from 1-3 pm at the Mardel Christian & Education store in Edmond, OK. More information here.

• July 27, Group Brainstorming Session, The Atlanta WORD group of ACFW meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at Sugar Hill United Methodist Church in room 160 at 7 PM. There is no cost to attend meetings, but our annual dues are 10.00 a year. You do have to be a member of the National ACFW chapter–or join when you join our group. You can attend two meetings before becoming a member. contact us at acfwword.com.

AUGUST

• August 11th, The Legacy of Lord Baden-Powell, Speaker: Eleanor Clark, BOY SCOUTS CAN EARN A PATCH! The Texas Chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers meets for lunch on the first Wednesday of the month from 11:00 am–1:00 pm at Taipei China Bistro, $5 at door. R.S.V.P. zarcom1@aol.com. More information here.

• August 13 & 14, 2010, FaithWriters conference, Radisson Hotel & Conference Center, Livonia, MI, Contact Lynda Schab, http://www.faithwriters.com/conference.php, The FaithWriters’ yearly conference is unique. Certainly, it offers a whole range of workshops for writers of all skill levels and genres, taught by dynamic speakers. But this conference goes much deeper than that–it nurtures the whole writer, spiritually, physically, creatively, and emotionally through prayer, fun, and fellowship with like-minded writers. Come and be blessed! Price: Early Bird (by June 5) FW Platinum Members $72.00 per person; All Others $82.00 per person General Rate (from June 6, 2010) FW Platinum Members $82.00 per person; All Others $92.00 per person
Rate Includes: Conference cost, Saturday morning breakfast, lunch & afternoon snack. Hotel rates: $93 per night.

• August 21, Bullet-time Your Fiction: Writing Action/Adventure, Seaker: Ronie Kendig. The CenTex Chapter of ACFW meets Monthly in the Lane House at the First Baptist Church, Round Rock, Texas. More information here.

• August 24, Author Cindy Woodsmall–Do The Twist. The Atlanta WORD group of ACFW meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at Sugar Hill United Methodist Church in room 160 at 7 PM. There is no cost to attend meetings, but our annual dues are 10.00 a year. You do have to be a member of the National ACFW chapter–or join when you join our group. You can attend two meetings before becoming a member. contact us at acfwword.com.

Writing Contests:

All poetry and short fiction writers,
Consider entering The Seventh Biennial Greensboro Awards
for Poetry and Short Fiction.  To learn more, and read the
guidelines for entering, head to the Triad Writers’ website:
http://www.triadwriters.org/GA_2010.html.

MAY

• Inspirational Writers Alive Open Writing Competition. Deadline: May 15. Entry Forms available by email at marthalrogers@sbcglobal.net, Guidelines available: www.tcwc.blogspot.com, Registration Fee: $15.

If you’d like us to spread the word about your group’s event send it to us through out contact page at www.WritingCareerCoach.com

Don’t miss a single posting! Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail. Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com.

In my previous blog I suggested looking for work in other venues. Today I want to show how this will help you with your book or novel writing.

1. You learn to write by writing. While there is a difference between a term paper and a romance novel writing is still writing. You learn to express yourself better as you write, no matter what the writing is for.
2. You learn about people. Interacting with people is a great way to deepen character development. In novels our characters will not always react in a way that seems logical to us. We need to learn how others react to certain situations so we can integrate that in our writing.
3. You make connections with other people who could be future readers. Becoming visible in your community helps increase your platform and will lead to more sales.

While these are just a few ways you can benefit from writing for other venues, they are important. Why don’t you take a few minutes to think of how writing for others will help you build and develop your writing career and share your thoughts in the comments.

Don’t miss a single posting! Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail. Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com.

Do you dream of one day living the life of a novelist? Each morning you wake up full of creativity and then spend a few hours typing beautiful prose that whisk your reader off to a world they never knew existed. As you finish one book and send it off to your agent the next one flows. You get book deals with substantial cash advances. Royalties come in and your only work is going to the book signings.

Well, that isn’t the reality. The truth is many books get a cash advance of only a few thousand dollars and first time authors don’t often get more than $12,000 for a book that took them more than a year to write. Of that 15% goes to your agent, 30% goes to the government and another sizable chunk goes to marketing. Those book signings? You set them up, not your publisher, and you handle all travel expenses.

So, why would a person want to be a writer? Passion. We cannot deny the thoughts buzzing in our minds. Our stories need to get out.

How do you earn a living at it? Diversifying is one option. Find individuals, groups, or community organizations who need writers. Offer your services to them and commit a specific number of hours each week to working on these projects.

Think of three places where you could offer your services for a fee.

Don’t miss a single posting! Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail. Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com.

I am excited to share a great resource with all of you today. I heard about this through a writer’s group I participate in. I’ve shared with you many times the importance of being a part of both national and local writing groups. This is one of the reasons; they are a great source of information.

This resource is by Roxanne Rustand and it is available at her website here. It is the top article “Face-off: the many faces of Romance”. (But look at the others. She has great information here).

There are a few things that are really nice about this resource [beyond just the information she shares]. First, it illustrates something I am constantly telling you guys-you must provide useful content. Roxanne’s website offers articles to her readers [just as Writing Career Coach offers blogs and articles at Examiner]. It also shows a sample of some of the information you might learn if you attend a writer’s conference. It also shows how writers work together. Roxanne gathered this information by asking other authors. This is why networking is so crucial.

What is exciting about this is that it also leads in to a series of articles I’m writing for Examiner.com about Writer’s conferences. I spoke about them briefly in a recent article and was thrilled that someone posted a comment asking me who should attend conferences. I’m now going to do a three part series for Examiner answering that question. It will start Tuesday. Sign up at Examiner.com to be sure you get it.

And on that topic, I’m glad to see so many of you take advantage of the paying market at Examiner. I’ve received more emails telling me you have signed up. I’d love some of you to email me privately to tell me your success stories. I can tell you it has been a wonderful experience for me.

This is going to be an exciting week at all of my blogs. I’ve learned a great deal from some of the people I met with this last week and I’m excited to share it with all of you. So, go enjoy Roxanne’s great article and let her know that you learned about her here.

And Roxanne, if you read this blog, say hi in the comments section!! I’d love to hear from you.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at http://www.writingcareercoach.com/

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.
Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.