Workshop Presenter: Joyce Anthony

Joyce Anthony will be joining us this year to present a workshop on blogging.

Does your blog get across what you want it to? Is it being used as your greatest promotional tool and online picture of who you are? If you answer "no" or "I don't know" to these questions, let me get you started on the path of blogging for fun and recognition!

BIO: Joyce A. Anthony combines the myriad of roles in her life to create works that cause readers to question who they are and how they relate to the world. Her biggest goal in life is to challenge others to be the best they can in whatever they do.

Buy a Copy of her book STORM

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PROMO DAY 2009 a huge success

With 1364 visitors during the event, PROMO DAY 2009 was a huge success.

Thanks goes to all the workshop presenters and moderators for their hard work. The workshops were a great source of information and fun to take part in.

A special thanks goes to Molly Swodoba for stepping in at the last minute to present about blogging. She ticked off the workshops in style, giving valuable information in a professional but fun manner.

I would also like to say a special thanks Tannia Ortiz Lopez and Elysabeth Eldering for their additional help moderating the workshops.

Join the mailing list to be kept up to date regarding future events.

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Workshops and moderators

Workshops taking place during PROMO DAY 2009:

Times are shown in Central European Time.

14:00 Lael Johnson - Blogging and Journaling. Moderator Frances Shani Parker
15:00 John Evans - The Age of Networking: Tips and Tricks to Survive in Today's information Age. Moderator Tannia Ortiz Lopez
16:00 Karina Fabian - Marketing for Beginners. Moderator Tannia Ortiz Lopez
17:00 John Desjarlais - Finding an Agent. Moderator Molly Swoboda
18:00 Carolyn Howard Johnson - Query Letters as Promotion: Let's Make Them Picture Perfect! Moderator Dawn Menge
19:00 Elysabeth Eldering- Hosting Authors on Virtual Book Tours. Moderator Jo Linsdell
20:00 Joyce Anthony - Promoting with Twitter. Moderator Jo Linsdell
21:00 Ron Berry - Character websites. Moderator Dawn Menge
22:00 Devon Ellington - Creating and maintaining a successful writer's blog. Moderator Jay Miller
23:00 Carol Denbow - Technical Aspects. Moderator Jay Miller

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WH- Lael Johnson

Workshop Title: Blogging and Journaling
Time: 14:00 CET

Bio:
Lael Johnson is the owner of Writer's Eye Advisory Service and Creations Beadwork. She has a varied background in history, marketing management, psychology, community service and facilities management. She is also a trained creativity coach, writer and beader. She believes in celebrating creativity wherever she discovers it. She helps women identify and develop their creative skills.including to learn new creative skills each year.
For more information visit: writerseye.com you may email her at: journallady2001@yahoo.com

Ten Fun Journal Writing Techniques
http://www.writerseye.com/10fun
Your colorful and fun journal writing guide!

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WH- John Evans

Workshop Title: The Age of Networking: Tips and Tricks to Survive in Today's Information Age

Time: 15:00 CET

Bio: Author John Evans was born in 1985 in the small town of Tooele, Utah. From there he spent much of his life moving from place to place, often not staying in one location for more than a few months. Evans has gone on to write one novel, and several short stories. His most recent project includes a second novel entitled “The Ascension”, and serves as a sequel to “The Fallen”, his first published novel. Evans currently resides in Hilo, Hawaii where he attends college pursuing a degree in Information Technology.

Outline:

• Opening Remarks

• What is Social Networking?

• Brief History on How Social Networking was Started

• Why is Social Networking important?

• How does Social Networking help Promote an Author’s Work?

• FREE Promotional Tools for Social Networking

• Designing the “Perfect” Profile

• Building Your Fanbase

• Concluding Remarks

• Open Q&A

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WH- Karina Fabian

Workshop Title:Marketing for Beginners
Time:16:00 CET

Workshop outline:
In "Marketing Basics," Karina will offer advice for seeking and reaching your target audience and getting them interested in your book—and you. We'll explore the things every author should do and ways to make your efforts more effective. This will be mainly a Q&A session on the basic steps of promoting, so bring your questions.

General Websites

www.fabianspace.com, where you'll find info about her, her writing and her eclectic writing/homeschooling/humor/just-gotta-say-it blog
www.dragoneyepi.net, where you can learn more about the fantasy noir dragon detective Vern, his partner Sister Grace, and the world of Dragon Eye, PI.
www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com, where she'll gladly advertise your book if you'll return the favor to someone else
Anthology Websites:
www.isigsf.com: Infinite Space, Infinite God--thought-provoking science fiction with a Catholic Twist
www.leapsoffaithsf.com: Leaps of Faith--Christian sci-fi because God and Science Do Co-Exist
www.firestormofdragons.com: Firestorm of Dragons--dragons as you've never seen them before.

Bio:
After having been a straight-A student, Karina Fabian has made a career of Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun.

Karina's writing career began with writing about parenting issues, the Catholic faith, and artists and community leaders. She's written for over 50 publications, including newspapers, magazines of all sizes and radio.

She doesn't just write about family, but with her family. She wrote three craft books for a EcceHomo Press by using her kids to test, create and model the crafts. She and her husband, Robert, write science fiction stories while on dates.

In 2005, she turned her attention totally to fiction. With Rob, she has edited the Christian SF anthology, Leaps of Faith, (coming 2008) and Infinite Space, Infinite God, an award-winning SF anthology with Catholic themes (2007 twilight Times Books)

Her latest fantasy adventure, DragonEye, PI, features a down-and-out dragon working off a geas by the Faerie St. George. Vern d'Wyvern (yes, it's an embarrassing name for a dragon) is partnered by Sister Grace, a Mage for the Faerie Catholic Church. Together they solve crimes magical and Mundane and save the universes on an all-too-regular basis. DragonEye, PI, stories appear in magazines and on the Internet, and its first book, "Magic, Mensa and Mayhem" comes out from Swimming Kangaroo in early 2009.

In addition to juggling the stories from at least three different universes, Karina is President of the Catholic Writers' Guild, owner of Catholic Writers Online, and active in a half-dozen or more groups. She also teaches writing seminars on-line. With four kids, five pets and a very understanding husband who is an officer in the Air Force, she tends to sleep in her "spare" time.

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WH- Carol Denbow

BIO:

Carol Denbow is the author of 5 non-fiction books and co-contributer to another as well as the editor of 9 writers Websites. Carol loves to write and share information with other writers and published authors. In addition, she is a retired business owner, farmer, mom of two, and step-mom of two additional grown kids.
Carol's books include:

A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story (2008)
Stress Relief for the Working Stiff (2008)
Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? (2006)
How to Organize a Virtual Book Tour (ebook 2008)
and coming this spring, 100 Ways to Market Your Book for Free (or really cheap)

Workshop Title: Technical Aspects
Time: 23:00 CET

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WH- Joyce Anthony

Bio:

Joyce A. Anthony is a Pennsylvania-born writer who shares her home with a teenaged son and mini-zoo. Writing is just one of her many passions. Others include her work as an advocate for animal rights and work in the field of both Asperger's and bipolar disorder.

Visit http://joyceanthony.tripod.com/ for more information on Storm. Meet the characters and read the reviews.

Synopsis of Storm:

What do a prostitute, an abused child, a disillusioned minister, a Vietnam Vet and a homosexual have in common? These and many others find their lives changed when they meet Storm and his companion, an amethyst-eyed dog named Maggie. As you follow Storm on his journey to discover his true identity, you will meet many of society's forgotten people. You will laugh, cry and get angry-whatever the emotion, you will feel deeply. When Storm realizes who he is and why he is here, the world is completely changed and not one soul remains untouched. Upon closing the covers of this book, you will see the world around you in a far different light and find yourself wondering--Is it really fiction?

What they are saying:

"it is the greatest true story ever retold before it comes true. Plan on a few hours of uninterrupted trance-like reading, you won't want to do anything else except keep turning the pages once you've started. Get ready to examine yourself, our society, and our world as it relates to its creator. There are many sad truths in this book. But in the end, the truth will set you free.

Contact a book store near you

ISBN 13 9781932993745

Amazon link: http://www.storm.2freedom.com/

Workshop Details

Topic: Promoting with Twitter
Time: 8pm CET

The workshop will cover:
*What is Twitter and why you want to sign up
*How to effectively gain followers
*How to best network/promote with Twitter
*Useful tools
*Questions/answer session

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WH- Elysabeth Eldering

Bio:

With a childhood spent traveling the globe, it's no wonder that writer Elysabeth Eldering has a passion for geography! Growing up in a military family, Elysabeth lived in Japan, Germany, New York, Kentucky, and Texas before her family finally settled in a small town in South Carolina. Elysabeth, who lives in Honea Path, SC, has put her globetrotting skills to work in the Junior Geography Detective Squad's 50-state, mystery, trivia series.

Published by 4RV Publishing, the series made its debut in summer 2008 with State of Wilderness. The Junior Geography Detective Squad will continue to put their mystery-solving talents to work in each state to challenge young readers on their knowledge of the nation's geography and interesting facts. State of Quarries is next in the line-up.

The mother of three - an adult son and a teen-aged son and daughter - juggles a schedule that includes volunteering with her children's school activities, including the marching band and band competitions. An avid pet lover, Elysabeth is caretaker for the family's three dogs. She's active in the Greenville chapters of Sisters in Crime and the SC Writers Workshop and has judged entries for the Derringers Awards competition.

Elysabeth entered her first writing contest on a dare from a friend. Since then, the prize-winning writer has received awards from Armchair Interviews and Echelon Press. Her most recent story, “Bride and Seek,” was published in the SC Writers Workshop anthology The Petigru Review and is available on www.amazon.com. She has an article on editing and self publishing, also with Armchair Interviews.

To learn more about the Junior Geography Detective Squad, visit http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com and http://junior-geography-detective-squad.weebly.com/

Special orders (for schools and homeschoolers) should contact either the author or publisher with subject line: Special orders - JGDS series
Contact the author at eeldering@gmail.com
Contact the publisher at president@4rvpublishingllc.com

OUTLINE FOR PRESENTATION OF VIRTUAL BOOK TOURS:

Title: Hosting Authors on Virtual Book Tours:

- Embarking on your Virtual Book Tour - how to find hosts and who makes the best hosts
- What is required from touring author
(the guest blogger has the hardest job but can make virtual book tours a success if they prepare in advance)
- What is expected from host
(hosts have it easy but also need to be active participants in promoting the guest blogger)
- How to ensure a successful blog tour
(hosts and guests working together can make sure that the whole networking idea comes together)
- Wrapping up
(keeping everyone informed of the whole tour and enticing readers to follow you on future tours)

This workshop will take place at 19:00 CET

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WH- Carolyn Howard Johnson

Workshop Title: Query Letters as Promotion: Let's Make Them Picture Perfect!
Time: 18:00 CET

BIO:
Carolyn Howard-Johnson will be speaking on Query Letters as Promotion: Let's Make Them Picture-Perfect! on PromoDay at 9 am. Pacific Time. Her first novel, This Is the Place, won eight awards. Her second book, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, creative nonfiction, won three. Her chapbook of poetry Tracings, was named to the Compulsive Reader's Ten Best Reads list and was given the Military Writers' Society of America's Silver Award of Excellence. An instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program, her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't is recommended reading for her classes, and was named USA Book News' "Best Professional Book 2004." It is also an Irwin Award winner. Her second book in the How To Do It Frugally series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success is also a USA Book News award-winner as well as the winner of the Reader View's Literary Award in the publishing category. She is the recipient of both the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award and the Glendale American Business Women's Association's Woman of the Year award. Her community's Character and Ethics Committee honored her for promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly's list of 14 "San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen." She is a popular speaker and actor. Her website is www.HowToDoItFrugally.com. And, yes, she credits much of her publishing success with writing query letters that work!

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Workshops taking place during PROMO DAY 2009

Workshops taking place during PROMO DAY 2009:

Times are shown in Central European Time.

14:00 Lael Johnson - Blogging and Journaling
15:00 John Evans - The Age of Networking: Tips and Tricks to Survive in Today's information Age
16:00 Karina Fabian - Marketing for Beginners
17:00 John Desjarlais - Finding an Agent
18:00 Carolyn Howard Johnson - Query Letters as Promotion: Let's Make Them Picture Perfect!
19:00 Elysabeth Eldering- Hosting Authors on Virtual Book Tours
20:00 Joyce Anthony - Promoting with Twitter
21:00 Ron Berry - Character websites
22:00 Devon Ellington - Creating and maintaining a successful writer's blog.
23:00 Carol Denbow - Technical Aspects
TBC Lea Schizas - What editors look for and how writers can spruce their writing


*TBC - Time to be confirmed

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The Bookstore

Visit the PROMO DAY Bookstore and check out the books now available by the workshops hosts, moderators and sponsors of this years event.

A wide selection of genres. Something for everyone.

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Workshops

The names of this years presenters and the topics of the workshops are now online at the PROMO DAY site.

Times will be confirmed and posted to the site this month.

Remember, the workshops are FREE!

The presenters really know their stuff and have loads of great tips and advice to share. With the range of topics to be covered, there's something for everyone!

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Workshop host- Ron Berry

Workshop: Character websites

"You’ve written a book. You have the easy part done. It’s time to market, to sell, this grand collection of words. You know it’s fantastic and everybody and their brother wants a copy. But, how do you tell them? You could send postcards to everybody in country, but that can be a mite expensive. Ah, let’s use the latest tool available, the Internet. First, before the book is even out, you develop a blog to generate interest. You may even build a website for you or your book. But to really give potential buyers a true feel for your book, you should have a character website. Ah! I saw a few eyebrows go up and the questioning eyes".

Let’s see if I can cram sixty plus years into a short paragraph. I was born in Iowa. Forty some years later, I took a couple of composition courses in college. Scattered throughout those years I wrote a few short stories. Then around age fifty-nine, I got serious about writing. The writing itself stayed light and humorous. I write kritter stories, math book and general silliness in “Laughs from Corn Country”. I have one serious book,
”It Was in the Tea Leaves”, that deals with abuse. Everything I write, including the book about abuse, is G rated.

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Workshop host- Devon Ellington

Workshop: The Writer’s Blog – Marketing Tool and Responsibility

10pm Central European Time.
Spend an hour with prolific author Devon Ellington as she takes you through the fun, marketing potential, and the responsibility of creating and maintaining a writer’s blog.
Find out how a writer’s blog is different from other types of blogs and diaries; learn how to create, maintain, and market your blog, not only to promote yourself and your work, but to become a viable resource for others on the web.

Bio:
Devon Ellington publishes under a half a dozen names in both fiction and non-fiction. Her work appears in publications as diverse as FEMMEFAN, NEW MYTHS, TOASTED CHEESE, THE ROSE AND THORN, GRIT, WILD CHILD, EMERGING WOMEN WRITERS, VISION, ESPRESSO FICTION, and THE SCRUFFY DOG REVIEW. Her plays are produced around the world, and short pieces appear in several anthologies. Penny’s Dreadfuls, a site for retro-futuristic fiction, launched in 2008 (http://pennysdreadfuls.devonellingtonwork.com). She is the author of the Jain Lazarus Adventures, released by FireDrakes Weyr publishing. She teaches workshops both online and live throughout the world, and also provides business writing services, manuscript critique, and coaches writers. Visit her blog on the writing life, Ink in My Coffee: http://devonellington.wordpress.com and her main website, www.devonellingtonwork.com.

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The Frugal Editor by Workshop host- Carolyn Howard-Johnson

The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success

ISBN: 9780978515874. Red Engine Press.

Awards: Winner USA Book News

Reader Views Literary Award

New Generation Marketing Award

To Order: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870/

There are gremlins out there determined to keep your work from being published, your book from being promoted. They -- resolved to embarrass you before the gatekeepers who can turn the key of success for you -- lurk in your subconscious and the depths of your computer programs. Whether you are a new or experienced author, The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a UCLA Extension Writers' Program instructor will help you present whistle-clean copy (whether it's a one-page cover letter or your entire manuscript) to those who have the power to say "Yea" or "Nay."

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Website: http://www.HowToDoItFrugally.com

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Workshop host- Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Carolyn Howard-Johnson will be speaking on Query Letters as Promotion: Let's Make Them Picture-Perfect! on PromoDay at 6pm CET (9 am. Pacific Time).

Her first novel, This Is the Place, won eight awards. Her second book, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, creative nonfiction, won three. Her chapbook of poetry Tracings, was named to the Compulsive Reader's Ten Best Reads list and was given the Military Writers' Society of America's Silver Award of Excellence. An instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program, her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't is recommended reading for her classes, and was named USA Book News' "Best Professional Book 2004." It is also an Irwin Award winner. Her second book in the How To Do It Frugally series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success is also a USA Book News award-winner as well as the winner of the Reader View's Literary Award in the publishing category. She is the recipient of both the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award and the Glendale American Business Women's Association's Woman of the Year award. Her community's Character and Ethics Committee honored her for promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly's list of 14 "San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen." She is a popular speaker and actor. Her website is www.HowToDoItFrugally.com. And, yes, she credits much of her publishing success with writing query letters that work!

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Call for Moderators and Workshop Hosts

PROMO DAY! is an all day international online event for people in the writing industry. There are lots of new features for the 2009 event including workshops by experts in the industry.

I'm looking for moderators for both the workshops and the PROMO chatroom.

As a moderator of the PROMO chatroom you will be required to monitor the PROMO chatroom and make sure everyone is behaving themselves and try to keep 'conversation' flowing.

As a moderator of the WORKSHOP chatroom you will be assigned a workshop to moderate during the event. All workshops are one hour long. Your role will be to make sure the workshop runs smoothly. In most cases the workshop host will run the chatroom and format of the workshop. You will be needed to keep track of who asks questions and the order of questions asked and if needed remind the host to make sure nobody gets overlooked.

To thank you for your help as moderator you will be entitled to the following benefits:

* Bio, with photo, posted to PROMO DAY website with a link to your website/blog
* Bio, with photo and website link/contact details included in the PROMO DAY book (Official publication for the event which will be available for purchase from the website).
* A moderators certificate to keep for your files.

I'm looking for presenters with expertise in different areas to host workshops during the event. The topics I am interested in are:

* Marketing and Promotion
* Networking
* Technical Aspects (copyright, ISBNs etc...)
* Book cover design
* Websites
* Virtual tours
* Promotional Video's
* Press releases
* Book reviews
* Blogging

I will however consider other topics, so if you are interested in doing a workshop on a topic not listed please let me know.

All workshops are one hour long and will have an assigned moderator to help make sure the workshop runs smoothly (they will keep track of who asks questions and the order of questions asked and if needed remind you, to make sure nobody gets overlooked).

As a workshop host you will be required to:

* Give a presentation on your area of expertise and answer questions by participants during an hour long workshop which will take place in the WORKSHOP chatroom of the PROMO DAY website during the event.
* Supply a file on your area of expertise for the free downloads section. Files should be in either word or PDF format. Files can be of any length.

To thank you for your help as Workshop host you will be entitled to the following benefits:

* Bio, with photo, posted to PROMO DAY website with a link to your website/blog
* Bio, with photo and website link/contact details included in the PROMO DAY book (Official publication for the event which will be available for purchase from the website).
* A Workshop host certificate to keep for your files.

If you are interested in being considered for the role of Moderator or Workshop host please let me know what hours you will be available on the 9th May 2009 and in the case of moderators, which chatroom you would prefer to moderate.

Here's what some past participants had to say about the event:

"I had a blast today, Jo, and met some wonderful people. It's fun to learn about everyone's writing process and what their upcoming projects are. Thank you for hosting this and looking forward to the next one".
- Lea Schizas

"Really enjoyed Promo Day. It was great chatting with other authors and meeting new people. I look forward to your next Promo Day. Thanks!"
-Debra L. Butterfield

"Thanks for another resource for an aspiring author".
-James R. Tate

"Today I had an awesome time during Promo Day. I got to meet other writers, read about their work, check out their website, and shared our areas of expertise. The conversation were very cordial and professional. Definetely a must do again! I look forward to the next one. Jo, you did an extraordinary job".
-Tannia E. Ortiz-Lopes

"Great PROMO event, lots of new points of contact .... hope to be back frequently!"
-Paul McDermott

"A great idea! I hope the promo day produced some new customers for us all. Thank you".
-Susan Watkin

Visit promo day for full details about the event

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