Summer Signed Book Promotion: Three with a Prize Inside!

Do you have a signed copy of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids?

You don’t??? Then, please consider this “prize inside” signed book promotion offer.

I am selling ten signed copies of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids at the cover price plus shipping ($17.99).

My husband, Jason, has taken these copies and slipped prizes into three separate books that together add up to over 200 dollars!

When I receive an order, I will pull a book out of the pile (I don’t know which books have the prizes in them), custom inscribe it, and pop it in the mail.

Three random winners will get one of the following prizes at no extra cost:

1. A one-hour writing career phone consultation.
2. A half-hour writing career phone consultation.
3. A free, signed copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform.

When your book arrives, check page 150 to see if you are a winner!

Fun, right?

Thanks for spreading the word to your friends who might not yet have a signed copy of their very own!

I am doing the same promotion over at the Get Known blog (only with my second book). Check it out!

Pay by Paypal to christinakatz@earthlink.net or by snail-mailing a check to: Christina Katz, PO Box 1354, Wilsonville, OR  97070

Offer expires July 31st or once all ten books are sold, whichever comes first.

Got Fireworks?

Well, July is here and no doubt, many of us moms have fireworks on our minds.

But what about our own personal fireworks?

I just heard from a former student yesterday that she is awaiting her first official contract for an essay in a national magazine! Woo-hoo! How awesome is that? I never tire of this kind of news.

That announcement is her fireworks. How about you?

We are half-way through the year now. I bet you have accomplished a lot with your writing.

Would you be so kind as to share you success with us?

If yes, I’d like to direct you to the “Success” tab above. (Scroll down to the bottom to share your news.)

This is how we celebrate around here. By sharing our successes with other moms who “get it.”

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Hope your summers are going great!

Don’t forget to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, so we can wave to each other on the road to writing success.

Upcoming Classes with Qualified Instructors

EARLY FALL CLASSES BEGIN AUGUST 12TH

LAST CHANCE for reduced prices when you register for August Classes by June 30th. New class prices effective on July 1st. Writing and Publishing The Short Stuff Especially For Moms (But Not Only for Moms!) With Christina Katz Class Begins August 12th Prerequisites: None Finally, a writing workshop that fits into the busy lives of moms! You will learn how to create short, easy-to-write articles-a skill that will make it easier to move up to longer, more time-consuming articles when you’re ready. Try your pen at tips, fillers, short interviews, list articles, how-tos, and short personal essays-all within six weeks. Now includes markets! Cost: $199.00. More/Register at www.christinakatz.com Platform Building 101: Discover your Specialty With Christina Katz Class Begins on August 12th Prerequisites: None Identifying your writing specialty is one of the trickiest and most necessary steps in launching a writing career today. This class will help you find your best audiences, cultivate your expertise, manage your ideas, develop marketing skills, claim your path, serve editors and become portfolio-minded. You’ll learn how to become the professional you’ve always wanted to be and, most importantly, how to take your writing career more seriously. Cost: $199.00. More/Register at www.christinakatz.com Writing for the Web With Jennifer Applin Class Begins on August 12th Prerequisites: None These days virtually every business and industry needs to have an online presence. With a growing trend in Internet marketing, e-commerce and online publications, the need for creating well-written web content is more important than ever. If you are looking to make a name for yourself, and a living, writing for the web, then this course can help you. Students will learn how to develop a writing style that is suitable for the web; provide a variety of services (online articles, website content, blogging, editing, etc.); establish a fair rate and avoid scams; find paying assignments and secure steady accounts. Cost: $199.00. More/Register at www.christinakatz.com Invest In Your Writing Career Today & Reap Greater Rewards Tomorrow.

Writer Mama Success Rhythms: June is for the Joy of a Writing Career

By Christina Katz

Will you work straight through the summer? I typically use some time in the summer to think about plans for the following year. I usually begin setting those plans in motion in August so they can be ready to fly by January 1st. This summer will be no exception. Even though I’m taking more time off for R&R than during previous summers, I’ll still be planning ahead. How about you?

Craft
Here’s the difference between writing for fun and writing practice, for me. Writing practice implies that…

• you are writing for a specific audience.
• you are writing frequently enough to see improvement in your  craft.
• you are working with an editor or at least some kind of editorial process, even if it’s one you’ve set up for yourself.
• you are seeing improvements in your writing as a result of your efforts, not just writing lots of words that will never see the light of publication.

Pitching
What if you are uncomfortable pitching yourself or your work? Here are some strategies to employ if pitching doesn’t come naturally:

• Create a query form letter you can use over and over.
• Verbally bounce your idea off someone you trust before you commit it to paper.
• Have a set checklist you use to go over your pitches and make sure they are as thorough as they can be.
• Writer Mama contains resources for all of these steps.

Self-promotion
Got platform? I worked my buns off for over a year to write a step-by-step guide on how to grow a platform from scratch alongside your writing career that would help every writer. I sure hope you have a copy!

A key point of the book is: we are all 100% responsible for our writing careers. Does this describe you? If not, and you’d like to work through the platform process with me step-by-step, Platform 101 starts in August.

Professional Development
A lot of mom writers are telling me that they are attending writing conferences this summer — hooray! So what can you do before the conference to get the most out of it?

• Re-read Chapter 22, Count Down Days to a Conference, in Writer Mama for tips on conference preparation.
• Read Mary Andonian’s “Writing Conference Success column in The Writer Mama archives.
• Take care of all your logistical issues far in advance of the conference (i.e., babysitter, transportation, etc.) to insure that you’ll have some time before the conference to plan which sessions to attend and otherwise create a personal plan to get as much as possible out of the conference. After all, if you are going to invest your hard-earned money into your writing career, you’ll want to get as much out of it as possible.
• Trust what happens and the people you meet. Make the most of every encounter and learning opportunity. Have a great time and you are sure not to be disappointed!

Happy summer, mamas!

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Build an Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (both for Writer’s Digest Books). A platform development coach and consultant, she started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on Good Morning America. She teaches writing career development, hosts the Northwest Author Series, and is the publisher of several e-zines including Writers on the Rise. Christina blogs at The Writer Mama Riffs and Get Known Before the Book Deal, and speaks at MFA programs, literary events, and conferences around the country.

The Freelancer’s Phrase Book: Anatomy of a Magazine

By Abigail Green

Sometimes it can seem like editors are speaking a foreign language. After college, I worked on staff at a regional magazine. The editors were always talking about “the book.” And I kept thinking, “What book? We publish a magazine.” Come to find out, “book” is editorial lingo for “magazine.” Don’t ask me why.
 
You may encounter such puzzling terms even as a freelancer. For instance, an editor might say, “The front of the book is a good place to break in.” The front of the book, often abbreviated as FOB, refers to the short, newsy items in the first pages of a magazine, after the TOC (Again with the abbreviations! That means “table of contents.”) Cooking Light calls their FOB section “First Light”; The Writer calls it “Take Note”; and Amtrak’s Arrive magazine calls it “First Class.”
 
But while short FOB articles — sometimes called “fillers” or “shorts” — are a good way to break into some magazines, that’s not true for all publications. To my knowledge, Working Mother writes their news and trends section in-house. When I was pitching Men’s Health, they did not give bylines in their FOB section. The best way to find out such information is to study the most recent issue of the magazine you’re targeting, or call the editorial offices and ask whether they accept freelance submissions for that section.
 
After a magazine’s FOB section, you usually find department pieces and columns. These are the regular sections you see in every issue. Often, these are written by staffers or contributing editors. Match up the bylines to the masthead to learn if this is the case with your target publication. In some cases, though, department pieces are ideal for freelancers. They’re usually longer than FOBs but shorter than features, and since they’re in every issue, editors need more of them.
 
“The well,” also called “the feature well,” refers to the middle part of the magazine where the longest articles are found. These are usually, but not always, reserved for big-name writers with longstanding relationships with the magazine. Even so, it doesn’t hurt to aim high. If an editor rejects your feature pitch, you might reply with an offer to focus on a smaller piece of the subject matter for an FOB or department piece. Or it could happen the other way around. I once pitched a department piece on “girlfriend getaways,” only to have the editor assign it as a feature. Score!
 
By familiarizing yourself with the anatomy of a magazine, it will become clearer to you which sections are the best bet for freelance submissions.
 
 

Abigail Green has published more than 150 articles and essays in regional and national publications including American Baby, Baltimore Magazine, Bride’s, Cooking Light, and Health. Her work also appears in the new book, “A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers.” (Adams Media, 2009). Abby holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.A. in publishing from the University of Baltimore. She writes the “Crib Notes” column for The Writer Mama e-zine and the “Understanding Personal Essays” column for Writers on the Rise. A mother of two boys, she blogs about parenting, publishing and more at http://diaryofanewmom.blogspot.com. She also teaches the six-week e-course Personal Essays that Get Published.

The Writer’s Digest Business of Getting Published Conference

The Writer’s Digest Business of Getting Published Conference is designed to guide any author through the new dynamics of today’s publishing world.  This three-day event takes place Friday, September 18, through Sunday, September 20, 2009, at the New York Marriott Marquis, on Times Square in New York.

With emphasis on platform, networking and social media, The Writer’s Digest Conference is an innovative and ground-breaking conference, featuring the industry’s top forward-thinking speakers, leading sessions on topics relevant to the current and future state of the publishing world.

Chris Brogan, social media genius, is the keynote speaker.  

Other speakers include Kassia Krozser, editor/publisher of BookSquare.com;  David Mathison, whose online sales success is the new business model;  Mike Shatzkin, the industry’s top publishing consultant, Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler, whose own podcasts and videocasts have made them superstars in the business;  and many more, plus the editors of Writer’s Digest!

Complete program information, including speaker bios, special events related to the conference and registration, is now available here.

Fit To Write Tips: Drink Up!

By Kelly James-Enger

Part of eating well is drinking well, too — a lot of us are chronically dehydrated. If you don’t take in enough fluids, you may feel tired, spacey or have trouble concentrating. While I swear by the energy-boosting benefits of Diet Mountain Dew, I make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day. If you’re a coffee drinker, you need water, too — the caffeine in coffee, tea and some sodas can tend to dehydrate you.
 
The oft-quoted recommendation of eight eight-ounce glasses a day is only that — a recommendation. You may need more than that, especially if you exercise vigorously, or you may need less. The rule of thumb is to check your urine — if you’re drinking enough fluids, your urine should be straw-colored. Deep yellow means your body needs more water, so drink up.
 
 
Author, speaker, and consultant Kelly James-Enger is a certified personal trainer and the author of books including Small Changes, Big Results: A 12-Week Action Plan to a Better Life (with Ellie Krieger, R.D.). Her book, Ready, Aim, Specialize! Create your own Writing Specialty and Make More Money, is aimed at novice freelancers; Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer’s Guide to Making More Money helps experienced writers boost their bottom lines. Visit www.becomebodywise.com for free articles about freelancing and more information about her.

Writing Conference Success: Do Your Research

By Mary Andonian

You just received your conference brochure in the mail. What to do? The first thing I’d recommend is go online and print another copy of the brochure from the conference website. This will be your working copy: the one you will dog-ear, mark up, highlight, and scribble on. Your goal this month is to profile the agents and editors listed in the brochure, and map out your workshops. If you already have your list ready, spend this month reading books on how to pitch. We’ll catch up to you in August.
 
Most conferences have a limit on how many pitches you can buy. Plan on picking four agents and editors and learn as much about them as you can. Here are a few sites to help you:
 
WRITER’S MARKET

www.writersmarket.com

Part of Writer’s Digest magazine, Writer’s Market is my favorite source of information. For a low subscription price ($30/year), you have instant access to a searchable database. Not only will you learn more about your target agents’ and editors’ needs, you will also be able to use Writers Market’s “submission tracker,” a neat organizational e-tool that helps you keep track of your queries and proposals.
 
HINT: If you don’t find your agents’ or editors’ names, try using their agency or imprint names.
 
PUBLISHERS LUNCH www.publishersmarketplace.com
Publishers Lunch is self-described as the most widely read daily dossier in publishing and known as “publishing’s essential daily read.” This is a free e-newsletter that gives you the latest, greatest info on everything publishing. My favorite part is the weekly deals. They describe who’s selling what, for how much, and by whom. Scan their weekly list. Is your targeted agent there? If so, what is she selling?
 
HINT: If you have the means, purchase a subscription to the companion of Publishers Lunch, Publishers Marketplace. This is a site dedicated to publishing professionals and acts as a clearinghouse. It is only available to registered members for a $20 monthly fee. Membership is month-to-month, so you can always use it short term to glean the most up-to-date info on your targeted agents/editors.
 
BILL’S LIST

www.wrhammons.com
Bill’s List might take you a while to navigate, but once you figure out how to search on it, you will find information GOLD.
 
HINT: Check out the “No Dumb Questions” section to find questions (and their answers) you don’t have the guts to ask.
 
PREDITORS AND EDITORS http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/
This is a wonderful site that acts as an industry watchdog. They reveal scam artists and other folks who would not act in your best interest if they should happen across your manuscript. Compile your target list and then go here to feel better about your choices. I just searched on my agent’s name and saw that she was “recommended.” I’m feeling better already.
 
HINT: If you can’t find the agency name, search for your agent or editor by their first name. As stated on their  website: P&E lists agents by first name just like businesses because businesses don’t have last names.
 
 

Mary Andonian is former agents and editors coordinator for the Willamette Writers conference, one of the largest writing events in North America. In past years, she was also program coordinator and co-chair. Mary is represented by the Reece Halsey North Literary Agency and is a monthly columnist for the hit e-zines, Writers on the Rise and The Writer Mama. She has completed two book: Mind Chatter: Stories from the Squirrel Cage and Bitsy’s Labyrinth and is currently at work on her first screenplay, a romantic comedy. Mary is the mother of two girls and is the Brownie Girl Scouts leader for Troop 1102. Please visit her at: www.maryandonian.com.

The Articulate Conception: Then Comes Theo in a Baby Carriage

By Sage Cohen

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise; there is simply no way to prepare for birth. I read the groovy, you-can-do-it birthing books by Ina May Gaskin to psych myself up for the task at hand and took the groovy Birthing From Within class where we made birth art, practiced managing pain by putting our hands in buckets of ice, and tried to articulate our “birth tigers”–those anticipated fears that had the potential to shut down labor.
 
I saw Ricki Lake’s “The Business of Being Born,” became well-versed in the “cascade of interventions” that are likely to happen at a hospital birth, and decided I wanted to give birth at home. We chose a naturopathic physician / midwife who seemed in line with our philosophy and approach to birth and hunkered down for the tidal wave of birth to arrive.
 
What I know now that I could not have known then is that preparing for birth is like packing a backpack for a trip to the moon. It’s an exercise you go through to give yourself the illusion of control, to feel that you have some inch of influence over gravity’s relaxing grip as you orbit unfathomably through space.
 
What I know now that I should have known then is that agreeing to proof a book in layout two weeks after giving birth is a bad, bad idea.
 
It went down like this: I labored for 60 hours at home — from a Monday to a Wednesday­­–until it became clear that my son’s head was stuck at an angle and wasn’t budging. We raced to the hospital where some other complications were identified, and within 30 minutes the surgeon lifted a perfect little boy body over the C-section curtain. As my son Theo’s life untwined from mine into his own breath and being and I watched the nurse performing his Apgar test, it slowly dawned on me that I was no longer in labor, that I was no longer pregnant — that my son had birthed me into motherhood.
 
Theo and I spent the next five days learning each other’s rhythms in the bright spotlight of around-the-clock, nursing supervision. A week later as I was surfacing from the haze of heavy-duty narcotic painkillers, euphoric awe and interminable exhaustion, the PDF proof arrived. I printed it, put it in a binder, got out my highlighter and my Pilot V Ball Grip pen. Then, I sat down to dinner, started crying and just couldn’t stop. My concerned husband and mother in law quickly made a plan to relieve me of baby duty for the night and sent me into private quarters to sleep.
 
What I realized during that blessed night of honest-to-goodness sleep — my first peephole of contemplation since Theo’s arrival — was that giving birth had initiated me into the superhero, secret society of motherhood. I had tapped into the universal power shared by women everywhere who simply do what has to be done, with love and with gratitude. I had endured three days of unmedicated labor; what was proofing a 264-page book at the nadir of depletion compared to that?
 
The next day, I returned to the dinner table, wiped my bleary eyes, and I proofed that book with the hormonally-enhanced ardor, focus and determination that only a new mother can.
 
Next month: The utter obliteration of mind, desk and to-do list in the first three months of motherhood. 
 
 

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry, forthcoming from Writer’s Digest Books, and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. Her poetry and essays appear in journals and anthologies including Cup of Comfort for Writers, Oregon Literary Review, Greater Good, and VoiceCatcher. Sage holds an MA in creative writing from New York University and teaches the e-mail class Poetry for the People. In September 2008, her son Theo Luchs-Cohen initiated Sage into the life of the writer mama.

CATCH MY FIRST WRITER’S DIGEST WEBINAR!

Please Note: Date Change

Tuesday, Oct. 13th
Author Webinar:
Are You a Specialist or a Generalist?
Evaluating Your Skill Set to Get Published in the New “Gig Economy”
by Christina Katz (60 minutes)

What are your skill sets as a writer, and how do you evaluate them? How do you decide whether to specialize or generalize? You need to establish a strong direction for your development as a writer to survive in the changing times of publishing. All registrants will take a pre-quiz called “What’s Your Specialty?” designed to help you start identifying your strongest sources of expertise. This live event will offer: Tips and paths for both specialists and generalists, and how to get started Examples of writers’ websites (both specialist and generalist) How to combine a specialist and generalist approach Your chance to jump-start your career using the same strategies as the pros Opportunity to ask Christina Katz your questions about platform development Bonus: All attendees receive a copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz. I bet many of you have not done a webinar before, but there is really nothing to it. You just show up in front of your computer at the scheduled date and time and watch the images I display on your computer screen while listening to my voice in real time. You can even type in questions for me to answer during the Q&A period. More info

Busy Parent Writer: Planning Your Summer

 By Sharon Miller Cindrich

It’s time to start figuring out how you’re going to handle your kids, your schedule, and your blossoming writing career this summer. Between trips to the pool, backyard barbecues, little league practices, and camping retreats, you may be wondering how you’ll balance a house full of kids buzzed on s’mores with your deadlines and inspirations. With a little forethought, it can be done by keeping these ideas in mind.
 
Check with your rec
In our area, the local recreation department offers tons of summer programs FREE of charge — from supervised playground hours for little ones to extra math and reading practice. These workshops and classes are worth their weight in a little free time for mom and dad to get that writing done. Look to your community center or school district for fun, educational and FREE activities that help give your summer structure, help you map out work time and are kind to your writing budget.
 
Consider a writing vacation
Forget the dude ranch and the Alaskan cruise; build a writing getaway into your summer plans to help your progress. Seminars and conferences on writing are offered at universities each summer, and the cost of instruction can be written off as a business expense. Even a weekend retreat at a friend’s cabin or an overnight at a cheap hotel without the kids can act as your “Spa Scribble.” Pack your writing gear, some comfy clothes, candles or music to set the mood and bubbles for a deep soak to soothe your writing spirit.
 
Stay portable
Don’t go anywhere this summer without something to record your thoughts — be it pen and paper, a tape recorder or your laptop. Summer adventures offer fodder for seasons to come, and you never know when inspiration will strike.
 
Use the light of night
Take advantage of long daylight hours, and plan an evening period of writing each week in the solitude of your garden or on your deck with a glass of lemonade. Make sure to string some cool summer lighting nearby in case you get carried away in the flow as the sun sets.
 
Summer camps, beach vacations and home improvements can be that much more satisfying when you’ve balanced your home and family needs with the demands of your writing life.
 
 
Sharon Miller Cindrich is the mom of two, a columnist and author of E-Parenting: Keeping Up With Your Tech-Savvy Kids (Random House, 2007). Her next book debuts in the fall of 2009. Learn more at www.sharonmillercindrich.com.

Writing for the Web: A Proper Introduction

By Jennifer Applin

So you’ve found an online publication or website you’d like to approach to offer your services. Should you send a letter of introduction or query letter?
 
Most of the time a letter of introduction is appropriate as the first point of contact for online publications. A letter of introduction is usually written with a professional tone and highlights your qualifications and experience.
 
You should also explain your intent for initiating the contact, such as detailing specific services you can offer and your pertinent area of expertise. It is also a good idea to include samples of your writing by linking to online published credits or a page of your website that contains writing samples.
 
The exception is a website that corresponds to a print publication. For example the website for Big Consumer Magazine.com is typically going to require the same query process that it takes to break into the print version of Big Consumer Magazine. For all others, start with a letter of introduction and see where that gets you. Just be prepared to follow up with a query if requested.
 
Business-Boosting Tip
Writing for the web means you can work anywhere in the world. Thanks to technology, even those living in Small Town, USA can create a great freelance career writing for markets far away.
 
When it comes to looking for work don’t forget the locals. Casting your net far and wide does not mean ignoring the opportunities in your own backyard. There may be many establishments in your area that could benefit from your services. You may have to step out of your niche when it comes to the topics you write about, but this is a great way to secure steady accounts and help your local economy.

 

Jennifer Applin is a freelance writer living in Ohio with her husband and four young children. Aside from writing for many regional publications, she is regular contributor to eLearners.com and Projectworkingmom.com. She spends her days cooking, cleaning and caring for little ones; and her nights writing about pregnancy, parenting and the quest for peace (as in peace and quiet). You can also find her at Managing the MotherLoad.

Dear Mamas (June issue begins here)

Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest even though it’s not yet official. The waterparks in town (we have two) are flowing, people are out exercising, playing, and gathering, and gradation is tonight over at the high school.

Soon my daughter will be out of school, followed by my husband, and then…well, I don’t get “out of school” exactly, but I will have a couple of months off from teaching and I look forward to spending more time with my family, taking a couple of trips to visit extended family, and just generally chilling out more than usual.

This is something I haven’t really done since 2005. In 2005, I was preparing to pitch Writer Mama at the August Willamette Writers Conference. In summer 2006, my deadline for Writer Mama was still pending. In summer 2007, I was working on pitching Get Known, and my final deadlines were at the end of summer 2008.

So, with the exception of a long family road trip that we took in summer 2006, I haven’t really taken any extended R&R during summer in four whole years.

I’ve written before about how creativity needs to take a rest but it bears repeating. When you are in a creative field like we are, and you are juggling raising a career alongside your family, if you don’t take time to rest, relax, and reflect, you’ll run the risk of burning out, or worse, making poor choices.

I feel like I’ve made sound choices so far but I’m starting to see some signs of wear and tear. For one thing, I’ve gained a bunch of weight and I don’t like being heavy. For another, I’ve developed a couple of nagging health issues that are no doubt also related to too much butt-in-chair time in front of the computer. These are all nothing serious but I see them as “flags”–indicators that need my attention and action.

Now I think you guys know me well enough to know that I’m not really going anywhere. I’m starting something on Twitter called #platformchat, where I will basically “talk platform” with anyone between 11-12 a.m. PT the first Friday of each month. I’d love to chat with you then.

If you are not already “following” me on Twitter, you can follow me at @thewritermama. Follow me and I’ll follow you back.

I’m showing up at a lot of blogs this summer, sharing some of what I’ve learned about platform development and answering questions and participating in discussions with all kinds of writers. I’m really looking forward to this and, if you have an active blog, I hope you will invite me over.

And finally, I always use summer time for future planning and organizing and this summer is no exception. I have an author series to organize, a class schedule to create, three e-zines to plan for, writing deadlines (look for my interview with Cory Doctorow in a fall issue of Writer’s Digest magazine), a busy fall schedule of guest gigs including The Writer’s Digest Business of Publishing Conference and a Should You Generalize Or Specialize Webinar? (which has been moved to October 13th from June 14th).

By the end of summer, I will have a third book idea and be ready to pitch it. It would also be great if I could be thinner, tanner, and healthier (smile). I realize that it’s up to me to make all of these goals happen.

Happy summer, mamas! Thanks for spreading word of all the good hard work The Writer Mama columnists do around here. We always appreciate it!

Make good things happen!

Christina Katz
Publisher & Editor, The Writer Mama

P.S. Looking for content to keep your blog lively this summer? Get in touch with Christina, Wendy Burt-Thomas, and Sage Cohen and we’ll send you guest posts for your blog. Just send us an e-mail and we’ll send you back all the stuff to post in your blog on a weekday. Let us know when you are posting and we’ll swing by and answer questions from your readers on our topics.

Stuff Going On (Brought to you by Christina Cleans Out Her Inbox)

Mary Jo Campbell is hosting an essay contest on her blog, Writers Inspired:

Topic: Honor Your Father
$0 entry fee, 300 word count limit
Deadline: (one week!) Friday, June 12 midnight
Winner will receive autographed paperback book:  “Checklists for the New Dad”, by Joe Deyo
and winning essay will be posted on Writers Inspired

See my blog for full details/guidelines and exclusive interview with author, Joe Deyo
http://writerinspired.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/a-daddy-of-a-contest/

Laura Bridgwater has another hilarious essay on the radio:

“Summer Locusts Plague Kitchen” will air on June 8 at 6:35am and
8:35am on KUNC. You can listen live via the radio (at 91.5FM) or
live via the Internet (at www.kunc.org). The tape and transcript
will also be available at www.kunc.org.

Deb Schneider interviews me for a King County Library Podcast

Listen here. It’s about nine minutes. If you listen long enough you can hear me lose my train of thought.

Rock N’ Roll Mama Lindsay Maines wanted me to pass on this message:

Hey you guys!

Many of you know I’ve been working with S-Curve Records for the launch of Diane Birch’s debut, “Bible Belt.”  I fell in love with her sound in February, and agreed to consult- it has been a dream job. Yesterday, when her record dropped, it got even cooler. This new artist, 25 years old, debuted at #10 on the ITunes album chart. She had Eminem, Dave Matthews Band, and Kings of Leon above her, but not much else.:) It’s mind boggling.

Also yesterday, we launched a campaign for Diane’s debut called “Discover and Download”. D&D uses a widget, customized for 6 charities. Every time someone buys the album through the widget, ONE DOLLAR is donated to the charity of that person’s choice. You can display the widget on your Facebook profile, in your blog sidebar, or the social media site of your choice. It’s a way for Diane to give back to SOS Children’s Villages, a charity that helps orphans in Zimbabwe. She spent a lot of time there, as a missionary’s daughter, and feels strongly about that cause. I chose the Susan G. Komen Foundation badge for my blog, because of my mom’s and MILs battles. Other choices are March of Dimes, Share Our Strength, Autism Speaks, and keep a Child Alive.

PLUS, who ever raises the most money for charity through their widget by June 23, 2009, will win a FREE PRIVATE PERFORMANCE in the winner’s hometown!! (We’ll even throw in a few  refreshments.) More albums sold means more money donated. How cool is that?

If you’d like to get involved in this project, here’s how: Bloggers, please feel free to use this widget, and/or do a post to make others aware of this unique program. If you choose to do a post, I’d so appreciate you sending me a link so I can help promote it via Twitter and FB. Please use the URL below for any links in your post.

Social networkers, please post this on your profile, if you like Diane’s music and want to pass it on.

Here’s the link to the widget site, where you can choose the one that fits your needs.

http://tr.im/ndpV

Summer Blog Tour Thanks and Some Writer Mama Thanks Too

I’ve been blog touring for Get Known Before the Book Deal. Thanks to everyone who hosted me this past week!

I hope that bloggers or writing groups or just groups of friends who write will team up and use Get Known to work on platform development in the long haul because platform development is a process just like writing.

Christine Fonseca over at The Musings of Christine Fonseca

Wendy Burt over at Ask Wendy–The Query Queen

Debbie Simorte over at Writer Up — Writing the Life Chaotic

Shonna Slaton over at Routines for Writers

Kim Zook over at Zook Book Nook

Social Media Maven Meryl Evans hosted me over at Meryl.net and featured two of my e-zines in Web Worker Daily.

Also, I was rushing to prepare for my trip a couple weeks ago and didn’t provide links, so here’s more thanks to the folks who helped kick off the summer blog tour:

Diane from Contentedly Neurotic.

Lindsay Maines, the Rock n’ Roll Mama

Liz Sheffield’s blog, Motherlogue

Pamela Maynard at Pamela Maynard’s Pen

Lindsey over at The Write Words posted a review of Get Known.

I’ve done my best not to leave anybody out. Holler if I’ve missed anyone!

And thanks to Rebecca Laffar-Smith for hosting a Writer Mama book giveaway in May!

The great reviews of Writer Mama keep rolling in. Here’s one by Lara Dolphin over at E-zineArticles.com.

Butterfly Baby included Writer Mama in a great round up of books to read this summer in the blog Pregnancy and Motherhood. She wrote:

In an effort to remain focused on writing and building that business, I purchased a few books. I’ve only started to read the Writer Mama first, but so far, I’m loving it. There’s a great friendly tone to it, almost as if a girlfriend is guiding me on which way to go with this new venture. It’s extremely educational and is a great guide through the business as well as a mentor on how to get published.

I’ll end with some kind words from Meg over at mamaguilt in Queensland, Australia:

I’m reading Writer Mama, and it’s changing the way I view my life.

Freelance writer Christina Katz delivers nearly 300 pocket-sized pages of wisdom that will help any writer, not just the mamas among us. Most writers can benefit from advice about how to work from home, be your own boss, build on your strengths, and follow your interests. I read Katz’s Get Known before the Book Deal as research for an article I wrote for WQ, and read in conjunction, Katz’s two books have inspired me to create a framework to organise my writing activites. I devote time to research, generating ideas, networking, and creating opportunities, as well as the actual writing.