New Workshop: Getting Your Non-Fiction Into Print

Editor Nicole Langlois Smoothes the Rocky Road to Mainstream Publishing

If you have a non-fiction book idea that you want to submit to a mainstream publisher, Nicole Langlois has the insider information you need to take your idea to publication.

On Tuesday, September 20th at 7 PM, come to the Forest Heights Branch of the Kitchener Public Library for Nicole's workshop: Getting Your Non-Fiction into Print: Navigating the World of Mainstream Publishing and hear her speak on the following topics:


• Agents: When and why you need one and how to get one.


• Editors: What they want and how they work.


• The Proposal: Why you need one and how to write one.


• Your Profile: Why it's important and how to build one


Nicole knows mainstream publishing from the inside. In 1995 she began as Assistant Editor at HarperCollins Publishers (Canada) and progressed to Managing Editor. At HarperCollins, and now as a freelance editor, Nicole has worked on a range of genres, including biography, memoir and inspirational, and a range of topics, such as parenting, religion, personal finance, home improvement, and sports. Two of the books she edited were nominated for Governor General’s Awards for Non-fiction.


Nicole is passionate about books (both non-fiction and fiction) and about working with authors to find the publishing solution that suits them best.


Admission to the 2-hour workshop is $30, $20 for PWAC members, and $10 for students. Tickets will be available at the door, but if possible, please confirm your attendance by emailing waterlooregionpwac@gmail.com.

Upcoming Workshop: Getting Your Book to Market Using Print on Demand

"Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com."

Register now for Paul Lima's workshop: Getting Your Book to Market Using Print on Demand. Paul, a veteran freelancer and author, will give you the tips and information you need to help you make your dream of self-publication come true.

Print on Demand (POD) is a popular, affordable short-run publishing process that can be used to sell print and electronic copies of your book(s) from your website and/or from leading online booksellers such as Amazon and Indigo/Chapters. You can also sell your books at workshops, lectures and readings, and through book retailers.

This workshop will define POD, spell out how POD works, reveal the author’s responsibility (other than writing the book) and discuss the steps authors can take to prepare books. The workshop will also look at what various POD companies do (for you) at what price, and outline the kind of distribution you can expect from POD companies.

In addition, the following marketing topics will be briefly discussed: websites vs. blogs, Facebook vs. LinkedIn, and to tweet or not to tweet. Note: This is not a technical workshop, i.e., it will not look at how to use software to create books. It will, however, mention software packages that authors should get, or that designers should have, if they are serious about POD.

Paul Lima has worked as a professional writer, communicator and writing instructor for over 25 years. He has run a successful freelance writing, copywriting, corporate communications, business writing, and media relations training business since 1988. Paul is the author of ten books on writing and the business of writing, including these titles: Harness the Business Writing Process, How to Write a Non-fiction Book in 60 Days, Everything You Wanted To Know About Freelance Writing, and seven other books. You can visit Paul online at http://www.paullima.com/.

The 3-hour workshop will be held at 9:30 a.m. onSaturday, April 9th at the Country Hills branch of the Kitchener Public Library on Block Line Road, adjacent to St. Mary's Collegiate. Admission is $40 for the public, and $30 for PWAC members. Reserve your spot now by sending a note to waterlooregionpwac@gmail.com.

2011 - What's Ahead?

At our meeting in January we are going to try something a little different and actually share our writing with our members. It will be a fun evening of readings and nibbles, and we're all looking forward to hearing each other's "writer voices."

On the agenda, too, in the next two months is deciding what professional development workshop we are going to treat ourselves to in the spring, and a revamp of our website.

Ongoing will be our continued sharing of updates on what we are writing, asking questions, giving answers and supporting each other in the crazy business of freelance writing.

Roll on 2011!

A Great Night

A small-but-mighty group gathered last evening at the Country Hills library for three workshops presented by Waterloo Region PWAC members: Sharon Blomfield, Julia Browne and Heather Wright.

Everyone learned more about writing for children, interviewing skills and travel writing. They learned how to listen and how to guide an interview, how to use their senses and find the people that make a travel story come alove, and how to connect to kidlit resources on the Intenet and open a story with character and conflict. The audience's questions made for great discussions and the sharing of experiences and knowledge.

Thanks for a wonderful evening, everyone.

Please drop us a line if you'd like to know about attending our next meeting, which will be Tuesday, November 16th at 7 PM. waterlooregionpwac@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 9TH WRITING WORKSHOPS

3 Writing Workshops
         —One Great Evening

Three members of PWAC Waterloo Region give you an insider’s look at the following topics:

• Interviewing your way to great quotes
• Making your travel writing come alive
• Tips & resources for kidlit writers

When: Tuesday, November 9th 7:00 to 8:45 pm

Where: Country Hills Branch of the Kitchener Public Library, 1500 Block Line Road, Kitchener

Cost: Non-members $30, PWAC members $20, Students $10

If possible, please confirm attendance via email: waterlooregionpwac@gmail.com or via phone 519-744-9482

Summer Days and Planning Ahead

Our July meeting marked the beginning of planning in earnest for promotion of our November 9th writing workshop to be held at the Country Hills branch of the Kitchener Public Library. On this evening, we plan to present three small workshops that will combine information, resources and audience participation. Currently, our topics are interviewing skills, travel writing and writing for children. The particular focus of each of these topics will be revealed in the fall.
We also look forward to revisiting and catching up with our former PWAC Guelph cohorts at a joint barbeque in August.
September may include a "field trip" to one of the One Community, One Book readings by author, Terry Fallis. Several members have read Best Laid Plans and look forward to hearing the author read from this very funny political satire.
The fall is a perfect time to make some resolutions and decisions about our freelance careers and we'll be sharing those at our October meeting.
In the meantime, we'll be trying to keep cool and creative as we work through the vacation, work, and getting-ready-for-school days that remain before Labour Day.
Hope you have a great August!
Heather Wright
President

Reports from the MagNet Conference

During the first week in June, three of our intrepid members travelled to Toronto to participate in several PWAC workshops that were part of the MagNet Conference. We enjoyed presentations about SEO writing, marketing, business-to-business writing, research skills, negotiating contracts and several other topics of interest to freelancers.

The PWAC banquet was held on Thursday evening, and Waterloo Region PWAC executive members were given certificates to mark the inauguration of their new PWAC chapter. More stalwart PWAC members (and those that hadn't been on the 5:50 AM bus from Kitchener) attended the party after the banquet and participated in and enjoyed sing alongs and a fractured version of a Shakespeare play.

Tired and laden with fascinating gems of knowledge, our members travelled home on Friday inspired and ready to grow their freelance careers. Members heard more about the conference and the workshops at the June meeting and will soon receive copies of the seminar notes for their own reference.