Meet Janeen Ippolito — Presenter for the GLVWG Write Stuff Conference™ 2019

Tags

Book Marketing, Writing, Writing Coach, Writing Conferences, Writing Fiction, Writing Romance

 

“I’m Janeen Ippolito, and I’m determined to see the world filled with amazing books and endless to-be-read piles. I write speculative fiction and creative writing and marketing resources. I’m also an experienced entrepreneur, author coach, editor, teacher, and the president of Uncommon Universes Press. Whether brainstorming a plot twist, developing a course, or analyzing marketing angles, I’m happiest when creating solutions that get your books polished and noticed in the ever-changing publishing industry.”

Article by Dawn Sooy

In her spare time, Janeen enjoys sword-fighting, reading, pyrography, and eating brownie batter. Two of her goals are eating fried tarantulas (Hmm- do they shave the hair first? Janeen: sometimes! They didn’t when I ate some freeze dried tarantulas. Had an interesting texture.) and traveling to Antarctica.

Janeen is an Air Force kid raised all over the East Coast. She went to college in 2005 to study cross-cultural communication, writing, and teaching English as a second language.

Janeen lives in Berwick, PA across the street from the town’s prettiest cemetery, which she often walks around to clear her mind. Her favorite writing beverage is water (room temperature, no ice), her favorite color is dark red, and she has been known to write tragic scenes to fluffy pop songs. She also tends to solve problems while cleaning her house. She’s slightly addicted to buying book swag, especially when it involves dragons.

Plan to attend her Friday Afternoon Class – Book to Market: Tips to Package, Promote, and Publish Your Book. Should you aim for a traditional publisher or try to publish yourself? Is there a way to make selling books easier? And what social media should you really be using? Get clarity on your publishing and marketing options from publishing industry pro and marketing coach Janeen Ippolito. These three sessions take out the “overwhelm” and enable you to make decisions with confidence about your manuscript’s future.

Saturday, Janeen continues presenting at the conference with topics including:

Fundamentals of Fiction – Inside Out. Have an idea for your story, but nowhere to start? Have the start of a draft, but unsure of how to finish it? Heard a lot of writing terms, but unsure where they fit into the big picture? This workshop is for you! It starts by targeting your core motivations with key questions, then breaks down the big task of writing a story into manageable chunks and simplifies the myriad of story-telling concepts into action-items that you can use in your work right now. Come away with a solid foundation for tackling your fiction writing project.

 How to Write Romantic Subplots. Think romance is just for romance novelists? Think again! Romantic subplots can enhance all kinds of fiction and broaden your reader base. Learn how to use romance to push plots effectively so that romance-fans AND non-romance fans will pick up your books!

To read more on Janeen, visit:

·         Author Website: http://www.janeenippolito.com

·         Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/janeenippolitollc/

·         Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneenIppolito

·         Instagram: @janeen_ippolito

·         Interview – World Building with Janeen Ippolito

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Dawn Sooy, GLVWG’s Conference Chairman, is a native of Eastern Pennsylvania, with plenty of experience the four seasons have to offer. Armed with a Computer Science degree, she worked in the tech industry until 2012. As an animal lover, she volunteers at the local animal shelter, sneaking in treats for the four-legged residents.

 

Registration for The Write Stuff Writers Conference Opens December 8

Tags

Agent Interviews, Book Marketing, Editing, Speculative Fiction, Writing Conference, Writing Craft, Writing Fiction, Writing Workshops

Write Stuff Conference brochure 2019

We want to give you a heads up about GLVWG’s The Write Stuff Writers Conference^TM .  It’s taking place March 21 – 23, 2019 at the Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel & Conference Center at 300 Gateway Drive, Bethlehem, PA.

We have Ben Wolf presenting on Thursday and Friday. AND he’s the Keynote Speaker on Saturday.

Registration opens Saturday, December 8.

Just in time to give yourself a present – or put on your wish list (hint, hint).

If you’ve attended our conference in the past, you know the value you get for your buck.

If you’ve never been to our conference – prepare for a great experience.

 

Day 1: Thursday, March 21

Ben Wolf

Into the Deep: An Advanced Study of Speculative Fiction

*****

Day 2: Friday, March 22

Ben Wolf

The Three Pillars of Storytelling

Backstory: Your Secret Weapon to Engaging Readers

Writing Flash Fiction that Sells

Janeen Ippolito

Book to Market: Tips to Package, Promote, and Publish Your Book

 

Friday Evening Events

The Pixar Method with Charis Crowe

Page Cuts Critique Sessions ($10 Fee; Advanced registration required)

Followed by reception with snacks and cash bar

*****

Day 3: Saturday, March 23

Ben Wolf

Keynote Luncheon Speech — “Writing Through Adversity”

Presenters (in alphabetical order)

Donna Brennan

Strengthening Your Writing  (2-hour workshop –  Limited to 24 participants)

Getting Started Writing for Magazines

Putting Off Procrastination

Kathryn Craft

Those Critical First Pages

Say That and More: Writing Effective Dialogue (2-hr workshop. Limited to 24 participants)

Charis Crowe

Marketing Execution for Authors

Finding Your Author Voice

YA is Here to Stay (Cedar Crest)

David Fessenden

The Publishing Contract

The Writer/Editor Relationship

The Dreaded Outline: What Your English Teacher Never Told You

Editing Your Own Material (Muhlenberg)

Jon Gibbs

Are Your Characters Right for the Part (Hands-on session.)

The Seven-Sentence Solution (2-hr workshop. Limited to 24)

Janeen Ippolito

Fundamentals of Fiction – Inside Out

How to Write Romantic Subplots

Larry Schardt

Powerful Tools to Enhance Your Writing

Putting a Positive Spin on Rejection (Lafayette)

*****

Keep watching the GLVWG Website and follow the GLVWG Blog for updates, along with our Facebook Page.

An Interview with Michael Hauge

Tags

Plotting, Story Mastery, Storytelling, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Conferences, Writing Fiction

GLVWG’s Geoffrey Mehl, interviewed Michael Hauge, keynote speaker, special seminar and master class instructor for The GLVWG WriteStuff Writer’s Conference™, March 23-25, 2017 .

Michael is a story and script consultant, author, and lecturer who works with writers and filmmakers on screenplays, novels, movies, and television projects. He has coached writers, producers, stars and directors for every major film studio and network. He is also the best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read. He has presented lectures and workshops to more than 70,000 writers and filmmakers around the world. In the words of Will Smith, “No one is better than Michael Hauge at finding what is most authentic in every moment of a story.”

Hauge’s Six-Stage approach to story structure divides any successful story into setup, new situation, progress, complications and higher stakes, retreat and final push, and aftermath. These stages are divided by five key turning points: opportunity, change of plans, point of no return, major setback and climax. For a more detailed explanation of his approach, go to this article on his website: STORY STRUCTURE: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Successful Screenplays

Chris Redding Presentation at GLVWG

Tags

Chris Redding, Editing, Ghost Writing, Professional Writing, Writing, Writing Fiction

Aren’t many writers out there, especially new authors, who don’t dream of hitting it big with a bestseller.  The odds of it are akin to winning the lottery.  Chris Redding gave a presentation at the GLVWG September general meeting and offered some tips for making money with the craft before you get published.  In the afternoon session, Chris gave us her top ten list of writing good fiction.  The following is a summary of her talks.

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Morning Session, September 24, 2016

How to make money before you get published

Writing for others is a good way to build a portfolio.

1. Who can you write for? Here’s a few examples.
   1. Magazines – which are getting smaller, and more focused by subject matter.
   2. Newspaper contributions
   3. Beta Reading – Sites do exist where people will pay to beta read material
   4. Writing, Editing, Proofreading
   5. Speech Writing – Lot of corporate folks who need a ghost speechwriter.
   6. Ghost Writing – Penning someone else’s story
2. What skills are needed?
   1. Writing ability – Seems obvious, but necessary to gain trust of potential client
   2. Professionalism and good Business Sense.
   3. Motivation, Perseverance, Discipline
   4. Goal Setting
3. Start Broad. Look for specific jobs where you have expertise. If you’re into gardening, search for all on-line sites and publications that do gardening. A few more examples:
   1. The academic community can be very lucrative, especially students where English is not their primary language. Graduate students who need someone to pen their thesis.
   2. Reputable book review organizations are always on the lookout for credible reviewers
   3. Business writing for corporations, executives in need of someone to take their ideas and organize it into a presentation.
   4. Doctors who don’t have time to pen their articles.
   5. Short fiction for magazines. Chris mentioned the “Confession Market”, or short stories written in the 1st person for magazines such as Women’s World, or True Confessions.
4. In choosing markets, look for news agencies, writers markets. Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly good places to look.
5. For those without a portfolio, Chris suggested a few sites to browse, but cautioned a need for careful vetting of potential clients.
   1. Upwork.com, Freelancer.com, Guru.com
6. Then, there’s the money side.
   1. When starting out, might have to accept lesser fees until established.
   2. Editors and Proofreaders may charge by the page or number of words
      1. Established, well-known editors charge hourly rates, ranging from $35 – $100 per hour.
   3. Ghost writing someone else’s book can run from $7,500 – $50,000.
7. Things to consider with a writing job.
   1. Will it further your career?
   2. Most periodicals pay by the article, which usually have a defined word length. Some periodicals don’t pay, operating on the premise “the writer gets exposure”. Unless you’re desperate, suggest avoiding these.
   3. Pay careful attention to fee structure and fine print with bigger jobs
   4. With big projects, like ghost writing a book, or preparing materials in business, insist on a written contract. Always front-load the fee. Chris recommended at least 50% of the fee up front, 25% when rough draft is complete, the remainder upon completion. Agree on how many rough drafts will be allowed.
   5. Try to avoid ghost writing projects where potential clients unrealistically believe their story will be a bestseller, and offer percent of future proceeds.
   6. Always have an “out” in all contracts, if project isn’t working for you and the client.
8. Problems you might encounter.
   1. Chris looks at all writing jobs with respect to how much of a “pain-in-the-derrière” a potential client might be.
   2. Client not making themselves available to keep the project moving in a timely manner.
   3. Subject matter not a good fit for your expertise, or not a good fit with potential client.
   4. How taking on writing jobs affects your work/life balance.
   5. Lot of nutty people out there. Go into all projects with your eyes open.

Writing versus Producing

Tags

Andrew Solomon, Beth Kephart, Creativity vrs. Productivity, New Yorker Magazine, Rainer Maria Rilke, Writing, Writing Fiction, Writing Passion, Writing Poetry

Author Brenda Havens, former journalist, recently published three children’s stories. She reflects on finding passion in the golden years—writing from the heart, rather than worrying about productivity.

From: Maurus – Depositphotos.com

Are you an older writer? The person waiting until retirement years to pursue this dream? Or maybe you have several decades of life left, but see yourself working full time into eternity in order to keep the bills paid.

You might simply be a Type A—someone driven to constant action, bored with leisure time. Determined to use every minute producing SOMETHING until the day you die.

And that’s the thing. Producing. Measuring. Getting so much done. Before we die. In reading a blog today by richly talented author Beth Kephart, I found her quoting Andrew Solomon in The New Yorker:

 “But Rilke is correct in that we must all write as though eternity lay before us. Enjoy the flexibility that span of eternity offers.”