DENTON WRITERS LEAGUE
FIRST EDITION
APRIL 2003 VOL. 14 NUMBER 4

DWL Home Page: http://byjoni.com/dwl

If you would like a copy of the newsletter e-mailed to you instead of through the US post, please contact George Avera or Joni Latham.

WHERE WE MEET AND WHEN

The second Saturday of every month, at the

Rib Rangers Ranchhouse
2109 W. University Dr
Denton, TX 76201

General Meeting 10:30 a.m.

Lunch at Rib Rangers at Noon.

NEXT MEETING -SATURDAY, April 12

Guest Speakers

April-Jeff Crilley---CANCELLED
May-Rhondi Hillstrom Davis
June-Lila Guzman
July-Patty Pfeiffer
August-Jim Pence
September-Workshop
October-Diane Fanning
November-Julie Rogers & June Ford
December-Open Meeting

Jeff Crilley had to cancel his appearance.  He was named Best Reporter in Texas by the Associated Press and the awards are in Austin on April 12.  He's really excited.  It's the most prestigious award he's ever received. It's a little late to try to schedule someone else so we'll have a general meeting.  We need to decide on the workshop anyway.  He's promised to make it up to us, but we're booked up for the rest of the year, so he is attending the May 10 meeting as a guest (not guest speaker) and will bring his book with him.  He will visit with us during lunch after the meeting. 

MARCH MEETING RECAP

Roxanne Conrad talked about what she did wrong when she started writing.  Below is a quick recap.

1. Never take yourself seriously as a writer.  Never thinking you are as good as you are.
2. Not good at selling yourself or your work.  Let all your family and friends do it for you.
3. Not focused.  Keep changing genre until you come back to the one genre you like writing the most, then you selling books again.
4. Moving from an agent who is not doing much for you to his junior agent.  Big mistake - you still sell nothing.
5. Know the agent before you approach them.  Make sure they are going to like your genre.
6. Know your strengths as a writer and use them in your writing.
7. Reprinting out of print books with POD (print on demand) publisher.  New publisher would like to have your books, but are under contract to POD and will not go out of print for a long time.
8. Never name a character Peter or Dick.  Pete or Richard is okay, but never Peter or Dick

Things to you remember to be sucessful.

1. You need a good Agent
2. You need a good Editor
3. You need a good Concept
4. You need a good Genre
5. Stay focused on selling books - promotion and networking.
6. Write what makes you happy
7. Never believe it will last.  There are no guarantees in this business.  Just because you sold one or to books, doesn't mean that you'll sell the next one.
8. Last, but never least.  KEEP ON MOVIN'!

North Texas Book Festival

The North Texas Book Festival is Saturday May 17 from 9am to 4pm at the Civic Center in Denton.  The table space goes for $25.  10 to 20% of the proceeds goes to area libraries.  Crystal Wood contacted me and thought that maybe the DWL might want to reserve one table and have their published authors sit at the table in shifts.  I won't be attending this year because I have no copies of my books left and have no way to get any, but if any of you are interested let me know.  There has to be at least 2 DWL authors interested or it wouldn't be considered a DWL project.  We can also discuss this at the April meeting.  The deadline is actually April 1st, but Crystal will give us to the 15th.

September Workshop

We need to make a decision during the April meeting on who we want to do the workshop, so that we'll have time for promotion.  Please review the list below and be prepared to cast your vote at the April 12 meeting.  If you can't make the meeting, call me or e-mail me with your preference.  Also, I've book the Rib Ranger for the workshop.  She'll give us a continental breakfast, two meat buffet, and a desert plus all our drinks for $10 a person.  If anyone else has another peference let me know, but this was the best deal I found.

Rondi Hillstrom Davis Independent Publishing--who should and who shouldn't; Marketing and Non-Traditional Sales.

Lorraine Heath-she could probably work in 3 of the topics from the list below:
1) Weaving Characterization to Create a Tapestry of Emotion - Lorraine Heath will share various techniques that help create believable characters, characters that will touch the readers' emotions and become memorable.
2) Journey through a Copy Edited Manuscript - Discussing the mistakes she made and the valuable lessons she learned, Lorraine Heath will take you on a journey through her first published manuscript.
3) Show Me the Money - Lorraine Heath will explain how advances and royalties are paid out. She will share her experiences with joint accounting, foreign rights sales, and book clubs.
4) What I Wish I'd Known Then - Lorraine Heath will share her experiences writing books for lines, series, and single title. She will explain the publication process from THE call to holding the book in your hand.
5) Making a Presence Online - Lorraine Heath has been online since 1991. She will share tips on promoting your work on the Internet. She will also share her experiences networking with readers, authors, reviewers, and booksellers.
6)Agents: When to Hold, When to Fold - USA Today Bestselling and Award-winning author Lorraine Heath will take us through the process of the agent hunt. Where should you search for an agent? What should an agent do for you? When do you sign on the dotted line? When is it time to move on?

Julie Rogers/June Ford
1) Developing a Picture Book
2) Tricks to Developing Your Writing Style-original workshop limited to 10 people, but checking to see if it can be modified.
3) Fine Tuning Your Book Proposal

Jim Pence Workshop

1 Finish that Novel! (Novel Writing from Idea to Bookstore)
9:00-10:15 Getting Your Story Off the Ground (Ideas, Outlines, and Story Development)
10:30-11:45 Polishing and Perfecting (Drafts, Revisions, and Rewrites)
11:45- 1:00 Lunch
1:00- 2:15 Marketing Your Novel (Synopses, Publishers, and Agents)
2:30- 3:45 Once It Sells (Editors, Rewrites, and Promotion) Workshop

2 Getting into Print (Developing and Selling Your Non-Fiction Book)
9:00-10:15 What are Publishers Looking For? (The Three Ingredients of a Salable Book Idea)
10:30-11:45 The All-important Query
11:45- 1:00 Lunch
1:00- 2:15 Writing a "Home-Run" Book Proposal
2:30- 3:45 Publishers, Contracts, and Agents

Lila Guzman
Ten Critical Mistakes in Fiction Writing – covers items such as POV problems and how to correct them; lack of voice; proper format; and the Hero's Journey.
Flash Fiction
Writing A Young Adult Novel
Writing Short Stories

Texas Conferences and Events

April 1-4, Texas Library Association Convention, (Houston). http://www.txla.org/
April 5, San Antonio College Book Fair, (San Antonio) 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Contact John Hammond jhammond@accd.edu .
April 5, Beeville Library fundraiser (Beeville). Contact JoAnn Oliphant jao@bclib.org
April 10-13, Austin International Poetry Festival 2003, (Austin). Contact: Gayle Hight info@aipf.org .
April 26, Caldwell Market Day, (Caldwell). Book & Media Tent. Contact: Elizabeth Reid buenobooks@yahoo.com and http://www.geocities.com/txlions/
May 3, Somerville Community Library Book Fair, (Somerville). $25-$40 table fee. Contact: Elizabeth Reid buenobooks@yahoo.com .
May 17, 3rd Annual North Texas Book Festival, (Denton). Denton Civic Center, 9-4. $25/booth plus 10% of proceeds. Benefits literacy programs.
May 28-June 1, 2003 Book Expo, (Los Angeles). http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/
June (Dates TBD), 2003 Amarillo, TX Frontiers in Writing, Panhandle Professional Writers http://users.arn.net/~ppw/
August 2, Salado Book Fair, (Salado). Contact: James V. Lee, saladopress@airmail.net
August 30, Georgetown Blue Grass Festival and Book Fair, (Georgetown). $25/booth. Benefits G'town Public Library's children's programs. Contact: Gerald Carson, jcarson@igg-tx.net .
Sept. 26-27, 3rd Annual West Texas Book & Author Festival (Abilene) Civic Center. Contact: Glenn Dromgoole, glenndromgoole@cox.net
October 4, 2nd Annual Book & Art Festival (Brenham). Contact: Charlene Keller phb@alpha1.net .
October 17-18, The Red Dirt Book Festival, (Shawnee, OK). Contact: Jan Anthony, Tecumseh Library, janthony@pls.lib.ok.us.
October 18, 3rd Annual Texas Writers Roundup (Wimberley). Contact: Linda Bingham Linda@texasauthors.org
October 18 and 19, Second Annual Latino Book and Family Festival (Houston). George R. Brown Convention Center, 10 am - 6 pm. Contact: Tony Diaz AztecMuse@aol.com .
November 8-9, Texas Book Festival (Austin). Watch for updates on website http://www.texasbookfestival.org . TCoA will begin organizing co-op booths in June.

From the Texas Author’s Coalition, Inc website. URL in listing below.

On-Line Writers resources

Author's Network-for writers about writing based in Europe, but interesting-http://www.author-network.com/
Copyright Forms- http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
Dallas Sceen Writers- http://www.dallasscreenwriters.com/
New Writer's Market http://hge.members.atlantic.net/
Preditors and Editors-a resources to check out agents and publishers http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators http://www.scbwi.org/
Texas Coalition of Authors, Inc. http://www.texasauthors.org/
The Novelist's Workshop-essays and advice on how to publish your book-http://www.monash.com/writers.html
Writer's Exchange http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/
Writer's Market http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp
Writers Net-source for information for writers, editors, agents, and publishers-http://www.writers.net
The Zuzu's Petals Literary Resource Homepage-for both writers and poets-http://www.zuzu.com/

There are multitudes of writing resources available on the Internet. Go to any search engine and ask for writer's resources, writer's markets, writer's contests, writer's conferences, etc

DWL OFFICERS:

President - Joni Latham (joni@verizon.net) - 940/243-5200
VP - June Powell - 940/565-1013
Treasurer – Joseph Marino
Secretary - Rae Nell Causseaux - 940/321-2739
Newsletter - George Avera (gavera@chatter.com) - 940/382-4130