Whidbey Island Writers Association

Since the publication of the August edition of this newsletter, until today – and on through the end of October, I have been and will be living a rootless life. Our house sold August 1, I finished my work obligations in Seattle on September 22, and my husband and I are now on a long drive to Mexico City with what remain of our worldly belongings. And, yet, I have a stronger sense of community today than I ever have before in my life.

We shouldn’t wait for major upheaval before we understand the depth and strength and necessity of our personal networks. Many of us feel so self-sufficient that we don’t even realize how deeply we are affected by others – and others by us. And yet the final truth is – as gooey as it sounds – even in the writing and publishing world, it is a small world after all. (I can’t believe I just said that; I swear I never even owned a pair of mouse ears.)

Our writing community is the perfect example of that sticky spider web by which we are all connected – and an amazing demonstration of how “community” and “local” are now defined by interest instead of geography. We have the local maven who tells us secrets (see Penny Sansevieri’s article sharing an agent’s trade secrets). We have the local maverick who shows us how to avoid the pitfalls of going it alone (see Tom Trimbath’s take on self-publishing – and, hey, Tom, take another look at Penny’s article on blogging in the August newsletter). We’ve got the sages and scholars coming to our reunion in March to share their accumulated wisdom (just take a look at the Conference Updates, Recent Releases and Cheers! sections). And we’re even sending one of the “kids” away to college (yep, Erika, WIWA’s talented Office Manager has been accepted to graduate school and will be leaving us all too soon). Undoubtedly, we’ve got it all – right here at WIWA.

I’m so glad you’re part of our community. And I’m ever so grateful that leaving my physical home in Seattle has managed to bring me even closer to the virtual home I’ve found with you at WIWA.

Keep writing and keep in touch. Warmest regards, Achaessa

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WIWA ANNOUNCES

October 14, 2006 – Barbara Moran's 1/2 day workshop, Nonfiction Writing and the Web. Spend this Saturday morning with the creator of The Special Species Project learning how to make the most of the Internet for your nonfiction projects. Workshop details and registration information are available at http://www.writeonwhidbey.com/Classes_Groups/Workshops.htm. WIWA members pay a discounted rate for this workshop.

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2006 Whidbey Island Writers Association Spirit of Writing Contest – WIWA invites local writers, 18 and older, to participate in its 8th Annual Spirit of Writing Contest. Writers may submit manuscripts in any of the following categories: Poetry, Short Fiction, Nonfiction/Essay, Nonfiction/Memoir, or Children’s Literature. Rules and entry forms are available online at spiritofwriting@writeonwhidbey.org or at the Sno-Isle branch libraries in Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Langley and Clinton. (The Freeland Library is closed for expansion.) Manuscripts may be submitted in hard copy at any of the Whidbey Island branch libraries or mailed to the WIWA office in Freeland. Contest deadline is October 14, 2006.

The contest has become a popular event among full-time and part-time residents of Whidbey Island. It is dedicated to encouraging writers at any experience level to take the next step. All manuscripts are returned, with judges’ comments. Soft-cover books of winning works (1st-4th place) are displayed at the Sno-Isle branch libraries, and winning authors are invited to participate in programs of literary readings at the libraries and other Island venues. Each year, a Grand Prize winner is awarded a full scholarship to attend the Whidbey Island Writers’ Conference, and all winners are honored at the Conference in March.

For more information, call the WIWA office, 360-331-6714 or visit the Web site at http://www.writeonwhidbey.org.

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SELL Your Books !

Once again, WIWA will be participating in the Friends of Freeland Holiday Sale to be held this year on November 17-19, 2006 at the Freeland Hall. This event provides an excellent opportunity for WIWA members who are self-published or who have purchased remainders from their publishers to have their books on display and sold at an historically well-attended pre-holiday bazaar. Last year there were quite a few book sales for a number of local authors.

Please note: This is a fundraising event for the Friends of Freeland and they retain 30% of the proceeds from all sales. In addition, WIWA has paid for the venue and will retain and additional 10%. This means that authors will receive 60% of the purchase price. Authors are advised to price their books accordingly.

Books for the sale must be delivered to the WIWA office on or before November 15.

Please include the following:

– the price for each book (individually pricing your books is the best method to assure proper credit for each sale)

– an inventory count of the number of books dropped off (if leaving multiple titles, please be sure to list the number of each title)

– your name, address and telephone number (and email address, if available)

Unsold books will be in the WIWA office for pick up on November 20. Due to WIWA’s limited storage space, please retrieve unsold books or make arrangements to have them picked up on that day. When payment is received from the Friends of Freeland, (usually 1-2 weeks after the event) WIWA will mail individual checks to participating authors based on individual sales, less the retained monies listed above.

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WWW Student Donates Quilt for WIWA Raffle

By Nancy Ruff

Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA student Nancy Cluts has created a "Washington Quilt" and donated it for a raffle to benefit the Whidbey Island Writers Association. She is in the second year of the WIWA-sponsored Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program and is scheduled to graduate with the first class in August, 2007.

Nancy has been quilting for almost 15 years and received national recognition for two of her quilts, which were hung for six months in the Museum of American Quilters in Paducah, Kentucky and then taken on a nationwide tour.

"During the school year, I find I am too busy to get much quilting done," Nancy says. "Between school work (mine and my son's), volunteer responsibilities and the regular duties of being a mother and wife, it's difficult to squeeze in much time for quilting." Nancy reconnected with her love of fabrics this summer, sketching ideas for blocks with a Pacific Northwest theme. The Washington images, which include Admiralty Head lighthouse, ferry boats, cups of coffee, fish, sailboats, wine grapes, the Space Needle, and Mt Rainier, surround the centerpiece of the quilt -- the WIWA logo.

Knowing that raffles are an efficient way to raise funds, Nancy donated the custom-designed quilt to benefit WIWA. "This was the perfect way for me to give back to a program which has given me so much joy – it married my love of quilting with my love of writing," she said.

WIWA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting writers and promoting the literary arts. WIWA hosts the premier annual Whidbey Island Writers Conference and is home to the country's first independent Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. Throughout the year WIWA sponsors writing contests for children and adults, writing workshops and classes, scholarships, readings and literary talks, writing groups, and publishes an anthology of contemporary writing. Raffle proceeds will support WIWA's educational and literary programs.

Raffle tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and are available at WIWA-sponsored events and the WIWA office in Freeland at 1618 E. Main St., Suite S1 (in the same building as the Island County Sheriff's office; office hours 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday; 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Thursday). You may also purchase tickets through the mail (minimum $10) by sending your check to WIWA, P.O. Box 1289, Langley WA 98260. The drawing for the quilt will be held March 4, 2007, at the end of the Whidbey Island Writers Conference. You do not have to be present to win.

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ON THE ISLAND

Writing Short/Writing Long & Marketing Well. Two outstanding writers, Anjali Banerjee and Uma Krishnaswami, will offer a special writing workshop on Saturday October 28, 12:30 to 5 p.m. Each of these writers has excellent advice to pass on about writing, revising and marketing to writers of all levels. Each author will offer a two-hour workshop separately and then a joint workshop/discussion. When you register, specify which author you want for the first two-hour session.

Because of our special venue for this workshop at a private residence in Clinton, attendance will be limited to two groups of ten in order to ensure quality time for each participant, so pre-registration is essential – registration deadline is October 23. The fee of $80 for WIWA members and $90 for non-members will go toward the fund-raising campaign for WIWA’s new literary magazine, Soundings. More information on the workshop is available on the WIWA Web site. To register call the WIWA office at 360-331-6714 or email wiwa@whidbey.org.

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WIWA-Sponsored Writing Groups. WIWA sponsors a broad selection of writing groups and you can find the details for your particular locale or genre on the WIWA Web site. In the meantime, here are newsworthy announcements about specific groups:

Online Writing Group. Our new online memoir/autobiography writing group is over-subscribed! The popularity of this new medium is wonderful news to our ears – but don’t despair if you’re on the waiting list (yes, we have eight folks on a waiting list for the next memoir group), we’re currently recruiting for volunteers to facilitate additional online writing groups of all genres. WIWA has made it easy to facilitate a cyber-safe online group using Google Groups – and if memoir is your genre we’ve already got a group just waiting for you to take the lead. If you’re interested in forming, facilitating or participating in a WIWA-sponsored online writing group, you’ll find more information on the WIWA Web site (see Editor’s Note, below) or by direct inquiry to mailto:wiwa@whidbey.com.

Editor’s Note: WIWA encourages its members to be creative in forming writing groups that meet your genre’s special needs. If you have an idea for a writing group and you’d like to take the lead in making it a reality, we’d love to assist. The proposal form and group guidelines can be found at: http://www.writeonwhidbey.org/Classes_Groups/FormNewGroup.htm. You don’t have to be a WIWA member to join a writers’ group, but you will have to become a member to remain in the group once you’ve joined.

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OFF THE ISLAND

October 5, 2006 – Jane Hamilton, 2007 WIWC presenter, will be reading from her book When Madeline Was Young, at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, at 7 p.m.

October 7, 2006 – Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer's Journey, will be presenting his inspiring workshop on Bainbridge Island, courtesy of Fields End, a Bainbridge Library affiliate. It may be too late to sign up for this much awaited workshop, but if this is the first you’ve heard of it and you absolutely must attend, send your request to info@fieldsend.org. (And next time, read your WIWA newsletter – we’ve been announcing this workshop since June!)

October 8, 2006 – Susan Rich, past WIWC presenter and Hedgebrook alumni, will read from her book Cures Include Travel, at Open Books in Seattle at 3 p.m

October 8, 2006 – WRITE IT TRUE: a workshop for emerging and accomplished women writers of poetry, memoir, and fiction. See WIWA’s August newsletter for more details or contact Sarah Zale at sarahwrite@olypen.com or 360/460-8589.

October 16, 2006 – Bharti Kirchner, past WIWC presenter, will read from her book Kiss Tomorrow Hello: Notes from the Midlife Underground by Twenty-Five Women Over Forty, at the University Book Store in Seattle’s University District at 7 p.m.

October 17, 2006 – Elizabeth George, past WIWC presenter, will read from her book What Came Before He Shot Her, at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park at 7 p.m.

October 19, 2006 – Elizabeth George, past WIWC presenter, will read from her book What Came Before He Shot Her, at the Tacoma Main Library, Olympic Room, at 7 p.m.

October 27-30, 2006 – Victoria Conference Centre. See WIWA’s June newsletter for more details or go to www.victoriaartssymposium.com or contact Stephanie Croft stephanie@victoriaartssymposium.com.

October 30, 2006 – Erik Larson, past WIWC presenter, will read from his book Thunderstruck, at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle at 7:30 p.m.

November 4, 2006 – Larry Karp, past WIWC presenter and WIWA workshop presenter, will read from his book The Ragtime Kid, at the Mystery Bookshop in Seattle at 12 noon.

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Editor’s Note: I regret to announce that, once again, I have received a call for applicants for a spectacular local event with a submission deadline before our publication date. If only this news had come to me in time to publish in our August edition I would have been able to put this in the Market Requests section instead of the Off the Island section (sigh). Let me use this moment of frustration to ask all event sponsors to provide me with their calls for submission or applicants as far in advance of their deadlines as possible. I know that planning schedules are set far enough in advance to give me a two month warning and WIWA has a huge talent bank in our membership just perfect for your needs.

A perfect example is the Washington State Poetry Roadshow announcement below. They’re soliciting applicants for a Washington poet to do a series of paid lectures and readings throughout Washington State – but the application deadline was September 29. I am publishing the remainder of the call below as an event announcement so that you’ll keep your eyes open for appearances by the selected Roadshow Poet in your area; I bet there are many WIWA members who would have applied to participate in this innovative program if we’d only known about it in time.

Washington State Poetry Roadshow

In spring 2005, a partnership of the Washington Poets Association, Washington State Arts Commission, and four community colleges and their towns sent Washington poet James Bertolino on the first Poetry Roadshow for a series of lectures and readings in culturally under-served rural communities in the state: Wenatchee, Walla Walla, Centralia and Port Angeles. Funded by an NEA grant through the Washington State Arts Commission, Bertolino¹s Poetry Roadshow visits were well received and much appreciated by the institutions and communities.

This year a follow-up to that series will replicate the successful elements in four small communities across the state. The Roadshow project is also a supporting part of a greater dream; it is laying down tracks for a future poet laureate for Washington State.

Poetry Roadshow 2006
A series of four interactive lecture/workshops and conversations/readings by a prominent Washington poet will provide a revelatory shared experience in language for those in smaller, often rural communities who have to bring the rest of the world in, rather than partake of the cultural wealth so prevalent in major cities.

The objectives of the Poetry Roadshow are to:

– Provide underserved rural communities with the opportunity to hear, gain insight from and converse with a renowned Washington poet;

– Engage diverse audiences in exploration of how the language of poetry defines our experiences and ourselves;

– Work towards defining and refining a program which will be inhabited by future state poet laureates.

Venues for the 2006 featured poet

Partnering institutions and locations are: Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake; Washington State University, Tri-Cities; Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen; and Lower Columbia College, Longview.

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WIWC 2007 Conference Update

When you’re talking real estate, it’s location, location, location – when it comes to the 2007 Whidbey Island Writers Conference it’s registration, registration, registration. The 9^th Annual WIWC should already be on your calendar for March 2-4, 2007. But, have you registered yet? Early registration is smart registration. Sure, you’ll save money, but more importantly you’ll secure a premier spot at some of our exciting limited-space events. Our conference director, Elizabeth Guss, says we’ve been receiving registrations daily since early August, and I know from personal experience that lodging close to the conference venues is booking up quickly, so you’ll need to make your formal commitment to attend the conference soon.

Folks on the WIWC mailing list will be receiving reminder postcards and brochures in the mail the first week of October, but you can beat the rush by clicking straight over to the conference Web site from this newsletter - http://www.writeonwhidbey.org/Conference/ and click on the registration page. By the time this newsletter hits your inbox, we should have the entire program on the Web site, including the early bird sessions, Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. Bookmark the conference Web site to watch for program updates – but get registered now!

We have all kinds of, well, . . . neat things going on at WIWC this year. Does that word date me? Okay, it wasn’t my word, my word would be Cool – yeah, we’ve got tons of Cool stuff going on, even besides our regular conference program. Friday night alone we’ve got one of our famous Island-style Poetry Slams and our much applauded Dinner With An Author program (7 authors this year, all acclaimed and interesting in the ways that only well-published authors can be – you can check out their bio’s on the conference Web site).

A new addition to the Friday night cultural banquet this year is a reading open to the public at the Whidbey Children’s Theater. Three 2007 WIWC faculty members – a nature/environmental writer, a Native American poet, and a cowboy poet – will moderate the program, which will include readings by the public on the program theme “for the love of the land.” Attendees are encouraged to sign up to read their favorite 1-2 minute pieces that speak to our relationship with Mother Earth. It’s an intimate venue with room for only 75 people so, as our beloved (and overworked) Elizabeth Guss says, “Bring a friend, come early, and celebrate this extraordinary little globe on which we live.”

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Ten PR Secrets No One Will Ever Tell You

By Penny C. Sansevieri

When you're trying to pitch your book, the last thing you need is old, outdated or false information. PR and marketing guidelines change frequently and what worked five years ago no longer works today. For some red hot publicity that will get you to the top of the pitching file, we've unveiled some PR secrets you won't hear anywhere else but here.

Trying to get on Oprah? Here are some things we're betting you never knew about getting on her show: Sending samples and books to the Oprah Show is pretty standard fare for most publicity people but did you know that Oprah's producers actually prefer finding products or books on their own? Instead of pitching the show why not pitch some publications in the Chicago area instead and let a producer at the Oprah Show "stumble" on it themselves!

If you think that Oprah's producers are just in Chicago, think again. The show is known for having "scouts" all over the country; this means that if you're in Seattle publicizing your book, you might just be getting on the radar screen of one of the most powerful shows on television.

And speaking of getting on a national show, we all know this can be great PR for your book, but did you know that if you don't have proper distribution it might dissuade a producer from featuring your book? You bet. By now most producers are well aware of the avalanche of books that have inundated the industry. They don't want to look bad for picking a book or product no one can get, so be sure and add an info sheet in your media packet telling the producer that your book is available nationwide.

Trying to decide when to send out your release? Well, timing does matter! If it's business related, avoid contacting the press between the 15th and 22nd of April, July, and October. That's when publicly held companies release quarterly earnings reports. As for days of the week, Monday is the worst day to send your release. The best day? Thursday. Thursdays are notoriously slow news days.

Got an event coming up? It might make more sense listing your event on craigslist rather than pitching it to local media. Why? Well, if your event is free you can list it on craigslist at no charge and you could potentially drive crowds to your event, as opposed to the sometimes hit and miss efforts from traditional publicity. A couple of things to remember are that you can't list events in multiple cities at the same time; the folks at craigslist check this periodically. Events are kept live on the site until the event date has passed.

Despite what some folks might tell you, faxes do not work. While it might be easy to toss a press release on a fax machine and start sending it out to some media contacts, I can guarantee you 99.9% of the time they'll be ignored and tossed.

Do press kits really work? Well, yes and no. The days of the fancy press kit filled with equally fancy gifts are gone. In fact, more and more the media are paying closer attention to press kits that are more powerful in substance than they are in flash. So keep your press kit lean, mean and real – you'll not only save yourself a lot of expense but you'll probably get your book noticed a lot quicker.

Now the second piece to this is how valid your kit is. By "valid" we mean how much of the information is verifiable. When the media gets your kit the first place they might go to verify the contents is the Web. If your Internet presence doesn't match what your kit says about you, you've probably just lost the interview.

When you're pitching a magazine, many PR folk will tell you to pitch it six to eight months out. The truth is pitching times have shrunk -- we've seen magazines accept pitches with only a three-month window. Call first to check when a particular issue will close before assuming you’ve missed your window.

If you want to get into publications like The Washington Post or Newsweek, don't pitch them, blog on them. Both of these sites (and many other sites with high profile publications) have added a new "Blog Round Up" box on their sites. It reports on people who have blogged on their stories. All techie-babble aside, here’s what you do: blog on one of the articles on their site, link it using a trackback link and submit this to Technorati.com. This site will report back to these publications and they'll link to you (and your site) and voila! A feature on Newsweek or whichever publication you chose!

So you see, it's not always about creating the perfect pitch or press release. Sometimes it's about being unconventional, innovative and a tad adventurous. We hope our secrets help you unlock the powerful publicity kingdom!

Wishing you Publishing (and publicity) success!

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is on the faculty of the 2007 Whidbey Island Writers Conference, with workshops covering How to Make the Most of Your Writer’s Conference; Striking Internet Gold; How Do I Get a Publisher to Notice Me; and Self Publishing, Traditional Publishing. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Book to Bestseller which has been called the "road map to publishing success." AME is the only marketing and publicity firm that uses Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour ^TM, which strategically works with message boards, blogs, ezines, and relevant sites to push an authors message into the virtual community and connect with sites related to the book's topic, positioning the author in his or her market. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her Web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com . To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@amarketingexpert.com.

Copyright ã 2006 Penny C. Sansevieri

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Self-Publishing – Marketing and PR

By Tom Trimbath

And you thought writing the book was tough! Just wait until you get to the marketing and PR part of the job. If there was any reason for wanting to work with a traditional publisher, it would be marketing and PR. I even have to think about what PR stands for. Public Relations? Press Release? Plead Repeatedly?

I’ve heard it said that writing a book is only half the battle. I second that and think the writing is the easy half. But that makes sense. If a writer found the marketing part easy, then the writer would probably be a marketer.

And that’s the strength of big publishing houses: they have marketers that know how to get books publicized and onto bookstore shelves. The industry is built around their actions, even if their methods seem Byzantine.

Self-published authors have to switch hats to get their books sold. For me, I can only wear one hat at a time. If I am writing, I am not selling. If I am selling, I can’t find time to write. Ask my writer’s group. Since my book was finished, I rarely have anything new to read to the group, but I usually have news about distributors, event dates and occasionally sales.

Convincing a bookstore to sell a book is difficult because of an odd fact: the majority of books printed are never sold. Big print runs from traditional publishers flood bookstore shelves grabbing as much space as possible. That works if a book does well but, more often, the books are pulled after a few months and shipped back to the publisher. Big companies have dealt with that for years and have processes in place to handle the returns. Independent authors frequently aren’t equipped to handle this ebb and flow; so many large bookstores won’t deal with them. Besides, most bookstores would rather track the contracts of a few distributors instead of dealing with a crowd of idiosyncratic authors.

I am fortunate enough that my publisher, iUniverse, uses two of the largest distributors: Ingram and Baker & Taylor. For some bookstores that’s good enough but, nevertheless, my publisher doesn’t accept returns. If a book doesn’t sell, they won’t take it back and that has closed the door on many opportunities. Recently, I began using a distributor (Partners) that is willing to take returns, but only if I accept all the risk. They carry my books and make them available to their client stores, but I sell the books to them below my cost and I have to accept any returned copies.

Why would I accept such unprofitable terms? Because every book that clears that hurdle – gets into the view of a bookseller and ends up on a bookstore shelf – is an advertisement. The price of a print ad in a local paper can be hundreds of dollars. Whether it gets seen once or a several times, it’s usually ignored. Very few people can recall buying a book because they saw an ad for it. Most book sales come from word-of-mouth and the trick is to get that word started. Losing money on a couple hundred books that are sitting in plain view on bookstore shelves is more effective than one print ad. It gets books into readers’ hands and can start the conversation. Admittedly, it feels odd to purposely lose money, but that is the way advertising works.

Having books on shelves isn’t the only way to get the word out. Bookstore and library events, book clubs, and a willingness to talk to anyone about the book also help. Each of those takes a lot of time and each contact requires an author to come out of the writer’s shell, changing persona and temporarily leaving the work of writing behind.

Sadly, there is one avenue that I have yet to find a way to travel. Book reviews spur sales and create that essential word-of-mouth. Those initial reviews give people the first descriptive words that aren’t part of a publicity packet. Unfortunately, even local papers ignore local self-published authors when it comes time to pick which titles to review. Especially in literary communities, there are plenty of traditionally published books to pick from. Reviewers can only review a few, so they have no reason to try untested authors. They rely on the editorial staff at known publishers as their first screeners. Reviewers may miss some excellent books, but they have enough for their columns and don’t waste time on books they automatically disregard for lack of a known publisher.

The inability to generate reviews hurts most during that critical time for marketing and PR immediately after the book becomes available. Within those first weeks and months a buzz can be developed that drives sales, produces profits, eases every step of the way, and gives the author a better negotiating position. A good review, and sometimes a terrible review, can be far more successful than any ad campaign.

Ironically, one of the other ways for a self-published author to succeed is to become a traditionally published author. Within the publishing industry a tentative trend is emerging as traditional publishers observe the progress of self-published authors. By reprinting an existing book, much of the risk is removed. The book has been written; the publishing house has some idea of how well and where the book is selling, and they can develop an idea of how much marketing work they can expect from the author. The publisher loses some of the editorial control but gains a lowered business risk. Now, instead of being competing factions, the self-publishing field is being treated more like a farm league in baseball. New talent gets a chance to show off its skills and traditional publishers can recruit the top performers.

Many of the early steps taken by a self-published author are uncomfortable and even unprofitable, but without them the only gratification may be that of having completed a book – an accomplishment worthy of champagne and chocolate. Taking those next uncertain steps, though, can lead to an income, a more public voice, and a greater sense of completion.

Tom Trimbath is the author of four books, all of which were self-published through iUniverse, a print-on-demand press. His first book, Just Keep Pedaling, is a mixture of cultural essay and travelogue based on bicycling from north of Seattle (Roche Harbor) to south of Miami (Key West). The next three are part of a series of nature essays. Each book describes the year-round story of one lake in the Cascades: Twelve Months at Barclay Lake on the wet west side, Twelve Months at Lake Valhalla which is up on the high divide, and Twelve Months at Merritt Lake over on the dry, east side. All are available at local stores, the library, and online. The photos have been well received and can be viewed and purchased via www.trimbathcreative.com and www.trimbathcreative.smugmug.com.

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RECENT RELEASES

Looking for Bapu, by Anjali Banerjee (Random/Wendy Lamb, October 2006). In the same month as her workshop presentation at WIWA’s October fundraiser, Anjali Banerjee is releasing another thought-provoking hit. Here’s an excerpt from the Booklist review of Anjali’s newest novel by Linda Perkins: “When his grandfather Bapu suffers a stroke, eight-year-old Anu runs for help, but his grandfather dies in the hospital. Grief-stricken, Anu remembers Bapu’s daily Hindu rituals, their shared moments, and he continues to see Bapu in dreams and visions. As these fade, Anu tries to reconnect with Bapu through a variety of imaginative strategies including a hilarious attempt to become a sadhu or holy man. His friendships with classmate Unger and neighbor Izzy also add humorous elements that lighten the tone and move the plot. But there are more serious moments as well. Set in Seattle shortly after 9/11, Anu’s narrative records incidents of prejudice, as when one emergency worker refers to him as ‘little Islam.’ With incidents that ring true to a boy’s perspective, Banerjee’s novel provides discussable issues and multicultural insights as well as humor and emotion. An excellent read aloud and a fine title for libraries serving East Indian communities.”

Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song, by Les Beletsky (Chronicle Books/becker&mayer!, October 2006)

Birds of the World, by Les Beletsky (Johns Hopkins University Press, October 2006)

WIWA member Les Beletsky has two new books about birds coming out in October. Bird Songs describes 250 birds, shows them in color and, with an attached digital audio player, plays their songs. Birds of the World shows color illustrations of more than 1300 species and explains all the globe's bird families. For more information on Les, visit his Web site at www.lesbeletsky.com.

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CHEERS !

WIWA Presenter Is Certified Summer Reading

Bharti Kirchner’s presentation at the 2005 Whidbey Island Writers Conference was neither the beginning nor the end of her renown as a novelist. Bharti’s book Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries was chosen to be among the Summer 2006 reading selection of the Washington Reads program, for which she received a certificate from the Washington Secretary of State. For details, go to: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/wa_reads_2006summer.aspx. Bharti has also had articles published recently in The Writer, The Seattle Times, and International Examiner.

Blowing WIWA’s Horn

WIWA and WIWC really know how to attract top grade faculty members. At the risk of sounding like a braggart, here are a few honors received and announcements published by past and present faculty in just the last month:

Gloria Kempton, a WIWA workshop presenter and former WIWC faculty will have her article How to Recognize Bad Dialogue published in the October issue of Writer’s Digest.

Michael Welch, 2007 WIWC faculty, served as a Judge in the 2006 Moonviewing Poetry Contest sponsored by The Washington Poets Association and the Seattle Japanese Garden.

Mary Lou Sanelli, past WIWC presenter, for her poem The Ferry, and

Sheila Bender, past WIWC faculty and guest faculty at the inaugural MFA residency August 2005, for her poem For My Daughter Who Has Gone to Study in Japan, were both selected for readings at the moonviewing event on Saturday evening, September 2, at the Japanese Garden in Seattle¹s Washington Park Arboretum.

Slam Dunk!

In my bid to support our amazingly creative and crazy Island-style poetry slams, I’ve promised myself to print the worthy winners just so you all can see what amazing stuff we can come up with in 20 minutes with three bizarre words. The August 30 Slam brought out poets from 19 to 90 and poems that bridged topics from space birth to silver bullets and everything in between (my new favorite line is from a saloon slinging sonnet: “they stood melons to melons” – now tell me that image isn’t poetic). And the winner is . . . Diane MoonDancer’s Loss. (Can you guess what the three root words were?)

Loss

My dad the deadeye dowser

is dead I flood

underground streams

with my tears

tectonic shift

destabilizing life

His mind never failing,

we would kibitz about

old neighbors—what was

that guy’s name the one who…

and what about the woman who flirted

madly with her eyes and wore… oh

he names them all

knows where they’ve gone

The man who has known me

all my life—

my deep, deep waters—

has breathed his last breath

and I am left

to endure my own

tsunami.

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CONTESTS AND MARKET REQUESTS

NOTE: When you place in a competition or get a submission accepted for publication, please let us know. We love to celebrate your successes in our CHEERS! section.

MO: Writings From The River, The Journal Of The Montana State University – Great Falls Literary Guild

The editors are currently accepting submissions of high quality poetry, short fiction, essays and creative nonfiction (up to 3000 words for prose). Submission deadline is October 30, 2006. For more information, visit http://www.msugf.edu/litguild/index.htm.

Writing it Real Essay Contest

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real, an online magazine for those who write from personal experience, announces an essay contest with cash prizes and publication of the top three essays. Contest deadline is December 30, 2006. They are seeking creative non-fiction essays based on personal experience. Essays must be previously unpublished and can be up to ten pages in length, double-spaced. For submission guidelines, go to http://www.writingitreal.com/contest.html.

Lunch Hour Stories VERY Short Story Contest

Lunch Hour Stories short fiction magazine is now accepting entries for its 2006 VERY Short Story Contest, deadline December 31, 2006. They’re looking for “REALLY great, REALLY short stories in nearly ANY genre, 500 words or less.” (Narrative prose poems will also be considered.) Winners receive cash prizes, publication, and free issues. Writers may submit as many unpublished stories as you wish and simultaneous submissions are accepted. Complete contest entry information is available at: http://www.lunchhourstories.com/.

Whidbey Writers Conference Contest

The Benefactor’s Award Contest gives writers an opportunity to submit their best work for recognition during each Whidbey Island Writers Conference in March. Each year, a particular benefactor to Whidbey Island Writers Association is recognized along with the winners in fiction, poetry, essay and children’s writing at the closing ceremonies. Submission deadline is February 1, 2007. For information visit the WIWA Contests Web site at www.writeonwhidbey.org.

Everything Guides Looking for Writers – no deadlines stated. Request submitted by literary agent Andrea Hurst, for more details, please go to www.andreahurst.com.

Here are the current projects Andrea is seeking Writers for:

1. A science person or teacher to write The Everything Kids' Magic Experiments Book. 150-200 science experiments with a magic twist like making things change color.

2. An Everything Guide to Green Living book. Written by an energy or organic expert. Covers organic food, hybrid cars, nontoxic cleaning products, conserving energy, etc.

Fresh Boiled Peanuts – literary magazine – no deadlines stated. The editors of Fresh Boiled Peanuts have announced a call for entries for their third issue. According to the editors, they have "no grand illusions of money or fame--they just want every issue packed full of good fiction, essays, creative non-fiction, poetry and generally anything they believe is worth reading." For complete submission guidelines and some good editorial humor, check the Fresh Boiled Peanuts website at: freshboiledpeanuts.com.

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WIWA WEB SITE NEWS AND MEMBER SERVICES

Keep up With Your Favorite WIWC Presenters

To make it easy for our members and conference attendees, WIWA links to the websites of past conference presenters who provide their website addresses to us. It’s a convenient place to look up your favorite presenters and find out where they’re reading and what they’re publishing. Just visit our Web site under Writers Conference/Prior Conference/Prior Presenter at http://www.writeonwhidbey.org/Prior_Conferences/Prior_Presenters.html.

If you’re a past WIWC presenter and your link doesn’t appear on our links page, but you would like it to, just let us know. The only requirement is that you provide a reciprocal link to WIWA and/or the conference at: http://www.writeonwhidbey.org/

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WIWA'S WISH LIST

The Whidbey Island Writes Association is looking for generous individuals or groups interested in donating any of the following items to help us in our efforts to offer outstanding and new programs to local writers and readers. Please contact 360-331-6714 if you have any questions or to make a donation, or e-mail wiwa@whidbey.org. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to WIWA may be tax deductible.

–Work station (student desk size) with room for a computer and monitor

–Desk chair

–Computer and monitor to run sophisticated graphics software WIWA received through a recent grant. (Please contact Elizabeth Guss, Conference Director, for specific details)

–The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press

–AP Stylebook, Associated Press

–New books on writing (to be used as prizes in the annual youth writing contest)

–Phone cards

–Copy paper

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WIWA Seeks Part Time Office Manager

WIWA is searching for a motivated individual to fill the position of Office Manager at their Freeland office. This is a creative position which puts you in the center of the writing "hub" on Whidbey! Responsibilities include assisting with the day-to-day activities of the MFA program, the annual conference and WIWA local programs. Incumbent maintains all WIWA financial records and performs bookkeeping duties, including payroll. The ideal candidate will have the ability to multi-task, work independently and interface well with the public, WIWA members and faculty. Familiarity with accrual accounting methods preferred. Experience with program coordination and database management are helpful. Knowledge of Quickbooks and proficiency with Word, Excel and Access preferred. Currently at 75% time (30 hours/week) the position may become FT by the end of the year. Salary DOE. Send resume and cover letter to PO Box 1289, Langley WA 98260 by October 16, 2006.

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WIWA Seeks Volunteer Reporters

Join WIWA's team of volunteers as event-specific and beat reporters. I know you’re out there attending events and participating in our local writing community and our readers want to hear about your experiences.

How was the Burning Word festival this year? I don’t know because I didn’t go – but I bet you did! Did you attend Gloria Kempton’s workshop in August? Or are you in one of WIWA’s fall classes? Are you one of our MFA students? I know we’ve all got other, bigger writing obligations, but being an active part of a writing community will help you have the network you need when you’re ready to publish.

This position calls for enthusiastic individuals who are already taking or plan to take active roles in the Whidbey Island and Puget Sound writing community. Reporters will work with the newsletter editor to cover events they are already attending to bring pertinent news back to our writing readership. For more information, please contact Achaessa directly at NewsletterEditor@writeonwhidbey.com.

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QUOTATIONS
NOTE: Please send us quotations about writing that you would like to share.

“To me, writing fiction is always about momentum. Momentum is more important than finesse. Finesse is what you do on the second or third draft. Getting the story out is what you’ve got to do first.” – Larry McMurtry (submitted by WIWA member Diane M. Schuller)

“Compose with utter freedom and edit with utter discipline.” – Erica Jong (submitted by WIWA member Diane M. Schuller)

“The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser – in case you thought optimism was dead.” – Robert Brault, software developer and writer (submitted by Renee Parisio, who is not a WIWA member but who gamely came to the Poetry Slam when I tricked her into it and now I think she’s hooked. Ed.)

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CYBERSURFING
NOTE: If you find a Web site you think other writers would like to visit, send us the URL.

Poewar.com – this is one of my newfound freelance writing resources. As its mission statement says, this is “a site about writing and the writing business that features articles, freelance jobs, and writing employment.” Especially useful for those of us whose technical and business writing supports our more creative bent. Ed.

It’s NANOWRIMO time again! November is National Novel Writing Month and NANOWRIMO.org makes novel writing qualify as an Extreme Sport for the 7^th year in a row. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel between November 1 and November 30. This donation-supported organization brings us isolated authors our very own support group, cheerleading squad and captive audience all in one Web site. In 2004 there were over 42,000 participants with nearly 6,000 finishing the 50k mark under the midnight wire. Sign ups begin on October 1. Check it out at www.nanowrimo.org – if nothing else, their amazing history is a great read that just might inspire you to

WIWA NEWSLETTER

News from the Whidbey Island Writers Association