A NEWS UPDATE: Due to a family emergency, Sandra won't be able to attend the Mount Hermon conference this week, as planned. Sorry, everyone. She'll try to come next year.
AND due to circumstances, Chip won't be able to attend the Blue Ridge writer's conference in May. Apologies to everyone -- just couldn't be helped.
Okay, so I'm hoping someone on an island in the Pacific might not notice that I'm quite late with today's post. Sorry. Stuff happens. Stuff that makes me incredibly grateful for our current health care system, thank you very much. Ahem.
But, in other news...
Chip and Jim Rubart taught a great marketing seminar in Nashville last weekend. If you attended, feel free to leave a comment and let others who have yet to attend a Master Seminar session know why it's well worth the money and time.
The next two upcoming sessions, also facilitated by Chip MacGregor, are on craft:
On April 23-24 in Portland, Oregon - Writing a Bestselling Novel - with best selling author Susan May Warren. This is a perfect weekend for authors who are at a place in their writing where they want to learn the secret to moving forward in their careers and enjoying commercial success (aka ... how to write books that sell!)
- Adding Depth to Your Fiction - on May 7-8 in Orlando taught by novelists Lisa Samson and Susan Meissner. This is a rare opportunity to share a weekend with two nationally-recognized writers. (And if Orlando is just too fun or too far for you, no worries. This seminar is also scheduled to take place in Detroit in June.)
Check The Master Seminars website for more info and to register.
A few upcoming books to look forward to:
Jennifer AiLee, author of THE PASTOR'S WIFE will be doing a second title with Abingdon Press, titled THE MOTHER ROAD.
AMG is working with Eva Gibson to release a new bible study, THE THREE MARYS.
Tia McCollors has contracted to write STEPPIN' INTO THE GOOD LIFE with Moody Press' Lift Every Voice line.
And I'm sure there's more news. But it will have to wait 'til next Tuesday. I think I hear the sun setting somewhere over Samoa...
I attended the N'ville seminar, and I've been babbling about it to everyone within earshot. I'm an unpublished author (no contract, no agent) and this was incredibly useful to me. I learned how I can significantly build my platform and prep for marketing my novel, should it be published. Chip and Jim make a wonderful team, it's a relaxed environment, and I'm still absorbing all the info they gave us. If you have the chance, go, go, go.
One word of advice: bring a blank notebook or notepad. The notebook C&J gave us couldn't hold all my notes. . . . that's good. Means lots of info! :) Having to borrow an extra notepad from another attendee because I forgot one . . . that's downright embarrassing. But then, most of you probably aren't as fuzzy-brained as I am.
Posted by: Laura Droege | March 24, 2010 at 09:00 AM
LOVE these Newsday Tuesdays. GREAT news for Jen AlLee! Woo!
And hope someone heals from their health care needs.
Posted by: Jenny B. Jones | March 24, 2010 at 10:20 AM
I walked into Chip and Jim's seminar in Nashville with a first book coming out in September, NO CLUE how to market it, and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was getting in way over my head. I walked out two days later brimming with ideas, a clear plan, and excited about getting started. The ideas Jim and Chip gave us were not only tailor-made, they were surprisingly affordable. Those two guys probably saved me the cost of the seminar by keeping me from throwing money at ideas that wouldn't work. Besides that--the seminar was just flat-out fun, pizza, brainstorming, laughter. And then there was Chip's prayer over us at the end which still makes me tear up.
Posted by: Serena Miller | March 24, 2010 at 08:33 PM
I went to the Nashville seminar, too, (Hi, Laura & Serena!)and I LOVED IT. Sorry if I'm shouting, but it's worth shouting about.
Whether you're writing for CBA or for ABA, whether you're published or unpublished, it's a fantastic seminar. Chip and Jim gave an overview of marketing, then lots of helpful specifics, then individualized advice that lit a fire under me. Their combined wisdom from years in the business is simply amazing. Then there was Chip's prayer at the end. Serena, you're not the only one who was tearing up!
Posted by: Meg Moseley | March 25, 2010 at 05:32 AM
Hey, I DO live on an island in the Pacific, and I still thought Tuesday was taking a long time to come! :) Feel better!
Posted by: Judith Millar | March 25, 2010 at 09:23 AM
Uh…oh, umm…I attended the Nashville seminar as well, and I didn’t realize we were supposed to cry.
The two days are absolutely worth attending. Jim Rubart, and his sidekick Mr. MacGregor, streamlined all the marketing information I thought I understood, filled in the missing parts I didn’t even know existed, and applied that information specifically to the world of fiction.
And then, as you’ve already read, Chip made us cry. I mean them—Chip made them cry—Serena and Meg. Not me.
So bring tissues.
And extra paper.
Posted by: Maggie Watson | March 28, 2010 at 03:05 PM