August 2010

Dear Members:

Is it back to school already? But then, most of us have learned that school is never out, it’s a continuous learning process. What’s a better way to learn than to join your fellow writers at our monthly meetings? Okay, I admit, I slipped in another commercial for GCWA, it’s my job! (That is my one exclamation point for the year) Did I get all those apostrophes right?

Speaking of learning, Robert N. Macomber a dynamic personality with an interesting background enlightened us at the July meeting. He shared with us his process of storyboarding the timeline, locations, word counts, geography, and categories of people in each of his novels. He reminded us to write every day, salt the story with vivid descriptors, and more important don’t use over-editing as a “crutch” to never finish the project. He recommended the first time author limit their manuscript to 98,000 words, as most publishers won’t risk publication of a larger book on a new author.

We have another treat for our members in the person of Felice Gerwitz, President of Media Angels, Inc. a publishing company and home of quality non-fiction books for the Christian market. Felice is a creative, energetic, outside-of-the-box thinker. Her topic is “Book Marketing for the New-Internet Crazed Age.” The old rules of book marketing are out and the new are in, or so the internet marketing gurus would lead you to believe. After joining several costly webinars, joining monthly membership groups and testing the market, Felice found they are correct to a degree. In this educational seminar you will learn how all the pieces must be available for internet marketing to work. She will share her fast-track education with you and explain why hit-and-miss marketing techniques don’t work, and what will give positive results.

News Flash…The Sanibel Captiva Review is preparing to publish Volume V, and welcomes submission of work for possible inclusion. The deadline is October 1, 2010. Your submissions can be any length up to 2,500 words. Please e-mail your work to sancapreview@gmail.com in either Microsoft Word (.doc) format of Rich Text (.rtf) format. See our Web site for more details.

Hope to see you all Saturday, August 21 for our next meeting, and keep on writing.

Sincerely,
Richard Georgian
President

July 2010

Dear Members:

Toot your horns, bang the drums, and blow the vuvuzelas, our 2011 Writing Contest has begun. This year there is no set theme, so you can write about whatever you would like (except no erotica or gratuitous violence). A few other changes: the maximum word count for prose has dropped to 1500 words; students may enter at a reduced price, and please submit three copies with your entry form. Visit our Website and under the NEWS bar click on Writing Contest for guidelines and entry form. Florida Weekly has agreed to sponsor this year’s contest and will provide advertising, and print the first place winners in each category. We are still looking for additional sponsors, and if you have a contact or company that you think might provide a prize, please pass the word to a board member.

Intellectual Property attorneys Edward Livingston and Erica Loeffler’s presentation on copyright law stimulated a lot of thought, generating many questions. A word of warning, the use of “poor boy copyrights,” i.e., using the © without registration, does not provide you any legal protection. You can copyright your materials online at www.copyright.gov. It is a very easy process. The cost is $35.00.

Join award-winning novelist Robert N. Macomber for an informal discussion of one of the most difficult tasks a writer faces—how to edit one’s own work. He’ll explain his methods to better the product prior to an editor seeing it, most of which he learned the hard way while writing well over a million published words in nine novels and numerous magazine pieces. Some of them may surprise you. He will be an exciting July speaker.

The “Island Getaway Contest” kicked off last month. Aurelie Shuleshko and John Repa were the first to win the drawing and receive the free trips out to North Captiva Resort. After their trip, they will write a 500 to 750 word piece about their experience. These entries are posted on North Captiva’s Website and by the end of the season next year, the entry with the most and best blog comments is the winner.

If you have not checked out our Website lately, I suggest you do. There are some exciting changes, and if you have published books, see the new page “members books.” Our new photographer, Denise Holbrook, is now taking head shots of members to post on the Website, see her if you want one taken.

Hope to see you all Saturday, July 17 for our next meeting, and keep on writing.

Sincerely,
Richard Georgian
President