Dear Gulf Coast Writer,
If you were among the 37 who attended the May 18 meeting, you were part of a priceless experience: getting into the heads of writers about their publishing experience. Some were self published, some traditionally, some hybrid. It was fascinating to learn how our members journeyed from manuscript to print.
Among the many learnings during that meeting, we heard that none of our authors is getting rich from publication of their works. This is typical. Statistically, a vast majority of authors earn virtually nothing after expenses.
But at the end of the meeting, I threw out a non sequitur: “I have not published a book, but I have earned over a thousand dollars by entering and winning contests.”
That was a tease for the June 15 meeting, when we’ll welcome Laura Tichy-Smith of Florida Weekly, our state newspaper. Laura is not only a staff writer at Florida Weekly but also runs the annual Writing Challenge at that publication. That contest is in progress now. Every two weeks two new photo prompts are published in Florida Weekly, from which we are challenged to create a piece of fiction no longer than 750 words. At the end of the season, winning stories will be announced, then published in the newspaper and online. There are also monetary prizes.
Come and learn from an insider. This new knowledge will help us not only prevail in the Florida Weekly contest, but also in other writing contests around the nation and the world.
See you Saturday June 15, 10 AM, 6111 South Pointe Blvd., Fort Myers. We’ll all learn something.
Mary
