Alice Acheson

Sun 26th: What does a Publicist do, and Why Should You Care: Four basic Publicity Principles and Six Secrets of Success.

Is she responsible for all the marketing of your book? What are her Four Basic Publicity Principles? How can you apply the Six Secrets of Success? What is The Greatest Marketing Tool of All -- and how can you employ it? Today -- and for all Alice Acheson sessions -- there will be copious handouts to ease your marketing now and "forever."

Mon 27th: Publicity for Pennies: Marketing with Creativity Instead of Cash

Some PR campaigns cost $1,000,000 and didn't translate into sales. How/when do you encourage the publisher to market your book? How/when do you assist the publisher market your book? Then, to supplement your publisher's marketing efforts, when/where do you spend money? When/where can you save money? How/when can you use creativity instead of cash? Walk out of this session with abundant handouts and your head buzzing with effective ideas that cost "pennies."

Tues 28th: Answers to Three Essential Questions: How to Create Successful Store Sales/Events, How the Author Can Help obtain Book Reviews, Which Form of Publishing Should You Choose

Without getting your book into -- and out of -- bookstores, it will only achieve partial success. Another piece of the marketing puzzle is those important (vital for some genres) reviews. Which of the three publishing routes should you choose in order to achieve these two goals? The answer may surprise you! Yes, there will be plenty of handouts.

Alice B. Acheson is equipped with 35 years experience in publishing. Beginning at McGraw-Hill (as an editor for six years, then publicist for two), Alice moved on to Simon & Schuster as Associate Publicity Director, and ended her corporate life at Crown Publishing.

Her publicity efforts have included four simultaneous New York Times bestsellers.* Others have included The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel and Simon Bond's 101 Uses for a Dead Cat.

Alice established her independent marketing and publicity organization in New York City in July 1981 (with moves to San Francisco in 1988, and the Pacific Northwest in April 1996). Her company provides a full range of services for publishers, authors, illustrators and photographers of fiction and non-fiction on a national, regional and/or local basis. These services include marketing (from book contract through publication date), publicity (including author tours), special sales, and subsidiary rights (especially magazines and book clubs).

She is particularly proud of her efforts for Old Turtle by Douglas Wood, which won the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year. Quite a feat considering it was the author's first book, Pfeifer-Hamilton had never published a children's book, and they had never marketed any of their books nationally. Old Turtle has now sold more than 800,000 copies and Alice was rewarded with the Literary Market Place Outside Services Award for Advertising, Promotion, and Publicity.

* Donahue by Phil Donahue & Co., Heartsounds by Martha Weinman Lear, Doctor Fischer of Geneva or the Bomb Party by Graham Greene, and Sins of the Fathers by Susan Howatch. Indeed, there were actually five books on "the" list at the same time. However, one would "fall off" as the other entered. The fifth was a first novel, Green Monday by Michael M. Thomas. Therefore, the list included all five aspects of adult book publishing -- commercial and literary fiction, nonfiction and a first novel.

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Marvin Bell

Mon 20-Fri 24: "What I Do in the Dark" Parts 1-5: Description: Description: Marvin Bell talks poetry as a surrender to a sense of form. He may confess how he wrote some of his poems. He is likely to tell stories and to speak about imagery. If desired, there will be several overnight writing assignments.

Poet Marvin Bell 19th book, Mars Being Red, much of it wartime, appears in July of this year. He is the creator of what are known as the "Dead Man" poems, for which he is both famous and infamous. He and his wife, Dorothy, live in Iowa City, Iowa, and Port Townsend, Washington. Mr. Bell has collaborated with composers, musicians and dancers and often performs with bassist Glen Moore of the jazz group Oregon.

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Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

Mon 20th: Did You Write That for Children?
What is children's literature? Who is it for? Is the borderline between books for children and books for adults narrowing? Carmen Bernier-Grand will illustrate her talk with her experiences in writing biographies on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

Tue 21st: Books from Parallel Cultures: Who can tell their stories?
Writers have been told to write about what they know. Carmen Bernier-Grand says, "Write what you are passionate about. If you are passionate, you will find out what you need to know, and you will end up writing a book that shows respect to others." Carmen will speak about the importance of research, not just for non-fiction, but also for fiction, whether writing about your own culture or another.

Carmen T. Bernier-Grand is an Orego-Rican. She has lived in Oregon for twenty-nine years, longer than she lived in Puerto Rico where she was born. She has a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Puerto Rico and taught math for seven years. She left Puerto Rico to study advanced math at the University of Connecticut where she met her husband. As soon as they moved to Portland, she began to write children’s books.

Bernier-Grand is the author of six books for children and young adults. Her CESAR: Yes, We Can! ¡Sí, Se Puede! won Pura Belpré Honors for her poems and David Diaz’s illustrations. Her book FRIDA: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! will be out this summer. DIEGO: Bigger Than Life, illustrated by David Diaz, will be out in 2008.

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David Bischoff

THE INNER AUDIENCE

Sun 26th: THE STORYTELLING INSTINCT
The oral tradition is the key to understanding the underlying purposes for modern fiction of any kind. By understanding and analyzing successful oral processes for storytelling, we can better understand the roots of storytelling between author and reader. A writing exercise will explore further.

Mon 27th: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SOURCES OF LITERARY DEVICES
A closer examination of the devices used in fiction such as tropes, dialogue, exposition, description and "Voice" to create fiction in light of their psychological effect upon reader in storytelling process. An exercise will explore further.

Tues 28th: THE BRIDGE -- AND ITS DESTINATION
The key to successful fiction is to create a connection between reader and author through the bridge of prose. A closer look at tricks of the trade -- and their resonance into desired impact of theme and memory. Finally, how to create THE INNER AUDIENCE process to process channel the "creative" to the "communicative" in your own mind as you put words to paper. Further exploration in a writing exercise.

After graduating from University of Maryland in 1973 with a degree in Radio, Television and Film, David Bischoff worked for NBC Washington until 1980, when he left to devote himself to writing and teaching. Bischoff's major novels include Nightworld, Mandala, Star Fall, Tin Woodman and the Gaming Magi trilogy -- all science fiction and fantasy. His mainstream work includes The Selkie and The Judas Cross. He has published over a hundred short stories in various magazines and collections, has extensive non-fiction credits and has worked as a ghost writer. His story Tin Woodman was a finalist for the NEBULA AWARD. Subsequently it became the basis for an episode of Star Trek. He has written scripts for ABC, Walt Disney, Dic, Marvel Entertainment and Paramount Pictures. His credits include two filmed scripts for Star Trek: The Next Generation. For many years in the 1980s he taught for The Writer's Center in Glen Echo Park in the D.C. area. He presently works with Seton Hill University on a Popular Fiction MA program. He presently lives in Eugene, Oregon, where he helps raise his five year old son, Bernie.

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Christopher Howell

Fri 24: THE TERROR OF THE BLANK PAGE
Bill Stafford maintained that writing was easy, that anyone could sit down and carve something out. This has not been the experience of everyone who who has attempted to put words on paper. Most, in fact, have had encounters, sometimes persistent encounters, with that pathology known as "writer's block;" it has dogged writers through the centuries and shows no signs of becoming less wide spread. This lecture will discuss the history of writer's block, as well as its forms, psychology, and outcomes and will present strategies for overcoming or sneaking past writer's block.

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Andrea Hurst

Wed 22 & Thu 23: FROM INSPIRED IDEA TO PUBLISHED BOOK Parts 1 and 2
Do you have nonfiction book ideas that you dream about getting published some day? Have you always wanted to write a cookbook, a poetry sampler, a memoir, or a travel book? In these sessions we will brainstorm your creative ideas and figure out the next step for turning them into a publishable book. Each person will have the opportunity to determine their goals, the marketability of their idea, and discover the best path for sharing it with others.

Andrea Hurst is the author of two books including the newly released Lazy Dog's Guide to Enlightenment published by New World Library. Her first published book, Everybody's Natural Foods Cookbook, helped launch her 25 year career in the publishing industry. She is the president of Andrea Hurst Literary Management, and has worked as a professional ghostwriter and developmental editor for many authors in the areas of self-help and spirituality, including best-selling author Dr. Bernie Siegel.

www.lazydogsguide.com www.andreahurst.com

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Christina Katz

Creating Your Writing Career from the Ground Up

Mon 20th: The Entelechy of Your Writing Career: From the Inside Out
You can discover the right path for your writing career as naturally as the acorn unfurls into a mighty oak. Author Jean Houston "planted" the idea of entelechy in my mind and I'd like to share it with you through a series of questions and exercises that will help you discover your callings as a working writer. Once discovered, your writer's platform can be cultivated and combined with the needs of the marketplace. But before you start branching out, it helps to activate the keywords that uncover the audiences you connect with most naturally. From there, every writing career has ample opportunity for success.

Tue 21st: The Writer's Marketplace: Success Through Service
Self-consciousness is the enemy of productivity. Ask any writer who has ever been blocked and he or she will affirm this. The path to success, regardless of your specialty or which genre you choose to write in, is always service. Writers serve readers. Writers serve editors. Writers serve publishers. And writers serve themselves, of course. Some writers even have a higher vision for their work, for example to serve humanity. No matter whom you serve, this is the tried-and-true ticket to productivity. Through this lens, I will take you on a guided tour of the non-fiction writer's marketplace, including the easiest ways break into the markets that resonate with your best intentions.

Wed 22nd: The Profitable Writer's Toolkit
Where do your strengths meet the marketplace? That is precisely what we will discuss during this session. The world is a busy place these days, but by finding your rhythm, your groove, your whatever-works-for-you, you'll reduce the amount of preparation and research you must conduct each time you approach your work. So whether you're zeroing in on one genre (our focus is nonfiction but the same rule applies to all genres) or one type of market you wish to write for repeatedly, you'll begin to notice a subtle increase in momentum as you gain a visceral understanding of what writing success feels like, for you. Specific examples of helpful and unhelpful choices will be given. Customizable templates and checklists to support the submission and pitching processes will be provided.

Christina Katz balances writing with motherhood in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. She is the author of the recently released Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer's Digest Books). She has written over two hundred articles for magazines, newspapers, and online publications and has appeared on Good Morning America. Editor and publisher of the online zines Writers on the Rise and The Writer Mama, Christina teaches and speaks at bookstores, MFA programs, writing associations, and writing conferences. She also teaches eight e-mail classes each year to over one hundred students. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Christina earned her MFA in Fiction from Columbia College, Chicago. She lives in Wilsonville, Oregon with her husband, Jason, daughter Samantha, and a menagerie of pets.

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Kirby Larson

Sun 26th: Marketing Hattie Big Sky

At one time, authors simply wrote. Now, they must climb down out of their writing garrets and into the marketing trenches. This session will explore typical publisher support for a first trade book as well as what an author can do to promote his or her own work. Kirby will share the marketing plan she designed for Hattie Big Sky, as well as marketing tips gleaned from other published authors.

Kirby Larson is the author of five books for children. Second Grade Pig Pals was named a Seattle Times' Best Book for 1st and 2nd Graders; Cody and Quinn Sitting in a Tree was nominated for a Missouri Young Reader's Choice Award; The Magic Kerchief has won numerous awards, including the Oppenheim Platinum Award, Banks Street Best Books and International Story Tellers Award. She is also the winner of an International Reading Association Excellence in Literacy Award.

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Holly MacArthur

Thurs 23rd: Anatomy of a Literary Magazine and Publishing House

In this lecture and Q & A session, Tin House co-founder Holly MacArthur will talk about the trials, tribulations and joys of working in the literary world; how she launched the magazine; and what lies ahead for Tin House magazine and its offshoots Tin House Books, and The Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. Holly will offer advice on what to do and what not to do in order to get your work published in Tin House or similar publications.

Fri 24th: THINK SMALL: The role of little magazines and small presses in a literary career

It's not all about New York and the big publishing houses any longer. More and more writers of note are choosing boutique houses and small journals to showcase their work and build a respectable career in writing.

Holly MacArthur is managing editor of Tin House, a literary magazine she founded in 1999 with publisher and editor Win McCormack. She is a former senior editor of EcoTraveler magazine and of TravelAge magazine. She has written for the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, Rocky Mountain News, Dirt magazine, The Nose, and other publications.

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Michael Wiegers

Mon 27th: The Story of the Book

What does it mean to publish a book and just how is a book published? What happens after a book is accepted? What should an author's expectations be and what are the publisher's expectations? How are covers determined? In this "show-and-tell" session a veteran editor will guide us through all the stages of producing and publishing a book, while discussing the history and influences of one of the nation's premier publishers of poetry.

Tues 28th: Inviting Influence

Wallace Stevens once described writing as a form of intense reading. Keats famously valued negative capability as the mark of a great writer. Each poet placed value in the inherent risk of moving beyond the self, of living in "uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts". Whether in our own writing or via the art of literary translation, how-and why-might we go beyond the self? How do literary influences and the books we read affect the choices we make as writers and editors? Copper Canyon Press editor Michael Wiegers will provide a public discussion of the private act of reading, as well as a look at the art of translating poetry.

Michael Wiegers is the Executive Editor of Copper Canyon Press and has worked in Literary publishing for two decades. He has edited books by Ted Kooser, Ben Lerner, W.S. Merwin, Taha Muhammad Ali, Ruth Stone, C.D. Wright, Alberto Ríos, and many others. His anthologies include Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry and This Art.

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