Marla Miller's 2013 Daily Workshop Schedule with Special Guests

SANTA BARBARA WRITERS CONFERENCE, 6/8/2013—6/13/2013

Marla Miller’s MarketingtheMuse Workshop Schedule: 1PM—3:30PM

Workshop Overview:

Most sessions begin with Read & Critique, 1-2 pm– Openings only, Fiction/nonfiction, Query Letters &/or Book Proposal Overviews.

2-3:30 pm– Special Guests, All Guest Speakers  are creatively BUILDING PLATFORMS!

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6/9/13-SUNDAY

1-2pm: Read & Critique: OPENINGS only! Fiction/nonfiction, Query Letters &/or Book Proposal Overviews

2-3:30pm: Publishing Options & Essential Ingredients of Platform Building.  Indie Author & Google Indie Author TV host Jason Matthews joins Marla Miller 

 6//10/13-MONDAY

1-2pm: Read & Critique: OPENINGS only! Fiction/nonfiction, Query Letters, Book Proposal Overviews

2-3:30pm: Marketing Your Muse: Muse Harbor Publishing’s marketing Director/Indie marketer, Margaux Hession & Indie author, Nancy Klann join Marla for lecture/discussion. Margaux will include a power point presentation of marketing strategies & Nancy will discuss how to get Indie books reviewed.

 6/11/13-TUESDAY

1-2pm: Read & Critique-OPENINGS only! Fiction/nonfiction, Query Letters, Book Proposal Overviews

2-3:30pm:  Published Authors with Sturdy Platforms: How they built them and how you can, too. Madeline Sharples, Eleanor Vincent and **Linda Joy Myers.

**Memoirists should NOT miss this workshop.

6/12/13-WEDNESDAY

1-2pm: Pitch Witch Workshop, Jennifer Silva Redmond & Marla Miller-Perfect your elevator pitch!  To watch us ‘in action’ click here for 4 minute Pitch Witch video

2:10-3:30pm:  The Editor/Author Relationship: How to find one and what to expect. Editor/Indie screen writer, Jennifer Silva Redmond & Indie author Gayle Carline discuss their working relationship.

6/13/13- THURSDAY

1-3:30: The Essentials of Manuscript Editing: What every writer must know. Amazon & traditional publishing editor Tiffany Yates Martin delivers ‘in-workshop’ critiques of opening 2 pages. Watch her ‘eagle editor eye’ zoom in on your opening pages! Writers, BRING your opening pages for on-the-spot critique! Our goal is to accommodate ALL. Sign ups begin at 12:55

6/13/13-Thursday

4- 5 pm: Platform Building Panel: For all SBWC conference attendees.

Platform Building Panel guests: Marla Miller moderates Blog/social media experts Ninety Degrees Media/Lisa Angle,  eBookSuccessforFree/Jason Matthews  and BooksAreMyBoyFriends/Kit Steinkellner

Q/A panel/discussion so bring your questions!

2013 Best Opening Thanks & Congratulations

Dear Writers, Thanks to those who participated in our 2013 Best Opening writing contest. After reviewing over 200 entries, some clever, others funny, many thrilling, and a few lyrical, we’ve selected the winner of this year’s competition and recipient of a 2013 SBWC tuition scholarship.

First Place: Diane Winant When Mom drove around with Grandma Schmidt on Tuesdays and Grandma Toots on Thursdays, I heard from the back seat of our Pontiac sedan that Aunt Alice didn’t wear underpants, Uncle Herman never paid income tax, and Cousin Cathy’s “appendicitis” was really a baby girl.

We’d also like to name several honorable mentions, listed in alphabetical order:

• Lorie Brallier
• Ann Doyle
• Christina Gessler
• Peggy Kassees
• Stuart McElderry
• T. Patrick Mulroe
• Shelly Parker
• Chris Westphal

Again, thank you for sharing your words!

Write On!

Nicole Starczak SBWC, Director

“Your best move is to start everything you write fast. That means, something highly unusual that’s distinctive to you and your voice should happen on the first page, so that people are compelled to read the second, and the third, and the fourth.” – Gar Anthony Haywood, author of Cemetery Road, speaker at SBWC 2012 and teaching at SBWC 2013

Best Opening Contest -- Enter to Win a Scholarship to the 2013 SBWC!

Dear Writers, Enter to win a tuition scholarship to the 41st Annual Santa Barbara Writers Conference! Send us your BEST OPENING, up to 50 words — a beginning most likely to compel a reader to turn the page.

• Email all entries to: sbwcBestOpening@gmail.com
• Please include contact information: name, phone number, email address, & mailing address
• Paste your entry and contact information into the body of the email
• Word Count: Up to 50
• All genres welcome
• No entry fee
• This must be your original work, published or unpublished
• Winner receives a tuition scholarship to the 41st Annual Santa Barbara Writers Conference, June 8 to 13**
• Open: Today!
• Deadline: Wednesday, May 22, Midnight (PST)
• Winner Announced: Thursday, May 23

Please share this opportunity with writers you know.

Write On!

Nicole Starczak SBWC, Director

“I think your opening is enormously important. You’ve got to write a first line that will haunt you. It’s got to be magic.” – Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina, and keynote speaker at SBWC 2012

**In the event that the winner cannot attend the 2013 SBWC, June 8 to 13, the scholarship will go to the runner-up.

Mother's Day Contest Winner

Congratulations to Kristina Cerise, winner of our Mother's Day writing contest and recipient of a scholarship to the 2013 SBWC! Check out Kristina's winning entry below.

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Things My Mother Taught Me

by Kristina Cerise

PERFECT: being entirely without fault or defect; flawless; satisfying all requirements; corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept

It’s Mother’s Day. I should write an ode to my perfect mother. But I can’t.

I’m reminded of something my father once said about funerals. He said he hates eulogies because when they are over, you can’t recognize the person you came to mourn. He complained that eulogies only share the “good stuff” and leave out the “real stuff.” Eulogies make people sound like saints instead of friends.

I feel the same way about most Mother’s Day cards and sentiments.

There is lots of “good stuff” about my mom. But, there is also lots of “real stuff.”

She meddles. Like the time she caught Husband ironing and attempted to wrestle the iron out of his hands. According to my mother, it is unacceptable for a husband to do his own ironing. To keep the peace, I now make sure Husband is dressed and has put the ironing board away before my mom arrives.

She loses her temper as only an Irish woman can.

She offers unsolicited advice. Often. The week before my wedding she mentioned she had been journaling about my faults and offered to share her insights with me. I declined the offer as politely as I could.

She regularly recommends self-help and personal growth books to her children. Once, she gave my brother one as a gift.  She even pre-highlighted and tabbed it for his convenience.

She worries about weird stuff. She is especially concerned about the germs lurking in wet hair waiting to be activated by exposure to the outdoors.

She knows – and uses – bad words. “Sh*t” is her personal favorite.

But, here’s the thing:  I love her. Today and every day. She’s my mom.

Her penny-pinching made my childhood experiences and college education possible. Her sewing skills kept me in custom Hammer Pants with matching hair scrunchies for years. She introduced me to Gilbert Blythe and Mr. Darcy. She opened a world of adventure when she took me hiking and camping. She taught me how to preserve food and host a party on a budget.

I am grateful for all the “good stuff.” But, I am also grateful for the “real stuff.”

Because in the midst of raising children it is a great comfort to know for certain that children are capable of loving flawed mothers. I make mistakes. All. The. Time. Some mistakes I’m quick to identify and correct. Others I’m sure I won’t see until hindsight works its corrective vision magic. My kids will make a different list of my “real stuff” but they will have a list.

Of all the things my mom taught me, I am most grateful for the lesson that flawed mothers are loved every bit as much as the perfect ones.