Get Known Before the Book Deal

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON!

Here's a list of 2010 events where we can connect in-person:

Digital Book World
New York, NY
January 26 - 27
Panelist: "Get Noticed! Earn Attention for Every Book"
More info


Private Workshop: Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
January 31st
Location: TBA
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.
3-hour workshop
Increase your visibility and influence based on your personal strengths and balancing offline and online strategies.
Info coming soon...


The Associated Writing Programs Conference
April 7 - 10
Denver, Colorado
The Colorado Convention Center
More info


The American Society of Journalists & Authors Writer's Conference
April 24-25
NYC, NY
Info coming soon...


Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference
April 29 - May 1
Embassy Suites Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK
Info coming soon...

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON!

Here's a list of 2010 events where we can connect in-person:

Digital Book World
New York, NY
January 26 - 27
Panelist: "Get Noticed! Earn Attention for Every Book"
More info


Private Workshop: Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
January 31st
Location: TBA
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.
3-hour workshop
Increase your visibility and influence based on your personal strengths and balancing offline and online strategies.
Info coming soon...


The Associated Writing Programs Conference
April 7 - 10
Denver, Colorado
The Colorado Convention Center
More info


The American Society of Journalists & Authors Writer's Conference
April 24-25
NYC, NY
Info coming soon...


Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference
April 29 - May 1
Embassy Suites Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK
Info coming soon...

My Fall Schedule of Events: September 2009 - October 2009

SEPTEMBER 2009:

The 3rd Annual Writer Mama Back-to-School Giveaway
September 1-30, 2009
View the complete list of giveaway items.
Come on by and win some books!

The Northwest Author Series Presents:
Laura Whitcomb on Novel Shortcuts: Speed Depth in Fiction Writing
Created & hosted by Christina Katz
September 27th
Award-winning young adult author Laura Whitcomb of Wilsonville kicks off the 2009- 2010 Northwest Author Series at the Wilsonville Public Library. Her presentation, “Novel Shortcuts,” takes place in the Oak Room from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door for $5.00 or $3.00 for seniors/students. No advance registration is required.
More info

OCTOBER 2009:
Willamette Writers Mid-Valley Chapter Speaker
Get Known Before the Book Deal: A Platform Development Checklist
October 1, 2009
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette St., Eugene, Oregon
6:30 - 7:00 Social time
7:00 - 8:15 Speaker
8:15 – 8:45 Questions and books signing
Open to the public; tea, coffee and cookies provided

E-mail JoJo Jensen at midvalleyww@yahoo.com

October 3, 2009
Three-hour Workshop
Willamette Writers Mid-Valley Chapter
Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Cost: $49.00 in advance
Location: The Market of Choice -- upstairs classroom
Eugene on Willamette Street
67 West 29th Ave
Eugene, OR 97405

E-mail JoJo Jensen at midvalleyww@yahoo.com

October 11, 2009
Wordstock Festival of the Book
Get Known Before the Book Deal: A Platform Development Checklist
4:30 - 5:45 p.m.
Location: Oregon Convention Center
More Info

Fall E-mail Classes Begin October 7, 2009
Classes with Christina & Highly Qualified Instructors!

• Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff
• Platform 102: Grow Your Specialty Into An Online Platform
• Writing for the Web (with Jennifer Applin)
• Personal Essays That Get Published (with Abigail Green)
• Poetry for the People (with Sage Cohen)

The Northwest Author Series Presents:
Kati Neville on Test Market with Self-Publishing : Get Your Book Ideas Reader-ready
Created & hosted by Christina Katz
October 18th at the Wilsonville Public Library
From 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the door for $5.00 or $3.00 for seniors/students.
No advance registration is required.
More info

Five Reasons to Attend the Writer's Digest Biz of Getting Published Conference Next Weekend!

1) You’ll learn the ins and outs of marketing and promoting your writing.

2) You’ll start building relationships for long-term success.

3) You’ll move your career online.

4) You’ll get a one-on-one meeting with a WD editor to help you assess where you are in your career.

5) You'll learn nuts-and-bolts information not covered in most writing conferences.

And the sixth reason: to hang with me! I'll be speaking and you can use my discount code to get $50 dollars off! (Code: KatS8)

For a full description of the conference, visit the website.

Register for the whole weekend or individual days.

Hope to see you at the Friday night poetry slam too!

Webinar with Christina!

AUTHOR WEBINAR:"SHOULD I SPECIALIZE OR GENERALIZE?

Evaluating your skill set to get published in the new gig economy"

NEW DATE:
October 13th @ 10 a.m. EST

If you want to evaluate your strengths, analyze your skill sets, and answer this question as it pertains to you, this will be a helpful learning experience. I'd say this webinar is about as close as you can get to seeing and hearing me speak at a writer's conference. And everyone who participates will receive a copy of my recently released book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform.

I bet many of you have not done a webinar before but there is really nothing to it. You just show up in front of your computer at the scheduled date and time and watch the images I display on your computer screen while listening to my voice in real time. You can even type in questions for me to answer during the Q&A period. Here's the FAQ's. Register here.

Date Change: "Are You A Specialist or a Generalist" Webinar

Catch my first Writer's Digest Webinar!

Please Note: Date Change Tuesday, October 13th

Author Webinar Are You a Specialist or a Generalist?

Evaluating Your Skill Set to Get Published in the New "Gig Economy" by Christina Katz (60 minutes)

What are your skill sets as a writer, and how do you evaluate them? How do you decide whether to specialize or generalize? You need to establish a strong direction for your development as a writer to survive in the changing times of publishing. All registrants will take a pre-quiz called "What's Your Specialty?" designed to help you start identifying your strongest sources of expertise. This live event will offer:

• Tips and paths for both specialists and generalists, and how to get started
• Examples of writers' websites (both specialist and generalist)
• How to combine a specialist and generalist approach
• Your chance to jump-start your career using the same strategies as the pros
• Opportunity to ask Christina Katz your questions about platform development

Bonus: All attendees receive a copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz. I bet many of you have not done a webinar before but there is really nothing to it. You just show up in front of your computer at the scheduled date and time and watch the images I display on your computer screen while listening to my voice in real time. You can even type in questions for me to answer during the Q&A period. More info.

Scrapbook of the Writer's Digest/Book Expo America 2009 Conference at the Jacob K. Javits Center in NYC on May 27th

I've finally come in for a landing from the Writer's Digest/BEA Conference trip. And what a great trip it was! I'd like to roundup a few highlights.

So here goes, my WD/BEA virtual scrapbook:

Chuck Sambuchino posted his adventures on the conference here. Stay tuned to his blog, Guide to Literary Agents, for those high-quality pictures he's promising.

Agent Janet Reid shared her impression of the writers who volunteered to test-pitch their pitches in front of the entire group. [It's always a good idea to volunteer for opportunities like this. I did with my first book, Writer Mama, and it was worth the risk to make a favorable impression--shaking hands and all.]

Agent Robin Mizell talks about the benefits to writers who dare to approach agents and pitch their ideas: the writers get to assess the agents by meeting them up close and personal.

And last but far from least, here's Jane Friedman's great recap.

I had my new Flip camera at the event and so, as promised, here's a couple of those clips:

Here's a short portion of the Karin Slaughter keynote that kicked the conference off. Ms. Slaughter was hilarious. If you hear someone laughing really loudly, you are probably hearing me.

And here is the tail-end of the author book signings. I'm sitting next to agent Donald Mass and next to him is author Peter Selgin. If anyone can help me from there down, the insights are appreciated!

Big thanks to Jane Friedman, Greg Hatfield, Kelly Nickel and the whole team at Writer's Digest Book for hosting such a great event for writers!

Live Appearances by Christina Katz

 

I love chatting with readers and former students. Come and meet me!

Writer's Digest/BEA Writer's Conference
Wednesday, May 27th
All day
NYC at the Jacob Javits Convention Center
More Info

"Should I Specialize or Generalize?" Webinar
June 16th, 10 a.m. EST

If you want to evaluate your strengths, analyze your skill sets, and answer this question as it pertains to you, this will be a helpful learning experience. I'd say this webinar is about as close as you can get to seeing and hearing me speak at a writer's conference. And everyone who participates will receive a copy of my recently released book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform.

I bet many of you have not done a webinar before but there is really nothing to it. You just show up in front of your computer at the scheduled date and time and watch the images I display on your computer screen while listening to my voice in real time. You can even type in questions for me to answer during the Q&A period. Here's the FAQ's. Register here.

The Writer's Digest Conference:  The Business of Getting Published is designed to guide any author through the new dynamics of today's publishing world.  This three-day event takes place Friday, September 18, through Sunday, September 20, 2009, at the New York Marriott Marquis, on Times Square in New York.

With emphasis on platform, networking and social media, The Writer's Digest Conference is an innovative and ground-breaking conference, featuring the industry's top forward-thinking speakers, leading sessions on topics relevant to the current and future state of the publishing world.
Chris Brogan, social media genius, is the keynote speaker. 

Other speakers include Kassia Krozser, editor/publisher of BookSquare.com;  David Mathison, whose online sales success is the new business model;  Mike Shatzkin, the industry's top publishing consultant, Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler, whose own podcasts and videocasts have made them superstars in the business;  and many more, plus the editors of Writer's Digest!

Complete program information, including speaker bios, special events related to the conference and registration, is now available here.

June 16th Webinar with Christina Katz

"Should I Specialize or Generalize?" Webinar
June 16th, 10 a.m. EST

If you want to evaluate your strengths, analyze your skill sets, and answer this question as it pertains to you, this will be a helpful learning experience. I'd say this webinar is about as close as you can get to seeing and hearing me speak at a writer's conference. And everyone who participates will receive a copy of my recently released book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform.

I bet many of you have not done a webinar before but there is really nothing to it. You just show up in front of your computer at the scheduled date and time and watch the images I display on your computer screen while listening to my voice in real time. You can even type in questions for me to answer during the Q&A period. Here's the FAQ's. Register here.

Get Known Buzz and a Couple of Brief Rants

First, I would like to thank the King County Library System, and especially Deb Schneider, for inviting me up to speak at three branches. The audiences were great. I learned so much from interacting with them. And I'm already hearing from folks who are mid-read in Get Known and are already off and brainstorming ideas for their platform development. Thanks, Deb, Mary Jane, and everyone who attended!

Now THIS is really cool. Violette of Violette's Folk Art (which is wonderful btw) shared this illustrated response to the May/June issue of Writer's Digest Magazine. I feel proud and humbled to have played a small part in the issue. >>>

Lindsey over at The Write Words says "Nonfiction is good for the mind, Fiction is good for the soul." I think that's an apt sentiment, don't you? She keeps her copy of Get Known in the kitchen. Where do you keep yours? (Don't say the bathroom!)

Agent Robin Mizell mentioned not only that I will be at the Writer's Digest/BEA conference in NYC on Wednesday, May 27th, but that I am "charming." I believe what she is referring to is my lack of tolerance for baloney and my commitment to keeping the platform conversation based in reality for the sake of writers.

More on that, in a short rant, tomorrow. :)