Category Archives: Genres - Page 4

Jonathan Maxwell – Arranging Public Appearances

Posted by on May 7, 2010 No comments
On May 6th 2010, Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with successful nonfiction author and speaker Jonathan Maxwell. He is the author of Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS (2009). Jonathan has tirelessly promoted his books at bookstores, libraries, museums, colleges, and K-12 schools. Today, he shared his wisdom about

  • The Importance of Making Public Appearances (sales, marketing, buzz)
  • Alternatives to Public Appearances (reviews)
  • Obtaining Public Appearances (libraries, schools and colleges, museums, bookstores)
  • Charging Fees (why, when and how much)
  • Becoming a great speaker(tips and tricks)
Jonathan Maxwell is an Atlanta-based writer, editor, and critic. He holds a BA in English from Berry College in Rome, Ga., as well as a psychology minor. He also holds a paralegal certificate. Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS is his first book. Released in November 2009, the work has since received considerable critical acclaim. Maxwell’s next book- Piltdown Man and Other Hoaxes- will be released late this year. This book is a lighthearted examination of scientific frauds through the centuries. In addition to book-writing, he has composed op/ed pieces in newspapers great and small, penned reviews for literary journals, and has written chapters for history textbooks. As a freelance editor, he was worked for the publishing giants Harcourt and Pearson.
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Janet Grace Riehl – Do-it-Yourself Audiobook Production

Posted by on April 16, 2010 1 comment
On April 15th, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman interviewed poet, author, and performance artist Janet Grace Riehl about recording, producing, and marketing audiobook versions of eBooks and print publications. Her book Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary, told in story poems, was recently made into an audio book Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music. Twice selected as finalist for Poet Laureate of Lake County, California and a member of Authors Guild, her poems, stories and essays are published in national literary magazines and several anthologies.

Janet broke it all down for us on audiobooks into easy-to-understand steps

  1. Creative;
  2. technical (editing, mastering, disc numbering);
  3. legal (licenses and copyrights);
  4. production;
  5. distribution and marketing; and,
  6. Big Celebration.

Resources mentioned on this podcast
Janet Grace Riehl is an award-winning author, artist, performer, community mentor, and creative collaborator. Her poems, stories, and essays have been widely published in national literary magazines such as “Harvard Review” and the anthologies “Stories to Live By: Wisdom to Help You Make the Most of Every Day” and “Hot Flashes 2″.

Her life moves between the big city in St. Louis in the Central West End to the family home place on the bluffs above the Mississippi River in Southwestern Illinois where she collaborates on creative projects with her 90-something father. Feel free to contact her by email at janet.riehl@gmail.com.
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Marie Davis – Your Career as a Cartoonist!

Posted by on April 3, 2010 No comments
On April 1, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman interviewed veteran cartoonist and graphic artist Marie Davis on the nuts-and-bolts of this exciting creative visual endeavor.    Marie is the creator of three comic strips which have run as long as 14 years in syndication: Kentucky Tales, She said…She said…, and Besos. We covered a wide range of topics in cartooning, including

  • Cartoons as educational tools
  • How to get started on cartooning
  • Building a portfolio and finding your creative voice
  • Non-traditional outlets for cartoon work: businesses, book illustrations, and more.
  • Coloring–how it works
  • Cartoon grammar–the 1 panel, 3 panel, and 6 panel strips
  • Finding a mentor
  
For seven consecutive years, Ms. Davis has won First Place in the Louisville Chapter SPJ Awards for her outstanding work in the fields of editorial cartoons and minority/women’s affairs reporting. Her commitment to Women’s History has led her to travel throughout the state of Kentucky uncovering the untold stories of women. These stories prompted her to create a traveling show entitled, Ten Great State Women, which kicked off at the state’s capitol in Frankfort with Governor Paul Patton leading the Opening Day festivities. The show then spent the rest of the year traveling throughout the Commonwealth, inviting all Kentuckians to learn more about the great wealth of women’s stories.

In 1994 her first strip, Kentucky Tales, began its fourteen year run as a newspaper-in-education program. It used humor and history to teach gender equity and multiculturalism to children in middle school. Now in its tenth year, Ms. Davis’ second strip, She said…She said…runs in Today’s Woman magazine. This cartoon’s topic deals with the struggles and accomplishments of women from the Kentucky and Southern Indiana area.

Her most current cartoon work is titled, Besos  it is a multilingual lesbian cartoon strip published in five languages: Belarusian, Russian, French, Spanish and English. With her business partner and marketing genius Margaret Hults, her audio book and this cartoon strip are spreading around the world. As of June 2009, they are available in the GBLT communities of Russia, Belarus, France, Mexico, Australia and the United States. Presently, we are engaging the women of India and China and plan to have this cartoon strip translated into Mandarin by the end of this year..
 

  
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Intensive critique classes online in fiction and memoir

Posted by on December 26, 2009 1 comment

Claiming and Polishing the Power of Our Stories: Intensive critique classes online in fiction and memoir. (10 weeks)

 This is an advanced writers’ workshop open both to writers who have studied with me, or those who have not but are invited to participate after sending a 3-page sample of your work in fiction or memoir, and a paragraph describing the project you are working on, or aim to develop. The workshop focuses on your work-in-progress and the questions you pose about craft, which will be addressed specifically in relationship to your work. This intensive critique class will respond to each individual’s needs as they continue to develop and revise their work toward the completion of a memoir, novel, collection of short stories, or collection of memoiristic essays. Many of the fiction writers in the class may have an autobiographical connection to their work; this connection may be direct, or may be subtle, internal, roundabout, and not absolutely necessary or identifiable. This course means hard work, following your own strong impulses and directions, and receiving and giving helpful, extensive feedback. Participants in the group who have studied with me previously have shown themselves to be insightful and constructive in their responses, and I aim in my feedback to you to illuminate in large and in detailed ways the deeper subject matter, language and structure of your project. The course will begin in late January or early February, to be determined.

Fee: 325$ payable in full before the start of class. Please aachtenberg@gmail.com or 651-214-9248 before January 2, or after January 18. Remember, if you have not studied with me before, please email, within the body of your email and NOT as an attachment, a paragraph or one page project description, and a 3-page writing sample from your project.

***If you are looking for another kind of online workshop with regular lectures posted each week, I will continue to teach with writers.com — see http://www.writers.com/achtenberg.html#story  for Claiming Our Stories… Parts One and Two.