Synopsis Workshop Oct 13th with FWA St. Pete

For our Thursday, October 13th Meeting, publishing wizard Molli Nickell will be speaking. We'll meet at the Main Branch St. Pete Library at 6:00 PM. Networking/mingling begins at 5:30 PM. This meeting is open to the public.

Topic: Synopsis Workshop

How to prepare: Send Molli the Synopsis of your story by Oct. 6th
Note: To prepare ahead of time, Molli will have a private page on her website with info about how to write the synopsis and a simple template. Visit this LINK for that info. 

She will be giving feedback to those who submit their synopsis by October 6th. Or you can bring your synopsis to the meeting, but those will be on a first-come first-serve basis.


BIO:
Former publisher, Time-Life and acquisitions editor, MOLLI NICKELL, has been in the publishing biz for 35+ years. She’s authored hundreds of articles and seven books, acquired and edited manuscripts, presented keynotes, designed projects, and led workshops for industry giants including Workman, HarperCollins, Better Homes and Gardens, Simon & Schuster, the SCBWI and ABA. Molli, THE Publishing Wizard, helps writers learn everything they need to know about the submission process to help them achieve their goals of agent/book contract/shelf space at Barnes and Noble.

Molli's website: www.getpublishednow.biz/

Wonderful meetings in June and July, a FREE webinar, and a peek at August

FWA St. Pete June flashback

In June, St. Pete Writers Group had the privilege of meeting Molli Nickell of Get Published Now. Her topic: Rules of the Query Road. Attendees were informed ahead of time that they could bring their query letters for Molli to workshop with the group. Five brave souls handed over their letters, and Molli gently (with plenty of humor) took the group through each letter: what worked and what didn't. She explained what agents and publishers were looking for now (an ever-changing model) in the query letter and emphasized the importance of the Subject line of the email containing our query--that line, too, must grab the agent's attention.

Molli's Free Webinar: "Write a Query that Lands an Agent!"
If you missed the June meeting, you won't want to miss this free webinar. If you attended that meeting, you're probably thinking the same thing as me: I could use more of what I learned from Molli.

FWA is planning for several future webinars, and this first one will be free so be sure to get in on the ground level and see what it's all about.

When

• Saturday, August 15, 2015
• Time: 11 AM - 12 PM Eastern

Location

• You will need a computer with internet access and speakers for audio
• Login information for the event will be sent to all registered participants two weeks before the webinar. For further information, contact us.

Fee

• FREE for FWA members because this is our pilot webinar. In return, we will ask for your feedback to help us improve future events.
• This event is capped at 100 attendees, so sign up TODAY! LINK TO SIGN-UP: https://floridawriters.net/conferences/webinars/write-a-query-that-lands-an-agent/

FWA St. Pete July flashback

In July, Author Lisa Ann O'Kane spoke at our monthly meeting. Her topic: Embracing Your Sometimes Fickle Muse. An excellent presenter, Lisa took us through her personal journey to publication which included securing an agent, but also a first book that never made it to a publisher and a second book that was published just before the company dissolved, leading to a much different writing journey than she'd imagined. She asked the group tough questions about writing goals and facing fear, encouraging everyone to find what works for them in the writing process and run with it.

FWA St. Pete August flash forward

For our August 13th meeting, John Rehg will be speaking about Self-Publishing on a Budget (or free). More details to come.

FWA St. Pete Meeting June 11th with Molli Nickell

June FWA St. Pete Meeting

For our upcoming meeting on Thursday, June 11th, Publishing Wizard Molli Nickell will be speaking and workshopping query letters. As usual, we meet at the Main Branch St. Pete Library at 6 PM. Networking begins at 5:30 PM. This meeting is always open to the public.

Topic: Rules of the Query Road

What to Bring: Please bring a query letter that you have written, no more than 350 words. Treat this query letter as if it were the email you would send an agent, publisher, or editor. At the top of the query letter, type SUBJECT LINE and enter whatever subject line you will be entering in the email's subject line.

Writing a query letter can be very challenging. The agent, publisher, or editor on the receiving end can simply hit "DELETE" in order to send a writer's letter into the virtual trash receptacle. Molli will be helping us understand how to properly write professional query letters that avoid the virtual trash bin. She will also be doing cold readings and evaluations of query letters that are brought to the meeting. This is not usually a free service! Take advantage and come with your query letter.

BIO

MOLLI NICKELL, author of “WRITE RIGHT: Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot,” has survived 35 years in the publishing biz as a Time-Life editor, publisher, motivational speaker, UCLA writing instructor, six-times published author, and, in her way-former life, Malibu surfer chick. Currently she mentors writers as a pre-submission specialist, story doctor, query wizard, and marketing guru. Molli helps writers achieve the ultimate goal of agent, publisher, and shelf space at Barnes and Noble.


Website: http://www.getpublishednow.biz

New Critique Group in Palm Harbor

Molli Nickell is starting a new critique group in Palm Harbor. Here are the details from her:

"Critique group begins on Wednesday, June 17. After that, we'll meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. Any alterations to the schedule will be posted on the library calendar page.

Although this is a FWA (Florida Writers Association) group, non-members are welcome. The group is limited to 10 active participants. Auditors are welcome to attend and "listen only." (The number of active participants might change if an 11th person danced in the door carrying a plate of really good cookies!)

Handouts, when available, will be shared with everyone. 

The group is filling up. The following writers have expressed interest in participating: John T, Anne, Larry, Vickie, Kim H, and Alan. We gather at 5:30 PM for meet 'n greet, critique begins at 6 and ends at 7:45.  

Focus will be on manuscript development/refinement and marketing (how to create the query submission packet).

   

If you'd like to reserve a spot, send me an email at getpublishednow.biz@gmail.com. Write CRITIQUE in the subject line.

Location: East Lake Community Library, 4125 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685 727-773-2665."

Thank you, Molli, for opening up this new group! If you're interested in joining her critique group, be sure to email her ASAP.

Molli Marks Up the First Page

Publishing consultant Molli Nickell reviewed first pages, spoke on the state of the publishing industry and encouraged a captive audience to review their use of adjectives, adverbs and weak verbs in order to polish the first page (and others, as well) of their manuscript. She emphasized the need to grab attention, mentioning that most editors know within six or seven sentences if you are a writer. She also remarked that Times Roman is the new font standard, and cautioned against fudging on double-spacing to get more lines on the first page.

Though focused on fiction, Molli included advice for the non-fiction writer and reviewed several non-fiction works.

She concluded by mentioning four books that she has found very useful for the writer:
1. How to Write a Book Proposal - by Michael Larson (good for non-fiction, especially)
2. What's Your Story? - by Marion Dane Bauer (good overall plus for young writers - fiction)
3. Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook - by Donald Maass
4. The First Five Pages - by Noah Lukeman

You can read Sam's review of the third book, by Maass, on an earlier posting on this blog and I can second the motion that the fourth book is valuable, as I've read it and learned a lot.

UPDATE: Molli will return in October to review your synopsis!