Grammar Basics

June 25-30

The Many Roles of Words is a five-day, five-lesson workshop beginning June 25 and ending June 29, 2013. I use simple prose as examples to make the lessons in the ways words are used to communicate easy to understand. Each lesson discusses one or maybe two of the many roles of words. I give one or a few websites that offer practice in the topic of the day as homework. These sites are also excellent resources for you after the workshop for other grammar challenges you might encounter. Because writers rarely write four- or five-word sentences, you will not submit sentences from your writing for homework.

Who needs this workshop? Can you answer these questions? You may check your answers on my blog.

Which word role/s would you omit if you wanted to cut wordiness?

Which role has a (large) handful of words called “stuntmen” in it?

Which role qualifies as a “sentence” all by itself?

If these questions had you stumped, this workshop is for you. You do want to communicate with your readers clearly, succinctly, and effectively, don’t you?

MM Pollard's Blog

How to Turn Your Blog Into a Powerful Marketing Tool

October 1-11

Topics will include:

- Using Triberr, a blog sharing platform, to drive traffic toward your blog.

- Syndicating your blog through sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter and tips for getting followers.

- Helpful plug-ins and buttons to maximize your blog's effectiveness

- Tips for writing effective blog posts without taking away from your novel-writing

- Leads on where to find blog hops and blog tours to host, how to participate in regular ongoing events, and using Rafflecopter to enhance your giveaways.

- Can you turn your blog into a book?

- Monetizing your blog through affiliate links from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple and Kobo.

Stacy Juba will provide helpful tips, resources, and use examples from her own blog to illustrate how authors can use their blogs as an effective marketing tool. In addition to writing books for adults, teenagers, and children,  Stacy also regularly posts on her blog One Stop Reading. Her blog has a reach of over 766,000 through Twitter and Triberr, and her book 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror: 52 Authors Look Back originated on her blog and serves as a promotional tool for her romantic suspense novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. She is a former journalist with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit.

Seminar Host: Stacy Juba

Indie Publishing. Is It For You?

February 4-18

Is Indie Publishing the Next Big Thing? Or is it just a thing? How do you know if it's right for you? Or if you're ready to take that step? Join author Terry Odell as she presents the ins, outs, pros and cons of publishing your books yourself. Odell has published traditionally in print and with digital publishers, and has moved her focus to going indie, with eleven titles published. She'll be posting information and answering questions starting February 4th.

Terry Odell is an author of mystery and romance. I can’t remember learning to read, only that I always did. My parents tell people they had to move from our first home because I finished the library. Learning to write is another story. In some ways, I’ve always been a writer—I just never put the words on paper. Most of my ideas were based on books or television shows or movies I thought I could “improve” with my own plot or character changes.

March 2013

How To Write A Romance Novel

Have you ever thought about writing a romance novel but don’t know where to begin? Or maybe you’ve started one but need some motivation to keep going. In this week long seminar you’ll learn-

How to craft characters both editors and readers will love.

How to put create natural sounding dialogue.

How to not run afoul of heading hopping.

How to compose an attention grabbing cover letter and synopsis.

Susan Palmquist is the author of short stories and novels in both the romance and mystery genres. Under her pen name, Vanessa Devereaux, she’s the bestselling author of over 40 erotica stories and erotic romances. She’s also a writing tutor and teaches workshops for various chapters of the RWA. This seminar is a mini workshop based on her Amazon bestseller, How To Write a Romance Novel…getting it started and getting it published.

At the end of the seminar there will be prize drawing where one participant will win a copy of the electronic version of the book, plus feedback by Susan of a 1-2 page synopsis.

Visit Susan’s Web sites at Susan Palmquist, Vanessa Devereaux and her blog