On the heels of winning yet another award for his debut novel, America Libre, this time First Place in the Books Into Movies Awards from Latino Literacy, author Raul Ramos y Sanchez returns with its controversial sequel, House Divided. Out January, Raul is now very much in full swing with a sustained marketing campaign he built from scratch, and that has already greatly contributed to his publication success. Come February he and his agent, Sally van Haitsma, will walk you through the essentials of public relations, branding, social media and direct marketing to get your own work noticed…
It seems everything today is about writers needing to have an online platform to be taken seriously in the publishing world. Thing is, most writers would much rather be writing than devoting incalculable hours to social networking that may not result in a single book sale. Writers must manage their time efficiently. What works, what doesn’t, and how to win not just “friends” online, but book buyers, is what SCWC webmaster and popular workshop leader Jeremy Lee James addresses at JeremyLeeJames.com. Resulting greatly from feedback gleaned from his multiple appearances at the conference, there’s plenty of great information there, including this new series of articles, “A Workflow For Writers To (Mostly) Automate Their Social Media Strategy.”
By the way, many who attended LA8 expressed interest in Jeremy’s new service for writers who want a super-simple, affordable way to launch and maintain a high quality website. It’s now up and running at Write Click Hosting.
More SD25 staffers to announce. The first of the agents confirmed include Sandra Dijkstra Literary’s Jill Marr, Sally van Haitsma (van Haitsma Literary), and Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein (senior agent, McIntosh & Otis). Authors Judy Reeves, Laura Taylor and Robert Yehling are back, as is freelance editor and genre guru Jean Jenkins. Still plenty more to announce as we start rounding out the schedule. Don’t forget to email us any specific topic suggestions you’d like to see addressed in February.
Finally, on the good “muse” front: Indy Quillen, recipient of the SCWC*LA8 Award for Outstanding Fiction, only a month after September’s conference has signed with Paul Fedorko of powerhouse agency N.S. Bienstock. Paul had requested the full manuscript (as did two other agents) after review of its initial pages during advance submission critique. Way to go, Indy! Only a matter of time now.
