Need for Social Media Presence

At the conference today, there were two themes emphasized in both workshops I attended, and also during the publisher's panel.

(1) The publishing industry is still in turmoil, as it has been for several years, as the industry strives to understand, adapt to and accommodate the rapid changes in technology.

(2) The continuing increase in the utilization of the social networks (facebook, twitter, flicker, etc) within the publishing industry. I heard discussions about techniques for branding, badging, linking, etc. that were totally beyond my comprehension. But the overall message was this: any writer who wants to build readership, or a fan base, or make the right contacts had better learn to utilize these tools, because the publishing industry is quickly becoming almost totally dependent on them.

One recurrent suggestion: google some of the current successful authors, and see how they are using websites, blogs, twitter, fan bases etc. to enhance their resumes, and most important, to sell books.

Poetry at the Library

Big Doings at the Chatham Community Library

HAIKU CONTEST

Haiku is a Japanese poetic form consisting to 3 lines, with 5 syllables in the first and third lines, and seven syllables in the middle line. Since this is National Library Week, and also National Poetry Month, tell why you love libraries in Haiku form.

Here is one example:

Library dating

Is sexier than beer halls

You have to whisper.

Multiple submissions are encouraged. Drop them off at the library or submit online at www.chathamlibraries.org Please include name, age (if under 16) and phone number.

Entry deadline is Wednesday, April 27. The winner will be announced April 29.

Be creative, have fun, and tell why you love libraries.

POETRY SLAM

Come join for a night of performance poetry. Participants may perform their own or a favorite from another poet. Two rounds, with each contestant limited to 1 poem and 3 minutes per round. Judges will be selected from the audience.

Friday, April 29, 7-8 PM

Please RSVP your attendance, even if you don’t plan to perform. Call Molly at 545-8084

Or email mluby@chathamlibraries.org

NCWN Network Spring Conference, April 30, 2011

NC WRITERS' NETWORK SPRING CONFERENCE

When: Saturday, April 30
Where: Elliott University Center, UNCG campus
Registration: www.ncwriters.org

Keynote speaker is best-selling children's author Carole Boston Weatherford.
Conference participants may select from a variety of half- and full-day
workshops, including "Writing For Your Life," a creative nonfiction workshop
with author Marianne Gingher; "Packaging Yourself as a Writer," with Press 53
publisher Kevin Morgan Watson; "The Worst Things Ever" with poet and UNC School of the Arts professor Joseph Mills; and Weatherford's "Think Anyone Can Write a Children's Book?" workshop.

Other instructors include David Halperin and Tracy O Connor on fiction, Anjail Rashida Ahmad on poetry, Edmund R. Schubert on science fiction and fantasy, Paul Cuadros on nonfiction, and Angela Harwood on marketing for authors.

Readings & Book signings in our area

Tuesday, April 12, 7:00 pm
The Regulator Bookshop, 720 9th Street, Durham
Anna Jean Mayhew will read from The Dry Grass of August, her literary debut
that explores the racial tensions of the South.

She will also read:
Tuesday, April 19, 7:00 pm, Flyleaf Books, 752 Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd., Chapel Hill
Saturday, April 23, 11:00 am, McIntyre's Books, 220 Market St., Fearrington
Village, Pittsboro
Wednesday, April 27, 7:30 pm, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Hillsborough
Wednesday, May 25, 7:00 pm, reading and lecture, The Burwell School,
Hillsborough

Friday, April 15, 6:30-8:00 pm
FRANK Gallery, 109 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
Maureen Crane Wartski will read from her children's book, Yuri's Brush with
Magic.

Sunday, April 17, 2:00-5:00 pm
McIntyre's Books, 220 Market St., Fearrington Village, Pittsboro
North Carolina Poetry Society presents Maureen Sherbondy, Grey Brown, and
Annalee Kwochka.

Sunday, April 17, 3:00 pm
Quail Ridge Books & Music, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh
David Rigsbee will read with Michael Chitwood.

Friday, April 29, 10:15 am-12:00 pm
Cameron Village Regional Library, Room 120, 1930 Clark Ave., Raleigh
Meet poets Richard Allen Taylor, Punching through the Egg of Space; Alice
Osborn, Unfinished Projects; and Maureen Sherbondy, Weary Blues; as they read
and discuss their books at the Wonderland Book Club.

Tuesday, May 3, 7:30 pm
Quail Ridge Books & Music, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh
Diane Chamberlain will read from her new book, The Midwife's Confession.

Sunday, May 8, 2:00 pm
McIntyre's Books, 220 Market St., Fearrington Village, Pittsboro
Caroline Taylor will read from her exciting detective tale, What Are Friends
For?

Saturday, May 12, 11:00 am
McIntyre's Books, 220 Market St., Fearrington Village, Pittsboro
Marjorie Hudson will launch her debut story collection, Accidental Birds of the
Carolinas: Short Stories.

Sunday, May 22, 2:00 pm
McIntyre's Books, 220 Market St., Fearrington Village, Pittsboro
Lou Lipsitz, Diana Pinckney, Robert Abbate will read as part of the NC Poetry
Series.

Sunday, May 22, 3:00 pm
Quail Ridge Books & Music, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh
Kathryn Stripling Byer presents her Southern Fictions, deep and
thought-provoking sonnets about race issues by the former NC Poet Laureate.