Remember to attend this month’s meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group, Florida Writers Association, for a virtual tour of writing dens, reading sites, and creative locales in the Orlando area. Member Elaine Person has spent hours and hours and pint after pint (in gasoline, not brews) trying to create a working list of current open mic events and writer’s hangouts. Her list will become even more helpful as she explores some of the differences and nuances between the events.

That meeting is this Wednesday, September 3, at the University Club of Winter Park; the meeting is free and open to the public. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

Remember to attend this month’s meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group, Florida Writers Association, for a triple feature! First, member Dan Anderson will be speaking about his publishing adventure—initially with a traditional publishing house, and later with Print-On-Demand (POD) publisher BookLocker. Second, Dan will be performing a reading from his recently released murder-mystery, Bad Vibrations. Third, as if that wasn’t enough, member Rik Feeney will unveil the Web site that he initially designed for Dan’s books, Murder, Mayhem & Malice Press.

That meeting is this Wednesday, August 6, at the University Club of Winter Park; the meeting is free and open to the public. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

After a guest speaker who discussed self-publishing with a small press at our July meeting, in August, we’ll explore the option of self-publishing through a Print-On-Demand, more commonly known as a POD, publisher. POD publishing is one of the quickest and least expensive ways to self-publish. Leading this meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group (Florida Writers Association) on August 6, will be Dan Anderson from our very own ranks.

Dan has recently published his first mystery, Bad Vibrations, which he decided to publish through Booklocker, a well-established and well-known POD publisher, after some last minute “issues” arose with his traditional publisher. In addition to discussing his experience with the traditional publisher, what happened to that relationship, and what led him to the POD option and Booklocker, Dan will also do some readings for us from that first novel. Copies of his book will be offered for sale at the end of the meeting.

We’ll also get a peek of Dan’s Web site for Bad Vibrations, which was initially designed by another of our members, Rik Feeney. Rik will also offer tutoring for future development of the site.

That next meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 6, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the University Club of Winter Park. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. Our meetings are free and open to the public. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader, at ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

While working on his first manuscript, one of our very own members, Christophe Couallier, came to realize (1) that the writing world—and the publishing realm in particular—was difficult to navigate, and (2) that one of the most puzzling pieces of the process seemed to be an enigma known as “the agent.” Join us at the May 7 meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group (Florida Writers Association) as Christophe leads us through his search for information on agents.

The source of information that Christophe found most helpful was a book he feels could serve as a reference for all of us—Your First Novel: A Published Author and a Top Agent Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream (Writer’s Digest Books, 2006). Christophe will begin our evening by offering a thorough review of the content in Part II, “Publishing Your Novel,” which was written by top literary agent Ann Rittenberg. The “book report” session of his presentation finished, Christophe will then share his own comments about the book and lead us into a discussion about the merit of becoming an agented author, how to go about selecting an agent, working with an agent, and what to expect from an author-agent relationship. Whether you are writing your first manuscript or have already published many books, you will appreciate his interpretation of Rittenberg’s information.

Please join the Orlando Writers Group for Christophe’s presentation and share in the interaction that will follow. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the University Club of Winter Park. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. The program is free and open to the public. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

The March 5 meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group (Florida Writers Association) is a roundtable discussion—motivating yourself to write. Whether it’s commandeering writer’s block to get back to work, getting started in the first place, or revising and repurposing, it seems that we all need some motivating occasionally. Leading the evening once again is our very own Rik Feeney. Rik will present some ideas to get us started, but then we hope you will share your own tricks and remedies—no matter how bizarre they might be—in an open discussion.

By the way, a videographer will be taping Rik’s initial part of the program to serve as an audition tape for his entrance into the cruise line lecture circuit—something else for him to tell us about some day!

We will also be discussing meeting space options, so come with those ideas, as well.

That meeting is this Wednesday, March 5, at the University Club of Winter Park; the meeting is free and open to the public. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

How many times have you been a victim of writer’s block? How many times have you wanted to write something, but you just couldn’t decide what? Join us at the March 5 meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group (Florida Writers Association) as we hold a roundtable discussion of these—and more—writing issues. Leading the evening once again is our very own Rik Feeney. But this time, Rik is not speaking to us but encouraging each of us to participate in an open discussion of

• exercises to overcome writer’s block,
• brainstorming original topics for new works, and
• “reslanting,” or repurposing, content for new projects.

“Yes, all of those topics are interrelated,” Rik says. “And everyone has his or her own ways of beating such situations.” Rik is working on wrapping up his forthcoming book, Writing for Fun, Fame, and Fortune, which will address some of these everyday problems in its opening chapters. “I hope many of the members who come on March 5 will bring their own remedies to share with everyone else. Some of their ideas may even appear in the book!”

Please join the Orlando Writers Group on Wednesday, March 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the University Club of Winter Park. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. The program is free and open to the public. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

Remember that our very own Rik Feeney will be leading us in the next meeting of the Orlando Writing Group (Florida Writers Association). Rik will be providing us with an overview of Web sites and blogging, as well as an introduction to podcasting and videologs. This is not just a talk, either, but a presentation with live demonstrations!

As part of the evening’s session, bring along your thirty second “elevator speech” so we can do our intro/catch-up round quickly and get on to the topic of the night—I’m promised it will be an information-packed session.

That’s Wednesday, December 5, at the University Club of Winter Park; the meeting is free and open to the public. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.

The Author Web site: If you build it, will they come? And, even if they come, will they buy? Those two questions will introduce the topic of the December 5 meeting of the Orlando Area Writers Group (Florida Writers Association). While conveying the importance of not only having an author Web site but also knowing what makes it tick, Rik Feeney, author, self-publishing coach, and infopreneur, will introduce, explain, and explore the following related concepts:

• What are the basic elements that are necessary for an effective author Web site?
• What are keywords? And, how do you develop an effective strategy using keywords for Search Engine Optimization?
• Why do you need to capture a potential client’s information? Is your site prepared to do so?
• How can your competitors help you reach more clients?
• Are podcasts and videologs effective elements of an author Web site? How difficult is it to post podcasts and videologs?
• What benefit are blogs? Did you know you can start one in ten minutes or less?
• What are bio-boxes, spiders, and satellite sites, and what effect do they have on book sales?
• What is the Amazon strategy for book sales and fulfillment?

Rik Feeney maintains his own Web site at www.GymnasticsTrainingTips.com. He is the author of several books on the sport of gymnastics, the first of which was Gymnastics: A Guide for Parents and Athletes, now published by McGraw-Hill, and has gone on to ghostwrite and author nearly fifty books.

Join Rik and the Orlando Writers Group on Wednesday, December 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the University Club of Winter Park. The University Club is located at 841 Park Avenue North, on the northwest corner of Park and Webster Avenue. The program is free and open to the public. For additional information, visit the group blog at www.fwa-orlando.org or contact Stephen Evans, group leader—ImYourEditor@hotmail.com or 407-898-4299.