The Shoebox & the Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Writer Conference

Who knew that a shoe box would have anything to do with a writer's conference?

At the Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Writers Conference this past weekend I started learning stuff before the workshops even began. I was sharing a vendor table with fellow author Tenita Johnson and the fact that she was still working on her setup when I was finished in under 5 minutes was the first sign that I was about to be schooled. On her side of the table was a lollipop-filled mug, strips of words of encouragement, colorful magnets highlighting her book's message, along with the standard business card and promotional items. Sure, those things were awesome in and of themselves but when she slid a shoebox under the tablecloth, elevating her book above everyone else's--hot damn! I marveled at the ingenious!



Notice the extra decor on the other side of the table.

 Lucky for me the trunk of my car is like traveling storage container and there was a box--not a shoe box but a box nonetheless-- inside that I can use for the occasion. Worked like a charm. Don't get me wrong. I didn't sell any books, but that's not why writers attend writer conferences. We go to learn how to sell and write books better.

And learn I did!

This post would be endless if I tried to list everything I learned at the conference. Instead I'll direct you to my Twitter account. Look for tweets with hashtag #eom2012, #mwn.

Til my next post. Happy reading!

Sincerely,
L.A.

Cookies & Milk--My Writing Weekend Reward

Considering I'm participating in two weight loss challenges, cookies and milk was not the best way to reward myself but they were yummy! If you're wondering why I'm rewarding myself, let me tell you. I had a fantastic writing weekend! It all began with the Motown Writers Network monthly meeting. First meeting I've been able to get to all year. Of course, I knew exactly what I'd been missing. Networking! Knowledge! Camaraderie!

We begin every meeting with introductions. Ironically it was because of this that I attended this meeting in particular. After 3 years of being a published author I should be better at this than I am but I'm still a bit withdrawn at times. In the days before the meeting I was admonishing myself to DO BETTER! Honestly, I have more opportunity than I care to admit to telling people about myself and my work that I don't take advantage of. I knew that I couldn't get out of it if attended the meeting because Sylvia Hubbard would have none of that. I absolutely love her!

At this months meeting, there was a presentation by Stephanie Lewis on graphic design and social media for authors. Overwhelming information! I'd be typing forever if I tried to regurgitate the information this young lady provided. Let's just say, I, along with every other author needs to step up our game. Our websites need to be formatted like that of world-renowned best selling authors! We must use social media to our advantage, Tweet and Facebook the RIGHT way to find SUCCESS.

I was so amped up by the discussions with my writing peers, I skipped the trip to the mall that I planned for after the meeting and headed to the coffee shop to finish a chapter I'd been struggling with and get started on the next one! You see, that's a great purpose for belonging to a writer's group! I always leave my buds motivated to step up my game! Can't wait until next month!

LaCharmine (L.A.) Jefferson
Author, Writer, Blogger

Website: www.lajefferson.com
Blogs by me:
L.A.'s Literary Love Life@ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com
A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com
Naturally L.A. @ http://naturallyla.wordpress.com
Surviving Work @ http://survivingmydayjob.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

2011 Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Conf

Awesome! Energizing! Electrifying! Educational! Phonomenal! Fun! Long. Exhausting. Irreplaceable.

Above are only some of the words that come to mind when I reflect on the day spent at the 8th Annual Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Conference hosted by the Michigan Literary Network and Motown Writers Network. Founder of the conference and the network, Sylvia Hubbard, pulled it off again, with a host of volunteers, sponsors, vendors, workshop presenters, and panel discussion participants.

A few of my personal favorite presenters today included author and motivational speaker Monica Marie Jones, who was also having a book release party for her latest book Monday Motivations, Versandra Kennebrew, author, speaker, holistic teacher, and life coach, as well as national bestselling author of 13 books, Vincent Alexandria.

Now that I'm done with my literary shout outs, let's get to the literary lessons learned. Disclosure: A literary sistah could only spread herself so thin during the course of one day. There were lots of workshops to choose from. Below are few of my takeaways from the two workshops I participated in as well as a new activity added to the conference itinerary--60 minuted write-in (i.e. lock-in, but for writers).

Motivating Yourself to Market Your Book--Workshop 1 Facilitated by Monica Marie Jones

Perfect ones 30 minute elevator speech. Make your audience want to know more about you.

Fan the fire of your project. Get a buzz going about your book BEFORE its even finished. Easily achievable by having your book cover designed early and releasing it to the public. Blog regularly about yourself, your book, or subjects related to your book. Keep yourself on folks' minds.

Don't keep your deadline to yourself. Tell your readers when you plan to have your book completed. They will keep you on target by always asking, "How's the book coming? You almost done?"

Social Media for Authors--Workshop 2 Facilitated by Versandra Kennebrew

Utilize group lists on Facebook. Suggested groups for authors may include: fans, book club members, writers, PR professionals, virtual mentors (see description below)

Have Facebook Fan Pages targeted for each area you work in (i.e. fiction, nonfiction, motivation). In the case of our presenters, Versandra Kennebrew,  who is not only an author, but also a massage therapist, life coach, and holistic teacher, she has a Facebook fan page for each of these subjects to better engage her fans of those particular endeavors. The same should be for all authors. Create a fan page for each book you publish, every service you offer. Social media is all about connecting to as many people as possible!


Develop virtual mentors. Thanks to the power of the Internet you don't have to personally know people to learn from them. You can easily Google successful authors you admire and learn by watching. A good number of virtual mentors is 10 but you can have as many as you'd like.

Be a resource to others. It's to your advantage to help others. While you're helping them, in essence you're helping yourself. The more people who know you is greater exposure to the people in THEIR network. See how that works.

Have a target number of  Facebook fans and/or friends, Twitter followers, Blog subscribers. Without goals of where you want to go, you have no sense of growth for your business (your authors, hip, your blog, etc) or no sense of how well you're doing.

Write-In--Hosted by Venus Mason-Theus As much as I loved the workshops I participated in, this event was THE ONE I anticipated the most. It was simply a one hour free write session. Participants could start on a fresh piece or work on a project in progress. Considering I hadn't written anything on my upcoming novel the previous week, I NEEDED this hour. The goal was to write non-stop (no backspacing, no deleting, no minor editing). And what a benefit it was! In that hour, I added nearly 700 words to my novel. Plus, the exercise got my creative juices flowing for the rest of the day.

Needless to say, I had a great time! And I had company. My wonderful daughter was kind enough to man my vendor table while I was bouncing around in and out of workshops and networking, soaking up all of this knowledge! Isn't she adorable???

Yours in Literary Love,

L.A. Jefferson :)

Networking Tips--Mailing List

Just arriving home after attending a Glam R Us event, I find myself still pretty excited from the networking opportunity that it turned out to be. The event was a demonstration to attendees on makeup application for everyday and evening occasions. However, the gracious host, the Glam Doctor--being the giver that she is--also allotted approximately 10 minutes for attendees with their own businesses to promote their business by turning in a business card for her to read off to the audience. In hindsight I kind of remember the event details advising business owners to bring business cards with them but that was furthest from my mind as I trudged on to the event after a very exhausting day at work. BUT, I've heard it in enough writer's meetings to know that I absolutely MUST ALWAYS HAVE ON HAND some kind of promotional material for my book and myself as an author because networking opportunities have no bounds!

So that is more like a refresher networking tip to remember--Always keep a stack of business cards/promotional flyers on your person (i.e. in your purse, coat pocket, vehicle glove compartment,etc). Here's what I didn't think about--creating a quick makeshift mailing list. Why? Even though it wasn't my event, those who expressed interest in my book may have been eager to join my list. Fact is, just because someone takes your card doesn't mean they're going to make use of it--or at least not any time soon, if they don't lose in the pile of other cards they collect. On the other hand, if they are willing to give you their email address for your mailing list, a shift of power now exists for you, the business owner--in my case, author--has the control to reach out/follow up with that potential reader. For example, one of the women who took one of my cards mentioned that she was in a book club and that she'd love to recommend my book to her club. Awesome, right? Absolutely! Good news with her is that she also gave me her card so I do, at least, have a way to follow up and I certainly will! But that wasn't the case with some of the others :(

Anyway, as you see, on this literary journey there are always things to learn, but I was very pleased with my application of everything that I've learned thus far in the game and I hope you have, too!

Til Later..L.A. Jefferson

Martini's and Manuscripts: The After Glow

Martini's and Manuscripts was a success! The Renaissance Club was the perfect spot for the event, allowing for a night filled with intimate networking opportunity. While I didn't make any sales, I learned a lot. Here's a few things that I took from the experience:

1.) Networking is not chatting with the people you already are acquainted with. It's okay to mingle with familiar faces, but the whole purpose is to meet and expose yourself to people you don't know and, most importantly, people you want to know you.

2.) Be prepared for the unexpected. The featured author at the event had two meetings prior to the event. At no time was it said that there would be opportunity to introduce ourselves and read a selected passage from our books. Perhaps I should have expected this or at least been prepared, but like I said, this was my first event as a featured author. So when the time came, I hate to say I choked. Since publishing, I haven't read any parts of my book aloud and I was nervous about fumbling and getting choked up with a coughing episode. I won't harp over spilled milk, but needless to say until my next event I'll be practicing and I'll never let that kind of opportunity pass me by again.

3) Follow up with all contacts. Luckily this is one of my strong points. One aspiring writer and I engaged in an intriguing conversation about an upcoming project of mine on marriage and divorce. He's putting together an online critique group so I signed up. Well, this morning I confirmed him as a friend on Facebook. I also invited another writer friend of mine to complete our group. I made another contact with a woman, not interested in writing, but is an avid reader. She loves reading and offered her services of critiquing my work. Not sure if she charges a fee, but that gives me a reason to get in touch with her and tell her how great it was meeting her. I'll be touching base with her this evening. It's important not to wait too long, so people don't forget about you :)

4) Always take pictures. In this social networking & visual society we're operating in, pictures speak volumes to anything you're involved in. If you want people to get to know you, posting pictures is a great way. Not to mention the memories they create. I didn't have my own camera, but I was in quite a few pictures, which I'm sure will be on Facebook soon and I'll be sure to tag myself. But at the next event, I'll be sure to have my own camera.

With all this said, I'm eagerly awaiting the next networking opportunity. Details below:

What: Motown Writers Network Annual Literary Meet & Greet
When:Saturday, August 8 11:00AM- 2:00PM
Where: Barnes & Nobles Bookstore on E. Warren, Detroit, MI

Hope to see you there.

Til Later,

L.A. Jefferson

Martini's and Manuscripts

Tomorrow is the BIG day! Martinis and Manuscripts at the Renaissance Center, Tower 200 in downtown Detroit. I'm pretty excited and filled with nervous anticipation, this being the first event I'm particiating in as a featured author! But being an active member of Motown Writers Network and host of the 2nd Wednesday Michigan Literary Network blogtalk radio show, I'm sure nervous anticipation will soon be a feeling of the past.

As for tomorrow, I have no clue what to expect! Will I be introduced? Will I have to introduce myself? Or will I just be standing behind my assigned table to speak with people who come up to chat? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm fighting off the jitterbugs and working on promotional items. Yes, I should've started working on those when I got offered the author spot. But what can I say? I'm a procrastinator :( Funny thing is, if I hadn't had a scare on Monday that my books weren't going to be shipped on time, I probably wouldn't have thought about any promotional items. As they say, "everything happens for a reason." It's a good thing the purpose of this event isn't selling books (though sales will be a definite plus), but networking and offering advise & words of wisdom. However, promotional items are a plus so I won't disappoint attendees. I'll have business cards, promotional bookmarks and writing tips to share.

I'm looking forward to a fulfilling & fun time tomorrow evening. If you can come out, please do. I'd love and appreciate your support

Til later :)

L.A. Jefferson

Martini's and Manuscripts

It's official. Author L.A. Jefferson will be a feature author at the July 22nd event, Martini's and Manuscripts. As mentioned in a prior post, the purpose of this event is to bring together seasoned writers/authors with aspiring authors. Some of the authors who'll be in attendance include:

Anthony Cuffie

Ed Foxworth

Crystal Hickerson

Sylvia Hubbard

Monique Mensah

Dennis Reed

L.A. Jefferson

There will also be a local publishing house in attendance to offer assistance with getting your work published.

What to expect:

Gaining a wealth of knowledge from established authors and getting involved in a new brand of networking.

Get your tickets in advance to be entered into a drawing to win a weekend getaway. Below is the link for tickets: http://martinisandmanuscripts.eventbrite.com/