Posts Tagged ‘before and after publication’

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan loves reading, writing, and looking for themes in clients’ manuscripts.

What have I been reading?

“Traveling in Bardo” by Ann Tashi Slater (also the author of Travels Within and Without, a chapbook of  the author’s Tibet-related fiction and non-fiction, produced for “Dreams, Memories, Journeys: Stories of a Tibetan Family,” her multi-media presentation at The Rubin Museum in NYC on July 6, 2016). What is “bardo”? In Tibetan Buddhism – the journey between death and rebirth.

Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing by Dr. Victoria Sweet (also the author of God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine)

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks (also the author of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain)

And, the book which I have multiple copies of (to lend to friends) is  The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge, M.D. (also the author of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science)

Then there are delicious novels (including sociologist Margaret R. Davis’s The Miranda Affair ) – I shall blog about these novels in another post.

As Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan, I am helping author / sociologist Margaret R. Davis promote her new novel The Miranda Affair -  How does one find happiness as women and men struggle to climb the corporate ladder?

As Theme Consultant Teresa LeYung-Ryan, I am helping my client (who is a chaplain at a hospice) structure his memoir (theme: letting grief ease). Bravo!

My own work in progress is a memoir related to my “Talking to My Dead Mom” monologue series.

Cheering for all story-tellers, writers and readers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme Consultant/Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan who teaches my clients (writers and artists) how to reach out, not stress out, before and after publication –

* identify themes in your manuscripts so that you can rewrite with ease;

* identify themes in your intellectual properties and create scripts for your websites/blogs, pitches, query letters, press releases, talking-points, one-minute videos, photo slideshows, and the all-mighty blog posts.

 

Coach Teresa’s motto:  “Reach out, not stress out. Help your fans find you BEFORE & AFTER publication”

For other posts in my blog, please go to: https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

If you’re looking for my blog posts pertaining to our Beautiful Brains and Neuroplasticity… https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog  look at right side of screen, you’ll see the category “Beautiful Brains Neuroplasticity”.  Please click on that category to get those posts.

 

 

 

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September 2014 Left Coast Writers Feature Betsy Graziani Fasbinder and Carol Sheldon

 

Left Coast Writers®: Betsy Graziani Fasbinder – Fire & Water

California time
Kate Murphy first encounters Jake Bloom as her patient in a hospital emergency room, but it is only later, when she experiences his sculptures on Ocean Beach that she is forever changed. Jake reveals beauty Kate has never noticed and exposes her to spontaneity, sensuality, and love deeper than she’d imagined it could be. Beneath Jake’s brilliance lies the menace of his profound and trecherous mental illness that Kate has yet to discover. Fire & Water is Kate’s story of navigating the treacherous territory of passionate love, friendship, and family devotion. It is the story of how love is always a matter of life and death.
In both her works of memoir and fiction, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder explores the unending complications of people living, working, and loving one another. She has been awarded the Floyd Salas Award, a Jack London award and two East of Eden awards for both fiction and memoir pieces.  Four of her pieces have been produced as Readers’ Theater works in the historic Nevada Theater in Nevada City, California.  She is the also co-producer of The Women’s Writing Salon in Nevada County.
Left Coast Writers provides literary connections, support, readings, writing tips, literary chat, unabashed networking, and great fun. LCW hosts a variety of activities to launch the books of members and explore publishing alternatives. See bookpassage.com/left-coast-writers
Location:
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA  94925 

Fire & Water (Paperback)

By Betsy Graziani Fasbinder
$16.95

ISBN-13: 9781938314148
Published: She Writes Press, 2/2013

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By popular demand, Teresa LeYung-Ryan interviews award-winning author Carol Sheldon

Left Coast Writers®: Carol Sheldon – A Sleuth in Sausalito

September 13, 2014, 7:00pm California time

A Sleuth in Sausalito takes place in California during the wild and free-living days of Sausalito. Poets, painters and philosophers dotted this artsy town, as well as a community of people living on houseboats. The river rats vs. the hill people continue an ongoing battle.

After ten years of not knowing what happened to her mother when she disappeared, Gwen Harris is notified that recently discovered remains might be those of her mother. Leaving the University of Michigan to find out what she can in Sausalito, where her mother disappeared, Gwen begins a long and arduous journey of discovering what happened, and who is responsible. Her trust in several people is shattered by secrecy, betrayal and deception. She begins to feel she can trust no one. Ultimately, she must decide who her real friends are, and who she will be able to forgive.

Carol Sheldon is the author of Mother Lode and Driven to Rage. Sheldon studied at the University of Michigan, where she earned a BA and MA in creative writing and education.

Location:
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA  94925
United States
$17.24

ISBN-13: 9780990518501
Published: Houghton, 7/2014

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Cheers to Carol Sheldon and Betsy Graziani Fasbinder !!

Sincerely,

Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan helps writers transform email signature blocks, photos, website descriptions, and YouTube videos into platform statements . . . before and after publication.
http://writingcoachTeresa.com
  • author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW. Click here for print edition. Click here for Kindle edition.
  • author of Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby
  • author of “Talking to My Dead Mom” monologue series
  • proud member and past officer of Women’s National Book Association-SF Chapter
  • proud member (SF Peninsula, Redwood, Sacramento branches) and past president (San Francisco Peninsula Branch) of California Writers Club
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Writers’ Platform & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here to say:

“I had such a good time on CBS Channel 5 Bay Sunday.  My big thanks to:  Arts-in-the-Valley radio show host Kim McMillon, Bay Sunday producer Akilah Bolden-Monifa, Bay Sunday host Frank Mallicoat (3 time Emmy Award journalist), Bay Sunday team (including audio expert Francisco Gomez, interns Jennifer and Chelsea, the gurus behind stage), colleagues Joan Gelfand, Ishmael Reed, and Pireeni Sundaralingam, and all my friends and clients who cheered for me and my colleagues.”

Please click here to see the segment on Bay Sunday’s YouTube channel - the show was aired on September 9, 2012, 5:30am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a platform anyway?  A platform is what your name stands for – what you care about.

After you watch the interview, please come back to this post.  What do you care about?

Tell us by submitting a comment to this post.

1. Click on the blue header of this post

2. Scroll down to get the boxes

3. Fill in the boxes and press [submit comment] button.  Consider keeping a copy of your comment and post it in your email signature-block and on other blogs. This is how you broadcast your platform.

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Please click here to see the segment on Bay Sunday’s YouTube channel - the show was aired on September 9, 2012, 5:30am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As coach and author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW,  I say: “Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have built my own platform happily.  My first novel Love Made of Heart  is used in college composition classes; available at public libraries; recommended by the CA School Library Association and the CA Reading Association; and archived at the San Francisco History Center. Love Made of Heart and my short play Answer Me Now carry the themes closest to my heart:  mother-daughter relationship; Chinese-American immigrant experience; helping adult-children (of mentally-ill parents) speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their loved ones.

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Please click here to see the segment on Bay Sunday’s YouTube channel - the show was aired on September 9, 2012, 5:30am.

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I care about helping writers thrive in the publishing arena.  Coaching writers before and after publication is what I enjoy doing.  Some clients prefer my coaching them 5 to 15 minutes a day for 22 consecutive days ( in-person, via Skype or phone calls); some prefer an hour or two hours at a time.  Start with my workbook — You can sneak preview the 2 exercises for Day 1 in Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days by going to Amazon and take advantage of their “Look Inside” feature.

How to contact me?  Click here please.

Please visit Coach Teresa’s Events Page  I’ll be at Sonoma County Book Festival in Santa Rosa, CA on Saturday Sept. 22, 2012 with fellow authors Margie Yee Webb and Rita Lakin !
http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  Click on “Coach Teresa’s Blog”

http://www.facebook.com/Teresa.LeYung.Ryan
http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

I cheer for all writers!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

 

 

Coach Teresa Advises Reading While Rewriting

Dear Writers,

Are you stressed out while rewriting your project?  Breathe. Drink water. Exercise.  And read, read, read.

Whatever genre you’re writing, give your characters new sparks by rereading your favorite book of the same genre.

Study how the author of that favorite book show:

  • what the protagonist wants (early in the story)–to connect with Reader
  • the authentic details in the setting, circumstances, vernacular
  • sensory details
  • dialogue and body language that reveals each character’s personality or what he/she wants to show
  • hooks, foreshadowing, metaphors
  • archetypes help move story forward
  • thematic threads

I’m cheering for you!

Sincerely,
Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Teresa LeYung-Ryan has helped over 1,000 writers.

As editor/story consultant, Coach Teresa helps her clients polish their manuscripts by identifying the themes and archetypes in their stories.

Her novel Love Made of Heart is used in college composition classes.

As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, she coaches authors before and after publication. 

http://writingcoachteresa.com Read other posts in her blog.

 

Coach Teresa, when and where is the Sonoma County Book Festival 2011?

September 24, 2011  10:00am – 4:00pm

The Sonoma County Book Festival

Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “Special thanks to Kate Farrell, Ana Manwaring, Linda Loveland Reid and everyone at Redwood Writers! I’m so happy to return to the Sonoma County Book Festival this year, sharing a booth with Kate Farrell & Margie Yee Webb (two of my favorite colleagues from Women’s National Book Association and California Writers Club) and showcasing my new workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days. Maxine Hong Kingston, the author who had inspired me to write my novel, will be there too! I use my novel Love Made of Heart to inspire adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families. Maxine plays a huge role in my workbook as well. Can’t wait to see her and be with all fellow literacy advocates. I love helping fiction & nonfiction authors attract agents, acquisition editors, publishers, readers, and media attention before and after publication. Please visit my blog http://writingcoachteresa.com for more resources. My motto: Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams.”

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan (who helps writers build their platforms and fanbases) celebrates literacy -- photo by MKWL

 

 

San Mateo County Fairgrounds

1346 Saratoga Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403

Expo Hall, Fine Arts Galleria, Literary Stage


Will There Be Fun Programs for Writers and Readers at the San Mateo County Fair?

Yes! Yes! Yes!  Laurel Anne Hill and David Hirzel had led workshops this past weekend. You’ll see them again this weekend.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

5:00-6:00pm Audio-­book workshop with Kathy Garver!

Have you ever wondered how to find new markets for your writing project?
Do you want to find out more about how audio books are created?
Would you like to learn how to record the audio version of your book?

KATHY GARVER might be best known for her role as Cissy on the hit 60’s
TV show Family Affair, but she’s also an Audie Award winner for narrating books (An Audie is like the Oscar for audio narration).

Excerpts will be read from Kathy’s The Family Affair Cookbook. Visit Kathy’s website:  www.kathygarver.com

6:00-7:00pm Author Anna Booth

7:00-8:00pm Pacifica Poetry Forum

8:00-9:00pm Green Tea Band musical act

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FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011   4:00-9:00pm (5 hours of fun)


(30 minute mini-workshops – 4:00pm; 4:30pm; 5:00pm; 5:30pm )

Creativity Mentor Mary E. Knippel

Free Family Fun for ages 10 and up! Let’s Play!

• unleash your creative side
• meet your inner artist
• catch yourself having fun
Mary E. Knippel, writer, Creativity Mentor, speaker and workshop leader, conducts workshops on California’s beautiful San Mateo coast in which participants connect with their creativity, focus on fun, and pursue play as a proven method to de-stress and cope with life’s challenges. Mary will help workshop participants discover the secret of journal writing along with experiencing the magic that happens when bits of paper are infused with imagination.  http://www.coaxingcreativity.com

6:30-­8:00PM
THE SAN FRANCISCO/PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB LAUNCHES THEIR ENDLESS SUMMER TOUR OF FAULT ZONE: WORDS FROM THE EDGE

an anthology of stories and poems to be read by the authors

Scheduled to present:
Lisa Meltzer Penn, Editor, Fault Zone: Words from the Edge
Ann Foster
James Hanna
Carole Bumpus
Linda Newman
Laurel Anne Hill
Ida Lewenstein
Darlene Frank
Bardi Rosman Koodrin, Literary Director, San Mateo County Fair

8:00-9:00pm

DON’T MISS THIS POWERFUL FICTION AND PRESCRIPTIVE NONFICTION MINI WORKSHOP BY ONE OF THE BAY AREA’S LEADING MANUSCRIPT CONSULTANTS, WRITING CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, AND BLOGGER EXTRAORDINAIRE!

Teresa LeYung Ryan will show you how to gain name recognition, fans, and advocates BEFORE and AFTER publication.

As manuscript consultant and platform-building coach, Teresa LeYung-Ryan helps her clients identify themes, issues, and archetypes in their fiction and nonfiction books and choose the right publishing routes.  Coach Teresa’s motto: “Reach out, not stress out, when building your career.” She’s the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Author Teresa LeYung Ryan uses Love Made of Heart to inspire adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and gain resources for their families.

Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan helps fiction and nonfiction writers build their platforms and fanbases

 

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SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011

1:00-2:00 Science Fiction/Fantasy Open Mic with author Laurel Anne Hill

2:00-4:00PM AUTHOR BOOK DAY

WE HAVE PAGE-TURNING THRILLERS, COZY MYSTERIES, MEMOIRS, HISTORICAL NOVELS, CONTEMPORARY NOVELS, POETRY, COOKBOOKS, DELIGHTFUL CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT STORIES, AND MORE.

BETH BARANY
EZRA BARANY
ANASTASIA BLACKWELL
PAUL CARLSON
JON CORY
MARGARET DAVIS
PATRICIA V. DAVIS
ELIZABETH FAJARDO
VALERIE FRANKEL
CHUCK FROST
KATHY GARVER
JAMES HANNA
LIAN GOUW
LAUREL ANNE HILL
SCOTT JAMES
F.M. KAHREN
BEVERLY KALININ
LI MAIO LOVETT
LISA MELTZER PENN
EMERIAN RICH
TERESA LEYUNG RYAN‘s books will be available – please visit author BIRGIT SOYKA’s table
JOANN SEMONES, PH.D
BIRGIT SOYKA
KAREN STANTON
DR. PATRICIA TSANG
LEIGH TOLDI
DR. NORMAN E. TUTOROW
MATT WEBER
ANN WILKES

4:00-5:00PM THE WOMEN ON WRITING “WOW” GROUP WILL PRESENT READINGS OF POETRY AND PROSE IMMEDIATELY AFTER BOOK DAY
WOW WOMEN ON WRITING, Skyline College, annually hosts  Women on Writing (WOW), a festive literary event in early March that inspires creativity and celebrates community among writers and readers of all ages. Six dynamic WOW leaders will read original poetry and prose .
Participants include:
WOW founder Marijane Datson, coordinator Kathleen McClung, keynote speaker Li Miao Lovett, and ambassadors Georgia Gero, Lisa Melnick and Ellen Woods.

My apologies to those authors who were either added too late or did not respond in time for online PR.
Bardi Rosman Koodrin
Literary Director
San Mateo County Fair


Where Do We Find Heroes? They Show Up–Young, Middle-Aged–What They Do–All Inspirational

First honoree in this video from The Media Center is Bardi Rosman Koodrin. In the interview, Bardi tells about her remarkable experience when she was five years old.

Here’s an email from courageous Bardi to me:
“Speaking of angels, did I send you the link to my interview for Local Heroes?  Aside from the 5 minute clip, there is a 20 minute version on YouTube where I discuss the pivotal night in my life when I was visited by an otherworldly woman bathed in white light.
BTW, had a meeting with the Patch editor yesterday.  My “Healing Chronicles” column is back on!!!!!!!  I so appreciate your efforts to help me and your blogging worked!!!”

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My dear colleague Kate Farrell (yes! this is the same Kate Farrell who created the anthology Wisdom Has a Voice: Daughters Remember Mothers) tells me via facebook:

“Hi Teresa! I know how supportive you are of library programs. Here’s a article about how Wallenberg students kept the school library running with no librarian and have received such community recognition.”

By Bryan Lowry
SF Public Schools Examiner

Wallenberg Traditional High School is one of the smaller high schools in SFUSD with an enrollment of less than 700 students. By comparison Lowell High School holds over 2,600 students. Wallenberg’s tiny campus was once an elementary school before transforming into a high school in 1981 named after Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of thousands of European Jews during the Holocaust. Accordingly, the school’s maxim is: “One individual can make a difference.

For the past four years Logan Cai, a student currently in his senior year, has been proving the truth of that maxim. The school requires students to perform community service in order to graduate, but Logan’s service has far surpassed the minimum requirements. Among many other projects, Logan has been volunteering as the school’s librarian. His efforts have earned him the 2011 Jefferson Award for public service.

Budget shortfalls in 2009 caused SFUSD to lay off Kate Farrell, the school’s librarian, and cut her position from the school’s budget for the 2009-2010 school year. Wallenberg was on the verge of becoming a high school without a library until Ms. Farrell made a suggestion: let Logan run it. Logan and his partner Fanny Lau were founding members of the school’s Ravenous Readers Book Club and Ms. Farrell had trained them as library interns. When the budget crisis occurred she believed her interns were ready to take the reins.

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Laurel Anne Hill, author of Heroes Arise, has stepped forward to help Bardi Rosman Koodrin.

Bardi says in a recent newsletter:

“The SF/Peninsula Branch of the California Writers Club will be stepping up to ensure that our Literary Stage at the San Mateo County Fair 2011 does not go dark this year. David Hirzel & Laurel Anne Hill will act as our Stage Coordinators. Other club members have offered to pick up the slack to produce various workshops, and to assure that the Second Annual Author Book Day go on without a hitch. Thank You CWC!!! Contact us right away if you want to help.”

Bardi Rosman Koodrin  & Boris Koodrin artika@earthlink.net

Kayte Van De Mark kt@creativeid.com

For tickets to the fair: https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/fair-info/fair-info/general-fair-info

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Friday June 17, 2011 Literary Arts Stage at the San Mateo County Fair

4:00-6:00pm Mary E. Knippel presents “Coaxing Creativity” workshop

6:30-8:00pm readings from California Writers Club–San Francisco Peninsula Branch members, including contributing authors in the anthology Fault Zone.

8:00-9:00pm  author Teresa LeYung-Ryan (past president of CWC-SF Peninsula Branch) uses Love Made of Heart to inspire adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and gain resources for their families. As Writing Career Coach Teresa, she helps fiction and nonfiction authors gain a competitive edge before and after publication with her workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days.

Visit Teresa’s blog at http://WritingCoachTeresa.com She is the sponsor for “The Immigrant Experience” Writing Contest and she hopes to meet the contestants at the fair.

How does protagonist Ruby Lin want to help her mother?

Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

May is Personal History Month


AMY GORMAN – Guided Autobiography class

Saturday May 22, 2010
PORTLAND, OREGON
Elders in Action and the Geezer gallery presents:
Grand Works Northwest Art Festival
~celebrating creativity in aging~
Amy Gorman offers:
Workshop in Creative Aging with the film, “Still Kicking”
The Mark Building, 1119 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR
www.eldersinaction.org
CONTACT: Brenda Morgan

Go to Amy Gorman’s website for other programs. She is the author of book Aging Artfully — about the twelve women aged 85-105 who inspired her work. It’s also about promoting positive healthy aging for the general public, and for advocating involvement with the creative arts in retirement years.

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Do you know about NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MEMOIR WRITERS?

Post your comment to NAMW founder Linda Joy Myers’s question: Why should I write my memoir?

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Saturday May 21, 2011 Asian Heritage Street Celebration in San Francisco, CA

Teresa LeYung Ryan will be with fellow authors Margie Yee Webb, Dr. Patricia Tsang, Lloyd Lofthouse at the California Writers Club booth at Asian Heritage Street Celebration “AHSC” on May 21, 2011.  Teresa uses her book Love Made of Heart to honor the Chinese immigrant experience and to inspire adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and gain resources for their families.

As a writing career coach, Teresa uses her workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days to help fiction and nonfiction authors attract agents, publishers, readers, and media attention before and after publication.

Teresa LeYung is the sponsor of “THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: NOVEL, MEMOIR, OR SHORT STORY” Writing Contest—entries must be received by 7:00 pm, Friday, April 29, 2011 or postmarked by April 25th, 2011. Winners’ names will be displayed at the June 11-19, 2011 San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Department.

Cheers from Writing Career Coach Teresa

 

Dear Writers,

I just submitted my application to become a contributing writer from Examiner.com (thank you, Yolande Barial, for the referral!  Read Yolande’s blog and article on Examiner.com).

Please use my blog to promote yourselves because Writing Career Coach Teresa’s Blog is getting over 17,000 viewers.  Tell my fans about your writing projects — by submitting a comment to this post. To do that, click on the blue title bar of this post, fill in the boxes, then press the [ submit comment ] button.  Need advice on writing and publishing?  Ask me–Coach Teresa.  Keep your questions short and sweet please.

•        Whether you want to be your own publisher or sell rights to another publisher, attract readers/fans now!

•        Whether you write fiction, narrative non-fiction or prescriptive non-fiction, you are THE expert of your experiences and an authority in your field.   Make your name synonymous with the themes/issues/subject matters in your book.

•        When you stick to a program, you develop new habits.  Let Coach Teresa show you how to gain a competitive edge.

•        “A platform is not what I stand on, but what I stand for.”

•        “Build your platform–22 minutes for 22 days.  Your writing career is worth the time.”

•        “Reach out, not stress out.  Help your fans find you!”

Sincerely,

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (the fun workbook that helps fiction and nonfiction authors gain a competitive edge before and after publication). See reviews on Amazon.

Build Your Writer's Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days bookcover

“Make Every Word Count When Pitching to Agents or Acquisition Editors”
by Writing Career Coach Teresa

You have spent months, perhaps years, writing and rewriting your project/work.  And, you’ve decided to pursue either an agent (who earns his/her commission when he/she sells a client’s work to a publishing house) or an acquisition editor (whose job is to buy authors’ works for the publishing house he/she works for). Let’s say you’ve done your homework and have compiled a list of agents or acquisition editors who specialize in the kind of project (commodity) you wish to sell.

An agent or acquisition editor receives hundreds of pitches/query letters each week.  What can you do to catch these folks’ attention?  Use the right bait.  Make every word count.

Whether you’re pitching in person, over the telephone, through an E-Mail, or by old-fashion mail, keep this in mind—the pitch (bait) has three components:
•    who needs your project
•    the unique qualities about your commodity
•    why you are the perfect author for this work

Here are 4 examples:

Genre: Self Help / Relationship / Marriage

The 50% and 60% divorce rates, for first and second marriages respectively, are a wake-up call for the United States 55.2 million married couples.

Through my book, I empower couples to get the marriage they’ve always wanted.

The Marriage Meeting Program: 45 Minutes a Week to Guarantee the Long Term Relationship You’ve Always Wanted shows how to conduct a weekly meeting that increases intimacy, romance, teamwork, and smoother conflict resolution.

A proactive, preventive approach is crucial. Regardless of how good a relationship is, there is always a need to keep it on track and room for it to grow. The Marriage Meeting Program’s step-by-step approach makes it easy to conduct the meetings. Follow-up studies show a 20 to 80 percent increase in marital happiness for couples who implement the program.

I am Marcia Naomi Berger, a psychotherapist, writer, speaker, workshop leader, and instructor of a class for therapists and counselors at the University of California Berkeley Extension. http://www.marriagemaven.com

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Genre: Memoir

There are more than 38-million boom-generation women in this country.  Through my book, I show middle-aged women how to cope with family and social pressures while dealing with their own mortality issues.

My memoir, Oldham Street, is about my journey from east coast to west bearing the pain of a son in prison, the long slow death of my father, the end of my counseling career and a ten-year relationship.  I knocked on a lemon-colored door on a short block in San Francisco.  In the next twelve years, the woman who opened that door, along with the other quirky characters in the neighborhood, inadvertently joined me in a process that brought me home to myself and into a comfortable role as the matriarch of my tribe.

I am Lynn Scott:

  • author of A Joyful Encounter: My Mother, My Alzheimer Clients, and Me (a memoir about the abundance of spirit that I found among my Alzheimer clients).
  • contributor to eight anthologies of fiction, memoir, and poetry.
  • a guest on OPRAH and other talk shows .

http://lynnscottbooks.com

http://lynnscott.wordpress.com

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Genre: Women’s Fiction

Recent survey data indicates that 22% of the 55,000,000+ married women admit to having an extramarital affair. STAYING AFLOAT is the story of one of these women –although she wouldn’t have admitted it if she hadn’t gotten caught.

Crystal Scott is a stable and stalwart, stay-at-home wife and mother, aiming only to run an efficient home, care for her children and avoid confrontation.  Whatever her private thoughts are, she keeps them to herself.  But when her husband loses his job and shows no signs of looking for another, fault lines in their marriage are exposed.  She’s forced to re-enter the workforce, and when her dazzling, dynamic boss takes a personal interest in her, she slips into territory that most women have fantasized about, even if they don’t want to admit it — she morphs into a sex-starved adulteress.

I am Judith Marshall, author of the award-winning novel, HUSBANDS MAY COME AND GO BUT FRIENDS ARE FOREVER. I’ve been writing for thirteen years and am a member of the California Writers Club and the Women’s National Book Association. In addition, I am the President of Human Resources Consulting Services and a member of the faculty of the Council on Education in Management, for whom I teach a number of public seminars on a variety of HR-relates topics. I’m currently working on my third novel, BITTER ACRES.
http://judithmarshall.net/

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Genre: Women’s Fiction / Humor

39%  of the 68 million women employed in the U.S. work in management, professional, and related occupations. Through my book Katie Carlisle, I show women how to hold onto their integrity, humor, and vision . . . in spite of having to fight sexism in the corporate world.

Katie Carlisle has been lucky enough to have a mentor (her boss) who has taken her to a point where her promotion is pretty well guaranteed.  Only then everything goes wrong.  Her beloved mentor leaves the company under a cloud; his successor is a man whom Katie hates and fears; and a downward spiral in her fortunes starts.  This is the story of a smart woman’s struggle to hold onto her integrity, humor and vision in spite of the tumult around her—and her eventual triumph.

I am Margaret Davis.  I have a doctorate from Stanford University in Sociology, with a specialization in the structure and behavior of formal organizations.  I have had two non-fiction books published in my field.  Katie Carlisle, a humorous spoof on everyday life in a large corporation, is a work of fiction.  Yet, as many of my readers have commented, “Everyone who has ever worked in a big company will relate to and love this book.”

I am also the author of Straight Down the Middle, a family drama involving a young mother’s efforts to do what is best for her child while trying to come to terms with her own sexuality.
http://margaretdavisbooks.com/

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Writing Career Coach Teresa will help you practice your pitch
at WNBA’s  “Meet the Agents, Editors, & Publishers”
on March 27, 2010   http://wnba-sfchapter.org

Teresa LeYung Ryan is:
*   Board member at WNBA-SF Chapter since 2004
*    Author with agent and NY publisher
*   Writing career coach
*    Past president of California Writers Club-SF Peninsula Branch
*    Library advocate

Writing Career Coach Teresa is the author of  Build Your Name, Beat the Game: Be Happily Published (a 22-day workbook for writers to build their names and attract attention and fans before and after publication).   http://WritingCoachTeresa.com

As a community spirit, Teresa LeYung Ryan uses her novel Love Made of Heart to:
• shed light on stigmas suffered by immigrant women, men, and children
• advocate understanding of mental illness/traumas to the mind
• help survivors of violence find their own voices through writing
www.LoveMadeOfHeart.com

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