In our interactive session, Talking-Tagline Guru Sasa asked me: “Coach Teresa…What is a platform?”

I responded: “Before I define ‘platform,’ let’s talk about fans and what fans do for you.  Fans tell their friends about you.  Fans will pay to see you; they will buy what you have produced; they listen when you speak.  Your name hooks their attention.

“So, how does one build a fanbase?  By making your platform consistent. A platform is not something you step on, it is what you stand for.  Help your fans find you by articulating the themes and issues you care about/write about.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a fan of many fine writers, with last names starting with A to Z.  From Chinua Achebe, Luisa Adams, Martha Alderson, Jane Austen . . .  to Margie Yee Webb, E. B. White, Anzia Yezierska, and two hundred other authors, including Scott James (fellow presenter at San Francisco Writers Conference).

Scott James writes novels under the name of Kemble Scott; I heard about Kemble when his first novel SoMa was published by Kensington Publishing Corporation New York (also my publisher for my first novel). Scott James, the journalist, writes about San Francisco, including contributions to the New York Times.

I am a fan because Scott James speaks/writes eloquently. His latest article is enlightening and compelling.

Scott says:  The latest of my new columns on Medium is now up. This one is on gay marriage, and gets a bit personal.  It’s called “My Big Gay Shotgun Wedding.”

Since I am a fan, I shall tell my friends about Scott’s columns.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cheering for you!

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cares about helping fiction and nonfiction writers build their platforms and work on their craft simultaneously with ease.  She says: “Wear the dual hats as promoter and writer and be happily published. Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

at California Writers Club, Santa Rosa, California

Katherine Ellison--from investigative reporting to memoir

December 11, 2011 will be Katherine Ellison:
“From the global to the personal: one writer’s journey from investigative reporting to memoir.”

Journalist Katherine Ellison will talk about her career as an investigative journalist covering international events as Central American wars and figures such as Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos to shifting gears and writing nonfiction books including a memoir about her son’s ADHD.

Katherine Ellison is a Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, former foreign correspondent, writing consultant, author of four books, and mother of two sons.

http://redwoodwriters.org/

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan helps fiction & nonfiction authors "Writing-Career MakeOver"--photo by MKWL

January 8, 2012 “Writing Career Make Over with Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan”

Learn how to:

• reveal  your  “picture-of-success” to create your model
• understand your unique motivators & modus operandi
• blend the “who, what, when, where”  your way, fun way

Coach Teresa will choose 3 writers from the audience—representing the 3 umbrella genres (fiction, narrative non-fiction, and prescriptive non-fiction a.k.a. how-to books)—and guide them in this interactive session. Everyone will receive Coach Teresa’s “Writing-Career-Make-Over” template.  Q&A to please all.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan wears 3 hats and has helped over 1,000 writers take steps to further their careers.  http://writingcoachTeresa.com

• She’s the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (a workbook for anyone who has anything to promote—available in print edition and as E-book).

• Coach Teresa edits manuscripts for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

• Her using her 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) demonstrates the power of making one’s name synonymous with the themes/subject matters/issues one writes about.

http://redwoodwriters.org/meetings/