” What are you selling? Your literary products—articles, columns, stories, poems, essays, speeches, scripts, books.”

“Making your name stand for something–the something being the subject matters, issues, and themes in your writings.”

“Targeted consumers? They are the readers who read the subject matters that you write about.”

My clients ask me: “Coach Teresa, How long does it take to build my writer’s platform?”

My answer: “When you stick to something for 21 days, you develop a new habit.  Do the exercises in my workbook for at least 21 days. On the 22nd day, you graduate with the tools to build your writer’s platform.”

So, how long does it take to build your writer’s platform? Only 22 days!

May 5, 2011:

Author Joan Gelfand asked me today: “Teresa, what happens after you build your platform?”

My response: “After I build my platform, I fortify it, then I retrofit it.  Building my platform and then abandoning it doesn’t serve me.”

Margaret Davis, author of Straight Down the Middle, says: “Instead of the usual pep talks, Coach Teresa’s workbook consists of a series of exercises which are thought-provoking, and always fun.”

Speaking of fun, I had a fun day fortifying my own platform and helping fellow members of WNBA.

Thanks to my pal Mary E. Knippel‘s lending me her Flip camera, I produced 4 short videos today–to share my expertise about platform-building for writers. I’ll post the videos on YouTube next week.

Then, I packed the Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter (WNBA) membership roster, name badges, name tents, the thank-you gift for our chapter president (Lynn Henriksen),  and went cake-shopping for tonight’s celebration. The event was at the San Francisco Public Library-Main Branch.

What an exciting meeting!  Established members (guiding lights) showed up; talented new members showed up:

Lynn Henriksen will mentor the new incoming chapter president or co-presidents

Kate Britton wishes to stay on as Membership Chair

Christopher Payne wishes to stay on as Treasurer

Teresa LeYung-Ryan wishes to stay on as Secretary, mentor committee chairs, and continue to show members how to build their own platforms with the help of the WNBA platform.

Mary E. Knippel wishes to stay on to mentor committee chairs and help them coax their creativity.

Birgit Soyka wishes to be WNBA Liaison to BookShop West Portal

Elizabeth Pomada, former chapter president, will continue to be a guiding light for WNBA, promoting our chapter through San Francisco Writers Conference, ASJA, and other affiliations.

Michael Larsen, former chapter president, will continue to be a guiding light for WNBA, promoting our chapter through San Francisco Writers Conference, ASJA,and other affiliations.

Leon Veal will continue being our liaison at San Francisco Public Library and San Francisco Project Read

Jane Glendinning is also affiliated with California Writers Club-Berkeley Branch

Patricia Tsang, M.D. is also affiliated with California Writers Club-San Francisco Peninsula Branch (and the Asian Heritage Street Celebration this year)

Janine Kovac is also affiliated with LitQuake (San Francisco’s Literary Festival)

Apala Egan is also affiliated with California Writers Club-South Bay Branch

Claudia Boutote is also affiliated with Harper One, publisher in San Francisco

Joan Gelfand is immediate-past president on national board of WNBA; she recommends our chapter sponsoring smaller events, and more of them, so that members get to co-chair one event in their region. This distribution of duties would benefit all members.

Linda Joy Myers, founder of National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW), offered to share her expertise in teleseminars.

Linda Lee, our webmaster and cyberspace guru, offered to share her expertise in webinars and make webinars a benefit to members and a revenue tool when we sell the products to non-members.

* * * * * * * * *

We honored Lynn Henriksen; she made the past 2 years fun for us. Thank you, Lynn!

Vicki, Leigh Anne, Kaye, Barbara, Judith, Ricky, Elisa, we missed you at this meeting/party. See you soon!

Cyberspace Guru Linda Lee and I had a chance to chat after the meeting.

Cheers from Writing Coach Teresa!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan, board member, San Francisco Chapter of Women’s National Book Association

Hope to see members in or near San Francisco on Thursday June 2, 2011,  6:00-7:30pm
Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter MEET UP
Mary E. Knippel (Creativity Mentor) & Teresa LeYung-Ryan (Writing Career Coach) will be present to mentor members and conduct “round-table MEET UP”
San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, Latino/Hispanic Community Room (you can bring food into this room) at lower level,
100 Larkin St.(or use 30 Grove Street entrance), S.F., CA 94102
http://wnba-sfchapter.org/
RSVP by emailing:  Secretary@wnba-sfchapter.org

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW Available through Amazon.com   Check out the reviews!   Coach Teresa created the fun workbook to help fiction and nonfiction authors gain a competitive edge.  Whether you want to be your own publisher or sell rights to another publisher, attract readers and more readers now!   After you order Coach Teresa’s workbook, email her to receive an exclusive bonus on platform-building. Teresa’s email address is on her website WritingCoachTeresa.com

Thanks to Teresa’s book I learned to contact a star. The famous Carol Channing wrote a review for my latest book YOU and THE ARTS–Why Art Matters. Teresa’s book is a wonderful help in learing how to get good publicity.

* * * * * * * * * *

This book taught me a lot. It’s packed with information, and the presentations and exercises build upon what came before. It’s direct and clear and has plenty of instructive examples that plainly show the way, and how to get there. It’s like having your very own writing career coach with you at every step. This extremely helpful workbook has given me great preparation for building a platform. I enthusiastically recommend it.

* * * * * * * * * *

This book is written as a set of specific tasks. And I think that is what is so great about it. The author doesn’t spend 200 pages waffling and trying to convince you of something you’re already dying to do, but just don’t know how to execute. All you have to do is follow the directions. No analyzing too many options, no trying to out-think the huge behemoth that is publishing industry. It’s like having a friend take you by the hand, set you down on the right path, and then walk right along side you. The added benefit is that on the way, you’ll find out some pretty interesting things about yourself and what your platform (so essential these days for getting published) is really all about.

For me, having clear cut steps and directions is invaluable when it comes figuring out what I really want to communicate to potential readers and how to get my platform established.

I know. I’m a writer, newly finished my first work (okay, here I’m going to plug it) “Over the Edge,” a fictionalized memoir, told in nine episodes, which tells what it’s really like to live, run, and be a part of the street life.

Kudos and Thanks, Teresa

* * * * * * * * * *

Much has been written in the past year or two about the importance to writers of having a “platform.” Writers without a platform, we are told, find it difficult if not impossible to be taken seriously by agents and publishers. This ambitious book takes a new approach to building a platform. Instead of the usual pep talks, it consists of a series of exercises–22 minutes for 22 days– to build the reader’s self-knowledge and skill. The exercises are often thought-provoking, and always fun. For all writers who find themselves “stuck” when it comes to building a platform, this is a most worthwhile tool.
Margaret Davis, author of Straight Down the Middle

* * * * * * * * * *

Although I had already published my novel, “Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever,” and set up my website when I purchased this playbook, I found lots of information and tips I hadn’t known. I especially liked the exercises which helped me identify where to spend my time and energy. A great road map to building your writer platform.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ms. Ryan gives us a huge building block toward getting our gems into print. I tried her original draft of this book, doing the exercises, and being amazed how much i could put into a platform. Now she has expanded this workbook richly. She is a whiz in the ways a writer can get noticed.
in all the confusing technology around these days, this book takes a novice carefully through the process to this end.

It is quite a bargain at $22.

Lynn Scott, Memorist,  A Joyous Encounter: My Mother, My Alzheimer Clients, and Me

* * * * * * * * * *

Is There a Book to Help Writers Build Platform and Fanbase?

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW available through Amazon

Sincerely,

22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan
http://writingcoachteresa.com

Monday, author Elisa Southard and I took BART and Muni to meet with San Francisco Writers Conference co-founder Michael Larsen at the coffee shop in Grace Cathedral. Michael gave me lots of ideas for the new edition of my workbook BUILD  YOUR WRITER’S PLATFORM & FANBASE IN 22 DAYS: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers and Media Attention NOW.

Elisa Southard is building her fanbase for her new book BIG CITY  TRAVEL SKILLS –for young, first-time travelers.

Elisa & I will be presenting at the exciting San Francisco Writers Conference again, so, please look for us Feb. 18-20, 2011.

Tuesday I went to my part-time day-job (what a blessing to have a second source of income and work with gracious folks); also, answered emails from writers (including one from Chris Wachlin about how to get Kepler’s Books & Magazine to stock the wonderful anthology Fault Zone that members of California Writers Club-San Francisco Peninsula Branch have published).

Today, I met author Margaret Davis and her husband at the Oakland Museum of California.  I was mesmerized by
the Gallery of California History;  the new gallery is based on the theme of Coming to California.  The exhibit will be there until December 2, 2013.  Check it out.

Margaret, thank you for “word shifting” my workbook title and telling me what Dan Poynter said.

What a treat it was to see Margaret & Ray!  Then I hopped on BART and landed in San Francisco again.  Lora Baldwin (Frank Baldwin is working on another script) and their 2 boys were in town; I had a chance to catch up with Lora (doing the 2 biggest jobs on this planet–being a mom and home schooling her children) and get a dose of joyful energy from her and those beautiful kids.

Connections?  Frank Baldwin is one my mentors ( I refer to him as Obewan); he was one of Margaret Davis’s advisors when she was writing Straight Down the Middle.

Everyone mentioned in this post are or were involved with California Writers Club and the Jack London Writers Conference.   I had met Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada and Frank Baldwin at that conference in the last 1990s. Margaret Davis and I are members of the San Francisco/Peninsula Branch of CWC; Elisa Southard was with the Marin Branch.

I come home and see that Jane Glendinning has emailed me photos of my presentation in October 2010 at CWC  Berkeley Branch (they meet at Oakland Main Library).

Thank you, Michael & Elizabeth, Elisa, Chris, Margaret & Ray, Jane, Lora & Frank, and the Baldwin children for making my week, and it’s only Wednesday!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Manuscript Consultant / Writing Career Coach / Author / Publisher

http://WritingCoachTeresa.com

How important is dialogue in a memoir or novel? Re-read your favorite story and study the author’s techniques.

When I’m not editing for my wonderful clients, I study dialogue in movies.
Since a script usually doesn’t offer narrative or internal monologue to supplement “words” the way a book does, dialogue (and how the lines are delivered) is an essential component in story-telling.  I love smart dialogue.

In the movie Woman Chases Man (1937), protagonist Virginia Travis, a starving architect (Miriam Hopkins) sees three portraits in the living room of B.J. Nolan (Charles Winninger).

Virginia:  (She sees a portrait of a little boy holding  Pilgram’s Progress)  “Who’s that?”

BJ:  “My son Kenneth.”

Virginia:  (She’s looking at the second portrait–a teenage boy holding the same book) “ Another son?”

BJ:  “Same one. Age sixteen.”

Virginia:  “Must be a slow reader.”

Virginia:   (She looks at third portrait–a young man in his cap and gown, holding diploma)  “I see he finished the book.”

BJ:  “Yeah, he has the checkbook now.”

Virginia:  “I had a checkbook once.”

The story is launched, with B. J. and Virginia scheming to get  Kenneth (Joel McCrae) to sign a check.  By the way, young Broderick Crawford’s portrayal of Hunk (friend of Virginia, disguising as B.J.’s butler) is hilarious.

Screen play by Joseph Anthony, Mannie Seff and David Hertz

Original story by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton

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

In Cold Comfort Farm (1995) screenplay by Malcolm Bradbury, from the novel by Stella Gibbons (1930s), protagonist Flora Poste (recently orphaned) moves to the country to live with her relatives so that she can live on her modest 100 pounds a year and be a novelist.  Flora’s relations are odd in deed.  The mysterious matriarch, Flora’s Great Aunt Ada, doesn’t leave her room because she suffers from a terrifying memory of an event. As a girl, Ada had seen “something nasty in the wood shed” and now decades later she still has recurring nightmares.  Flora is the first person to ask Aunt Ada questions, which serves as the turning point in the story.  As it turns out, Aunt Ada doesn’t remember what she saw. But she won’t let go of her suffering (or let her family leave the farm either).

Toward the end of the story when a movie Czar Mr. Neck comes to the farm to take her grandson Seth to Hollywood . . . Great Aunt Ada comes running out of the house . . .
Great Aunt Ada : “I saw something nasty in the wood shed.”

Mr. Neck:  “Sure you did, but did they see you Baby?”

Coach Teresa here.  I emailed my friend Margaret Davis (author of Straight Down the Middle) to ask her if she has seen the movie and Margaret replied:
“My mother had a selection of novels in our house when I was growing up.  I was an avid reader, and I read, and reread, many of them over and over.  I knew Cold Comfort Farm by heart!  I also enjoyed Stella Gibbons’s book Nightingale Wood (also knew it by heart as a child!), and I know my own writing is definitely influenced by her.”

Happy New Year & New Writing Energy to Everyone!

Remember to employ dialogue that not only represents each character’s personality but also gives clues  in an entertaining way to move your story forward.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Manuscript Consultant / Writing Career Coach / Author / Publisher

http://WritingCoachTeresa.com

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

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

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

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

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/

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

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/

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

Sociologist Margaret Davis (author of Straight Down the Middle) offers a fresh take on the battle of the sexes.  

“The battle of the sexes is over,” according to Maria Shriver in a Forbes Woman article (by Heidi Brown, October 16, 2009).  But does anyone really believe that?

Davis tackles the subject in a different way. Straight Down the Middle tells the tale of Diane who finds herself unwillingly pitched into such a battle.  Diane wants to have a baby, her long-time lover Cindy agrees, and they ask a neighbor Sam to father the child.  But after the baby boy is born, Diane finds herself in the middle of a heated tug-of-war between a strong-willed Sam who wants to maintain contact with his son, and an equally strong-willed  Cindy, who wants him gone.  Diane’s attempts to keep the peace lead to lies, intrigues and cover-ups galore—until finally, she is forced by circumstances to “get out of the middle” and search out her own needs and desires.

The book is “A fresh take on the battle of the sexes.  A smart, modern comedy with a deep heart,” says Author and Screenwriter Frank Baldwin.

http://margaretdavisbooks.com

Glamour Gal Judith Marshall (author of Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever) celebrates fresh hopes, second chances, and the anything-but-simple art of relationships.

Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever is set in a small town in Northern California, in the spring of 2000 when the dot-com boom was at its peak. The story centers around Elizabeth Reilly-Hayden, a successful executive in her late fifties and a divorced mother of two. Emotionally armored and living alone, she wants only to maintain the status quo: her long-term significant other, her job and her trusted friends— five feisty women who first met in high school. Yet in a matter of days, the three anchors that have kept her moored are ripped away. The group of lifelong pals gathers at Lake Tahoe to attend to the funeral arrangements of their beloved friend, and tries to unravel the mystery of her death. Through their shared tragedy, Liz learns how disappointment and grief can bloom into healing and hope.

“Judith Marshall has written a book that, once you start it, you will not want to put down, and once you finish it, you will want to read again. It makes you remember that there is nothing quite so important as good friends.”—D.W. Buffa, author of Breach of Trust and many other legal thrillers.

http://judithmarshall.net/

Margaret & Judith,

I’m thrilled for the two of you. When your novels become Hollywood movies, I won’t wait for the release of DVDs; I will go to the cineplexes.

Teresa LeYung Ryan