Links to Others:
Author's Assistant
Blog Book Tours
Ebenezer Scribe
Exile on Ninth St.
Diane Fanning
Graveyard Shift
Guide to Literary Agents
Lifescapes
Lila Guzman
Martha Miller
Mark Mitchell
Joe O'Connell
Plotters & Manipulators
Poisoned Pen Letters
Exton Quinn
Redneck Crime
Rick Riordan
Rose Fox Reads
Sylvia Dickey Smith
Spookycyn
Women in Crime Ink
Writer Unboxed
A Writer's Word
Writing Thoughts
Writing the Westward Sagas
Awards for Helen's Website or Blog:
Copyright: 1997-2008
WORKSHOPS
Freelance editor and book consultant Helen Ginger is an Owner/Partner and Women’s Marketing Director for Legends In Our Own Minds®, as well as the creator of the ezine Doing It Write!, now in its ninth year of publication. She teaches public speaking and leads writing and marketing workshops. You can visit Helen at http://www.helenginger.com or on her blog at http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com.
Three of Helen's Most Popular Workshops
The Synopsis:
Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool
The only thing most authors dread more than composing the query letter is writing the synopsis. Trying to condense a 300-page novel to one to ten pages can be intimidating. Book consultant Helen Ginger will walk you – step by step – through the development of your novel synopsis as the ultimate SALES tool. Not only will the synopsis become less daunting, you’ll learn how to use the synopsis to craft your query and pitch the book. By the end of the workshop, you will know the steps to constructing a synopsis and then using that document to craft the blurb for your query, a one-on-one pitch and your elevator spiel.
Praise for The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool:
This was the most practical, easy to understand explanation of the dreaded synopsis I've heard in 20 years of writing.
Wanda H.
Thank you so much! You are accomplished in your field and comunicate wonderfully well. Sherri G.
I am finishing the last few chapters of my final revision and dreading having to write a synopsis. I think this will help me focus on what is important and how to pitch it. Nell H.
Very good -- enjoyed it and also worked and learned! John A.
Marketing Your Book:
Charting the Promotional Universe
Don’t wait until you’ve finished your book to plan its marketing. For those looking to sell their book to more than just the family, they’ll discover the many niches of their book, learn how to target their promotions, and build their platform.
This interactive workshop will convince participantes that a “small” book can have big influence and show how to de-mystify the concept of niche marketing.
Praise for Marketing Your Book: Charting the Promotional Universe:
... attendees were uniform in their praise of your presentation. We especially appreciated the audience participation in your session, your skillful interaction with the attendees, the use of a variety of different techniques, and the helpful and practical information ... Carolyn Blankenship, Program Chairperson, Story Circle Network
Story Cirlce Network National Conference
Your Novel's ESP
This five day hands-on class will teach you how to
Edit,
Sell &
Promote
your manuscript.
Topics include the stages of editing, using your manuscript to create the ultimate sales tool, and planning the book's promotion even before it sells. You'll learn the steps Helen follows when consulting with an author about a manuscript and how to apply those techniques to your own work. Then you'll take on the often dreaded task - composing a synopsis, paring it down to ad copy you can use in a query letter, and creating a live pitch and a two-sentence logline. Finally, to prepare for the manuscript's sale, you'll chart your book's promotional universe and learn where best to invest your money and time.
Participants are encouraged:
- To bring work-in-progress to use during the class
- To bring five copies of the first five pages of their manuscript to share during the editing process
- To actively participate in the class through feedback, small groups and one-on-one practice, as well as individual writing
Benefits of Your Novel's ESP:
- Participants will learn how to edit from a word-by-word basis to seeing the overall picture.
- Participants will see how to use their synopsis to write query letters, pitch to an agent, and ready themselves to answer that inevitable question by friends: What's your book about?
- Participants will leave the class with the tools to begin their own personal marketing plan.
