Some Announcements and Whatnot
Posted by David Duhr in 
Today feels like a great day for some shameless self-promo here on the ol’ WBN blog. Agreed?
How’d They Do That?!
Tonight our self-publishing series culminates with “How’d They Do It? Publishers Share Profitable Pointers.” Learn things like how a first-time fiction writer sold more than 5,000 books in its first four months on the market, and how the redesign of an existing book netted a 97% increase in a small publisher’s sales.
Should be a good one. Sign up here, and we’ll see y’all at 6:00.
And for those of you who can’t make it, we’ll have audio files available soon. (And we have audio files available already for the first two, “Self-Publishing For Profit” and “Book Design That Gets the Buzz.” Get ’em here.)
1-800-AWE-SOME
We’d also like to announce an exciting new teleseminar, “Running Over Resolution Roadblocks: How to Set, Start, & Complete Your Writing Projects in 2012.” I think that title says it all, no? The dial-in seminar will be hosted by Michelle Ward, everybody’s favorite When I Grow Up Coach, and takes place on December 6th at 6:00 Central.
Listen from the comfort of your own home as Michelle and Justine give you some pointers for setting and meeting your writing goals for 2012.
(Or at least the first eleven months and eleven days of it, before the 12/12/12 Apocalypse takes us all)
The Dog Days of NaNo
We’re now officially over the halfway mark for NaNoWriMo. How’s it going so far? Ready for December? Or are you wishing that November was 60 days long?
Local writer and WBN blogger Sarah Rodriguez Pratt will be hosting Saturday’s NaNoWriMo write-in here at WBN. Starts at 10:00, ends at 1:00. Three blissful hours of NaNoing? Hard to turn down. Spend a few minutes getting to know other NaNoers, and then settle in and NaNo, yo!
And here’s a list of other NaNo events in/around Austin, in case you’re looking for a weekday write-in.
Of course, you’re welcome to use WBN as your unofficial write-in location during our weekday open hours.
Writers’ Social
The next Professional Writers of Austin networking event will be held December 7th from 6:30 to 9:30 at Dolce Vita (4222 Duval). For those who haven’t been to one of these before, it is an excellent chance to rub elbows with other writers and editors here in Austin.
Click here for more upcoming PWA events, and if you’re not already a member, get the lowdown here.
Well Excuse Me, Judge Reinhold
(For you AD fans. You know who you are.)
Here and there I’ve thrown out a few clues about next year’s Texas Observer short story contest guest judge. First person to correctly guess the identity of this top-secret judge wins a free contest entry, and a free story critique on me.
Want another clue? Okey dokey. 2012’s guest judge is not Larry McMurtry.
Okay, a real hint: She has drawn comparisons to Jamaica Kincaid.
Occupying My Time
Not to get political all up in here, but we at Fringe are handing over our blog to original work about the Occupy movement (poetry, essays, artwork, photography, etc.). The series is called Occupy Fringe, and we’re planning/hoping to run it for as long as posts come in. To that end, take a peek at the submission guidelines if you’re interested, and if you have questions, or want to submit a post, feel free to send it to me rather than to the Fringe address.
This morning you might want to check out the post about the Occupy Austin Reading Group. (Yes, there really is one!) Find it, along with all the other Occupy Fringe work, here.
Those of you who follow us on Twitter and Facebook have already gotten more than an earful about Occupy Fringe. Just tryin’ to get this sucker off the ground, friends. But submissions are rolling in now, and I want to thank all of you who have retweeted or reposted or sent in your own work.
Let Us Now Close With a Prayer Joke
A screenwriter comes home to a burned-down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside. “What happened, honey?” the man asks.
“Oh, John, it was terrible,” she weeps. “I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn’t notice the stove was on fire. It went up in second. Everything is gone. I nearly didn’t make it out of the house. Poor Fluffy is–”
“Wait, wait. Back up a minute,” the man says. “My agent called?”
(Joke courtesy of these people.)
Thanks for reading, guys. And we’ll see you around the town. Or here at WBN, where our doors are always open to writers of all experience levels, working in all genres.