Here are my notes from the AWP panels that I attended, posted because a few people expressed interest. As always, it's a mix of what they said that was interesting to me and what I thought. I wrote up my overall conference experience here: http://cloudscudding.livejournal.com/1138422.html ( Read more... )

Some notes from the MinnSpec meeting, "Writing Sex and Erotica ( Read more... )

These are a few notes on how to adapt a work of fiction (written by yourself or someone else) for the stage, based on the May 2014 MinnSpec meeting with Michael Merriam, Terry Faust, Eli Effinger-Weintraub, and special guest John Heimbuch* of Walking Shadow Theatre CompanyFind the voice that you can do that matches well with the voice of the ( Read more... )

Kids books about certain eras are a goldmine, since they include lots of weird daily life details ( Read more... )

The best kind of story to write is the one that nobody else can ( Read more... )

ContractsIn a contract, make sure there is language saying they "cannot take reserve against returns" for ebooks/audio ( Read more... )

My notes from the Minnspec meeting about ebooks.

General
Amazon still has 80% of the market.
Ebooks are ever-fresh. They don't have the dead time like print books sold in bookstores.
Creating a backlist is key to building readership in a saturated market.
Bookscan numbers matter.

Creating an ebookDo hire an editor, or at least a copy-editor ( Read more... )

These are my notes from the "About Abusive Relationships" Minnspec presentation by relationship therapist Rebecca ChesinPeople stay in the victim role because of who they are--and that core self is also what will affect future relationships ( Read more... )

Lots of works start off promising something, but never deliver. Why is it important that books/movies/whatever keep the promises that they make? Panelists: Melinda Snodgrass, Sean M. Murphy, Caroline Stevermer, Abra Staffin-Wiebe ( Read more... )

These are my brief outline notes for the apocalyptic fiction panel that I was on. The actual panel may or may not have covered most of this ( Read more... )