Thanks to member (and former winner!) Efrem Carrasco for reminding us that Desert Exposure magazine is holding a short works (prose and poetry) contest. Deadline is August 15th, so get writing!
Desert Exposure Writing Contest
Chile Charlie Speaks Again
Check out President Emeritus George Pintar’s new audiobook of his recent novelette, Navajo Tainted Beliefs. You can get it at Audible and Amazon. Here’s a synopsis:
Navajo Tainted Beliefs is a fictional novelette exploring the similarities and differences between the Bible and the Navajo stories regarding the creation of the earth and humankind.
Chile Charlie and Dolly Sweet Thompson interview two Navajo shamans to obtain the facts and oral stories regarding these concepts. The setting is at the headquarters of the Navajo Nation—Tohatchi. These side-by-side comparisons are well-documented and have excellent narration that is easy to understand. You will laugh, cry, and wonder why as you listen and digest these similarities.…
LCW Meeting, July 14th 2022
Las Cruces Writers membership meeting agenda
Thursday 14 July 2022 at Good Sam 1:30 to 3:30
Membership elections today!!!!!!!!!
Call to order by acting chair Bob Worthington
Treasurer report by Bob Worthington Appx $300 cash in the bank.
Education report by Bob Worthington
Membership/social media/next writing seminar report by Mark Davis
Elections: Bob Worthington
Nomination committee slate:
Pres. David Osterhout
VP no candidate
Sec. Rosemary Matos
Treas. Rosemary Matos
Bd member Mark Davis
Bd member Bob Worthington
Old business
New LCW brochure Mark Davis
Membership survey results Mark Davis
Membership directory Mark Davis
Book signing at Mall
New Business???
Breakout session
Mark Davis critique of writer’s work
A member will read a short (3 to 5 minutes max) segment of his/her writing and then the members will comment on how they perceive the writing. Mark will be the session leader and explain how this will work. We invite members to bring 2 to 3 pages of their work to read and have critiqued.
Several members have asked for this to be done. For this to work we need some members to bring to this session some of their written work.
Meeting adjourned…
Seminar: Branding Your Writing Business
Please join George Pintar, President Emeritus of Las Cruces Writers, for his upcoming seminar on branding your writing business. The seminar is Saturday, July 23rd from 2-4 PM at Good Samaritan Village, Building E (first floor West lounge), 3045 Buena Vida Circle.
Topics to be covered:
Takeaways:
- Selecting your brand and voice
- A planning calendar
- Matching brand to content
- Marketing tools
- Questions and information to share
What to Bring:
- A 2022 calendar with room to write
- Note paper and favorite pen or pencil
- An open mind
- Water if you get thirsty
This workshop has been designed for writers who want to go beyond just writing and also write as a business or to sell books. There is a difference.…
LCW Writers at Celebrate Authors!
Meet, greet, and read writers from Las Cruces Writers at the Thomas Branigan Library in September as part of the Friends of Thomas Branigan Library and local bookshop, Moonbow’s Book Nook (sssshhh, owned by LCW member Alice Davenport). Here’s the announcement in the Las Cruces Bulletin.
Among the LCW members participating are:
And don’t forget that many of these same authors will be at Mesilla Valley Mall tomorrow, July 9th for Midsummer Book Dreams!…
MIDSUMMER BOOK DREAMS BOOK SIGNING AND SALE
Sat, July 9th, 2022, 12-3 p.m., Mesilla Valley Mall
Dreaming of coolin’ off in the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer? Join the Las Cruces Writers in the Mesilla Valley Mall and chill out at our book signing! Ten authors in the upcoming Las Cruces Writers July 9th, MIDSUMMER BOOK DREAMS book signing and sale will offer over 50 titles in various genres includ-ing fiction, non-fiction, children’s, memoirs, and coffee-table photography books.
From 12 – 3 p.m. at Mesilla Valley Mall, meet Susan Elaine Pfeiffer, Fenton Kay, Rosemary Matos, Judy Cicero, Mark William Davis, Bob Worthington, David Osterhout, Elaine S. LeVine, George Pintar, and Charmayne Samuelson.
Romance novels and memoirs are always two popular genres of books offered by the group, and two of the authors at the signing will be Susan Elaine Pfeiffer and David Osterhout.
Susan Pfeiffer will be signing her time-travel romance, The Dusty Attic – Where The Future Meets The Past. Susan worked as the Administrative Assistant at the Las Cruces International Airport for over 21 years before retiring in 2015. Her writing passion blossomed around 2012 and it hasn’t stopped yet. She is cur-rently writing her fourth book, a sequel to The Dusty Attic. She is a true romantic at heart and loves white-water rafting, bird watching, and living her own romantic adventure with her husband of almost 50 years. Look for her on Facebook.
Author David Osterhout, an army intelligence officer who was stationed …
Seminar: Self-Publishing
Please join me for my upcoming seminar on self-publishing. The seminar is Saturday, June 25th from 2-4 PM at Good Samaritan Village, Building E, 3045 Buena Vida Circle. I will also stream the seminar via Zoom (invitation will go out to members email list a day before).
This class is designed for writers of all skill levels who have an interest self-publishing their books. The goal will be to discuss why a writer self-publishes and the skills that are be needed to do so. Next, I will survey different levels of self-publishing, from assisted services to full do-it-yourself. The primary focus of the seminar, however, will be self-publishing a book from soup to nuts, including obtaining ISBN codes, formatting a manuscript, creating cover art, ordering a sample, and sitting back and enjoying the small pleasure of success.
Topics to be covered:
- Self-publishing versus publishing
- Getting ready to self-publish
- Skills and options
- Software needs
- Self-publishing assistance
- Hiring and coordinating
- Let’s self-publish
- First steps
- Bowker and ISBNs
- Kindle KDP setup
- Tax information
- Softcover, hardcover, and digital only
- Formatting the manuscript
- Covers, art, templates, and finishing touches
- Ordering a sample
- Discussion and Q/A
- Wrap-up
LCW Meeting, June 9th 2022
Agenda for the 9 June 2022 Las Cruces Writers membership meeting
1:30 to 3:30 pm at the Creative Arts Room at Good Sam at 3011 Buena Vida Circle.
Call to order by Bob Worthington, Acting Chair
Treasurer report: Judy Cicero
Membership report: Mark Davis
Web site/media report: Mark Davis
Education report: Bob Worthington
Need volunteer for Vice President position Elections during July meeting
July book signing at the Mall: Charmayne Samuelson
Executive Board report: Bob Worthington
Revised brochure/membership application
Farmer’s Market report
Membership in Dona Ana Arts Council
Writing seminars for the public
Future of LCW
Writers’ critique breakout session (for July meeting)
Other new business
Breakout session LCW brainstorming
In July the current LCW administration will end. On 1 August a new management team will take over. This brainstorming session will attempt to elicit from the members what you want from LCW and what you want it to do for you.
Currently we have the executive board meet, once a month, a week before the membership meeting. The membership meets once a month to hold a business meeting and to hold two breakout sessions (writing and marketing) and once a month we have a two-hour writing seminar. We also host two book signings at the Mall. Some of our writers have agreed to read any member’s work and provide feedback. So we have a system for writers helping writers.
The brainstorming will try to assess what the members like and what they do not like. Basically the board members want to …
LitFest Las Cruces
Check out LitFest on the Las Cruces Downtown Mall on June 4th. The centerpiece of the mini-festival will be the Generations Community Writing Project. It looks like it will be well-served by local bars and restaurants with literary-themed cocktails and more!…
Seminar: Online Marketing and Digital Platforms
I (Mark Davis) will host a seminar on Saturday, May 28th from 2-4 PM at Good Samaritan Village, Building E, 3045 Buena Vida Circle. I will also stream the seminar via Zoom (invitation will go out to members email list a day before).
Reaching audiences and selling books online is very 21st century, but don’t expect that if you build it they will come! In this seminar, I will give an overview of online marketing approaches and the idea of a “digital platform” that is designed to assemble an audience using a variety of tools.
This class is designed for writers of all skill levels who have an interest in marketing and promoting their books online. The goal will be to survey the available channels for reaching your audience and do a few deep dives on the technical aspects of those online systems. While some of the details may be technical, the presentation will provide both a primer for those hoping to do-it-yourself and options for those looking for assistance.
This seminar dovetails with George Pintar’s planned July seminar, Branding Your Business.
Topics to be covered:
- The idea of a “digital platform”
- Examples of platforms
- Hybrid models: marketing online and in person
- Goals of platforms
- A zoo of possibilities: Twitter, websites, Goodreads, Instagram, Facebook, oh my!
- Models:
- No-cost
- Low-cost
- High-cost
- Measuring stuff: conversions
- Hiring a Service vs. Do-It-Yourself
- Trade-offs: Costs vs. Learning Curve
- Deep dives:
- WordPress website creation
- Registrars and URLs
- Services
- Creation and editing
- The Facebook/Instagram ecosystem
- WordPress website creation