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Members Only
Next Open Office Hours:
September 11, 2014
Meet one-on-one with a WLT staffer (in person or call in). Click HERE for guidelines and to sign up. Current members only.
NOTE: We are moving our Open Office Hours days to Thursdays for the Fall months.
Interested in reviewing books? Contact us at [email protected] with "Members Review" in the subject line and we will respond with more details.
 Click HERE to read WLT member Kendra Crispin's review of Blood Aces, a Texas true crime story by Doug J. Swanson.
Want to be profiled on our blog? We are looking for willing subjects for our weekly Q&A posts with current members. If interested, write us at
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 The Writers' League will be featuring members with new books at its Texas Book Festival booths October 25-26. If you would like to submit your title for consideration, please make sure your membership is up to date. More details will be included in our next issue of Footnotes.
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Did You Attend the 2014 Summer Writing Retreat?
Want to relive the special moments? Visit our SmugMug Photo page to look at images from our event. Many thanks to Noelle O'Donnell, Manning Wolfe and Beth Sample. If anyone else would like to submit photos for the gallery, please send to [email protected].
All participants will be getting a follow-up survey soon. We look forward to reading your thoughts and suggestions.
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Last Chance!
Only 4 spots left!
Online Registration Closes Aug. 20, 2014
"Fictionalizing Your True Story"
with Nan Cuba
Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014
10 am to 4 pm
St. Edward's University
Trustee Hall, rm. 303
Learn how to use real life experiences in your novels or short stories.
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Last Chance!
Online Registration Closes Aug. 27, 2014
"Before the Book: Getting Published, Getting Better, Building a Writing Community"
with David Meischen
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014
9 am to 12 noon
St. Edward's University
Trustee Hall, rm. 303
Learn how to build your publishing platform to help your chances of getting a book deal.
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Member News
Cathy Chapaty (Austin) will be reading from her book, No Pouting in the Dojo: The Imperfect Journey of Teaching Children Character through Martial Arts, at 4 p.m. Aug. 31 at BookWoman. In an insightful and inspiring memoir, Chapaty shares how she's mentored students in lessons that go beyond kicking and punching.
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Have news you want to share? Please read the guidelines below before submitting. Thank you!
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Send Us Your Member News
"Member News" is a perfect way for WLT members to share their news about signings, appearances, book releases, publications, etc. At least two weeks before desired publication date, please send your 50-word blurb to [email protected]- You must be a current member of the Writers' League.
- Describe success story or upcoming event in 50 words or less.
- Urls and websites can be hyperlinked, if provided.
Items might be edited for style and publication dates will be determined by the Footnotes editor. |
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Our Next Third Thursday
Coming of Age:
Writing for Teens and Tweens
Thursday, August 21, 7 pm
BookPeople, 603 N. Lamar Blvd., 3rd Floor*
Free and Open to the Public!
*please take elevator (in back of store) to the third floor
August - the month when young people prepare to return to school. Do you remember the anticipation? The dread? The neat stacks of supplies and new outfits hanging in the closet? Maybe you've considered capturing such moments in books for and about adolescents.
Our next Third Thursday meeting will feature four published authors of YA (young adult) and MG (middle grade) fiction. Come hear about the challenges and rewards of writing in this particular market.
Join us Thursday, August 21 when our distinguished panelists will be:
 Kari Anne Holt is the author of several middle grade novels in verse including HOUSE ARREST, (Chronicle 2015), RHYME SCHEMER (Chronicle, 2014), and BRAINS FOR LUNCH, which received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly and was highlighted on the Texas Library Association's Annotated Lone Star Reading List for 2011. She is also the author of MIKE STELLAR: NERVES OF STEEL, a nominee for the 2014 Connecticut Library Association Nutmeg Book Award, the 2013 Maud Hart Lovelace Award, a Scholastic.com Great Summer Read for Tweens, and was named a Random House Fresh Fiction from New Voices book for Summer 2009. Kari has contributed to the anthologies, DEAR TEEN ME and FAKES: An Anthology of Pseudo Interviews, Faux-Lectures, Quasi-Letters, "Found" Texts, and Other Fraudulent Artifacts. She also contributes wildly inappropriate work to McSweeney's Internet Tendency.  After graduating from Hampshire College, Lindsey Lane moved to Austin where she wrote award-winning plays like THE MIRACLE OF WASHING DISHES. She also wrote for the Austin Chronicle and the Austin American Statesman where she interviewed death row inmates, cops, and wayward millionaires. Her picture book, SNUGGLE MOUNTAIN, was named Best Children's Book of 2004 by Bank Street College of Education, and was later published as an app. Lindsey received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2010. Her debut YA novel EVIDENCE OF THINGS UNSEEN will be released September 2014.
 A native of Chicago, award-winning author Greg Leitich Smith now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, author Cynthia Leitich Smith, and their cats. His middle grade/tween novels include the Parents' Choice Gold Award-winning and Junior Library Guild Selection, NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO (Little Brown/IntoPrint); its companion TOFU AND T.REX (Little Brown/IntoPrint); the Junior Library Guild Selection CHRONAL ENGINE (Clarion); and, most recently, LITTLE GREEN MEN AT THE MERCURY INN (Roaring Brook). He is also published in the picture book and YA short story. He holds degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois and the University of Texas, and a degree in law from the University of Michigan. Visit Greg's website and blog.
Jo Whittemore is the author of the tween humor novels, FRONT PAGE FACE-OFF, ODD GIRL IN, D IS FOR DRAMA, and the upcoming COLONIAL MADNESS and CONFIDENTIALLY YOURS series. She also penned THE SILVERSKIN LEGACY fantasy trilogy. Jo is very active in SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and is one of the founding members of The Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels.
When she isn't writing, Jo spends her time with family and friends in Austin, dreaming of the day she can afford a chocolate house where she will live with the Tenth Doctor.
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Spotlight on Fall Classes
with Margo Rabb
September 6, 2014
$49 Members / $109 Nonmembers
St. Edward's University, Austin, TX
"A novel is a tricky thing to map." -Reif Larsen
Writing a novel can be a tricky, overwhelming, and mystifying process, but this workshop will teach you tips and methods to help you tackle the messy beast and turn it into a workable story. We'll discuss classic novel structure, how to pinpoint the theme of your book, and important plot points to include. Using index cards, we'll create a road map for your novel's plot, and we'll discuss how to finish your book without giving up.
What to bring:
*A synopsis of your novel, or a list of your novel's scenes
*A pen or pencil
*A notebook
*A stack of multi-colored index cards
Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Kissing in America, which will be published by HarperCollins in May 2015, and Cures for Heartbreak, which was named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus and Booklist. Her essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Slate, The Rumpus, and Poets & Writers, and her short stories have been published in The Atlantic, Zoetrope: All-Story, Seventeen, Best New American Voices, New Stories from the South, New England Review, Glimmer Train Stories, and One Story, and have been broadcast on NPR. She received the grand prize in the Zoetrope short story contest, first prize in the Atlantic fiction contest, first prize in the American Fiction contest, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award. Visit her online at www.margorabb.com.
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Spotlight on Fall Classes
Marketing on the Web:
Building Your Online Presence
with Shennandoah Diaz
September 13, 2014
$69 Members / $129 Nonmembers
St. Edward's University, Austin, TX
It's the digital age, and if you want to make a living as a writer you need to be online.
It doesn't matter if you're going the traditional route or self-publishing, the way to connect your writing to paying readers is through the web. With the right tools and strategy you can leverage the web to build your writing career, get you that publishing deal, build an audience, and get your books into readers' hands.
In this four-hour workshop we will cover the basics of building an online presence, including:
* How to develop a sound online strategy that matches your goals as a writer
* Ins and outs of setting up your "Storefront"-- your website
* What is SEO and how to achieve it
* What social media tools to use and the basics of how to use them
* How to be a content creating superhero
* How to build your online network, including who to reach out to and how to find them
* Key resources and next steps
Shennandoah Diaz is a writer and freelance Branding and Communications expert based out of Austin, Texas. Diaz works with independent publishers, small businesses, experts, and authors to build killer brands and engaging content. Passionate about education, Diaz teaches workshops for the Writers' League of Texas and other professional organizations that empower writers to take charge of their brand and their writing career. Learn more by visiting
or follow her on twitter at @shennandoahdiaz.
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