The Virginia Writers Club has put out a call for workshop presenters for its 2019 Navigating Your Writing Life Symposium to be held August 3, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

This year's theme is "From Pondering to Publishing to Promoting."

Come share your expertise on the writing craft and post-writing processes! Mingle and network with other writers and publishing professionals!

As a VWC symposium presenter, you will receive:

• Free conference registration ($90 value)

• Lunch and refreshments ($20 value)

• The opportunity to market yourself and your body of work during the workshop

• Your workshop handout with your author information in the Symposium book handed out to all participants.

• The opportunity to have your books sold during the symposium. (You must bring your books, but we will have a local vendor handle sales for a commission on the cost of the books.)

WORKSHOP NEEDS

The 2019 VWC Navigating Your Writing Life Symposium will have a total of 16 workshops (4 sessions of 4 workshops).

We're looking for specific, niched topics over generic subjects. For example, "Using Facebook Ads to Drive Sales" instead of "Marketing Your Book."

Possible (But Not Exhaustive) List of Categories:

- Non-fiction writing

- Writing for magazines

- Writing memoirs

- Creating at book launch plan

- Virtual book tours

- Marketing plans

- Writing for children and/or teens

- Legal issues in writing

- Genre specific writing (romance, mystery, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, etc)

- Poetry

- Specific promotion topics (i.e. Facebook Ads, street teams, etc)

- Getting an agent or publisher

- Craft of writing topics such as dialogue, point of view, etc.

- Specific self-publishing topics such as how to get a book ready for publishing, formatting, cover design, etc.

- Engaging customers at signings

Speaker selection will be made by April 5, 2019.

To be considered, please fill in the form below or here.

Pamela K. Kinney: "Last Chance" in Fae Thee Well anthology

Kari Kilgore: Terminalia from Spiral Publishing, Ltd.

Jenna Harte: Death of a Debtor: A Sophie Parker Coupon Mystery, Camel Press

Mary Montague Sikes: Hearts Across Forever from High Tide Publications

Jeanne Larsen: What Penelope Chooses, winner of the Cider Press Review book award and due out March 20, 2019.

 #BackOnTrackNow: A Write by the Rails Anthology and Social Media Initiative Write by The Rails Anthology. 

Authors who've contributed to this anthology include: Anonymous, Arlene Banfield, Rebecca Barnes, Terressa Boykin, Sima Button, Carol Covin, Tony Daly, John Dutton, Kathleen Ellis, Sydney Everson, Jane Fullerton Lemons, Susan Beth Furst, Leigh Giza, David Gotthardt, Katherine Gotthardt, P.M. Hernandez, David Holloway, Tim Horn, Traci Carrano Jones, Ann Lemons, Lisa Marino, Alexandra Mooney, Erika Mooney, Jan Rayl, Natalina Reis, Victor Rook, Tamela Ritter, Cathy Ryan, Jeremy Sams, Michelle Santos, Amy Taylor, George Waldrop, Henry Wallace, and Nancy Wyatt.

FEB 16, 2019

POETRY READING – “POETRY AS A PERSONAL ODYSSEY” – WRITER HOUSE

BILL GLOSE – FREE NOON READING 

1 – 4 PM WORKSHOP SOLD OUT

AWARD-WINNING WRITER– F SCOTT FITZGERALD SHORT STORY AWARD, VA PRESS ASSOC, MISSOURI HUMANITIES COUNCIL, GARRISON KEILLOR ON WRITER’S ALMANAC

FOUR POETRY BOOKS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR WITH VIRGINIA LIVING, REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO OTHER MAGAZINES, FREQUENT LITERARY SPEAKER AND JUDGE, NUMEROUS OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Submitted by Patricia Asuncion

If you are looking for a local book festival or writing conference, VWC chapter, Write by the Rails, has launched a new events calendar for authors. The calendar covers all author events from Richmond to Baltimore and Roanoke to Norfolk.

https://wbtr.org/events/list/

The calendar is maintained by member Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader under his official duties as Keeper of the Calendar. If you would like to add your event to the calendar, you can contact Nate by email. (nate@the-digital-reader.com) 

Search your hard drive for that work-in-progress or completed piece and join us February 23 for a moderated critique roundtable session. Each writer will have 5-10 minutes (depending on number of critiques) to read their work and ask the audience specific questions about it. Please be prepared to ask specific questions about your writing – asking “what do you think” usually does NOT get you the answers you need or want.

Saturday, February 23

1:00 –3:00 p.m.

Faith Lutheran Church Conference

3313 Arlington

Arlington, VA 22201

Note: Please park in the rear parking lot and enter via the ramp, both on Jackson Street. Ring local doorbell if door is locked.

On 2/9/19, Susan Schwartz will be speaking at the Riverside Writers meeting from 1 to 3 at the Salem Church Library in Room A.

On 2/16/19, the Richmond Chapter hosts Pamela K Kinney who will speak about her writing journey and publishing her work. We meet from 11:30 to 1:30 at the Publix on John Rolfe Parkway in Glen Allen.

At the Annual Meeting in November 2018, the VWC membership elected a new board. Here is the new board and a little bit about each of them.

President, Leslie Truex

Chapter: Blue Ridge

She joined the Virginia Writers Club and the Blue Ridge chapter in 2014. Before being elected president, she served two years as the First VP, and a year before that, she served on the symposium committee.

By day Leslie Truex is an ideaphoric writer, author, speaker, and online entrepreneur. By night she's a novelist writing under the pen name Jenna Harte. As Leslie, she’s the author of Digital Writer Success: How to Make a Living Blogging, Freelance Writing, and Publishing Online. As Jenna, she’s the author of the sexy cozy Valentine series, the first book of which reached the quarter-finals in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award in 2013. She also has a 3-book romance series, and in 2019 she’ll release a cozy mystery series.

Leslie teaches classes in blogging, publishing, and platform building through PVCC's Workforce services. She's spoken about social media, book marketing, and romance writing at the VWC Navigating Your Writing Life Symposium.

Her goal in life is to live on a beach and write every day on her lanai.

View Leslie's VWC profile.

First Vice President, Susan Schwartz

Chapter: Richmond

I have been an avid writer for around 10 years doing everything from writing freelance articles to editing manuscripts for other authors. I also love to write horror stories that have a twist at the end. My alter ego is an Operating Room Nurse/Nurse Educator who loves creating tales from the interesting and weird things I have seen. I am a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Virginia Writers Club where I serve as Co-President of the Richmond Chapter and 1st Vice-President of the state organization. I have two novels in the works, a paranormal romance and a medical thriller.

View Susan's VWC profile

Second Vice President, Joanne Liggan

Chapter: Hanover

I began my journey with the VWC in 1996 when I visited the Richmond Chapter and became their President for 2 years. I lived in Mechanicsville and the Richmond Chapter was meeting in Southside, so I decided we needed a chapter on the north side of the river and began the Hanover Writers Chapter in 2002. Since that time, I have had five books published and am currently working on a series of at least five more books. I am also the founder of the annual Hanover Book Festival, which began in 2006, a writing instructor and public speaker. 

Visit Joanne's VWC Profile

Treasurer, Liz Long

Chapter: Valley Writers

Liz Long is a USA Today bestselling author of YA and urban fantasy, most recently The Brighton Duology. She is a magazine editor in Roanoke, VA, and when not writing, can be found drinking happy hour prosecco, attempting hand lettering, or cuddling her dog, Fisher. She is the Director of the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference and the annual Roanoke Author Invasion, treasurer for the Virginia Writers Club, and a public speaker, covering topics such as self-publishing and magazine writing. 

Visit Liz's VWC Profile

Recording Secretary, John Nicolay

Chapter: Blue Ridge

I'm very active with the Blue Ridge chapter, and currently serving as the Treasurer of BRW. I attend VWC events.

Visit John's VWC profile.

President Emeritus, Phyllis "Maggie" Duncan

Chapter: Blue Ridge

Five years on the VWC Board: two as secretary; two as 1st VP; one as President

Visit Maggie's VWC Profile

Member At Large, G.M. Maillet

Chapter: Northern Virginia

Author of the St. Just and Max Tudor mysteries, and a standalone suspense novel (WEYCOMBE). Co-founder of the Virginia Writers' Association, which later merged with VWC.

Visit G.M.'s VWC Profile

Member At Large, Michelle McBeth

Chapter: Northern Virginia

Michelle McBeth has been writing short and long form fiction since 2012 when she entered the Nanowrimo contest on a dare. She is working on finishing her 5 book series, "The Sphere Saga", about a woman who works for a secret lab that sends people back in time to solve mysteries. One of her short stories, "Fire Drill in Motherhood" has been publishing in the Virginia Writers Club Centennial Anthology. She is thrilled to be counted among the best writers in the state of Virginia. She lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and her sons, where she spends her days working as an engineer for the Navy, and her nights engaging the other half of her brain as an author, actor, and creator.

Visit Michelle's VWC Profile

Member at Large, Greg Smith

Chapter: Richmond

Greg Smith is a writing coach, editor, and publisher. He founded the Agile Writer Workshop in 2011 with the mission of finding a method to help beginning writers complete a first-draft in 6 months. He also co-authored the Reel Heroes series; books on heroes in the movies. His seminars on the Agile Writer Method have informed and delighted thousands of writers, scholars, and university students. Since 2011, Agile Writer authors have completed dozens of first drafts and 12 published novels. ​ Greg is a developmental editor for novelists and memoirists. He also coaches authors through the self-publishing maze. Greg runs the popular Agile Readers Book Club where new writers can get a 'beta' read from a dozen or more readers.

Visit Greg's VWC Profile

Member At Large: Betsy Ashton

Member At Large: John Ferguson

Member At Large: Roseanne Vrugtman

The Hanover Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club is open for registrations for its Hanover Book Festival scheduled for Saturday, April 27

To register for a table, visit the Hanover Book Festival website.

Calling All Writers! Submissions Open January 1, 2019 for Short fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

Chesapeake Bay Writers is proud to announce the opening of submissions for the 2019 Keating Award, an annual literature competition in honor of author and renowned scientist Jean Clarke Keating.

Ms. Keating was a true rocket scientist who played a key role in the development of the space program at NASA in the 1950s and 1960s, earning NASA’s Special Service Award in 1968. In 1970 she was named Virginia’s Outstanding Young Woman of the Year, and one of ten Outstanding Women of the Year recognized nationwide. Ms. Keating was also the author of five novels, a popular speaker, columnist, and champion for the creative arts, who served as president of Chesapeake Bay Writers prior to her death in 2013.

The Keating Award honors Jean’s memory by encouraging writers and the art of writing through the recognition of exceptional work by writers across the country. Monetary prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place entries where merited in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The submissions window is open from January 1 through March 1, 2019. The competition is open to members and non-members from anywhere in the United States, and a small entrance fee will be collected to help further support the work of Chesapeake Bay Writers. For more information, along with complete contest rules and requirements, writers are asked to visit CBW’s website at www.chesapeakebaywriters.org. Questions can be addressed to contest coordinator Ann Eichenmuller at aceichenm@gmail.com.

Pamela K. Kinney has two short stories coming in two different anthologies coming in January. 

One, "Fae Thee Well,"will premiere on sale by the publisher at Marscon, January 18-20, 2019 in Williamsburg. 

The other is "The Orange Bati," which will appear in the 13 Backyard Monsters anthology.

Maggie Duncan has a release event for A Perfect Hatred: Bad Company on January 12, 2019, at 3 p.m. at Black Swan Books and Music in Staunton, VA.