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Happy Summer! My 2011-2012 Year In Review

Because I am a teacher and I am married to a teacher and we have a school-aged daughter, I tend to think and plan in school years rather than calendar years.

And because the school year is over, I feel like rounding up what I accomplished this past year.

I dedicate all of my work to writers, especially to writers who juggle professional writing with family responsibilities, and even more especially to moms who hold play such a central role in families.

As I round up my work from the past year, I am acknowledging and celebrating all that I have done. This is something too few writers do, in my opinion. We get so busy chasing the next gig that we forget to look back and appreciate and learn from what we have already done.

Why not follow my lead and conduct an inventory of what you’ve accomplished this past year. Also make note of who you serve, and how well you are serving based on what you accomplished. You’ll get a snapshot of how committed and effective you were over the span of a year.

Here’s a review of what I worked on in the 2011-2012 academic year:

Classes Taught

I have been teaching year-round classes for eleven straight years. This year, I taught five rounds of classes from August 2011 – June 2012, including:

Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff
Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform
Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries In Six Weeks
Micro-Publishing For Mom Writers
60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper In Your Niche

In the fall, I will add one new class, available only to my most advanced students. All of my current classes will also be updated and improved.

Dream Teams Coached

I have been coaching writers in coaching groups since I coached two rounds of three Dream Teams at three levels:

  • Writing and Publishing First Articles
  • Writing Articles, Querying & Platform Building
  • Advanced Writing & Publishing Dream Team

All three levels of Dream Teams start back up on August 1st. They are filling up quickly.

Why do writers take my Dream Teams? Maybe you should ask this writer.

Class Scholarships Given

I awarded ten scholarships with a value of $275 each for a total value of: $2,750.00 to students who took and completed Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff and Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform this past year.

Writing/Articles

Micro-publishing Coaching & Developmental E-book Editing

Keynotes

I gave two keynotes this past year:

  • Missouri Writers Guild
  • Mad Anthony in Ohio

Presented For

I presented workshops and panel discussions for the following organizations:

  • Willamette Writers Monthly Meeting in Portland, Oregon
  • Willamette Writers Monthly Meeting in Salem, Oregon
  • The Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City
  • Writing In Tough Times Mini-Conference in Portland, Oregon
  • The Associated Writing Program Conference in Chicago, Illinois
  • Oregon Writer’s Colony Conference in Portland, Oregon
  • Missouri Writers Guild in Chesterfield, Missouri
  • Mad Anthony in Hamilton, Ohio
  • The Chuckanut Writers Conference in Bellingham, Washington
  • Coming up: The Pacific Northwest Writers Association in Seattle, WA
  • Coming up: Willamette Writers, Portland, Oregon
  • Coming up: Mid-Valley Willamette Writers, Eugene, Oregon
  • Coming up: Wordstock Festival, Portland, Oregon
  • Coming up: Tigard Library, Tigard, Oregon

The Northwest Author Series

I planned and hosted the fifth successful season of The Northwest Author Series with eight terrific writers including:

  • Jeff Baker
  • Emily Chenoweth
  • Myself
  • Karen Karbo
  • Bill Johnson
  • Pamela Hill Smith
  • Kevin Sampsell
  • Heather Vogel Frederick

It takes weeks each summer to plan the next Northwest Author Series. Each of the eight events takes about three-four hours on Sunday afternoons, requires several additional hours each month for administrative work.

I am Featured or Reviewed In

The Writer’s Workout Is Featured Or Reviewed In

In December 2012, I launched The Writer’s Workout, 366 Tips, Tasks & Techniques from Your Writing Career Coach. Here is where the book has been featured:

Writer’s Digest Exclusives

The Writer’s Workout Poster Download

Three Chapters from The Writer’s Workout

Balancing Motherhood with Writing: The Benefits of Freelancing

Four Key Revision Tips

How To Build An Author Platform & Begin Your Writing Career

Five Tips for Fearless Writing

Notes From My Talks

Audio Readings

Online Events

The Writer Mama Every Day In May Book Giveaway

In May 2012, for the fifth time since 2007, I gave away 31+ books, this time for the second year in a row, all by mom authors.

You can view the complete list of authors and book winners here.

The Global Publication Party for The Writer’s Workout

On January 10th, I hosted an online party for The Writer’s Workout with three online teaching modules.

During the flash class, I coached writers in every genre on three topics related to writing success in 2012:

  • How to Assess The Power of Your Writing Portfolio (audio coaching)
  • How to Build Your Best Bio for 2012 (audio coaching)
  • How to Discover Your Unique Platform Dynamic (audio coaching)

Leap Day Party

I kicked off a big one-day Leap Day celebration for The Writer’s Workout, offering ten great reasons to buy it now.

Extra-curricular

Beyond Busy Monthly Book Club

In March 2012, I started a book club. Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild had just come out and I knew I would never make time to read it even though I truly wanted to. I had a hunch, if I started a book club, I’d have to read it. So I did.

We are on our fourth book now. So far, everything we’ve read is nonfiction, but we have plans for fiction one of these months.

March: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

April: Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott with Sam Lamott

May: Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel

June: Imagine, How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

Writers On The Move Facebook Group

A year ago, I start a Facebook group called Writers On The Move. Today the group has 191 members.

The group is place for sedentary writers to inspire each other to move and eat more healthily.

I used the group to help motivate me to run from May 2011-October 2011. I never would have imagined running again. I never even liked running. But now, after revisiting several sedentary months, I’m using the group to run again. I’m up to 2.8 miles so far and my intention is to run three times a week.

236 Movies About Writers and the Writing Life

I updated my list of 236 Movies About Writers and the Writing Life (and it’s time again in July, so please make additional suggestions here)

Books By Women Writers for High School Students

I also updated my list of Books By Women Writers for High School Students (and it’s time again in August, please make additional suggestions here)

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  • Edith June 20, 2012, 7:03 pm

    Wow Christina! What an incredible list of achievements! You deserve an award for the most prolific writer mama ever!!! Congrats, and here’s to another great 12 months!! 🙂

  • Barbara McDowell Whitt June 21, 2012, 12:23 pm

    Wow!