More Fall News From Christina Katz

National News: Great Review of Get Known!

August is over but I still wanted to give a shout out to Karen McWilliams for her wonderful review of Get Known Before the Book Deal in the July/August issue of the SCBWI Bulletin. Here’s an excerpt:

“I recommend Get Known Before the Book Deal for every author to study whether you in the beginning stages of your career, somewhere in the middle, or seasoned but need to know more about publicizing yourself through the Internet.”

Local News: Time to Launch Season Five of The Northwest Author Series

Our first presenter this season is The Oregonian‘s very own, Jeff Baker, speaking on the “Qualities of Critically Acclaimed Books: How To Write for Raves.” Jeff will address:

What’s the difference between a good book and a great one? How do editors select books for review, and how do reviewers combine enthusiasm and critical judgment to create a balanced review? Examples will be discussed, real-world situations will be explored, and any and all questions will be answered. A quiz will be given with prizes for correct answers. If you love literature and have ever wondered what goes on in the book department of a newspaper, this is your chance to find out.

Jeff Baker is the book editor at The Oregonian. He also writes about music and popular culture. He has won awards for criticism, feature writing, sports journalism, and arts and entertainment writing, most recently a first-place award in the Best in the West competition and two awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.

Not only is Jeff Baker an awesome speaker to kick us off. We will also be doing a massive door prize giveaway on our series launch day. I will choose twenty attendees to win twenty books. (And there’s always coffee and cookies, of course.) Hope to see you there!

Writing Conference Corner: Another Keynote Invite!

I have been invited to keynote at another writing conference in 2012. I look forward to announcing it as soon as I have a signed contract (can’t overlook these important details). I’d like to take this opportunity to let every know that I may be able to come and speak at your favorite writing conference in 2012 if my schedule allows. If you are interested in finding out if your conference can fly me in, please recommend me to the current board member in charge of arranging speakers. So far, I’ll be at Associated Writer’s Conference and the Missouri Writer’s Guild Conference and this other one that I will announce soon. I always enjoy meeting folks at every writing conference I attend! Hope I get to meet you, as well, in 2012.

Writers On The Move Are Losing Unwanted Pounds & Inches All Around the Globe!

I hope that didn’t sound like an infomercial because I’m quite serious. I started a Facebook group called Writers On The Move in June and the inspiration factor is incredible. Furthermore, I was getting way too chubby from writing all these books. Now I’m running 2.5 miles three times a week. We range in commitment levels all the way from just getting back to exercising or getting in shape for the first time all the way to serious training like what Susan Ito is doing. So, if you need a supportive network of writers to help cheer you on as you commit to getting in shape and actually do it, feel free to join us. Just type “Writers On The Move” into your Facebook search bar. 🙂

New Twitter Practice: Watch for the Tag #DailyPlatform

I am getting tired of clicking through a million links on Twitter. So I commit to posting more meaty tweets with less links. I’ll still RT, but by far my favorite thing to do is listen to people who actually have something short and powerful to say. My new practice is called #DailyPlatform. I’ll use this tag to share a daily platform tip that is something I actually do that is helpful for platform building for writers. I’ll try to share at least one a day, but some days even more. And if you like what I have to say, feel free to forward my tweets. Thanks!

More news soon. Go inspire yourself!