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ERMA BOMBECK WRITERS' WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER
University of Dayton
June/July 2008
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Dear writer:
I don't just run the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, I'm also an attendee. I learn an amazing amount through attending sessions and networking with other writers.
Technology was a big focus at the 2008 workshop. There were several sessions about online video given by Steve O'Keefe and John Kremer. Steve taught how to easily create a book trailer -- a short video that promotes your book in the same way a movie trailer promotes a film. Steve motivated me to create a book trailer for my self-help parody, GUIDE TO PIRATE PARENTING.
John taught about using a video to drive people to your Web site. You can watch my
Pump Up Your Book Promotion. More than 600 people have watch it already, and I
haven't even promoted it much yet.
One of the greatest benefits of a book trailer is that it's an ad for your book people can
watch before ever getting to your Web site. I even added my book trailer to my Facebook
profile. Another big benefit is search engine listings. As soon as I posted my
video at the sites listed above (all of which are free), I had three of them listed in the
top-10 results in a Google search for "pirate parenting." Sites such as YouTube and
AOL Video are so large, they improve your search rankings almost overnight.
When I posted my video on John Kremer's Book Marketing Network, I got an e-mail from
Dorothy Thompson, who I knew from the Bombeck Online Discussion Group. Dorothy
runs a service called Pump Up Your Book Promotion, an innovative public relations firm specializing in online book promotion. She creates book trailers and also manages blog tours for authors. I just hired her to run a blog tour for GUIDE TO PIRATE PARENTING starting on July 7. (If you'd like to be a stop on my blog tour, drop me an e-mail.) Dorothy's prices are some of the most reasonable I've seen and her work is a fantastic value. I'll let you know how the tour went in the next issue of this newsletter.
Dorothy is a great example of how networking pays off. GUIDE TO PIRATE PARENTING
wouldn't have been published if not for networking. Three Bombeck Workshop attendees.
helped me turn my idea into a book. Joanne Brokaw, who I first met at a Bombeck Workshop
years ago, helped me fine-tune the tone and approach for the book. She provided an honest
editor in UD's Office of University Communications, occasional English dept. instructor, and
freelance writer and editor. If you're looking for a book editor, I'd highly recommend him.
You can contact Matt at dewald@gmail.com.
Finally, Peter Honsberger, who published my book, was at the workshop along with Rachel
Fichter. Peter is president of Cold Tree Press, a POD publisher that recently changed into
an independent, traditional, trade paperback press. Rachel is Cold Tree's Senior Editor.
They're a great group to work with and really know their stuff. They're responsible for the
fantastic design of my book, both inside and out.
If you've created a video trailer for your humor book, let me know. I might include it in a future newsletter.
There's plenty more information below to help inspire you and jumpstart your writing career. So keep reading...and keep writing!
Tim Bete
author of Guide to Pirate Parenting
director, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, University of Dayton
P.S. If you didn't attend, you can still purchase the 2008 workshop recordings for just $129.
(The 2006 Bombeck Workshop recordings are still available, too.)
Latest news...
WATCH GARRISON KEILLOR'S OPENING SPEECH
Watch portions of Garrison Keillor's opening speech
at the 2008 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop.
Garrison talks about...
Cappy Hall Rearick sent in this Garrison Keillor quote:
"When some people sit down to write humor, they adopt a giddy tone of voice, a whooping or comic warble, so that the reader will know it’s funny. It’s the writing equivalent of a clown suit. This does not wear well. Humor needs to come in under cover of darkness, in disguise, and surprise people. You don’t want to get that gdoing , gdoing , gdoing sound in your writing. It makes the reader feel sorry for you."
BOMBECK WORKSHOP ATTENDEE STAND-UP COMEDY
Watch ten minutes of great stand-up by attendees of the 2008 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshiop. Watch it now.
GETTING PUMPED UP
The Hair Theater Cheer Chicks got workshop attendees going through their unique brand of pep rally. Watch it now.
NATIONAL LAMPOON TAKES A "FRAT CHANCE"
National Lampoon, Inc., the most widely recognized brand in comedy, has acquired the college comedy script “Frat Chance” from the founder/creator of DrunkUniversity.com, Read more.
WRITER'S DIGEST EDITOR REPORTS ON IAN FRAZIER
"[Humor] is something that you really can’t hit by aiming at it. It’s not like you can go out and get the facts and report them and now here’s a humor piece with the facts." Read more.
BEING AN AUTHOR IN HOLLYWOOD
Trying to make a living writing books is difficult, so a word of advice to anyone who’s planning a move to Los Angeles: Stay right where you are. Read more.
Humor writer of the month
BROOKELYN BELLINGER
Brookelyn Bellinger is author of The Frozen Toe Guide to Real Alaskan Livin': Learn how to Survive Moose Attacks, Endless Winters, and Life Without Indoor Plumbing -- a smorgasbord of equal parts entertainment and information with just a bit of crap mixed in. Visit her site.
Book giveaway
Each month we give away a book on writing to a few subscribers to our newsletter. If you're subscribed, you're entered to win! This issue's winners are:
* Darrell Trout
* Holly Johnson
* Diana Marcovitz
Each has won a copy of Book Proposals That Sell by Terry Whalin.
Who's publishing what?
WORKSHOP FACULTY
KITCHEN VIRGIN: Susan Reinhardt has published Dishing with the Kitchen Virgin, a collection of food stories, culinary missteps, and dining disasters. Susan’s columns appear in Gannett newspapers. She has also written features which have appeared in the Washington Post, London Daily Mirror, Newsday and other Tribune Media and Gannett publications,
LOTS OF IRONY: Judy Gruen's new book, The Women's Daily Irony Supplement, has won the Gold ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award for humor, as well as a Silver "IPPY" Award from Independent Publisher and a Bronze Award from the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards.
TEACHER AND STUDENT: Carolyn Howard-Johnson has added Bombeck Workshop attendee Anne Louise Reinhard as a humor columnist in her e-newsletter, Sharing with Writers.
PAST WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
DAY JOB: Meridian Magazine Online published, "The Duffle Bag," a piece by Larry Day.
Markets, contests and more
SEEKING HUMOR WRITERS: New Christian Voices is a new non-denominational Christian humor and lifestyle Web site looking for humor writers. Read more.
TRAVEL HUMOR CONTEST: Inkwater Press, in conjunction with Dave Fox, author of Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad and Globejotting: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals (and still have time to enjoy your trip), is looking for your most terrible travel tales. Read more.
WHAT'S COOKING: Chicken Soup for the Soul is looking for stories about: cancer, cats, Christmas, dog, endurance sports, getting into college, high school, middle school, resolutions, seniors and retirement, stay at home moms and twins -- but not all in the same story. (Although that would be impressive.) Read more.
MONTHLY HUMOR CONTEST: HumorPress.com holds monthly humor writing contests with cash prizes. Read more.
PUNCHLINE MAGAZINE: Everything stand-up. Read more.
CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST: New contest every month. Read more.
FUNNY HEADLINE CONTEST: Can you write a hilarious headline? Read more.
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NETWORK WITH OTHER HUMOR WRITERS: Network with other humor writers. Join the e-mail discussion group for past attendees of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop and those who would like to attend in the future. Join now.
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SUGGEST A RESOURCE: If you have a favorite book or Web site, let us know at bete@udayton.edu.
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Copyright 2008, University of Dayton
