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ERMA BOMBECK WRITERS' WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER
University of Dayton
December2006/January 2007
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Dear writer:
Lynn Hutner Colwell is one incredible lady. I met Lynn when I was creating the
Erma Bombeck and donated portions of the biography to the online musem. Lynn's
out-of-print. Lynn recently decided to turn the original hardcover book into an
e-book and is donating all proceeds to the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop.
Lynn decided to give the proceeds to the workshop "because Erma gave so much of herself to me and other aspiring writers." At the very beginning of her writing career, Lynn wrote a letter to Erma asking for any encouragement Erma might offer. Much to Lynn's amazement, Erma wrote back.
"I later learned that she did this with as many as she could respond to," Lynn told me. "She didn’t have to do it. She just did. That was Erma Bombeck. Her support continues to be felt by the people who attend the workshops. I know she would be happy to be honored in this way. It is the least I can do."
Keep writing!
Tim Bete
Latest news...
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE CAPTION CONTEST
Seated in a small cubicle 20 floors above Times Square, a 23-year-old Harvard graduate named Zachary Kanin sifts through submissions for The New Yorker's caption contest. Read more.
INTERESTING STATS
Fifty-nine percent of customers plan to purchase a specific book when entering a bookstore, according to the Book Industry Study Group. On average, a bookstore browser spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover of a book. Read more.
THE BEST LAID PLANS
How often do we make plans, passionately engage in them, feel fired up, then are stopped dead in our tracks by some unforeseen circumstance? Life tends to get in the way of our plans. Read more.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR OKLAHOMA CITY WORKSHOP REGISTRATION
Don’t get caught up in the end-of-year rush and miss out on savings for the Will Rogers Writers’ Workshop in Oklahoma City in March 2007. The earlybird registration deadline is December 31, 2006. You’ll get a $25 discount if you register by that date, and you can apply the savings to your Christmas shopping. Read more.
FOR AUTHORS, WRITING'S JUST HALF THE JOB
It's not enough to write a great book. Authors are now expected to play an active role in book marketing and promotion. In this brave new world of always-on media, scribes are expected to either pursue or make themselves available to every potential reader. Read more.
NSNC CONFERENCE OPEN FOR REGISTRATION
The 2007 National Society of Newspaper Columnists Conference is taking registrations. Speakers include Dave Barry, Bill O'Reilly, Clarence Page and Robin Givhan. Read more.
EXCOMMUNICATED FROM TV LAND
Danny Gallagher joined an elite and special group of people in the funnyhaha universe. He lost a TV deal. Read more.
BOMBECK BIOGRAPHY NOW IN E-BOOK FORMAT;
PROCEEDS SUPPORT WRITERS' WORKSHOP
HUMOROUS ADVICE ABOUT COLLEGE
As Chef said on “South Park,” “There’s a time and a place for everything. It’s called college.” Read more.
SEDARIS THROWS A GREAT PARTY
Playwright and comedienne Amy Sedaris has written the book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. In a recent interview she was asked, "What's your first hostess memory?" Her answer: "I was in seventh grade, and my mom let me invite all my friends over. I made Rock Cornish hens, wild rice and lemon tarts, served in the basement." Read more.
DAVE BARRY WRITES A CHRISTMAS STORY
The award-wining humor writer tackles the holidays in The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter,the Christmas Miracle Dog. Read an excerpt.
ACTORS, WRITERS SWITCH ROLES TO KEEP 'THE OFFICE' RUNNING
If the NBC comedy The Office the actors and writers are often the same people. Read more.
TAKING BACK CRACKED
Monty Sarhan, the corporate lawyer-turned Editor-in-Chief of the humor mag Cracked, on brilliantly written court decisions, Michael Ian Black, the over-ratedness of the Big Lebowski, and how he made The Funniest Magazine in History funny again. Read more.
NO JOKE
A reluctant comic discovers firsthand that doing stand-up is easy. For some people. Read more.
Humor writer of the month
CHARLA BELINSKI
Charla Belinski is the author of the weekly feature, "Are We There Yet?" which shares her common-sense style and humorous world view on raising happy, healthy kids. Her columns appear weekly in the Glenwood (Colorado) Post
Independent and she is a regular contributor to Mountain Parent magazine. Her work has also appeared in the Denver Post and Aspen Times. She is a 2005 winner of the Humor Press Writers’ Contest. Visit her Web 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:
* Betsy Henning
* Sally Clark
* James Sneeden
Who's publishing what?
WORKSHOP FACULTY
REINHARDT & STANFA: Susan Reinhardt recently wrote about workshop attendee DC Stanfa. "The entire diamond debate began when my friend DC Stanfa of Cincinnati finally got her much-awaited rock." Read the column.
LEIGH ANNE ROCKS ON: Leigh Anne Jasheway Bryant has a new radio program, Women Under the Influence of Laughter, which airs on KOPT 1600 AM (www.kopt.com). The purpose of the program is to let funny women talk about serious and not-so serious topics and is looking for call-in guests (especially if you've got a book to promote.) Leigh Anne has already Kate Clinton, Rita Rudner, and Michele Balan from Last Comic Standing and has Laurie Notaro and Paula Poundstone lined up. Contact her at lajfun@accidentalcomic.com. Leigh Anne also has a new blog.
PAST WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
I FOUND U: Angie Klink has published her second mascot children's book, I found U, which is about Indiana University. Klink is the author of the successful Purdue Pete Finds His Hammer, showcasing Purdue’s unofficial mascot Purdue Pete and Purdue University.
OTHER PUBLISHING NEWS
Markets, contests and more
HUMOR WRITER NEEDED: Looking for co-writer to add to screenplay about a chiropractor in mid-life who becomes a closet comic at a comedy club to cope with his rich overbearing wife and cantankerous father-in-law and finds love in the arms of a cocktail waitress. Needs jokes for his comedy club performance. Write to Maria at soulmate101@cox.net.
FIND A PUBLISHER: LiteraryMarketPlace.com brings the power of automated searching to the world's largest, most complete database of the book publishing industry. Read more.
DIGITALPULP.ORG: A roadside oasis for writers on the long hard road to getting published. Read more.
HUMOR COLLECTION: The Humor Collection is a service for all who wish to raise the humor quotient in their life and is dedicated to connecting people to the wealth of humor and comedy created by comedians over the years. 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 2006, University of Dayton
