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- Category: Network News
WINSTON-SALEM—When the North Carolina Writers' Network first went virtual in 2008, it was a very different World Wide Web from what we find today.
The internet was flourishing, yes, but authors needed more help promoting their successes and finding news about the literary scene in North Carolina and beyond.
In the past ten years, we've gone from a brick 'n mortar office to one that exists only in cyberspace (unless we're at a conference, or sitting face-to-face with our members at a regional rep group event). We're even hosting online classes now, the first of which is now open for registration.
A lot has changed in the past decade.
NCWN is committed to a full redesign of our website very soon. Before we do this, though, we need to know how you, our members, use our current website.
We've created a short, ten-question survey. It won't take you even five minutes to complete. But it will let us know how you're using our website, how you'd like to use our website in the future, and what you need our website to be so that we can serve you for another ten, twenty, thirty years.
To start the survey, click here.
We know our current website looks a little outdated. We're gonna freshen it up. Let us know what you'd like to see, and we'll see if we can make it happen.
Thank you.
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WINSTON-SALEM—Standard (and worthwhile) advice for any writer is to read widely and read as much as possible. Know your market; know what books are being published in your genre; be an active member of the community.
The same is true for those who write books for children. What if there was a person who read untold numbers of children's books a year and could help you focus your project for a specific market and write a great book?
On Thursday, December 13, at 7:00 pm, longtime writer and book critic Susie Wilde will lead the online class "Good Book or Bad Book? A Workshop for Children’s Book Writers."
Registration is closed.
This course is capped at forty (40) registrants, first-come, first-served. There is a $30 fee to register.
Susie Wilde, children’s book columnist for The News & Observer in Raleigh, reads thousands of books a year. These have helped guide her teaching those who write children's books. So what makes the books she reads worthy of review? Why do books fail? Workshop participants are invited to join her in examining picture books and determining what makes good children’s book writing succeed. Participants are encouraged to share their favorites and the books they've discovered that don't work for them. Together registrants will compose a list of recommendations to consider when writing children's books.
Susie is passionate about igniting readers and writers. She’s been a member of NCWN for more than five years and a writer for much longer. She currently writes reviews for The News & Observer in Raleigh and AudioFile Magazine and writes with children. She teaches adults how to write children’s books and works on her memoir when she can find the time. Find out more on her website: www.ignitingwriting.com.
"Good Book or Bad Book? A Workshop for Children’s Book Writers" is the North Carolina Writers' Network's first offering in their 2018-2019 Winter Series of online classes.
"This program is a great way for writers from all over North Carolina to connect without having the hassle of driving somewhere and finding parking," said NCWN communications director Charles Fiore. "Online classes offer top-shelf instruction for a fraction of the cost, and the software itself is very intuitive and easy to use."
The online class ""Good Book or Bad Book? A Workshop for Children’s Book Writers" is available to anyone with an internet connection, or who even owns just a telephone. Instructions for accessing the online class on Thursday, December 13, will be sent to registrants no less than twenty-four hours prior to the start of class.
Registration has been capped at 40.
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.
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CHARLOTTE—At the North Carolina Writers' Network 2018 Fall Conference, NCWN trustee Georgann Eubanks will lead the session "Write What You Don't Know" (creative nonfiction).
Fall Conference runs November 2-4, at the Hilton Charlotte University Place. On-site registration opens at 3:00 pm on Friday, November 2, in the hotel ballroom foyer.
Georgann Eubanks is the author of the three-volume Literary Trails series commissioned by the NC Arts Council and published by UNC Press. Her latest book is The Month of their Ripening: North Carolina Heritage Foods Through the Year (UNC Press, 2018). Georgann has published poetry, fiction, profiles, reviews, and essays in many magazines and journals, including Southern Cultures, South Writ Large, Our State, and Oxford American. Since 2000, she has been a principal with Donna Campbell in Minnow Media, LLC, an Emmy-winning multimedia company that primarily creates independent documentaries for public television. Eubanks has taught creative writing and the power of story to nonprofit leaders, UNC undergraduates, public school students, and adult writers in many contexts. Eubanks is director of the Table Rock Writers Workshop and a founder of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. She is the current president of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association and serves on the NCWN board.
This year, NCWN has been celebrating publishers based in North Carolina, so we asked Georgann to answer the following prompt:
"Congratulations! You've inherited a large fortune, on the condition that you use it to start your own publishing house. What kind of books are you going to publish?"
Here's what Georgann said:
"Name of Press: First Books.
"Mission: Publishing first novels, memoirs, and collections of poetry and stories by Native Americans, African-Americans, and other voices less heard."
When you use your own curiosity to drive the story, you don’t have to be an expert, you just have to do your homework and bring your readers along! "Write What You Don't Know" is a workshop designed to generate ideas for stories you can sell with tips on finding your sources, interviewing the right subjects, creating tension in the story, and finding your audience. Participants will do a bit of freewriting, too. This workshop is for writers at all levels and will draw upon the expertise of the group so that you leave with at least two ideas to pursue.
Fall Conference attracts hundreds of writers from around the country and provides a weekend full of activities that include lunch and dinner banquets with readings, keynotes, tracks in several genres, open mic sessions, and the opportunity for one-on-one manuscript critiques with editors or agents. Randall Kenan, a 2018 inductee into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, will give the Keynote Address.
NCWN will host a Pre-Conference Tailgate at noon on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Novelist Bryn Chancellor will kick off the weekend festivities by leading the session "The Alchemy of Paying Attention." This event is free and open to the public; one need not register for Fall Conference in order to attend.
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to all writers, in all genres, at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.