Boot Camp: Public Speaking for Writers: How to Turn Your Reading into Book Sales

Friday, September 27, 2013 - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Porter Anderson, Journalist/Public Speaker

Going from the page to the stage is a longer distance than many authors think. It’s a completely different skill set. You've been sitting for months and years, working on your book. Now, we're going to get you up on your feet.

At a bookstore
In a conference ballroom
On the floor of a packed campus lecture hall
From a panel at a book fair
Dead center on a corporate auditorium stage

Nobody will cut you any slack because you're a writer, not an actor.  And strong, live readings can do more to convert fence-sitters into buyers than many other marketing tactics.

So how do you learn to deliver your work with impact—with your text in your hand and a live audience in your face? That's why we're going to stand you up and workshop your presentation in real time.

YOU’LL LEARN:
What a public reading is actually about.  It’s not “let them hear a little sample of the work.”
What an audience wants from an author at a reading – and how to give it to them.
How to choose what to read.  The right selection can be as important as what you do with it.
How to rehearse ahead of your reading.  It’ll excite you like nothing else. Warn your spouse.
How to prep your reading for your listeners.  It's not "setting the scene," as you may think.
How to present yourself to the audience – the art of direct address.
How to actually deliver your work and follow it up. What happens after the applause?

Attendees should bring two pages of their own work to read (either from a work in progress or from published material).  We'll have you experience the reading on your feet, get feedback from your peers, and work with on-the-spot input from session leader Porter Anderson.

From what to wear to the Q&A, you can be in control of every appearance, if you know how. And you can come out with sales each time you read to an audience.

Seats are limited, so secure yours while you can!
Additional fee of $99 required.  See the Agenda Page within your registration to add a Boot Camp.

Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) is a former news anchor with CNN and an Equity actor who has taught theatre courses at the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, and Florida State. He writes the weekly (Thursdays) “Writing on the Ether” publishing column at JaneFriedman.com and the weekly (Tuesdays) “Ether for Authors” column at PublishingPerspectives.com, a publication of Frankfurt Book Fair. He's also a Regular Contributor to Writer Unboxed, a member of the Expert Publishing Blog team at Digital Book World, and a Contributor to Writer’s Digest magazine. His live-text coverage of publishing conferences—a practice he began during presidential election events as a Senior Producer with CNN.com—is followed by thousands.

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Register by May 19th to Save!