Network with Us May 2007

NETWORK WITH US is a regular feature of Writers in the Sky (WITS) Newsletter.

You may add your announcement or brag about your writing accomplishment; tell us about your book or business; share information and ideas or send articles and advertorials for the next issue. See our submittal guidelines.

Here are the E-nouncements from our readers this month:

Wanted: Anonymous Voters

Shirley Cheng (http://www.shirleycheng.com/) is conducting two one-question polls for her parental rights in children's medical care advocacy book, and she will include the results in her book. All voters will be anonymous. Please take a moment to vote in these polls:

Who Should Make the Final Decision in Children's Medical Care? http://www.opinionpower.com/Surveys/354037681.html

Should Parents Have the Right to Disagree with Doctors' Recommended Treatments for Their Children? http://www.opinionpower.com/Surveys/123037682.html

If you'd like to support her cause by doing more than just voting, you can contribute to her book
by going to http://www.shirleycheng.com/submission.html. Also sign her Give Parents the

Right to Say No Petition at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/parentr7/petition.html.

Thank you and please pass the word on to others.

****************
Article Marketing Challenge Begins May 1

Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer's Coach, would like you to visit her blog today and find a great way to get ready for the Lieurance-King Spring Article Challenge that begins May 1st!
http://www.the-working-writers-coach.blogspot.com/.

****************
Nightengale Press Authors in the News!

Dr. Eric Kaplan, author of DYING TO BE YOUNG --- from Botox to Botulism, A True Story of Survival, will be featured on GOOD MORNING AMERICA May 10th. Tune in!

Author Frank Sobo's new book DNA STEW is up for the BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD sponsoered by ForeWord Magazine. Good luck to Frank!

Author Dr. Eric Kapan's book DYING TO BE YOUNG is reviewed in Foreword Magazine's May/June issue. At last a Nightengale Press author has made it into ForeWord!

Publisher Valerie Connelly gave a Keynote address for Women's History Month on March 29th at the Waukegan Illinois Recreational Center.

Three authors, Jodi Pliszka, Zara Griswold and Yvonne Perry will be represented by Bob Erdmann at the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Foreign Rights program. Their titles, BALD IS BEAUTIFUL, SURROGACY WAS THE WAY, and RIGHT TO RECOVER may be picked up for foreign distribution. Good luck to all three authors!

********************
Marketing Podcast

Are you ready to kick your marketing into high gear? Then we've got a podcast you're gonna love! Tune in to Book Promotion Made Easy, a weekly podcast packed with tips, tricks and insider advice about all things marketing.

********************
Tennessee Writers Alliance News invites writers to register for their 2nd annual conference. Writers of all genres and skill levels are invited to attend the 2007 TWA Writers’ Conference June 8-9, at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. Conference highlights include a keynote speech by The Widow of the South author Robert Hicks; Friday sessions on "What Editors Want" and literary agent panel led by Chuck Sambuchino, editor of the 2008 Guide to Literary Agents; a marketplace for members to sell their books; and Saturday sessions on poetry, fiction, nonfiction, songwriting, mystery writing, children's lit, and creativity.

And that's not all! See http://www.tn-writers.org/conf07.htm for more information and for downloadable (pdf) registration, schedule and more. (For TWA members, you'll also be receiving this information by snail mail soon, in the spring Tennessee Writer.)

- Enter our fiction and poetry contests by July 1st.

Guidelines for our 2007 short fiction and poetry competitions are now posted; judges will be announced soon. First Prize $500, Second Prize $250, Third Prize $100. See www.tn-writers.org/contest07g2.htm for details.

Thanks to all of you who entered our creative nonfiction contest! Results will be announced at our conference in Franklin June 8th - 9th.

- Check out other 2007 writing events and opportunities now posted on our events page at www.tn-writers.org/events.htm.

*****************
Have a Need for Publicity?

PR/PR can help you with all of your publicity needs, from print to television, radio and online media. If you want to sell more books, get more speaking engagements and be hired for more consulting jobs, you need publicity. To receive a free consultation, please contact Pam Lontos, President of PR/PR: 407-299-6128 or email: pam@prpr.net or visit: http://www.prpr.net/.

****************************
Nightengale Press is putting the finishing touches on 7 forthcoming titles:

CALLING ALL AUTHORS How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open by Valerie Connelly is the publishing guidebook writers and authors have been looking for. With a lot of information drawn from the experts and authors who appeared on Ms. Connelly's dynamic 2006 CALLING ALL AUTHORS radio program, and with the first hand experience Ms. Connelly shares from her years as a publisher, she presents it all in a truly accessible manner.

BALD IS BEAUTIFUL My Journey to Becoming by Jodi Pliszka. Jodi's book tells the difficulties of her hair loss, the trials of her dark period in life, and her overcoming of her demons. Inspirational and uplifting, every reader can relate some part of life to Jodi's story of how she became who she is today: Author, Inventor, Inspirational Speaker, and Mom.

THE TALES OF ADARYA by Alain Buchwald, a teen author with the talent and skill of a seasoned storyteller. In the tradition of the Lord of the Rings, as the dark lord Naurleth prepares to unleash his power, all seems lost for the divided peoples of Adarya who must unite to survive.

NET LOSS by Tim Hein is a mystery thriller with the taste and feel of the great Zane Gray novels. Kyle Schmidt seeks only a brief escape from his bleak reality when he ventures into the seedy bowels of online chat. Instead, he unleashes a love so powerful that his escape may become permanent.

RIGHT TO RECOVER Winning the Political and Religious Wars Over Stem Cell Research in America by Yvonne Perry deals with one of the hottest topics facing our country this presidential campaign season, if not this century.

Much more than a basic overview of stem cell research, RIGHT TO RECOVER will answer the questions and define the issues facing international research and U.S. research, legal issues regarding funding for stem cell research all the while breaking down the misconceptions and myths such as What about all those unused embryos in the fertility clinic? This book will clarify the separation of Church and State, the Constitution and founding fathers intention regarding religion and government, and how U.S. religious right is preventing recovery through ignorance. With first hand stories of success, with interviews of those hopeful of a cure, this book will answer the most asked question regarding stem cell research: Is there really hope that stem cells leftover from in-vitro fertilization attempts can cure disease? Doctors in the field and politicians battling to open the legislative doors bring their expertise and vision to us all through this book. http://www.right2recover.com/.

*****************************
Need Help Marketing Your Book?
Get free book-marketing tips every other week in Brian Jud's Book Marketing Matters e-newsletter. Go to: http://www.bookmarketing.com/ to sign up!

*****************************
Writing Contest Makes Every Entrant a Winner with a 750-word Critique

Paula B, host of The Writing Show would like to let everyone know about a writing contest.

Want to get published but don’t know how your novel measures up? Enter The Writing Show First Chapter Contest and get 750 words of feedback from publishing industry pros plus a week’s free access to Literary Market Place Online, a searchable database of the North American book publishing industry.

• First prize: $500, the two-volume print version of Literary Market Place, and an interview on the popular podcast The Writing Show.
• Two second prizes: $100 each.

Enter by May 15, 2007 and pay only $35. After that until June 15, 2007, the entry fee is $45.

Winners will be announced on November 15, 2007.

Judges include publishers, editors, reviewers, authors, and other industry professionals. The winning entries will be selected by a celebrity panel that includes best-selling crime fiction author C.J. Box.

Entries will be judged on:

1. Story. Is it a compelling read with a great hook? Are we engaged?
2. Style. Is the writing smooth and tight, without awkward constructions, extraneous verbiage, and redundancies?
3. Dialog. Is the dialog natural and does it move the story along?
4. Character. Are the characters interesting? Do we care about them?
5. Mechanics. Are grammar, spelling, and punctuation correct?

Rules, instructions for entering, and more detail can be found at The Writing Show Web site. The contest is sponsored by The Writing Show and Literary Market Place.