“No one avoids writing like writers.” ― Jane Friedman, The Business of Being a Writer
“Writing was the only thing that populated my life and made it magic”. – Margarite Duras
Our third of three sessions for this workshop series was this past Tuesday,
2/27. Don't worry if you missed it - this is an annual workshop! Reach out to me for more details.
We hosted three diverse and experienced authors sharing
their knowledge on submitting work, editing and translating, publishing,
and developing author platforms and marketing. To become familiar with these authors' work, you can read their work that
I've referenced below and check out their books and other work available.
Diana Whitney writes across the genres in Vermont with a focus on feminism, motherhood, and
sexuality. Her first book, Wanting It, became an indie bestseller and won the Rubery Book
Award in poetry. She was the longtime poetry critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, where she
featured women poets and LGBTQ+ voices in her column. Her essays, op-eds, and book reviews
have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Kenyon Review,
Glamour, and many more. Her anthology, You Don’t Have to Be Everything: Poems for Girls
Becoming Themselves, was released by Workman Publishing to critical acclaim, won the 2022
Claudia Lewis Award for the best poetry book of the year, and became a YA bestseller.
You
can read about and order her newest book of poems Dark Beds published
by June Road Press and even listen to her read a few poems here. And here is her article in the New York Times 2018 titled Dementia's Gift: Facing Cancer without Fear
In 2014, Marianne Porter earned an MFA in Creative Writing, Sierra Nevada University
(currently University of Nevada, Lake Tahoe). Her 89,000-word travel memoir, ADRIFT
ACROSS EUROPE, 1973-’74. Two Best Friends, Five Backpack Diaries, 154 Days, has been
accepted for publication by Pegasus Publishing.
A writer of diverse forms, Marianne’s poetry, fiction, and non-fiction has been published in
various magazines and venues, including Freeflow Institute, Pure Slush Publications, Entropy&,
and Clover: A Literary Rag. Her short story “A Weekend with the Parents. 1970” earned
Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train’s Dec 2017 Family Matters contest. In March 2016,
her personal essay titled, “Five Things I Remember About Rape” appeared online in Jennifer
Pastiloff’s “The Manifest-Station, On Being Human.” She also writes occasionally for Moonshine Ink.
Shaun Griffin’s soulful poetry and engagement with Nevada communities make him one of the
state’s most well-loved literary figures. He is the author of This is What the Desert Surrenders,
Bathing in the River of Ashes and Woodsmoke, Wind and the Peregrine, among others.
Recurring themes in his poetry; family, landscape and work for justice in the larger
world; Griffin’s editing also adds to his literary legacy, specifically his editing of Torn By Light,
poems by Joanne de Longchamps. Likewise, his translations of Emma Sepulveda’s poems have
allowed her work to be enjoyed by an increasingly wider audience. Both de Longchamps and
Sepulveda are members of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.
You can read about his newest memoir coming out March 15th by Southern Utah University Press in the Reno News & Review Griffin’s
other works include Anthem for a Burnished Land: What We Leave
in This Desert of Work and Words; Bathing in the River of Ashes; The
Monastery of Stars; and Because the Light Will Not Forgive Me: Essays
From a Poet.
He hosts a radio show on KWNKradio.org the first and third Sunday of the month at 5 pm. All shows are on the station website and Spotify (KWKN - A Writer's World).
Writing Prompts to ask yourself as you assess strategies for submission:
1. Why do you write?
2. What do you write about?
3. What is your unique perspective?
4. What needs and emotions do you cater to or go after?
5. What is your message?
6. Who is your audience?
7. Which planks do you currently have and which ones would you like to add to your
platform as a professional writer?
8. Set your goals for this month, this year:
Are you ready to send out your writing for submission? As a writing
coach and editor, I'm available to help with revision, manuscript edits,
and strategizing the right places to submit your work.
