We have declared 2012 The Year of the Memoir, and in our first event of the year, we’re going to plant seeds to help you envision yourself as a successful published author and take steps to build your audience—your platform—as it’s called by agents and publishers.

Our Roundtable Discussion leader this month is Teresa LeYung Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart and Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days. Teresa will talk with us about ways to create success in your writing life—especially the specifics of creating that foundation of potential audience that will help you get published and sell your book. Be prepared to tell us what your book is about and think about who your audience will be.

Whether you’re pitching your memoir to agents or you want to be your own publisher, the thing that gives you the competitive edge is a platform that attracts fans before and after publication. 
Coach Teresa’s definition of platform:  “Making your name stand for something—so you attract targeted consumers who are likely to buy what you have to sell.”

Step 1 “What are you selling?” Your literary products—articles, columns, stories, poems, essays, speeches, scripts, books. Your memoir and anything connected to it like a blog, article, poem or essay are your products which deliver ideas, stories, and themes. Being published means that we plan to share these ideas, we are putting them out into the world so others can find out about them, and so our ideas can enrich their lives.

Step 2 “Making your name stand for something”–the “something” is the subject matter, the issues and themes in your writing. You will become identified and known for what you write about, what you stand for, and the topics and ideas your work represents. Publishers, agents, and consumers look for continuity in your name and the “brand” that you are building.

Step 3 “Targeted consumers?” They are the readers who want to know about your subject matter and themes, and are invested with reasons to read what you write—to learn, to enjoy, and to be inspired. They need your work, there is something you have to offer that will change their lives.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan will lead our discussions to help you link steps 1, 2, and 3.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan has helped over 1,000 writers take steps to further their careers.

• She’s the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (available in print edition and as E-book). You can sneak preview the 2 exercises for Day 1 by going to Amazon’s page for Teresa’s workbook and “Click to look inside.”

• As a manuscript consultant, Coach Teresa shows authors how to write page-turners by identifying themes & archetypes in their stories. 

• Her using her book Love Made of Heart (to inspire adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families) demonstrates the power of making one’s name synonymous with the themes/subject matters/issues one writes about.  

http://www.WritingCoachTeresa.com

The Roundtable discussion meets

4 PM PST; 5 PM MST; 6 PM CST; 7 PM EST

Telephone Conference call-in number: (605)
475-4000 Telephone Conference call-in code: 225733#