Meeting Details

“There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.”
Christopher Morley (1890-1957)


The next meeting of the Liberty States Fiction Writers will be held on September 12th at the Main Branch of the Edison Public Library on Plainfield Avenue

The September workshop will be
Marketing and Publicizing Your Book
by Judy Spagnola and Kiersten Krumm

In this workshop, Judy will speak about what an independent PR company can do for an author at different stages of his or her career and Kiersten will speak about the importance of back cover copy in helping promote an author and sell books.

About Judy Spagnola – Book Trends: Judy Spagnola’s career in the book industry began as a bookseller for an independent bookstore. She soon became a store manager, an area manager, and finally the national buyer for Literature, Poetry and Romance at Waldenbooks, where she was responsible for purchasing for over 1400 stores. When Waldenbooks moved to Ann Arbor, Judy formed her PR company, Book Trends, on the advice of author Andrea Kane, who became Judy’s first client. Judy uses her many contacts among booksellers, buyers, distributors, merchandisers, and reviewers, along with her in-depth knowledge of the book industry, to help promote and sell her clients’ books. On her website, www.book-trends.com, you’ll find a list of authors she has worked with.

About Kiersten Krumm: Kiersten Krumm has been writing back cover copy for ten years. She currently writes for Hachette, both for the Forever line and for Grand Central. She has also written for Avon/HarperCollins, St. Martin’s Press, and Pocket Books. She’s been writing exclusively for Hachette since 2003 and has written for Julia Harper, Sherillyn Bodine, Jane Porter, Megan Crane, and Sandra Hill, among others.

Roundtable Sessions

This month’s Roundtable sessions will be on writing synopses and critique. For the critique sessions, please bring 10 copies of 5 pages from the work you would like to discuss. If you are a published author and would like to assist with the roundtable sessions in the future, please contact Lois Winston, our Program Chair.

Networking and Snacks

After the Roundtable Sessions, members may network and either brown bag lunch or share snacks with fellow members.

Every month the Liberty States Fiction Writers will feature published authors who will share with you one of their latest releases and offer you the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of the featured release. Published authors will also have the opportunity to provide podcast interviews about their latest releases.

September’s Author Spotlight is on Tina Gabrielle

LADY OF SCANDAL by Tina GabrielleTina Gabrielle is a former engineer and attorney whose love of romance novels helped her get through years of academia. She often picked up a romance and let her fantasies of knights in shining armor and lords and ladies carry her away. After multi-publishing for the prestigious Rutgers Law Journal, she has finally fulfilled her dream of writing fiction. Her first book, LADY OF SCANDAL, is a Regency-set historical scheduled for release by Kensington Books in September 2009. She is hard at work on the second book in the series, A PERFECT SCANDAL. Tina lives in New Jersey. She loves to hear from readers. Visit her website at www.tinagabrielle.com.

Future Meetings and Roundtable Sessions

    September 12
    Publicist Judy Spagnola
    Freelance Writer
    Kiersten Krum

    Marketing and Publicizing Your Book
    Roundtable
    Writing Synopsis
    Critique
    October 10
    Dr. Michael Rushnak

    Mystery/Thriller Author

    Roundtable
    Legal Issues for Authors
    Critique
    November 14
    Agent Stephany Evans
    FinePrint Literary Management
    Jessica Wade
    Associate Editor
    New American Library

    Editor(s) and Speed Pitching

    Roundtable
    Speed Pitching
    December 12
    Holiday Party

Meeting Times

    Board Meeting
    9:30-10:00
    Business Meeting

    10:00-10:30
    Workshop
    10:45-11:45
    Roundtable Sessions
    12:00-1:15
    Networking/Snacks
    1:30-2:30

Meeting Location

A Multi-Genre Fiction Writers Organization