Creating a Personal Strategic Marketing Plan
This is a facilitated workshop/panel/networking day
in which you will create a personal strategic plan for marketing your books and career.
Are you writing books to promote yourself or sell a concept? Do you want your children’s book writing to be your life’s work or to complement other activities? You will leave this workshop with the foundation for an author’s (or illustrator’s) strategic marketing plan. You will participate in a practical, hands-on program where you will establish personal goals for your writing, set strategic objectives, and identify and determine the best tactics to achieve them. You will learn from professionals, hear the experiences of peers, and have time to focus on your personal strategic marketing plan. Because you will be focused, we guarantee that you will leave with a to-do list to achieve your objectives that allows you more time to write.
Our facilitator:
- Mary Longe: Mary knows marketing, writing, publishing, and authors. She’s authored five books, including one on programs for children and another for 4-H leaders on working with children. Over seventeen years, she founded and led a business that designed specialty libraries—most for hospitals, but also a few for child-care centers and other employers. Her day job, at the American Hospital Association, entails managing the marketing of innovative products to hospitals. In doing so, she is the editor of the AHA Solutions’ Patient Flow eNewsletter, producer of seven to nine webinars each year, author of the recently published 2010 Patient Flow Challenges Assessment, and manager of the LinkedIn group Hospital Patient Flow, which has several hundred members. Her experience in writing, running a successful business, and marketing brings her to understanding—and now sharing—her insights in creating a personal marketing plan.
Our panel:
- Nancy Berman: publicist with Nancy Berman Public Relations
- Marlene Brill: author, most recently, of Annie Shapiro and the Clothing Worker Strike (http://www.marlenetargbrill.com)
- Carolyn Crimi: author of numerous picture books, including Henry and The Buccaneer Bunnies and Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates (http://www.carolyncrimi.com)
- James Kennedy: author of The Order of the Odd Fish (http://jameskennedy.com)
By the end of the workshop, you will:
- Create a strategic marketing plan for yourself and your publication(s)
- Learn the results and resources of promotional tactics that work for other authors who sell themselves or their books
- Leave with a to-do list of concrete tasks to achieve your marketing objectives
This workshop is intended for published writers and illustrators (magazines and self-publishing count for our purposes, so it is not restricted to P.A.L. members) who would like to develop a personal strategy for marketing themselves and their books.
When: January 15, 9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (don’t be late—you won’t want to miss any of this!)
Where: First United Methodist Church (at Clark & Washington Streets, across from Daley Plaza; subsidized parking available in the lot at 172 W. Madison—ask security at FUMC for a discount card)
Who: SCBWI members who are published or under contract—this program will be limited to the first 40 people who RSVP to salwolf@comcast.net. Space is going fast. Sallie will keep a waiting list and reconfirm with people the week before the event.
Cost: $10, paid at the door
Other Details:
- Bring an extension cord if you wish to take notes on your computer.
- If your last name begins with M–Z, please bring a breakfast treat to share (about 4–6 servings). Juice, coffee, and tea will be provided.
- RSVP to Sallie Wolf at salwolf@comcast.net.
