The Literary Hour at John C. Campbell Folk School - News Release

On Thursday evening, August 17, 2017 at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and North Carolina Writers Network West are sponsoring The Literary Hour, an hour of poetry and prose reading in the library of Keith House. This event is held on the third Thursday of the month, unless otherwise indicated.  It is free of charge and open to the public.  Glenda Beall, poet Glenda Barrett, and prose writer Jo Carolyn Beebe will be the featured readers. This month is unique in that we have three members of NCWN West entertaining during The Literary Hour.

Glenda Council Beall

Glenda Beall’s writing has been published in numerous literary journals including, Reunions Magazine, Main Street Rag Poetry Journal, Appalachian Heritage, Journal of Kentucky Studies and online, Your Daily Poem, Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, and Wild Goose Poetry Review. Robert Brewer, editor at Writers Digest published one of her essays on his blog. She read her work with Carol Crawford on the Writer's Radio Program in Chattanooga, TN. 


Beall's poems have been anthologized in The Southern Poetry anthology: Volume VII: North Carolina 2014,  Lights in the Mountains, The Best of Poetry Hickory Series, 2011, Kakalak: North Carolina Poets of 2009, and Women’s Spaces, Women’s Places, among others. Her poems have won awards in the James Still Poetry Contest and the Clay County NC Poetry Contest. She serves as Program Coordinator of North Carolina Writers’ Network West and is also a Clay County Representative for NCWN West. In that capacity she hosts Coffee with the Poets and Writers once each month.


Glenda is Owner/Director of Writers Circle where she invites those interested in writing poetry or prose to her home studio for classes taught by some of the best poets and writers in North Carolina and Georgia.  Find her online at www.glendacouncilbeall.com and www.profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com 

 Glenda Barrett

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia is an artist, poet and a visual writer.  Her work has been widely published in magazines, anthologies and journals.  These include Country Women, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Farm and Ranch Living, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Deep South Magazine, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Woman’s World, Greensilk Journal and others.  Her Appalachian artwork is for sale on fineartamerica.com and her poetry chapbook was published by Finishing Line Press in 2008.  She now has a full-length poetry book titled, “The Beauty of Silence,” that was published in July of this year by Aldrich Press on Amazon.com.

Jo Carolyn Beebe      

Jo Carolyn Beebe is a native of Mississippi. Many of her poems and stories are based on her recollections of conversations with her grandparents. Her Grandmother Anderson said, "The Bartletts are kin to Daniel Boone. They came through the Cumberland Gap with him." Great-grandfather Ricks showed her a greasy circle in his front yard where no grass would grow. "This is where the Indians cooked their food," he told her. 


She also has her own memories of life in a small, rural town. Her story, "The Way You Hypnotize a Chicken," really happened when she and a friend hypnotized one of Grandmother's hens. And where else but in a small town could two little girls play in the funeral home and pick out their everyday casket and their Sunday casket?


Jo Carolyn has been published in Main Street Rag, Clothes Lines, Women's Spaces Women's Places, Lonzie's Fried Chicken, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge and by Abingdon Press. She has been most gratified with her family history book The Beekeepers and Sons of Ander.

She is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford and has been a resident of Towns County for 21 years. 

Tara Lynne Groth teaches at Writers Circle August 5 - Register Now

Closed

Saturday, August 5, 2017 - 1- 4 p.m.

Email Marketing for Authors
Fee: $45.00
Instructor: Tara Lynne Groth

Authors keep in touch with their audience by sending newsletters, book tour updates, and special event info. Email marketing has grown more reliable as social media reach becomes unpredictable.

When you have an audience who volunteers to hear from you, you need to nurture it. How can you increase open rates with crafty subject lines, prevent unsubscribes, and boost engagement? We'll review these topics, plus user-friendly email marketing services.

Tara Lynne Groth writes SEO content and develops blogs for site owners. Before running her writing business she was a marketing manager and public relations director. She speaks at conferences and teaches classes on best blogging practices and search engine optimization. 

She increased the open rate of her monthly newsletter by approximately 25% in the past year, and has increased open rates for her clients by more than 20%. www.taralynnegroth.com

Print Registration form on page at top and send check by mail or pay with PayPal.  

FESTIVAL ON THE SQUARE - MARKETING - AND WAYS TO GET THE WORD OUT

A couple of weeks ago the Clay County Arts andHistorical Council held the annual Festival on the Square. In the center of our little town is a large beautiful brick courthouse built over 100 years ago.

On the grounds of the court house which is no longer used as a courthouse, vendors set up every year, on the weekend following July 4th, and thousands of people pour into town and onto the grounds. Fine crafts and handmade art of all kinds are sold in the small tents on the 10 x 10 spaces allowed. For many years there were no literary arts booths, but a few years ago the NC Writers’ Network West, our mountain program for writers, was allowed to be the only book sellers on the square for the festival.

This year Deanna Klingel, author from Sapphire NC, took the responsibility of putting up the canopy with forty pound weights on each pole so it would not blow away if we had a wind storm. Deanna is a writer of children’s books and she makes many kids happy when she calls them over to look at the books on the table in front of her. I think there is a bit of jealousy from other writers who don’t have her knack for selling books, but I admire a good marketer. After all, if you can’t sell your books in today’s market, you might not be in the writing business. 

Carolyn Frazier and Bob Grove in front with Deanna in pink strip and me with blue around my neck.

Deanna made table covers with skirts that looked professional and gave our booth some extra pizzazz that brought in passersby. She and her husband, Dave, brought tables and chairs for the booth and she brought copies of all her books. 

I sat in the booth to give out info on NCWN West and Writers Circle on Sunday afternoon. It was hotter than I can remember and I have to accept that I can’t do that anymore. I was no help in taking down the booth because simply taking my own things and my chair back to my car did me in. I was in terrible pain by the time I arrived home, and I suffered for three days afterward with my back.

This might have been our last booth at the festival on the square. We don’t have enough interest from members to make it worth the labor involved. None of us are young and energetic and the heat saps our energy. This would be a great experience for younger people, maybe a few men who don’t mind setting up and taking down the tent and loading everything in the cars. Outgoing writers who engage with the public could sell books and find new readers, but shy or introverted writers find this experience unpleasant.

My purpose for the booth at the festival is to make the public aware of our writing community in this region. We always find interested people who give us their contact information so I can put them on our email list. We send out newsletters and event announcements and those on the email list receive them. In time, many of them join us.

Perhaps because I lived with a salesman for 45 years and had a brother who was the best salesman ever, I have a good understanding of marketing. I understand that no one just comes to your door and asks for your books. If the public doesn’t know what you have that they want, how can they order your book online? Your family and friends will probably buy your book, but then the sales stop.

One of the authors in the booth was Bob Brooks fromBrevard. He said that any chance to connect with the public, even if a book is not sold at the time, helps the author down the road. Sometimes the success of marketing is not seen at the time, but comes later when a reader who has taken your card at the festival orders your book online.

Deanna says she always sees a rise in online sales a few days after her appearance at a public event.  Too bad most writers close their eyes to the need for successful marketing.

Some writers don’t want to market their books and don’t care if they sell a single copy. That is fine. But their publishers usually want them to sell books. After all, the publisher needs to make money in order to stay in business.

Marketing is the part of the writing business that most authors dislike, but if they plan to stay in the writing business, they should learn how to market their work.

Tara Lynne Groth will teach a class at Writers Circle on August 5, 1 - 4 p.m. on using a newsletter to reach your readers, your audience. This way writers can sit at home and promote their books. Readers don't buy books because they want to do something nice for an author they don't know. They buy books because the author has something to offer them. They buy books because they see the book or the author or hear from the author who wants to share something with them -- her book. 

Eagle Eye - new book release

Congratulations, Darcy Flynn

My cousin, the romance writer, has a new book released today!

Eagle Eye by Darcy Flynn - Check it out on Amazon.com 

I had the opportunity to read it before it was published and I recommend it to those of you who enjoy a romantic love story. It is a great beach read, so order it in paper back and stash it in your beach bag. Darcy's books are clean stories with real life characters

This is a tease:

"Undercover journalist, Cameron Phillips, is known for his forthright exposé articles uncovering scandals of New York City’s rich and famous. Using the pseudonym Eagle Eye to hide his identity, he is free to wield his finger pointing, no-holds-barred articles at leisure.

Jillian Jeffrey, teen fashion industry’s latest darling, has a heart for the less fortunate. Her goal is to raise enough money for fashion icon Anna Delany’s, Like No Other charity foundation. The donation will not only keep the charity afloat, but will place Jill in the running for a coveted position on LNO’s board of directors."

Now what will be the conflict between these two? And how will the conflict be resolved? 

Let me know what you think.

ENTERTAIN AND ENLIGHTEN YOUR READERS WITH YOUR LIFE STORIES

I was supposed to meet at Young Harris College for a preview of classes coming up soon. But I could not be there Saturday morning.

I am excited to be teaching on Wednesday afternoons, beginning July 12, 3:15 - 5:15 p.m. through July 26 at YHC for the Institute of Continuing Learning. This is an organization formed to give opportunities for furthering education in many subjects to adults in our area.

Over the years I have taken beneficial classes at ICL. One of the best was with Kay Lake who taught several courses in computers. Kay taught without making one feel ignorant or dumb. She carefully explained everything and made books for us to bring home.

Some years ago, I taught memoir writing there to a large class of adults. I will be teaching the same subject again. With three classes of two hours each, we will only be able to hit the most important subjects: what to write, where to begin, what to leave out, and how to organize.

We can write about our lives in short true pieces. We can tell the important stories that entertain our readers. We are not writing an autobiography. We can write about a certain time in our lives and not try to include the entire span.

We can tell our readers about what was important to us and what we want them to know about us. If we are writing for our families and not for the public in general, we don't have to be a professional writer. But we do want to entertain and enlighten our readers. We don't want to spend hours and hours of time writing a book that no one reads. We want our writing to be the best it can be so we share our work in class and get feedback from classmates.

My students tell me they enjoy my classes, and I see how much they learn. You can visit ICL by going here to see the bulletin and list of classes and instructors.

Time to Register for Writers Circle Classes. Don't wait until a class is cancelled to send your registration.

Each of these classes must have a minimum of seven people in order for the class to make. If you wait until the last minute, the class might be cancelled for lack of interest. Be considerate of the instructor and of moi and get your registration fees in early, please.

For more details on each class, visit www.glendacouncilbeall.com and check out the Studio Schedule.

Now taking registrations for Karen Holmes' three hour poetry class on July 15, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Have a Little Fun and Learn Something, Too: The Poetry of Thomas Lux

$40 fee.
 Send a check or pay with PayPal. Class size is limited so don't wait to register.

You don't want to miss Tara Lynne Groth when she comes to Writes Circle on August 5, 1 PM - 4 PM for a workshop, Email Marketing for Authors.  She is an expert on using the Internet to build a brand or platform. Her classes are always filled to the brim, so register now.

Fee $45

This will be the first time we have had Richard Krawiec who will teach a workshop, Revising and Organizing a Poetry Book. Richard is a poet and publisher.

He will teach on Saturday, 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM,  September 9.

Fee: $45

Send your check along with the completed application form found at the top of the home page of www.glendacouncilbeall.com   Copy form and print.

Glenda C. Beall

581 Chatuge Lane

Hayesville, NC 28904

Take two characters and create a conflict.

In the creative writing class I am teaching at this time, we are talking about characterization. I favor character-driven stories and books, so I pay great attention to how I form my characters.

I think it is a mistake to spend a paragraph or two describing a person in your story. We want to learn about this person as we read the story, just as we learn about someone in real life. 

We can describe a person's looks as soon as we see him. And we can describe the person's voice as soon as we hear him speak. But it takes a while to understand the motives and actions of a person.

A recent assignment I gave my students was to help them give the reader a good image of a  person without overtly telling the reader what he looks like, sounds like, thinks and does.

Put two people in a setting together. Let them have a conflict. Have the two  people work out the conflict and resolve it. In doing so, help us to see the two people and understand why  they feel as they do and why they act in a certain way. 

As author, Terry Kay, said at our recent conference, A Day for Writers, there are three major players involved in your story. One is the author, second is the characters, and the third is the reader. What we leave out is as important as what we put in. We can show by the character's actions and his words that he is angry, loud, a bully and more without telling the reader, "he is angry, loud and a bully."

Describe what the character looks and sounds like when he is angry, loud and his actions when he is a bully. The reader will fill in what you leave out but you give the clues.

In a short story I wrote, Big Al grabbed his ex-wife's wrist and squeezed it, hard. 

He yelled at the waitress complaining about his food. 

He demanded his ex-wife come home to him, and later threatened her.

He ran his  hand over his ruddy face. 

He laid his  cowboy hat on the seat beside him. He opened the two top buttons on his cowboy shirt. 

The reader creates in her mind just what Big Al looks like from the actions taken and the  type of person he is. 

My students wrote some excellent short stories with their two characters and their conflicts. Maybe you can do the same. 

Final Schedule for Writers Circle this Year - A great line up!

Our summer and fall schedule for Writers Circle around the Table is complete. Today I listed Richard Krawiec as our instructor in September.

Poets will love this class. Richard will teach us how to organize a poetry book. 

Even if you don't think you are ready to publish that book now, you will learn what you need to do when the time comes. 

Visit our Studio Schedule page to see all the classes that will be held this summer and fall.