DENTON WRITERS LEAGUE
FIRST EDITION
 January 20109 VOL. 21 NUMBER 1

DWL Home Page: http://byjoni.com/dwl

If you would like a copy of the newsletter e-mailed to you instead of through the US post,
please contact Joni Latham-dentonwritersleague@verizon.net.

WHERE WE MEET AND WHEN

The second Saturday of every month, at the

Denton Library-Emily Fowler Branch - click here for map 
502 Oakland St
 Denton, TX

General Meeting 10:30 a.m.

Lunch at Noon at the
TBD
Denton, TX

NEXT MEETING: January 9, 2010

Guest Speakers

January 9 - General Meeting - Emily Fowler Library
February 13 - Jamie Engle - Emily Fowler Library
March 13 - Hazel Spire - Emily Fowler Library
April 10 - Joyce Foy - Emily Fowler Library
May 8 - Dr, Alexey Root - Emily Fowler Library
June 12 - Danny Puckett - Emily Fowler Library
July 10 - - Emily Fowler Library
August 14 - - Emily Fowler Library
September 11 - - Emily Fowler Library
October 9 - - Emily Fowler Library
November 13 - - Emily Fowler Library
December 11 - - Emily Fowler Library

GUEST SPEAKER

No Speaker Scheduled

Someone mentioned wanting to do another anthology this year.  Dan Case said he would publish it if we did.  Keep in mind I still have almost a full box of last year's anthology.

 Sell More Books with a Powerful Back Cover
By Judy Cullins
 

Your book's front cover and sizzling title must impress your buyers in four seconds. If they like it, they will spend eight seconds on your back cover, which gives you a great opportunity to convince them that your book is necessary for their success.

Does your back cover pass the test?

Best Solutions to the Biggest Mistakes

1. Mistake: Too many non-powerful words and too busy to have a focus.

Solutions: A back cover of 6 x 9 inches should have fewer than 70 words. Use sound bites; picture and emotional words; benefits, not features; and testimonials to capture your readers' attention and to keep your message focused. Make every word count and be willing to get from five to fifteen edits.

2. Mistake: Too much superfluous material, such a long author's bio or large photo. Potential buyers want to know how the book will help them, teach them a skill, or entertain them.

Solutions: Print only a one- or two-line bio on the back cover. Put your photo and more bio on the inside of the back cover. Omit features -- such as format information -- that belong in the introduction. Create specific, powerful ad copy to connect with your buyer emotionally. For self-help books, use bullets with specific benefits, and enough of the right kind of testimonials to sell your book in eight seconds. For fiction, include a bit of plot with a powerful quote or dialogue. Use bookstore models to assist you.

3. Mistake: Repeating the book's title at the top of the back cover.

Solutions: Since your potential buyers already know the title and are stimulated enough to look at the back cover, hook them with an emotional question or statement.

Create a "hot headline" that compels your reader to buy. Notice the headlines in your newspaper. Visit your bookstore and notice other best-selling authors' headlines. Some examples include "What's So Tough About Writing?" by wordsmith Richard Lederer, author of The Write Way; "Imagine Being an Author," in Dan Poynter's Writing Nonfiction; or "To Age is Natural…To Grow Old is Not! In Rico Caveglia's Ageless Living.

4. Mistake: Omitting testimonials.

Solutions: Testimonials sell more books than any other information on the back cover. Offer at least four. Contact a variety of people. Use one from a top professional in your field, one from a satisfied reader, one from a celebrity who cares about your topic, and one from a famous media person.

In her book A Kick in Your Inspiration, Ruth Cleveland got one testimonial from an ex convict! Jacqueline Marcell, author of Elder Rage, took eight months to get forty testimonials from celebrities. Her book is endorsed by Steve Allen, Ed Asner, Dr. Dean Edell, Dr. John Gray, Dr. Nancy Snyderman/ABC, Regis Philbin, Jacqueline Bisset, and Phyllis Diller. It was worth the effort: in April 2001 she made the cover of the AARP Bulletin, which is distributed to more than 35 million readers. It included a feature story, some how-to tips, contacts and large pictures of the author and her book. She had to dance fast and order 10,000 books to get distributed by the time the piece came out. Afterwards, she was inundated with speaking engagements. There's a problem you might love to have!

After you write several books and become rich and famous, you, like other professionals, will fill your back cover with testimonials. You won't need to add benefits, because people have already bought your other books and liked them. Potential buyers will purchase when they see people they trust and know recommend the book. Besides filling the back cover with testimonials, you may want to add extra testimonials in the front pages of the book. The more, the better!

5. Mistake: Independent publishers submitting galleys to reviewers, distributors, and wholesales without ANY back cover information.

Solutions: "Make the back cover your first area of concern," says Susan Howard, director of consulting services at top publishing firm The Jenkins Group Inc., who wrote "The Publishing Connection." She adds, "Waiting for testimonials is generally the reason the back cover of a galley is left blank. Failure to realize the value of the back cover seems to equate with the failure to realize that the text for the finished back cover can always be changed before the printing of the book."

It's important for writers to "market while they write"-- to make each part of their book sell copies. The back cover is all-important.

Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people's lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," "How to Market your Business on the Internet," and "Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz," Judy offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com and over 205 free articles.

Reprinted from Wheatmark Bookpublisher.Com, http://www.wheatmark.com

POETRY CORNER

Poetry Group
3rd Saturday
10:00 am
Emily Fowler Library
502 Oakland St
Denton, TX

Open Mic Night
4th Wednesday
7:00 pm
Recycled Books
200 N Locust St
Denton, TX

ANNUAL CONVENTIONS
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CONVENTIONS

Convention                   Month    Place                    URL             

ConDFW                   Feb     Dallas, TX       http://www.condfw.org/
AggieCon                 March   Bryan, TX        http://aggiecon.tamu.edu/
Dreamin' in Dallas       April   Dallas, TX       http://www.dallasromanceauthors.com/conferences/
Texas Frightmare         May     Dallas, TX       http://www.texasfrightmareweekend.com/lifetype/
ApolloCon                June    Houston, TX      http://www.apollocon.org/
Conestoga                July    Tulsa, OK        http://www.sftulsa.org/conestoga/
Armadillo Con            August  Austin, TX       http://www.fact.org/dillo/
Mythcon                  August  Norman, OK       http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon37.html
Bubonicon                August  Albuquerque, NM  http://www.bubonicon.com/
Fencon                   Sept    Dallas, TX       http://www.fencon.org/
     A comprehensive list of other conventions    http://www.fencon.org/links.html#calendar
World Fantasy Con        Nov     Austin, TX       http://www.worldfantasy.org/ 

On-Line Writers resources

Author's Network-for writers about writing based in Europe, but interesting- http://www.author-network.com/
Copyright Forms- http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
The New Covey Cover Awards - http://thenewcoveycoverawards.blogspot.com
Dallas Screen Writers- http://www.dallasscreenwriters.com/
Denton Public Library - http://www.cityofdenton.com/pages/library.cfm
Flashing Swords Magazine - http://flashingswords.sfreader.com
Fort Worth Book Blog - http://booksblog.guidelive.com/
Glimmer Train Press, Inc.-A quarterly magazine of about 260 pages of literary fiction - http://www.glimmertrain.com/
How Stuff Works - Want to know how something works, try this link - http://www.howstuffworks.com/
Lulu.Com - A Self-Publisher - http://www.lulu.com/
MeetUp.Com - A place to find MeetUp groups in your area  - http://www.meetup.com/
   Jeff Crilley's DFW Do-It Yourself PR Group - http://freepublicity.meetup.com/1/
National Association of Women Writers - http://www.naww.org
National Writers Union - http://www.nwu.org/
Next Day Flyers - bookmarks, postcards, business cards, flyers, etc - http://www.nextdayflyers.com/printing/
Northeast Texas Writers' Organization - http://www.netwo.org/
Para Publishing Website - a good writing, publishing, and promotion source - http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/
Preditors and Editors-a resources to check out agents and publishers http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
Printing for Less - Good prices and I understand good product - http://www.printingforless.com/index.html
Ralan's Webstravaganza-speculative fiction resource http://ralan.com/
Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators - http://www.scbwi.org/
Suite 101 - read articles on a variety of subjects or post your own - http://www.suite101.com/
Texas Coalition of Authors, Inc. - http://www.texasauthors.org/
The Market List-the online resource for genre fiction writers http://www.marketlist.com/
The Novelist's Workshop-essays and advice on how to publish your book- http://www.monash.com/writers.html
Vista Prints - inexpensive business cards, postcards, etc - http://www.vistaprint.com
Writing for Dollars - Good resource on paying markets with a weekly newsletter -   http://www.writingfordollars.com/
Writers Conferences and Centers - http://writersconf.org/
Writer's Exchange - http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/
Writer.com - on-line classes and other writer's information - http://writers.com/
Writers' League of Texas - http://www.writersleague.org/
Writers Net-source for information for writers, editors, agents, and publishers - http://www.writers.net
Writing-World.Com - http://www.writing-world.com 
Writing.Com - Community for readers and writers of all skills levels and interests - http://www.writing.com

There are multitudes of writing resources available on the Internet. Go to any search engine and ask for writer's resources, writer's markets, writer's contests, writer's conferences, etc

DWL OFFICERS:

President       Joni Latham ( dentonwritersleague@verizon.net) - 940/382-4865
Vice-President 
Newsletter      George Avera ( george.819471@verizon.net) - 940/387-8315

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