Most people take vacations to rest. They go to the
cottage, a resort or the beach to unwind and relax.
On my
vacations, I go to writers’ workshops in Lincoln
City on the beautiful Oregon coast. And there’s nothing restful or relaxing
about ‘em.
I’ve just returned from the latest one. It was an
eight-day “Advanced
Master Writing and Business Seminar” and it was—bar none—the most mind-blowing business experience I’ve had as a
professional writer. Some of the topics we covered included:
- Selling
to traditional publishers in the new world
- Copyright
law and contract law for fiction writers
- Cash
streams and cash flow for writers
- Accounting
for writers
- Advanced
audio training for audio books
- How
to sell short fiction to traditional publishers
- Advanced
cover design
We had the wonderful
Sheldon Mcarthur, owner of North by Northwest Books
in Lincoln City, who not only submitted to an interview with Dean Smith about
how a bookstore owner does business with an independent publisher (including
writers who publish their own books), but who also hosted a group book signing
at his store, which included me and my two books, The Tuxedoed Man and TheWeeping Woman.
Not only did we learn a
lot from the formal presenters, we learned a lot from each other, too. We were
over 30 participants from all over the U.S. and Canada, not to mention the
United Kingdom and Germany. I was seated between two fabulous writers, Karen Abrahamson and Annie Reed, both of whom are well
published, experienced and very generous with their knowledge.
Can you see why this was
exhausting? I filled two notebooks and by the end of the week, I felt like
information had to be shoehorned into my brain because it was already so full.
And to top it all off, the
participants were invited to submit two short stories for consideration for two
Fiction River anthologies edited by
Dean Wesley Smith, and he bought my story for the Moonscapes one!
I left Oregon buzzing with
ideas, information and plans. And in spite of the fact that it was very tiring
and that no lying about on the beach took place, the writer in me is refreshed
and recharged, ready to roar!
I don’t think I’m alone,
and I don’t think this “recharging the batteries” is limited to writers. I know
quilters and knitters who take workshops and come away filled with new energy,
new ideas and new friends. How do you replenish your creative energies?
