Write to Publish, Publish to Sell

In the coming months, BWA will open the opportunity for members to start critique groups and write togethers with those who share a passion for the same genres and subjects. Critique groups are a great way to try out your material on a friendly audience and find the encouragement to stay the course to finish your book. At the same time, if not done right, they can have the exact opposite effect. With that in mind, we decided to call in an expert—a woman who literally “wrote the book”—on running and participating in a critique group. She’ll be doing the following presentation for our meeting this month:

Critique 101: How to participate in — or build! — a healthy, effective critique group

Writing is often thought of as a solitary endeavor, the author banging away on the keyboard alone, but in truth, few longer works of fiction are successful without outside input, multiple rewrites and the support of the larger writing community. In fact, critique groups made up of other writers can be the fastest and surest way to improve your writing and turn your work-in-progress into a novel on a store shelf. Geared toward critique novices and doubters, this workshop will explain why critique is valuable, what healthy critique looks like, and how to read like a writer. We'll discuss common pitfalls on both the giving and receiving ends of critique and walk through various levels of feedback, from big-picture plot issues down to nitty-gritty word choice.

Kate Jonuska is a writer of fiction, features and food based in Boulder, Colorado. Her freelance features have been published by Boulder Magazine, Boulder Weekly, the Daily Camera, the Denver Post and more widely, with a specialization in food, health and the arts. On the authorial side, she's an indie author of speculative fiction with a literary edge who has been nominated for multiple awards, including the Pushcart and Booklife prizes. Kate also edits and publishes anthologies, runs the Boulder County Indie Authors, speaks at conventions, doodles on any paper within sight, and teaches yoga.

(Note, parking is free for the first 1.5 hours and after 7:00 pm. So if you show up after 5:30, all you have to do is put in your license plate number and you are good until we're done. 😁 )