Boulder Writers Alliance Meetup

April's meeting--IN PERSON at the Boulder Library Main Branch 2nd floor Flatirons Meeting Room & ONLINE (see link when you register)--is The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (USA, 2022) on Sunday starting at 2:30 pm (for 2 hours). Facilities information here.

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING: Language and Grammar

Who else but Egan could transform the bathos of social media and the negation of our private lives into a metaphor for writers and writing? Egan reprises some of the minor characters from her major classic, A Visit From the Goon Squad, and crafts its equal, if not its better. The chapter written only in email threads is a minor masterpiece. Rock and roll forever!

We are Writers Who Read. We use Literary Forensics to dissect a recent novel (published within the past 18 months) with the goal of uncovering how the author has utilized their skills for effect. Storytelling is an art, but it's not a mystery. Every writer must address the following:

• Structure, Timeline, Pacing, Suspense, Omission
• Point of View, including Voice, Character, Place
• Language, Tense, Imagery, Metaphor, Symbols
• Motivation: Making a story pop - generating a thrill
• Why this story? And why now? Industry considerations

We ask that all attendees read the entire book in advance of the meeting, and come bearing their discoveries of how the author has addressed each of the five points above.

What is Literary Forensics? Find out here: https://www.garyalanmcbride.com/literary-forensics/

Calling all creative writers! The BWA Creative Writing Critique Group is back! If no one RSVPs, this meeting will not take place. If you cannot make it, please cancel your reservation.

BEFORE YOU COME email me at [masked] to be added to the Google Docs folder to share documents for critique. Meetup does not allow file sharing.

This is for anyone working on a creative piece - whether it be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screen plays, etc. Participants will read through the pieces ahead of time, come up with helpful critiques, and discuss them at the meet up. Authors will need a copy of the critiques, whether through email or hard copy, so be prepared.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Review full guidelines in Google Docs folder
• 5-7 pages
• Double-spaced
• 12 point Times New Roman or other easy to read font
• Must be present to receive critique

If you don't submit 5 days before we meet, you will be removed from the Meetup to make room for someone on the waiting list.

I look forward to working with everyone and reading all of your work!

Off the Shelf Book Club focuses on work-related books for professionals in technical communication, marketing communication, UX, web design, etc.

Action Items:

• RSVP
• Come with 2-3 book ideas.

Thanks!

Literary magazines are a great way to get your short pieces out into the world and to build a publication record, but submitting to lit mags can be stressful! Some of the stress is inevitable, but much of it, with the proper knowledge, can be avoided.

In this talk, we'll discuss

• how to simplify the submission process,
• how to focus on what’s most important
• what’s not worth sweating

Jennifer Wortman is the author of the story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love. (Split/Lip Press, 2019), named the Westword Best of Denver 2020 pick for best new short-story collection, the 2019 Foreword INDIES bronze winner for short stories and a finalist for the Colorado Book Awards and the High Plains Book Awards. Her work appears in TriQuarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Denver Quarterly, Electric Literature, Brevity, Best Small Fictions, W*. W. Norton's Flash Fiction America*, and elsewhere, and has been cited as distinguished in Best American Short Stories. A recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and MacDowell, she lives with her family in Colorado, where she teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop and serves as associate fiction editor for Colorado Review. Find more at jenniferwortman.com.

Hi Writers, Editors, Beginners, and Professionals,

Wanna talk writing? Publishing? Or just get out of the house? Then come join us and we'll catch up!

Do we welcome writers of any genre? Yes! How about poets? Yes! Beginners? Yes! Professionals? Yes! Editors, agents, publishers? Yes, yes, and yes! Do we misspell words? Yes, freqently.

We meet at 5 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month (we move the date for holidays). Hope to see you soon.

BWA

TBA

Calling all creative writers! The BWA Creative Writing Critique Group is back! If no one RSVPs, this meeting will not take place. If you cannot make it, please cancel your reservation.

BEFORE YOU COME email me at [masked] to be added to the Google Docs folder to share documents for critique. Meetup does not allow file sharing.

This is for anyone working on a creative piece - whether it be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screen plays, etc. Participants will read through the pieces ahead of time, come up with helpful critiques, and discuss them at the meet up. Authors will need a copy of the critiques, whether through email or hard copy, so be prepared.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Review full guidelines in Google Docs folder
• 5-7 pages
• Double-spaced
• 12 point Times New Roman or other easy to read font
• Must be present to receive critique

If you don't submit 5 days before we meet, you will be removed from the Meetup to make room for someone on the waiting list.

I look forward to working with everyone and reading all of your work!

May's meeting--IN PERSON at the Boulder Library Main Branch 2nd floor Flatirons Meeting Room & ONLINE (see link when you register)--is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (USA, 2022) on Sunday starting at 2:30 pm (for 2 hours). Facilities information here.

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING: TBD

Ostracism takes many forms: exile to Canada; social leprosy; banishment to a ghetto lunar colony; or a life lived within a simulation. Mandel's speculative fiction unrolls like a series of nesting-dolls, revealing at its center a sad truth about extending the life of a novelist. Cue the violins and the whoosh of an airship.

We are Writers Who Read. We use Literary Forensics to dissect a recent novel (published within the past 18 months) with the goal of uncovering how the author has utilized their skills for effect. Storytelling is an art, but it's not a mystery. Every writer must address the following:

• Structure, Timeline, Pacing, Suspense, Omission
• Point of View, including Voice, Character, Place
• Language, Tense, Imagery, Metaphor, Symbols
• Motivation: Making a story pop - generating a thrill
• Why this story? And why now? Industry considerations

We ask that all attendees read the entire book in advance of the meeting, and come bearing their discoveries of how the author has addressed each of the five points above.

What is Literary Forensics? Find out here: https://www.garyalanmcbride.com/literary-forensics/

Off the Shelf Book Club focuses on work-related books for professionals in technical communication, marketing communication, UX, web design, etc.

Action Items:

• RSVP
• Come with 2-3 book ideas.

Thanks!

Do you know what happens between "Yay, my book is ready to publish!" and selling a copy to your first reader? Are you thinking about or do you need a refresher on self-publishing? Then this is program for you!

The Colorado Independent Publisher's Association president will share need-to-know information about self-publishing a book in today’s market. We will discuss:

• ISBNs
• self-publishing models like POD (print-on-demand) and hybrid
• how to get your book on Amazon and in Barnes and Nobel
• Goodreads and Amazon Author Central (all authors should know about these)
• KDP's new A+ content
• And more!

Veronica Yager is the founder of YellowStudios Book Publishing Services. She been in the publishing and design industry for nearly 15 years and is the current president of CIPA. Veronica’s mission is to help make publishing a book as painless and easy as possible for indie authors. To help this mission, Veronica hosts twice a month group self-publishing mastery sessions via Zoom – you can learn more at https://www.authorsnookwithveronica.com/