Great Writers’ Café last Wednesday with 16 lively writers who showed up in addition to Ina and me. They had plenty to brag about, too. So much so, in fact, that I can’t put everything down here, or you’d never get to the end of the post.

Ina reiterated that the submission forms for the Memoir writing contest, entitled Déjà vu, that we’re running for the Center for contemporary Printmaking is live online this week. Here's the link:

https://www.contemprints.org/writers/index.php

I saw an interesting article by the people at Writers’ Relief, about the benefits of print vs. ebook publishing. I left my printed copy at home so here’s the link. (The benefit of online publishing!)

http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2011/08/print-online-digital-publishing/

Ivy Eisenberg has just started a new humorous blog (tag line: Nothing is off limits) about trying to follow a weightwatchers diet. Check it out here:

http://schmeightschmatchers.wordpress.com

We discussed some of the many topics related to creating a writer’s platform. Essentially, a platform is a marketing campaign and the product you’re selling is you.

As a result, we’re wondering whether anyone would be interested in a short workshop which would enable you to get yourself organized on Facebook and/or Twitter. We could also do workshops on how to set up a website and how to start a blog. These workshops would be hands-on. Let us know if you’re interested.

Jane Sherman had attended Adair Heitmann’s presentation on how to create a writer’s platform the night before (Tuesday) at the Darien Library. She found it interesting because it covered so many topics. Our workshop would be complementary in that it would show you not only why you should do it, but how to do it. Here’s the link to Adair’s blog:

http://creativityandwellness.wordpress.com/

If you’d like to contact Jane for more details about the presentation, email me at Gabi@mousemuse.com, and I’ll forward your email to her.

And then the following day, the New York Times ran a couple of articles on the issue of whether people are becoming swamped with social media, and what to do about that. Even Ina and I were intimidated simply by the number of social media sites out there. That’s why we’re sticking to something simpler to start with.  Here are the links for those articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/fashion/digitally-fatigued-networkers-try-new-sites-but-strategize-to-avoid-burnout.html?emc=eta1

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/fashion/tips-for-managing-social-networking-burnout.html?emc=eta1

SO – plenty to think about…and we’ll keep you updated on when and where next month’s Café will be.

If you’d like to take a look at my brand new blog, here’s the link to it:

http://gabicoatsworth.wordpress.com/

We had a great Writers’ Café last Wednesday at the Westport Arts Center. There were plenty of brags to start us off:

Ina bragged that she’s had her latest piece published in the Good Men Project online magazine:

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/facing-my-fathers-demons/.

She also had a review of her favorite short story published on Echook’s website as a guest blog:

http://echook.com/guest-blog-ina-chadwicks-favorite-short-story/

Robert Steven Williams had two pieces published in the Good Men Project, both sports related (kind of – the Phillies and yoga).

http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/to-philly-fans-chill-out/

http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/yoga-a-mans-view-from-the-mat/

Elsie Ferrara had her memoir piece included in Writing Your Life 2011, published by the New Canaan Library.

I bragged that I had, in fact, completed 30 creative things in the 30 days of June. (I'd rashly said I would do this at the last meeting.) I learned that it’s OK to fail, and can even be fun. I also discovered some different creative skills I didn’t know I had. (See my Facebook photos for details, and my friends hilarious comments.)

Ina gave a preview of our next writing contest, to be undertaken for the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk. The theme will be Deja Vu, and writers will be asked to look at the work of Jack Boul, Master print-maker, for inspiration. The contest will officially be announced on August 2, and entries will be accepted until September 19. Check the MouseMuse website for more details (link below).

Ina also mentioned that she had a very good editor available at a very reasonable fee for people who'd like someone to work with. Please send all requests to Ina, who will pass them on.

We spent a little time discussing social media as a way of building a platform for writers who’d like to publish. Facebook and Twitter seem to be the minimum requirements, so long as they don’t stop one from actually writing! We may discuss this further at a future meeting if our writers would like to.

Our Next Writers’ Café is on Wednesday, August 10, from 1-2 at the Westport Arts Center.  Please come, and do send this on to any of your writing friends you think might be interested.