Events Calendar

Dinner with a Book at Park Plates Restaurant

Join Open Book’s Lynn Rosen for a delicious meal in the private dining room of Park Plates Restaurant, accompanied by a lively discussion of a terrific new book: Florence Gordon by Brian Morton.

DATE: Tuesday, April 7^th

TIME: 7pm to 9pm

COST: $45 (includes book discussion and a two course meal, tax and gratuity)

Click here to register.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Florence Gordon is an aging feminist intellectual living in New York in contemporary times, when the arrival of her son and his family changes the balance in her life. As we get to know Florence, her son and his wife, and their thoughtful and questing college-age daughter, we get a taste of so much: the life of a writer, family dynamics, marriage, and coming of age, all set against a vibrant NYC backdrop.

ABOUT OPEN BOOK
Open Book is a long-running program of book discussion classes and author events led by book publishing professional Lynn Rosen. Lynn is an editor and former literary agent, and has taught literature, writing, and publishing at several area universities. She is a published author and now the proprietor of the Open Book Bookstore in Elkins Park, PA.

COPIES OF FLORENCE GORDON ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE AT OPEN BOOK.

Note: Park Plates is a BYOB restaurant. Special menus are available, including gluten-free and kosher for Passover.

Click here to register.

Questions: 267-627-4888 or lynn@openbookphilly.com

Meet Children’s Book Author Stuart Gibbs

Stuart Gibbs, bestselling author of books for middle graders, including the fun jungle (Belly Up, Poached), moon base alpha (Space Case), and the last musketeer series, will be coming to Open Book Bookstore to talk about and sign copies of the third novel in his spy school (Spy School, Spy Camp) series, Evil Spy School, publishing this month. His most recent novel, Space Case, was just nominated for a 2015 Edgar® Award by the Mystery Writers of America.

DATE: Sunday, April 26th
TIME: 3pm – 4pm
LOCATION: Elkins Park Train Station

Free and open to the public! Sponsored by Open Book Bookstore. Books will be available for sale at the event or can be pre-ordered. To pre-order call 267-627-4888 or email lynn@openbookphilly.com

“The Voices in Your Head” Writers Retreat

As a follow up to last December’s successful “What’s Your Story?” Writers Retreat, Open Book and The Word Studio are pleased to present another day of writing instruction and private writing time at the bucolic Whitpain Farms Manor House in Blue Bell, PA. Be one of a small group of writers who will benefit from day of creativity, inspiration, and results!

DATE: Saturday, April 11
TIME: 9am to 4pm
LOCATION: Whitpain Farm Manor House, Blue Bell, PA

“The Voice in Your Head” Writers Retreat includes:

morning and afternoon writing workshops with Janet Benton of The Word Studio on finding and honing your unique voices;
“Opening Voices,” a craft talk by Lynn Rosen, about novel beginnings that work and why;
private quiet writing time;
a light breakfast, a catered lunch, and a closing tea time;
a chance to read your new work aloud;
a pop-up bookstore with new fiction, writing books, and more!

Cost: $185 early bird price through March 1st; after March 1st: $195

Co-presented by Open Book and The Word Studio.

Spaces are limited. Click here to sign up now. For more information contact:

Lynn Rosen: lynn@openbookphilly.com
or
Janet Benton: janet.thewordstudio@gmail.com

Writers at Work Conference: Managing the Business of Being An Author

As a published author, you wear many hats: entrepreneur, writer, designer, public speaker, publicist, and more. How can you manage the business side of your writing life without losing time for your art, or your other jobs, or your family? This one-day conference will provide tips you can use not just to sell more books, but to find the work-life balance that can be especially challenging for writers.

WHEN: Sunday, March 22nd, 9am to 5pm

WHERE: The Manor House at Whipain Farm, 1 Farm Drive, Blue Bell, PA 19422 http://www.whitpainfarm.com/

SIGN UP HERE!

THE PROGRAM

9-9:30: Breakfast and Registration

Eric Smith

9:30 – 10:20 Opening Keynote: Eric Smith: The Long Con: Building Your Social Platform

Eric Smith is an author, blogger, and publishing professional living and geeking out in Philadelphia. As a blogger, he co-founded Geekadelphia, and later, the Philly Geek Awards with The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. By day, he can found working as the social media and marketing manager at Quirk Books. By night, he writes. He is the author of The Geek’s Guide to Dating and the new novel Inked. Eric will speak about how social media in publishing is all about that “long-con” — meaning, being active on social media doesn’t necessarily sell books, but it makes writers part of the community. This is is hugely important and will eventually sell books.

10:20 – 10:30 Break

10:30-11:45 Career Management: Finding the People and Resources You Need to Promote Your Book

Panelists: Karen Pokras Toz, author; Cheryl Rice, author; Julia MacDonnell, author, and Daniel Kaye, author and publisher, Silver Dragon Books, moderated by Lynn Rosen

Daniel Kaye

Cheryl Rice

Julia MacDonnell

As an author, what do you need to do to ensure your book reaches the most readers possible? Two successful authors describe how they identified their marketing and publicity needs, and how they moved forward on finding the right people and resources to meet those needs.

Karen Pokras Toz

12-12:30: Lunch

12:30-1:30 Lunch Keynote: Finding the Write-Life Balance

Julie Cohen

Julie Cohen, author of Your Work, Your Life … Your Way: 7 Keys to Work-Life Balance, is a Career and Personal Coach who helps her clients clarify and achieve their professional and personal goals. In this session, Julie will present a highly interactive program designed to help writers find that optimal mix of professional and personal priorities. (More info at: http://www.juliecohencoaching.com/about/julie-cohen/)

1:40-2:40 The Art of Getting Attention

Corinne Liccketto-Moulder

Speaker: Corinne Liccketto-Moulder, Director of Business Development, SMITH PUBLICITY, INC. (http://www.smithpublicity.com/smith-publicity-executive-team/)

Book publicity is a very delicate art. What does it take to get press attention for your book? How do you craft and shape your message? How do you determine which media to approach and how do you get their attention. And what can you, as the author, do to maximize how “mediagenic” you are? Publicity expert Liccketto-Moulder shares some tips of the trade to help launch and/or shape your successful publicity campaign.

2:45-2:55: Refreshments and networking

3:00-3:30 Clever, Not Cute: Strategic Content Planning
Speaker: Colleen T. Reese, Content Marketing Manager at iQ media Corp

Colleen T. Reese

Colleen Reese is a serious content strategist, occasional tech blogger and not so serious dating advice columnist. She has developed social media campaigns for nationally recognized hospitality brands, local technology firms and several magazine brands. During this session, she’ll apply practices and theory from online dating to planning online content that sparks meaningful relationships between author and audience.

3:40-4:10 Innovative Ways to Fund Your Marketing Campaign

Amanda Barbara

Speaker: Amanda Barbara, Pubslush
Most publishers have minimal marketing budgets, and what they have, they reserve for their big frontlist authors. Barbara, president of crowdfunding site Pubslush, shares tips and insights on using this innovative method to create a marketing budget for your book.

4:15-5:30 Cocktail Reception

Relax and unwind with new friends to review what you’ve learned and how you will apply these tips to your writing life. And while you’re unwinding, at 5pm writer and former opera singer Carla Spataro will provide some acting prompts and exercises to help you become more “mediagenic.”

SIGN UP HERE!

“What’s Your Story?” Writers Retreat

Give yourself the gift of a day of writing!

Join our new “What’s Your Story?” Writers Retreat. Spend a day in a bucolic setting in Blue Bell, PA, where you’ll have both writing instruction and free writing time. Be one of a small group of writers who will benefit from day of creativity, inspiration, and results!

DATE: Saturday, December 13
TIME: 9am to 5:30 pm (or arrive early for an 8am yoga class; additional fee)
LOCATION: Whitpain Farm Manor House, Blue Bell, PA
Sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/retreatforwriters

No matter how far along you are in your writing career, you can’t make progress if you don’t have time to write. Beginners and experts and everyone in between need both the literal and metaphorical space in which in to pursue the creative process. In addition, everyone needs to hone their craft with some expert advice from experienced writers and teachers.

The “What’s Your Story?” Writers Retreat includes:

morning and afternoon writing workshops with Janet Benton of The Word Studio on finding your unique stories and developing them naturally, using her unique methods;
a special talk by novelist Nomi Eve, author of Henna House, on “Old Photos, Older Relatives, and Dusty Shoeboxes: Where Do Your Stories Live?” as well as a Q&A and book signing;
private quiet writing time;
a light breakfast, a catered lunch, and a closing happy hour;
an optional early morning yoga class;
a pop-up bookstore with new fiction, writing books, and more!

Cost: $185 through November 2nd; after November 2nd: $195
Add a morning yoga class for an additional $15.