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Linda
Rohrbough’s Workshop Topics
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Writer’s
Boot Camp
Overview: This week-long
University-level course offers everything the writer needs to
know about organizing ideas, developing a career plan, selling
manuscripts, and marketing books!
Soldiers
go to boot camp to train for a tactical advantage. The
Writer’s boot camp is the same idea. Learn how you can
improve your odds to survive, and even thrive, in the
publishing world whether you’re writing fiction or
non-fiction. This hands-on workshop will provide you
everything you need to know to give your writing career the
jump-start it needs. You’ll leave with a solid, personalized
plan and know how to execute it from day one. Some of the
topics covered include: presenting yourself like a pro;
learning to pitch; knowing how to use your tools; organization
for creative people; managing writers block and uncovering
your own circadian rhythms to boost productivity; effective
promotion of your work; practical tips for working with
agents, editors and publicists; developing your career path;
and boosting your income through work for hire and
ghostwriting.
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The
Writer’s Toolbox
Overview: The Writer’s Toolbox is an overview of novel development and various systems or “tools” fiction writers use to develop novel elements such as plot, characterization, and subplots as well as tools to edit a completed novel.
Linda
presents a detailed overview of the novel development cycle
and the various “tools” writers use for growing a novel
including various plotting grids, story line development
tracking tools, character arc development worksheets,
character development grids, and subplot development utensils.
She also presents various editing tools for smoothing the
rough spots once a novel is complete. These tools are not only
useful for creating a novel, but for doing revisions to a
finished manuscript if asked to do so by a publishing house
buying the work.
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Learning
How to Talk About Your Book to an Editor or Agent
Overview:
The most important thing a pre-published author learns is how
to talk about their work in a way that attracts interest from
an editor or agent. That's how they become a published author.
This workshop provides all the tools, along with practical
experience, writers need to develop this all-important skill.
It’s
a very different skill set to talk about your work as opposed
to creating the work in the first place. Learning how to
interest publishing professionals in your work, or how to
“talk-the-talk,” is what award-winning author Linda
Rohrbough trains writers to do.
In
this interactive workshop, Linda teaches for both fiction and
non-fiction, the five critical principles for success
and the four most important things a writer must know about
their manuscript. From how to look like a pro to how to
pitch both in person and by mail, Linda covers all the bases.
This
workshop combines Linda's Fiction
Genres
workshop (which adds insight into publishing genres and helps
authors pinpoint where their book falls) and her Pitching
Your Work
workshop (to teach authors the basics of how to
talk about their work).
This
workshop is best when presented to a group of twenty or more.
In
2005 and 2006, Linda's workshops sold out two months in
advance of the Writers' League of Texas’ Annual Agents and
Editors Conference.
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Fiction
Genres: Where Does Your Book Fit?
Overview: It can be
surprising how many authors really don’t know their genre.
And it explains why so many get rejected. This workshop will
have newbees talking like pros when it comes to genre.
You’ve written the book of your heart, but you
can’t sell your book if you don’t know your genre. And
agent or editor will know within one or two sentences into
your pitch if you’re off on your genre and that can get you
rejected over and over. This workshop offers specifics on what
is genre, what are the elements of specific genres, what are
the most popular genres, what genres work best for new writers
to break into. Be able to talk-the-talk after attending this
workshop.
Genres have specific requirements which include
story elements and a word count. This workshop explains the
parameters of each genre.
After this workshop, you’ll know the answers to
the following questions:
- How
do I determine where my book fits in the genres agents
and editors are looking for?
- What
are the rules, how can I break them and when should I?
- What
does an agent or editor mean when they say they’re
accepting Speculative fiction?
- What
is the difference between Suspense and Mystery?
- What
is Chick Lit? What are the other subcategories in this
new genre?
- If
an editor says they’re looking for Romantic Suspense,
what does that mean?
- What
are the best-selling genres and how are they defined?
- What
are the best genres for new writers to break in?
This workshop is based on Linda’s article, “The
Genre Hurdle” published in the April 2005 edition of the
Pikes Peak Writer for distribution at the Pikes Peak
Writers’ Conference, one of the top ten writing conferences
in the nation.
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Pitching Your
Work
Overview: Your novel is
ready for the market. But how do you get it there? Begin
developing the lifelong skill of how to talk about your work
to people you don’t know, especially publishing
professionals, in this workshop.
In this workshop, award-winning author Linda Rohrbough covers how
to talk about your work to people you don’t know, known as
pitching, for both fiction and non-fiction.
She'll cover the background work:
- How
to write a log line.
- Using
the second log line to give your pitch pizzaz.
- Developing
your theme to make your work stand out to a publishing
professional.
- How
to create an effective synopsis in different lengths for
using pitching.
- Examples
of how the pros use these elements to pitch.
For pitching in person, she explains
- Dressing
for success.
- What
to bring with you.
- What
not to bring with you.
- Talking
about your book in a way that's compelling to an editor
or agent.
- Effective
ways to deliver your pitch.
- What
to expect.
When pitching by mail, Linda presents
- What
a successful query letter contains.
- The
time line.
- Tricks
and tips the pros use.
- Preparing
for success.
Linda offers examples of
effective pitches she and other authors have presented both
verbally and in writing. This is a workshop you cannot afford
to miss. Come ready to learn how to successfully pitch your
book.
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The
Second Log Line
Overview:
In
this interactive workshop, award-winning author Linda
Rohrbough will explain how to develop and use "the second
log line" to give your book description extra pizzazz
when talking to agents and editors.
The
secret to transitioning from a pre-published writer to a
published writer is learning to talk in an interesting way
about your work to people you don't know. While the Log Line
delivers the essentials of the plot line, the second log line
focuses on the more emotional element. A strong log line
followed by a second log line takes into account the major
change in the story, allows you to start a dialog with a
publishing professional, and creates interest and
identification in the listener or reader. This hour-long
workshop briefly reviews the Log Line formula then gives
attendees a formula for their second log line, which delivers
the emotional impact of their story. The workshop features an
abundance of examples from published works and from movies. Interactive exercises make it so each attendee leaves
with their own version of a second log line and a plan for
using it with an editor or agent.
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Promoting
Yourself Workshop
Overview: It doesn't take a huge marketing budget to promote
yourself like the pros do. Here are the tricks professional
publicists use that you can use as well.
You’ve got a book out there, but the advance
didn’t exactly put you on easy street. And the publisher has
been a disappointment in promoting your book. How can you, on
a low budget, promote your own work? And how can you partner
with your publisher to get more from them without driving them
or yourself crazy?
There are a number of straight-forward ways to get
attention for a book without breaking your own budget. Linda
spent five years as a professional journalist for an
international computer news network and was a bureau chief in
both
Los Angeles
and
Dallas
. She’s seen what effective and ineffective PR looks like
from top agencies around the world. In this workshop, she
presents the tips and tricks professional publicists use that
you can take advantage of to get yourself seen in the
marketplace and get your name known.
Linda will also cover common mistakes and often
missed opportunities first time authors make in promoting
themselves and how to get the very most out of the promotional
efforts you choose to take on.
As part of this workshop, Linda will offer samples
of material from successful promotion campaigns she’s done
for herself and writers’ groups.
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Creating
and Selling Your Non-fiction Book: From Idea to Publication
Overview: Non-fiction is lucrative, easier for new writers to get
into and pays better at the beginning levels. Here's a
workshop with the nuts and bolts information you need to get
into this world.
Non-fiction is lucrative and can be producing income
for you while you pursue fiction. It also is easier for
beginning writers to get into and pays better at the beginning
levels. You can also sell a non-fiction book with a proposal,
rather than writing the entire book.
This workshop will give you everything you need to
get started. Topics covered include:
- The
Steps to Success (idea, proposal, agent, etc.)
- How
to Turn Your Interests, Experience, Expertise or Hobbies
Into a Successful Book Idea
- Writing
the Proposal (Actually see successful proposals and the
resulting books.)
- What
Agents and Editors are Looking For in a Proposal
- Getting
an Agent (or Not)
- Co-author
Relationships
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Interning:
How to Get Free Help and What to Do Once You Have It
For published authors and new writers, Linda looks at the
advantages and disadvantages of the ancient practice of
interning and offers suggestions on how a successful interning
relationship works.
For published authors, this hour-long workshop
covers Interning, an idea artists have used for centuries to
get help and give back without money exchanging hands.
Interning can boost a writer’s career and give both the
published and pre-published writer the edge needed to get more
firmly entrenched in the competitive market of writing.
For published writers, this workshop covers what an
intern can do for you, how to make the most of an intern to
promote you and your work, where to look for interns and what
to expect in the intern relationship.
New writers will also want to attend this workshop
to learn how to get an interning position and how they can
develop their own careers in just a few hours a week working
with a professional.
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| Quotes:
Here
is what both experienced and new authors have to say about
Linda's workshops.
- Everyone
that wants to sell a book has to make that giant step
through the door and speak, yes, speak to an editor or
and agent. I know you'd rather face man-eating lions. I
heard Linda Rohrbough's presentation at the Red River,
New Mexico
Conference and it would prepare anyone for the lion's
den. I attend and speak at several conferences in the
year and hers is the best one on this vital step in your
career. She'd be a real asset to speak at any writer's
conference. Fledgling or pro, her session will be well
worth your time to attend. –
award-winning western author Dusty Richards. (Click
on the link to drop in at dustyrichards.com.)
o
OKAY,
Huge thank you! I spoke to the Flower Mound Women's Club last
night, and, because of you was able to speak about the log
line AND the theme of my book -- I looked smart and it
enriched my talk. Award-winning author Sarah
Clark Jordan (www.sarahclarkjordan.com)
o
I
get it [now] about genre and log lines and the differences and
purposes of all this.
o
This
workshop gives real-world advice useful to new authors.
o
Practical
principles well explained.
o
Although
I knew about the importance of log lines--those 25 words that
best sum up the book--I was at a loss as to what to say after
that. I used to either try to give a mini synopsis or just
babble on about the characters and the setting. Thanks to
Linda's workshop, "The Second Log Line," I now have
a follow-up that sounds smart and exciting and makes the
reader want more. My queries and pitches have both improved
thanks to Linda's technique. The first agent I tried it on
immediately handed me her business card and asked for sample
pages.
(This author wrote to let Linda know she is now represented by an agent.)
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| To book Linda for your upcoming
event, contact her intern at
Intern(a)LindaRohrbough.com. |
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