Aspiring authors receive advice
For the second year in a row, the Carver School Road Library has played host to the Indie Author Workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to assist those looking to have their manuscripts published or just to find a way to get their thoughts on paper.
The workshop, which was held Saturday, March 10, brought in people from various stages of the book writing process. The organizers wanted to provide potential authors with multiple options of writing, publishing and even the promotional aspects of the process.
“For some of the authors, I gave them homework and that was to finish their books because people have a lot of thoughts in their minds but they have to get it down on paper,” said author and organizer Shelva R. Davis.
“A lot of potential authors are fearful of starting, but you never know until you try,” she continued.
Latisha R. Stuckey, another organizer and author, presented a slide show that dealt with marketing of books upon completion. She advised those in attendance to use social media as a marketing tool because most sites are free.
For Davis, she stated that her “book is her baby.” She says the feeling of receiving a copy of her first book in the mail was better than childbirth or even receiving her master’s degree. From all the hard work, sweat and tears she put into it, she actually cried tears of joy.
Stuckey said, “You definitely can’t describe the feeling. When I was 14 I said I was going to write a book about my life and 20 something years later, it’s finally here.
They both said to have the chance to have someone else have that same feeling makes the workshops worth while. From personal experience they both know how therapeutic writing can be.
Joining Davis and Stuckey as one of the organizers was Yolanda M. Johnson-Bryant. She provided information about the business component to writing and selling their books.
Charlene Edwards of the Carver School Road Library says she was surprised by the diverse group of people who decided to come out and participate. She says there were men and women of all ages and all walks of life that came out.
The group plans to have yet another workshop this fall because of the positive feedback they continue to receive. They stated their hopes are to help “any and everyone” who has a book in them.
