Why I Like Conferences?

If it wasn't for the money, I'd go to conferences all year round, meeting people, learning new tools in the industry and of course, the food...conference food is just yummy!

I have been writing since my teens. I found myself writing most when something was nagging at my mind so writing has been very therapeutic to me. I have done (and still currently doing poetry readings) where I can read my poetry to an audience. However, I craved for a wider audience (plus some people asked if I had a book) and I never understood publishing until I went to a conference: Florida Writer’s Association in 2010. The speakers were very informative especially about traditional publishing and self-publishing. I felt more connected to the self-publishing side because I wanted control especially with the cover art (plus there was this self evaluation). Since then I have embarked on my self-publishing adventure and I jumped in on the deep end: since I already understood formatting, I jumped in with lulu.com, Createspace and kindle direct. Once I have them printed, I found out there is so much more (aka marketing and social media); I haven’t noticed any large changes with my sales with my foray in social media. Then I look at other self-published authors and I find that I still have so much more to learn: finding editors, beta readers, reviewers (doing all the work that a traditional publisher would do for an author except that I got to do it myself), blog tours, cover reveal. I know it also depends on the genre which may take more effort. In my case, it is poetry and with all the dialogue in the media (such as: Can modern poetry be saved?), it can be difficult but I AM DETERMINED.

There is still so much to learn so I do look forward to attending conferences in the future and gaining new ideas and prospective.

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POETRY AROUND TOWN 

8/07/13 – 7 pm. Open mike (music, comedy & poetry). Gigi’s Music Café. 4385 NW 88 Ave. Sunrise, FL.

8/16/13 - 9 pm. Open mike (music, comedy & poetry).  Writeside Poets Café. 5464 NW 19th St. Lauderhill, FL.

8/17/13 - Free Poetry Reading at 6 pm at Cinema Paradiso. 503 SE 6th St, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33301. Contact Suzzettethepoet@gmail.com for details.

8/18/13 – 6 pm. Poetry & Spoken Word. Goddess Store n Studio. 2017 Harrison St, Hollywood, FL

8/20/13 – 6:30 pm Poetry Club. South Regional/BC Library Multi-Purpose Room

8/25/13 - 6 pm. Networking Mixer. Pembroke Rose Banquet Hall. 6780 Pembroke Rd. Pembroke Pines

9/6/13 - 8:30 pm. Cultural Flow Open Mic. Goddess Store n Studio. 2017 Harrison St, Hollywood, FL

Some resources for poetry events include poetry.openmikes.org and meetup.com.

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upcoming conferences

2013 FWA Conference

When: October 18-20, 2013

Where: Orlando Marriott 1501 International Parkway, Lake Mary, FL 32746

http://floridawriters.net/2013_FWA_Conferences.html

30^th Miami Book Fare International

When: November 17-24, 2013

http://www.miamibookfair.com/

10^th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival

When: January 20-25, 2014

http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/

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MY POEM FOR THE WEEK

Now here’s one from my poetry therapy: