Muse & Marketplace 2019: Learn & Inspire

#Muse19 & You Need a Website

Besides attending AWP at the end of this month (read more about that here), I'm also excited to be heading to some of my old stomping grounds to present at GrubStreet's The Muse & The Marketplace conference.

​I haven't been to Boston, where I lived for three years after college, in years and I can't wait to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones.

I'm especially excited to share my presentation on First Author Websites:
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Saturday, April 6th at 1:00pm
6C: You Need A Website! A Practical Guide to the What, Why, and How of Building Your First Author Website 
with Li Yun Alvarado 

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As I discussed at length in my AWP post, I think setting intentions can really help you make the most of your conference going, so I created a worksheet to help YOU get started on your own conference intention setting:
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Click here to download: CONFERENCING WITH INTENTION: A WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR CONFERENCE EXPEREINCE

​Read on for my conference intentions, for a full description of my session, and for my very tentative schedule for #Muse19.

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THE MUSE & THE MARKETPLACE INTENTIONS
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​YOUR AUTHOR WEBSITE!

​My intentions for AWP were CONNECTION & INSPIRATION.

My intentions for #Muse19 are: LEARN & INSPIRE.

LEARN: While this conference doesn't cater to poets, I'm excited to learn as much as I can from the non-fiction craft talks and the talks about the business of being a writer.

INSPIRE: I'm hoping to inspire the participants in my session to create their first author websites. I'll also invite them to join the waitlist for my online course (coming this June!):

Your Author Website: (Re)Build the Author Website YOU Need Based on YOUR Writer Goals, Schedule, and Budget.

Thinking about creating or updating your own author website? Wishing you had a little more guidance? Click below to join the waitlist now and you'll be among the first to learn when the course opens for enrollment:
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Click here to join the waitlist for: YOUR AUTHOR WEBSITE: (RE)BUILD THE AUTHOR WEBSITE YOU NEED BASED ON YOUR WRITER GOALS, SCHEDULE, AND BUDGET

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MY SESSION

Saturday, April 6th at 1:00pm
6C: You Need A Website! A Practical Guide to the What, Why, and How of Building Your First Author Website 
with Li Yun Alvarado 

Author website? I know what you’re thinking: "Don’t need one; I have social media.” Or, “I’m just starting out.” Or, “I’m not tech savvy and can’t afford a web designer.” Or, “I know I need one, but I don’t know where to start.” 

The truth is that all writers need websites: online home bases where readers can connect with them and learn more about their works. In this session, we’ll cover:
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1. Reasons every writer must have an author website.
2. Why it’s never too early for a writer to create their first author website. 
3. A demonstration on how to build a simple website that can grow with your writing career. 
4. Pros and cons of different platforms for building websites, and other tools of the trade.
5. An Author Website Essentials Checklist to help you build your first site!
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Can't make it to #Muse19, but want to hear more about what I have to say about author websites? Click below to join the waitlist and you'll be the first to know when I'm nexct teaching about author websites:

Click here to join the waitlist for: YOUR AUTHOR WEBSITE: (RE)BUILD THE AUTHOR WEBSITE YOU NEED BASED ON YOUR WRITER GOALS, SCHEDULE, AND BUDGET

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MY TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR #MUSE19

Friday, April 5th

7:30am 
​Registration, Hot Breakfast Buffet, Bookstore & Authors' Bazaar Browsing

9:00am 
Welcoming Convocation + Keynote: Luis Alberto UrreaLuís Alberto Urrea • Sonya Larson

10:15am
1A: Fund Your Writing Passion ~ Vanessa Hua 

11:45am
2D: Greater Than the Sum of the Parts: Transforming Personal Essays into a Book ~ Patrice Gopo 

1:00pm 
Lunch Break

2:15pm
3G: Fellowships, Residencies, Contests, and Grants, Oh My! ~ Amina Gautier 

3:15pm 
Break

3:45pm 
4G: Writing on Race: Your Own Identity & the Identity of Others ~ David Mura 

5:00pm 
Lit Lounge Cocktail Hour

6:45pm 
Spitballing...Returns!Michelle Seaton • Sean Van Deuren • Celeste Ng • Whitney Scharer • Ron MacLean

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Saturday, April 6th

7:30am 
Registration, Hot Breakfast Buffet, Bookstore & Authors' Bazaar Browsing

9:00am 
Mid-Muse Keynote: Stacey D'Erasmo on Writing in a Time of Upheaval ~ Stacey D'Erasmo

10:30am 
5A: Social Media Hack: Using Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to Authentically Engage (and Not Annoy) Readers ~ Jenna Blum • Sara DiVello 

11:45am 
Lunch Break

1:00pm
6C: You Need A Website! A Practical Guide to the What, Why, and How of Building Your First Author Website ~ Li Yun Alvarado 

2:30pm 
Break

3:00pm
7N: Blurred Boundaries: Blending Fiction & Non-Fiction ~ Tasneem Zehra Husain

4:30pm 
8A: Writing In the #MeToo Era ~ Krystal Sital 

5:30pm 
Lit Lounge Cocktail Hour Writers, Agents, and Editors of Color Meet-Up

​8:00pm 
Evening Event

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Sunday, April 7th

8:30am 
Breakfast, Bookstore & Authors' Bazaar Browsing 

10:00am
9M: Let Me Tell You a Story About My Kids (GROAN!!!) ~ Jane Roper • Calvin Hennick

11:30am 
10A: The Textures and Music of Language: Learning from Poets ~ Ben Berman 

1:00pm 
Marketplace Keynote: “Writing While Working” ~ Rani Neutill • Mira Jacob • Daniel José Older • Rebecca Makkai • Maurice Carlos Ruffin

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BEFORE YOU GO

• DOWNLOAD YOUR WORKSHEET:

Click here to download: CONFERENCING WITH INTENTION: A WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR CONFERENCE EXPEREINCE

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• ​JOIN THE WAITLIST:

Click here to join the waitlist for: YOUR AUTHOR WEBSITE: (RE)BUILD THE AUTHOR WEBSITE YOU NEED BASED ON YOUR WRITER GOALS, SCHEDULE, AND BUDGET

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• READ: AWP 2019 Here I Come: Setting Intentions to Make the Most of YOUR Conference Experience