Authors Taking the Plunge

Are you an author or writer? Have you ventured to book social networking Web sites like Shelfari.com, GoodReads.com and Book Marketing Network yet?

Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing.

If you haven’t, set-up a page at either of the sites above and start conversations with fellow bookworms or fans of your own book.

Check out a few of authors taking the plunge into Social Media:

Guy Hanks and Marvin Miller Screenwriting Program

A CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – THE GUY HANKS & MARVIN MILLER SCREENWRITING PROGRAM

Los Angeles, CA (BlackNews.com) – Starting its fifteenth year, THE GUY HANKS & MARVIN MILLER SCREENWRITING PROGRAM will be accepting applications from July 15th to September 15, 2008. This program was established by Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Unaffiliated with USC, the goal of the Hanks-Miller Program is to develop the pool of qualified African-American writers in the entertainment industry.

This program meets twice a week for 15-weeks beginning February 2009. It is designed to assist writers in completing a television or feature script, while giving them the opportunity to examine African-American history, culture and iconography. Tuition is free to those selected.

INTERVIEW | Kimberly Cash Tate

Written Voices has the pleasure of hosting Kimberly Cash Tate, author of Heavenly Places her first 7-day, “In Love Virtual Book & Podcast Tour” with The GRITS COM Literary Service! If you missed it, check out the “What Does It Mean To Be In Love? Podcast from Tuesday, May 27.

Kimberly, describe yourself for our visitors.

I’m very much a homebody. Because we homeschool, I spend the bulk of my time with my children and with my husband, since he’s a professor and has a flexible schedule. As a result of homeschooling for six years, I’ve gained a passion for all sorts of things I never had an interest in, such as ancient history, Latin, and Greek. But my main passion is the Word of God, which I try to infuse into much of what we do in school. It’s also what I infuse into my writing. If I couldn’t minister through writing, I probably wouldn’t write at all. That’s what drives me.

Kimberly Cash Tate is in love – what about you?

The In Love Virtual Book & Podcast Tour is uderway and our second tour stop is at the Faith Channel @ AAKultureZone.com where Kimberly Cash Tate ask tour travelers:

What does it mean to be in love? Have you ever been in love or fantasized about being in love? How did being in love make you feel?

Kimberly Cash Tate is in love . . . .what about you? Learn more about Heavenly Places as you listen to her podcast. Then share your love story with Kimberly today!

Guest Blogger | Cheryl Robinson, author of ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’

All it takes is faith…Sweet Georgia Brown had it…and so do I

As I sat in my writing office of my two bedroom apartment in Keller, Texas, a suburb wedged between Dallas and Fort Worth, in 2001, I had faith that I would fulfill my fifteen-year goal to write. Six months later, Memories of Yesterday was born. I made a decision to self-publish. What happened next was all God. An author referred me to a prominent New York agent. I sent her my novel and a month later I received a rejection through email that basically stated editors weren’t looking for “my kind” of writing. Now, I was a self-published author with hundreds of boxes of books piled up in my apartment that I needed to move; boxes that sat like furniture for awhile. That’s when I told myself, publishers may not be interested, but readers will be.

BLOG TOUR – Happily Even After

Marilynn Griffith is mom to a tribe, wife to a deacon and proof that God gives second chances. While best known for her colorful novels about friendship, family and faith, Marilynn is also a speaker and nonfiction writer.

Her nonfiction has been included in CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE CHRISTIAN WOMAN’S SOUL and several other devotionals and magazines. Currently, Marilynn is editor of the SISTAHFAITH:BELIEVING BEYOND SHAME anthology. She is also the founder of Faithchick.com, a blog for faith fiction readers.