Famous: Tip# 10--Become a Public Speaker

Your potential publisher wants to know that you'll promote your books. Aside for online social networking, you need to get out from behind your computer and make yourself available as a public speaker. Ask libraries, bookstores, colleges, clubs, etc., if their group would like you to share your story or your expertise on a particular subject. At first I didn't charge, which made me a very appealing speaker. Soon I was getting so many invitations to speak that I began charging (only two of my talks are free, the rest I charge for unless it's for a club that I'm personally involved with). Program coordinators like to see exactly what you're available to speak on and your rates before they begin seriously considering you. I narrowed my topics to a one page flyer (see:http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/SAUN6703//Talkswithphotoandcontact.doc) and let them know that my rates are based on locations within 20 miles of my home in Suffern, N.Y., and that I'm negotiable for further distances:

“Writer’s Open Mike” (No charge)*
The first 20 writers to sign-in prior to the start time can read their work for up to five minutes. All genres are welcome including memoirs, fiction, essays, poetry, screenplays, etc. Writers will have a chance to network and authors will be permitted to sell their books. The event is coordinated by Lisa Saunders, writer for the State University of New York at Rockland and author of several articles and books, including the free e-book, How to Get Published. See her work at: www.authorlisasaunders.com

“Avoid Infections That Attack Unborn Babies” (No charge)*
The "kitty litter" virus isn't the only infection that pregnant women need to guard against. Learn the blood tests to ask for and how to protect unborn children from a variety of diseases including the #1 viral cause of birth defects--congenital CMV (cytomegalovirus), which causes more disabilities than Down syndrome. Few women have heard of it and half of OB/GYN's surveyed admitted they don't warn their patients about it. Presenter Lisa Saunders, Congenital CMV Foundation parent representative and author of Anything But a Dog! The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV, didn’t know about CMV prevention until her daughter, Elizabeth, was born disabled by the virus in 1989. Saunders will also discuss the other infections listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as hazards for pregnant women. See her work to stop CMV, as well as the work of doctors and other parents, at: http://congenitalcmv.blogspot.com
(CDC’s list of infections and precautions: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pregnancy_gateway/infection.htm)

“How to Get Published” ($150)*
Author Lisa Saunders will cover the publishing process for articles, memoirs, children’s fiction and adult non-fiction. She will discuss finding an agent, publisher, or self-publishing, and writing query letters, book proposals, and building an audience through Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Her free e-book, How to Get Published, is available on: http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/

“Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife” (Talk: $150; Play $250)*
Charles McDowell married Nancy when she was 15 years old. Enlisting as a private in the New York 9th Heavy Artillery, he asked Nancy, then 17, to save his letters. Despite his grueling battles and marches, he was able to save hers as well. Together their letters include tales of desertions, hangings, prostitutes, venereal disease, bullets, typhoid fever, lying injured on the battlefield for days, and “clever women.” Lisa Saunders will either tell the “back story” to compiling the letters for her book, EVER TRUE: A Union Private and His Wife, or she can present the three-cast play. Visit: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/

Children’s Workshop: “Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator” ($150)*
Author Lisa Saunders will present Cornell University’s 4-H program, “Horse Book in a Bucket,” which includes information on horses and her novel, Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator. Lisa will cover the process of writing and her experiences as a New York City girl living on the 16th floor and visiting her grandparents’ farm in upstate New York. Visit: http://rideahorsenotanelevator.blogspot.com

Lisa Saunders
saundersbooks@aol.com
Lisa Saunders is a writer for the State University of New York at Rockland, a member of its Speakers Bureau and the Congenital CMV Foundation parent rep. She is the author of the humorous book, Anything But A Dog! (true story about homeless canine and her daughter disabled by CMV); children's novel, Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator; book and play, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife and FREE e-book, How to Get PublishedWeb: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/Blog: "How to Get Thin and Famous (or at least published!)"