TOM BIRD'S WRITER'S ROUNDTABLE
Birdwise News from Tom Bird Seminars
Volume 9 Issue 1, January 15, 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Letter From Tom
- Recommended Book of the Month
- Upcoming Releasing the Author Within Retreat
- My Individual Work With Students
- What Some of Your Fellow Authors Have to Say
- Volunteers Wanted
- Literary Agency Guide
- Publicity/Paid Publication Opportunity
- Changes to Website
Dear Author,
I have decided to share with you at least one lesson each month of this coming year in hopes that it will benefit both you and your writing. The lesson for this month has to do with the turning of the calendar to 2005. As I’m sure some of you know, I am a big New Year type of guy. I see the beginning of each calendar year as a chance for a new start to reconsider everything I am doing on a personal and professional level, and, if necessary, to restructure my life plan to better suit who I have become and where I am going. I use the time between Christmas and when I start getting back into my teaching at the end of January/beginning of February to do just that. Some things that I have been doing, I keep. Some, I get rid of, and others, I incorporate into where it is that I see myself going.
I see living a successful and, most of all, happy life as the direct result of one’s spiritual connection to God. I always focus on that first, and then I design the other three aspects of my being – emotional, mental, physical – to support that area. The following little drill is invaluable to me, so I have listed what I have chosen to do through the first half of this year, in rank of priority, in hopes of encouraging you to do the same. I will then spend July/August reevaluating any adjustments I make for the remainder of ’05.
- Keep going where you heart takes you with your writing, devoting an average of four hours a day
- Allow word of your writing to spread in ways you may never have thought possible
- Continue to start each day off by writing, exercising/hiking, doing yoga, and by adding Pilates into the mix
- Stay with your diet – it serves you well
- Continue to value each person and each situation in your life
- Continue to show those that you love that you love them in ways that they will better understand how you feel
- Be open to the ideas of others – remember each person who is sent to you is an angel with a message
- Remember, outside of love, honesty is the most important treasure you can share with another person
- Get back in shape as a speed reader
- Learn to better use your PDA
- Take time off whenever you want to – not only do I deserve it but I can
- Schedule more vacations
- Continue to have the weekly Wednesday dinner parties
- See more theatre
- Stay in better contact with those closest to you in your life – get your buddy lists set up on your computer
- Respond quicker to emails
What will you be focusing on over the next six months? Maybe it’s about time to find out?
As part of the ongoing instruction I hope to be offering you each month, I will also be offering you a Book of the Month I suggest you read. Each choice will come as the result of what I hear You Know Who suggesting to me through my intuition. Another factor being taken into consideration for my choice will be time of the year.
For this month, I have heard a book calling to me from my shelves for quite sometime. The book for this month is Who You Were Meant To Be: A Guide to Finding or Recovering Your Life’s Purpose by Lindsay C. Gibson, Psy.D., which was published by New Horizon Press in 2000.
Even though this did not factor into my decision, Lindsay is a student of mine. I was also fortunate enough to see her offer a presentation on the material in her book, and it was not only great but timely.
Here are the chapter titles for her book: Who Were You Meant to Be?; Who Gives You Permission?; Ego: The Enemy Within; Motivation vs. Helplessness and Hopelessness; Loyalty, Guilt and Growth; Wishing and Risking: Putting Yourself First; Mind Reading: The Still, Small Voice; Picking Your Problems; Fitting In: Finding Your Lifestyle and Community; Who Stands in Your Way; and Who You Were meant to Be: Reminders for the Rest of Your Life.
So I highly recommend this book to you for this month. Not only is it a fine read, but it is also timely in its purpose. And it only costs $15.95, a tiny price to for such a significant contribution to your life.
Reading Lindsay’s book in combination with the above exercise, should make for a very powerful month for you. I hope you accept the challenge.
UPCOMING RELEASING THE AUTHOR WITHIN RETREAT
I only have one space still available for my upcoming retreat at the end of the month, and you only have until the 17th to respond and receive the extra $100 discount off the regular price. Here’s what you need to know in case you would like to fill the final spot.
Releasing Your Author Within Retreat
The next Releasing Your Author Within retreat will be held on January 27-29 in Sedona. We will meet on the evening of the 27th from 5:30-9:30 p.m., on the 28th from 8:30-3:00 p.m., and on the 29th from 9-1 p.m..
As you may already know, this retreat is especially designed for those attempting to start a book or complete one that just won’t seem to end. Twelve of our fourteen hours together will be spent writing. Our goals for the retreat are multifaceted and focus primarily on:
* Helping you move beyond any emotional blocks you have had about writing your book;
* Establishing a writing routine for you in class that you will be able to transfer back to you home and real life;
* Move you through an amount of your material equivalent to 1/10th of your book, which usually boils down to the first 1/10th of your book which is the hardest to write – once you move through that you should be unstoppable;
* Completing your query letter, which my office will then send out for you to agents the following week, and thus cementing your commitment to follow through with your writing aspirations.
If you would like to take advantage of my new pricing structure, which is so new that it isn’t even yet reflected on my website, your fee for the retreat would be slashed as follows:
If you have never taken one of my classes before, it would be reduced from $695 to $595.
If you have attended one of my classes or seminars previously, you would save $100, lowering your price to $495.
If you have attended one of my retreats before, you would only pay $445, as opposed to $545.
If you’re an IWP student, you would pay $395 as opposed to $495.
For further information on this type of retreat, feel free to check out my website, http://www.ambassu.com, or call my office 928-203-0265.
MY INDIVIDUAL WORK WITH STUDENTS
I only have one slot available within my Intensive Writers Program to take on another student by the end of this month. I will have two slots coming available next month. If you would like to be considered, feel free to contact Shawna at 928-203-0265 to set up an interview.
WHAT SOME OF YOUR FELLOW AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY
Here’s a collection of the letters I received this month that I thought would be of interest to you.
Mary Blomgren dropped a note to Tom saying:
I am happy to say I have a completed novel thanks to Tom's workshop last March here in Boca Raton. An agent, StLiterary, is working to sell it, and I am on to an anthology of all my short pieces. I surrendered to self-publishing with Author House for a redo of my already published Recipe for Recovery as the publisher retired and I wanted the materials available.
Elizabeth Williams wrote to share an article that recently appeared in the Reporter about her forth-coming book, The First Steps to Fitness. Written by Greg Trott, the article says, “Williams breaks down how to achieve fitness by mapping out your first year of training. She warns people to start slowly but surely by building a foundation, emotionally and physically. With almost every new client, she has them write down how they feel about their bodies, past and present. Why? It's a way to get at the root of why the person can't maintain a healthy fitness regimen. You need to change your thinking so you can change your actions.” You can read it in its entirety at: http://www.thereporter.com/Stories/0,1413,295~30159~2631071,00.html
Also, in the last newsletter, we inadvertently left out the website address for Jimmie Lou Watson’s new book, Her Spirit Lives in Us: An Immigrant Mother’s Legacy of Love. You can visit Jimmie Lou at http://www.bookventures.com.
As some of you may know, I am presently working on a book entitled Hear God, which leads readers on an unforgettable journey to establishing an actual open communication, through their writing, with You Know Who.
One of the many assets of the book will be the personal reflections I plan to include from persons who have read and worked along through the exercises in the book with me. I am presently in the midst of collecting commitments from approximately 25 persons to walk down this path with me. Even though I will not be offering payment monetarily, what I feel you would receive from participating would be worth more than anything money could buy.
I plan to start work on the actual book in February. As I finish each chapter I will simply send a copy of it out to each of the 25 and have you read it and respond to the exercises included in it. I would then possibly use your responses to the process and to the exercises in the book in the final draft. That’s it.
If you’re interested in participating, drop me a line at TomBird@tombird.com and I’ll take it from there.
I am currently in the throes of updating my Selective Guide to Literary Agents Database, in which I am hoping to add another 200 or so agents. I just wanted to give you a “heads up” because I will be offering this to those on my mailing list, for a limited time, around the end of the month for around $17. I will have my website upgraded by that time so you can simply punch in a sales code and download the guide right into your computer.
I also wanted to remind you of its release because presently it is the hottest time of the year for acceptances by agents.
PUBLICITY/PAID PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY
In case, you missed this following letter, I thought I’d drop you another copy:
I am interested in increasing the amount of exposure received for the methods I teach. Thus I am interested in gaining some publicity space in national magazines for writers. Of course, since I cannot credit myself in such glowing terms, I am looking for someone to approach and write the articles for me. Not only would I be willing to teach someone how to go about doing this, but they would gain valuable experience and exposure for themselves, be paid from the magazines for which they wrote, and I would be willing to compensate them for their time as well. If you are interested, let me know.
Some changes have been made to my website and they should be complete by the 17th. So if you out and about surfing the web, you might just want to stop in and take a look. That address of course is: http://www.ambassu.com
DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER
Don’t forget, if you would like to have something considered for my next newsletter, you need to have it to me by February 10th. Good news is especially welcome. Until next month – keep writing and most of all keep living…Tom
