Need a leg up?

Need a leg up? A reminder from Jim Aarons

Hey, all you writers who have a project to pitch. It's time to zero in on potential contacts at the Central Coast Writers Conference!

The speakers have posted their contact info along with their social media handles, so it's time to forge some ties, open some opportunities.

Find what the speakers are interested in to see if they can help your project. Get inside their social network, let them know you're looking to talk.

Have a good query letter ready. Remember, you're selling not just your writing, but also your marketing ability. You need to convince a potential helper you are a worthwhile investment. Below is this summer's query letter specific to one speaker. As you can see, I've pulled out all my tricks. I'm gussying myself up as best I can. Come to the meeting this July 10. I'll be speaking on my projects and can help you with yours.

Laurie McLean:

I was happy to see you are returning to the Central Coast Writers Conference in September. I sat in on your talk two years ago and resolved to seek your services when my writing and blogging matured. I’m ready to share my work and look forward to seeing you at the conference.

I have penned multiple books over the last ten years. They are stories revolving around Rory and Katie, who meet in veterinary school in California at UC Davis. Katie is a Native American who grew up on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Rory is a typical white guy from Southern California.

The series is divided into sections:

-Modern Rory and Katie.

-Katie fulfilling the role of the goddess Ishtar in 1300BC.

-Rory having lots of fun waiting for Katie to return.

Modern Katie is in the first five books: Butterfly Boy, Yéiitsoh Omen, Death from Down Under, Tsegi Ruins, and The First Altar. Of these five books, I feel Death from Down Under is the most compelling read. It details the spread of a viral disease called Hendra to central California when one of Rory’s clients smuggles sugar gliders from Australia. The rest of the books solidify Rory and Katie’s love through situations that test their resolve to stay together. Here’s the link to these books: www.jeadvm.com/single-post/2017/10/20/The-Series

Once I’ve convinced the reader Rory and Katie are a solid couple I rip them apart shortly after their honeymoon. That’s when I send Katie to Iraq to document an emerging disease that is spreading from animals to people. ISIS attacks the historical village of Lalish, trapping Katie in a corner of the temple, A grenade blasts her into the past to the time of the Egyptian pharaohs.

Four books describe Katie’s life in this ancient time; The Inconvenient Goddess, Of Gods and Mortals, Queen of the Orontes, and The Ivory Kingdom. I’m very pleased with the final edit of the first book, The Inconvenient Goddess, and suggest this may be the story that focuses the reader on this part of the saga.

www.jeadvm.com/single-post/2018/06/22/The-Inconvenient-Goddess

Rory knows Katie is gone physically, but he knows she is alive and intends to return, so he goes about his modern day veterinary work as he waits for more directive from his beloved. Yezidi Holocaust is the first book in the Rory series. It explains the aftermath of the ISIS invasion and follows Rory as he makes his way without Katie, in modern times. He goes through veterinary cases, crime scenes, and superficial romantic dalliances in the next books: Tiger Lady, Cocaine Eggs, The Sandman, and The Devil Hunters.

This summer I’m vigorously promoting the first five books along with my autobiography, Fear of Failure. I have a booth at San Luis Obispo’s famous Thursday night Farmers Market, a bookstore in Paso is owned by a client who allows me to promote myself there, and I am an active board member of the SLO Nightwriters, where I’m speaking July 10.