Worldwide Writer Festivals and Conferences

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Self-publishing Advice Org compiled a list of

Upcoming Author Conferences & Events for Authors

FEBRUARY 2016

Clays Self-publishing Indie Insights Evening: Feb 4 [London, UK]
Pub West Conference: Feb 4 – 6 [Sante Fe, NM, USA]
Coastal Magic Convention: Feb 4 – 7 [Daytona Beach, FL, USA]
Karachi Literature Festival: Feb 5 – 7 [Karachi, Pakistan]
Cairo International Book Fair: ongoing to Feb 10 [Cairo, Egypt]
Feria Internacional del Libro de la Habana: Feb 11 – 21 [Havana, Cuba]
Taipei International Book Exhibition: Feb 16 – 21 [Taipei, Taiwan]
Amelia Island Book Festival: Feb 18 – 20 [Florida, USA]
San Francisco Writers Conference,  Feb. 11-15  [San Francisco, USA]
Bruxelles Book Fair: Feb 18 – 22 [Bruxelles, Belgium]
Alabama Writing Workshop, Feb 19 [Birmingham, Alabama, USA]
Perth Writers Festival (as part of PIAF): 19 – 21 Feb [Perth, Australia]
Sleuthfest: 25 – 28 Feb [Florida, USA]
Vilnius Book Fair: Feb 25 – 28 [Vilnius, Lithuania]
Adelaide Writers Week 2016: 27 Feb – 3 Mar [Adelaide, Australia]

MARCH 2016

Emirate Airlines Festival of Literature: Mar 1 – 12 [Dubai]
New Zealand Writers Week: 8 – 13 Mar [New Zealand]
Mountains to Sea – dlr Book Festival: Mar 9 – 13 [Dublin, Ireland]
Love is Murder Conference, mainly for mystery and romance writers: Mar 11 – 13 [Chicago, Ill.]
The Tucson Festival of Books: Mar 12 – 16 [University of Arizona campus, Tucson, AZ, USA]
Paris Book Fair: Mar 17 – 20 [Paris, France]
2020: A Publishing Odyssey (SYP): Mar 18 [Edinburgh, Scotland]
Alexandrina International Book Fair: Mar 24 – Apr 5 [Alexandria, Egypt]
Tampa Writers Conference, Mar 25 [ Tampa, FL ]
Fort Lauderdale Conference for Writers: Mar 26  [Ft. Lauderdale, FL]

APRIL 2016

Bologna Childrens Book Fair: Apr 4 – 7 [Bologna, Italy]
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: 9 – 10 Apr [Los Angeles, USA]
Okanagan Valley Writers’ Festival; 8 – 10 Apr [Penticton, BC, Canada]
London Book Fair: 12 – 14 Apr [London, UK]
Indie Author Fringe: Apr 15 [Online, Global] – brought to you by ALLi
Pikes Peak Writers’ Conference; Apr 15 – 17 [ Colorado Springs, Colorado]
Story Circle Network Women’s Writing Conference; Apr 15 – 17 [ Austin, TX]
Writer’s Institute; Apr 15 – 17 [Madison, Wisconsin]
23rd Annual Budapest International Book Festival: Apr 21 – 24 [Budapest, Hungary]
Buenos Aires Book Fair: Apr 21 – May 9 [Buenos Aires, Argentina]
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair: Apr 27 – May 1 [Abu Dhabi, UAE]
Geneva Book & Press Fair: Apr 27 – May 1 [Geneva, Switzerland]
Las Vegas Writers Conference; Apr 28 – 30 [ Las Vegas, Nevada]

MAY

Teheran International Book Fair: May 5 – 15 [Teheran, Iran]
The Self-publishing Conference: May 7 [Leicester, UK]
Book Expo America: May 11 – 13 [Chicago, Illinois, USA]
Warsaw Book Fair: May 19 – 22 [Warsaw, Poland]
Kingsmead College Book Fair: May 21 [Johannesburg, SA]

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Google donates 25,000 Chromebooks for War Refugees

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It might be the largest donation so far: US$ 5.3 Million for the 1,1 Million war refugees (infants, children, parents and single teens):  It’s called the “Project Connect” - set up four months after Google pledged to match $5.5 million in donations to help with the refugee crisis.  “As they make it through a dangerous journey, the first thing refugees need is to find shelter, food and access to care.” 

Chromebooks are generally low-cost laptops that use apps running in the cloud, meaning they require Internet connectivity for most of their functions.
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VentureBeat.com wrote: “Millions of people have been fleeing countries across the Middle East and Africa in the past year, and Germany has been the most welcoming host country, with more than one million migrants registered in 2015 alone.  And this is why Google and NetHope — an organization specializing in connecting nonprofits with technology — are focusing specifically on Germany with this latest initiative.”

“Preference will be given to “applications that demonstrate the impact that Chromebooks with Internet access will have in providing direct assistance to refugees, and facilitating access to critical programs and resources,” said NetHope.
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Many municipalities and organizations work hard to have Internet installed, so that refugees don’t need to use libraries, coffee shops and other places anymore.  It will help refugees to access education, information, and contact with their families. 

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How to Prepare for Power Outages

Today's power outages in the Washington, DC area are still in relatively small numbers at the moment and not too worrisome (if it doesn't happen to you).   Compare it to the second most widespread blackout in history in 2003, when New York City was in the dark at night and more than 50 Million people were without power, see this video, some even for another two days.

Storms, Blizzards and Tornados are mostly announced well ahead of time, so you can prepare for the time without electricity.  But there are sometimes power outages that come totally unexpectedly, so it's useful to have a minimum of equipment handy (see the list at the end of this article).
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What you can do Ahead of an Announced Storm:

• fill as many buckets or pitchers with water (the toilet flush does most likely NOT work if you don't have electricity.
• make sure you have lots of candles, lighters, and hopefully flashlights placed in each room.
• fill up lots of water in bottles (water taps usually DON'T run if there is no electricity).  Freeze some of these bottles (outside the door if the freezer doesn't work any more, these frozen bottles can also keep your fridge cool for a while.
• heat (in winter) or cool (in summer) the house very well, so when the electricity fails, it keeps at least warm or cool for a couple of hours.
• top off the fuel in your car in case the streets are clear, but the outage is still there, you can drive and use the car heating to warm you up, if your house is icy cold.
• search for board games or playing cards to have them handy for some family fun.
  
  
  Once the Power Outage Hits:
• the car charger can be used to charge cell phones and other items (if your car battery is good).
• If the power outage takes place in freezing temperatures in winter, try to stay together in one room of the house.
• Cook on your gas camping stove or a hitachi grill - or your outdoor grill.  If the outage occurs in Summer, grill as many fish and meat items as possible, wrap them and store between (hopefully) still cool water bottles.
• Prepare coffee, tea and also soups in advance. If you have a Fondue pot which is "powered" by candles or alcohol to run the burner, you can warm up your coffee or even your food, or have a nice fondue dinner with family or friends.

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 Fondues are very popular in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.  You can choose between cheese fondues, meat fondues, Chinese fondues and even chocolate fondues with fruit or marshmallows. All the fondues are very easy to prepare - not to mention how much fun it is to sit together with family and friends for these delightful fondue-party dinners,even with candle lights due to a power outage!

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Always Stock These Items:
Dealing with a power outage is much easier if you have prepared in advance.  Every household should already have an emergency preparedness kit that will meet the needs of you and your family for three days, advices power company Pepco.
Always keep certain items in the house, such as candles, lighters, flashlights, glow sticks or glow powder (available in party stores or at Amazon), a camping stove, a fondue pot including burning devices, a car charger, a battery-powered radio, a list of important emergency phone numbers.

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst!

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Bestsellers by Charles Kaiser

Author, journalist and blogger Charles Kaiser, the son of a diplomat, Philip Mayer Kaiser, grew up in Washington, D.C., Albany, New York, Dakar, Senegal, London, England and Windsor, Connecticut. He has lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for many years.

Charles Kaiser already started writing for The New York Times when he was an undergraduate at Columbia University.  He also is a former reporter for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and a former press critic for Newsweek.

He has also written for The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Observer, New York magazine,Vanity Fair, the Columbia Journalism Review, and many other publications.  He has taught journalism at Columbia and Princeton.

His Bestsellers:

• The Cost of Courage 
• The Gay Metropolis
• On Being Different: What it Means to Be a Homosexual
• 1968 in America: Music, Politics, Chaos

Follow his articles and reviews: http://charleskaiser.com/

See Charles Kaiser's Amazon website:  http://amzn.to/1P1OeQc

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Prime Membership for only $73 / year Until Jan 17

Amazon cut the price of its Amazon Prime membership from $99 to $73 for a little over a day this weekend. The company says it's feeling good about winning two Golden Globes for "Mozart in the Jungle," one of its original shows, and wants to celebrate. 
The discount begins Friday at 9:00 p.m. PT and ends at 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday. Only new customers can take advantage of the deal.
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There is also FREE streaming of seasons one and two of Mozart in the Jungle for everyone—not just Prime subscribers.

Amazon Prime, the e-commerce giant’s subscription membership service, is now being used by 38% of American households, according to Investor's Business Daily.  Amazon Prime subscription service, users can access for $99/year among other perks:

• streamed movies, and TV shows

• Amazon’s original movie productions, 

• free book lending 

• substantial discounts for many products,
•  unlimited photo storage,
• early peeks at upcoming sales,

• free two-day shipping on orders (even 1-day in certain areas)
• Membership Sharing: Two adults living in the same household can create an Amazon Household to share certain Amazon Prime benefits.
• See the whole list of benefits at their Help & Customer Service page

Prime had 41 million members in December 2015, a 32% increase from December 2014. Estimates are Amazon’s worldwide Prime membership is at 80 million and Amazon’s sales grew 23%.

Amazon Prime members are also reportedly higher earners than the average Amazon, Walmart, and Target customers. According to last month's Cowen report: Amazon Prime Members have an average household income of $69,300.  It is also 25% higher than Walmart shoppers’ average income and 4% above Target’s.

During a three-months stay in California's Silicon Valley last year, I was stunned to see Amazon packages at my neighbor's door steps almost every day, and UPS / Fedex delivery trucks bustling in the area. It seemed as no one has time to go shopping and they order everything from Amazon...

Click here to get the Offer:

http://amzn.to/1RrY4wQ

Raman and Sunny - Fiza Pathan's Latest Title

. Raman and Sunny - Fiza Pathan's Latest Title 

Middle School is the worst period in a child’s life. He or she has to undergo bullying, and an often painful transition from childhood to young adulthood. It is also a period most neglected at home and in school, for the child grows rebellious as he feels he is misunderstood and unjustly dealt with. Parents feel helpless to interfere. Imagine what then can be the plight of twins? Set in teeming, exotic Mumbai, India, this is the story about Raman and Sunny who are twins.
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 Raman and Sunny is available as ebook for $2.97 at Amazon, in paperback for $13.50

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The book deals with parenting, the agony of middle school, the individuality of each child, the jealousy, resentment and fear of change faced by both children and teachers, each at their level. It deals with violence, resentment, bullying, and defiance in children. It explores new methods to get the child on the right path by introducing him to those less fortunate than himself. It explores a synthesis in learning and new and fun methods of teaching. And it deals with the inherent goodness in children and in man. It’s a family story, which shows that love, forgiveness and understanding in family life will help bring stability to a child’s life. 
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Praise for Raman and Sunny:

Young Adult - Honourable Mention Raman and Sunny: Middle School Blues http://www.londonbookfestival.com/
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Young Adult - Honourable Mention Raman and Sunny: Middle School Blues http://www.newenglandbookfestival.com/winners2015.html 

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About the Award-Winning Author:

Fiza Pathan is a teacher and the author of several award-winning print and ebooks:

• S.O.S. Animals and Other Stories
• Treasury of Bizarre Christmas Stories
• Classics: Why we should encourage children to read them
• Nirmala: The Mud Blossom
• So This Is Love – Collected Poems
• Classics: How we can encourage children to read them
• Flesh of Flesh (Short Story)
• Amina: The Silent One

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See the long list of Fiza Pathan’s book awards on her Amazon site. http://www.amazon.com/Fiza-Pathan/e/B0091BCNTU 
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To meet Fiza, visit and join her websites and social media presence:

http://www.fizapathan.com/

http://insaneowl.com/

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/interview-with-author-fiza-pathan/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6566200.Fiza_Pathan

https://twitter.com/fizapathan

https://www.facebook.com/public/Fiza-Pathan

http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/fiza-pathan.html

https://www.wattpad.com/user/fizapathan

http://about.me/fizapathan

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Want to License Your Manuscript to a Publisher?

Are you writing a book, trying to get it traditional published?  Want to contract with a publishing house?  Read these articles first: 

“Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?”

“The Traps in Publishing Contracts”

“What Publishers Won’t Tell You”

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Bestselling author Kristine Rusch wrote an eye-opening blog post.  Here are some snippets, however you should read the article in its entirety.

"These “standard” book contracts are horrible.  No writer should sign some of the clauses in these contracts, and no writer should ever consider licensing rights under many of these terms."

"I wrote an entire book three years ago about contract terms writers should avoid. Unfortunately, the book needs updating—not because the terms I mentioned are gone now, but because even WORSE ones have joined them."

"I believe writers should understand what they sign, and walk away from bad contracts. Simply knowing that publishers will negotiate many of these points will help writers in standing up for themselves—without agents, who make the problem worse, generally speaking."

(Agents, who are not lawyers, break the law when they practice law without a license.  In some states, that’s a misdemeanor. In others, it’s a felony. But I digress.)

"Writers can hire lawyers to negotiate for them, and believe me when I tell you that the lawyers will do a much better job for the writers who partner with them.  Why do I use the word “partner”? Because I’ve seen some writers completely misunderstand what the lawyers tell them, and make matters worse.  Writers need to understand that contracts are a unit, and changing one clause without changing another will sometimes not make a difference at all."

"Most important of all, writers must understand that they are not selling their books
to publishing companies. Writers are licensing pieces of the book’s copyright."

"If you do not understand that, then get a copy of Nolo Press’s The Copyright Handbook, and read the dang thing.  Then re-read it and reread it and buy the updated version when it comes out, and read that one.  When you work with a lawyer on contract negotiation, make sure you understand the advice you’re given, and make sure you agree with that advice before you take it."

"Conversely, make sure your lawyer understands what you want, so they’re not simply doing what they think is best."

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Publishing Contracts: How to Get Legal Help

Would you contract with a publisher who made you a book contract offer demanding arbitration, an unfavourable marketing or editing clause in its contract?
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Get Legal Tips from Professionals.
Bestselling author and self-publishing advocate J.A. Konrath wrote once: “The trade publishing system is designed to take advantage of Authors’ naiveté  and lack of legal knowledge and bargaining power, and it uses the promise of publication as a carrot to get them to accept onerous, deeply biased terms.”

Best advice for any author is to know what they get into, to understand the publishing contract and to consult a contract lawyer before signing the papers.  As Copylaw.com advices: “While it is difficult to see how your publishing agreement will play out in the long term, the decisions you make today could have profound, long term consequences.”
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Before You Meet with a Lawyer, read these Books:

The author Law in Plain English for Writers
Lawyer Leonard DuBoff, was teaching intellectual property law for twenty-five years, and writes really simple and easy to understand.

The Fine Print of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine does not only provide sound advice, but also lists publishers and Vanity Publishers that authors must avoid under all circumstances.

Helen Sedwick, a Californian attorney and novelist, shows in the chapter “Understanding Key Contract Provisions” of her Legal Handbook the clauses of publishers and explains on the other side of the page what these provisions mean for the author.


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If you are still eager to sign a contract, you should at least know what you get into, and what the contract clauses really mean.  Try to negotiate.  Ask the publisher to add a clause, to ensure that your consent is required for changes – less the editing.

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Meet Tamara Jackson: Author, Fitness & Weight-Loss Coach

 

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You might have seen Tamara Jackson on the Dr. Oz TV show, where she shared her heart-wrenching journey from 265 lb. junk food addict to 155 lb. fitness fanatic.  In her book 265 Point, Tamara Jackson, in the meantime a "Certified Group Exercise Instructor" through the American College of Sports Medicine, shows readers they can do it too.
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265 Point reveals some touching moments where Jackson endured ridicule and prejudice at her high weight of 265 pounds. 

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Often the Family is the Problem.
Tamara also shares the emotional and environmental challenges often faced in the quest to develop a healthier lifestyle. Women are sometimes sabotaged by their own family and friends who derail their weight loss efforts and criticize their healthier menus. Fueled by a new-found passion for health and fitness, Tamara delivers a realistic plan to reach a healthy weight including a practical food plan and doable exercise regimen.
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Don't Miss the Before & After Images
Check out Tamara's author page on Amazon A powerful and dynamic seminar leader, public speaker, media health expert and motivational fitness consultant, her website.

www.265point.com invites women worldwide to work one-on-one or in groups to make a final decision to a healthier future.  265 Point, a great guidebook for women who want to be fit, healthy and happy, is available in digital format and in print.on Amazon. 

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Meet Tamara Jackson here too: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/29167290-tamara-jackson http://www.amazon.com/265-Point-Tamara-Jackson/dp/149446537X/ and certainly on Twitter  @FitnessTamara

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites - or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months - or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars