Tag Archive | Marylee MacDonald

APW Book Group 4/23/22 Marylee MacDonald

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: APW Book Group – Speaker Marylee MacDonald on Body Language
Date: Saturday, April 23, 2022
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Zoom: The Zoom link has been sent to book club members. APW members and nonmembers are welcome to attend. Contact Karen for the link. It is also posted in the Members Only tab.

Message from the speaker:

Hi Everyone,
I made a short video about the book, and I invite you to watch it. A picture is worth 1000 words!

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/678908333?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=58889930

Here’s the Amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/Body-Language-unforgettable-portraits-heartbreak-ebook/dp/B08414S74Y/  An audio version is also available, narrated by Adam Barr.

Knowing this group, I’m thinking that the stories you would most enjoy reading are “The Blue Caboose,” “Voices,” and “Year by Year.”

Although you might not guess it, the story that is drawn most directly from personal experience is “Body Language.” My personal favorite is “Tito’s Descent.”

If you’re short of time, my suggestion is that you skip to the middle of the book and find the three stories I’m recommending that you read. The good thing about short stories is that you can read them in one sitting, and I hope you will enjoy the chance to dip into the lives of some of my favorite people.

 

2021 At-Large Communications Contest winners

NFPW listed all the state and at-large contest winners on their website. National level winners will be announced at the conference in a few weeks. Here are the At-Large contest winners again, in case we missed any! It’s amazing that out of 10 At-Large states Arizona writers won this many awards.
NFPW At-Large 2021 Commnications Contest winners covering 10 States
Anderson, Susan, Maricopa-Honorable mention Books, Short Stories, Verse – Children’s Book – Fiction, Everything
Beeaff, Dianne Tucson- First place -Collection of short stories written by entrant, On Traigh Lar Beach
Brown, Wynne, Tucson -First place Newsletter Web and Social Media – Electronic Newsletter – Personal, “The Sara Lemmon Project”
Cockrell, Connie, Payson – Honorable mention -short stories, single story, “Creature in the Night”
Fasano Marie, Payson
  • Second place -Columns, general, Roaming the Rim Column – “WHO designates 2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife”
  • Honorable mention -Feature story, Print based newspaper, “Homeless Give Back “
Graber, Brad, Phoenix -First place essay, chapter or section of a book, What’s That Growing in My Sour Cream? Observations on Modern Life
MacDonald, Marylee, Tempe —
  • Third Place- Autobiograpy or Memoir, Surrender
  • Second Place-Collection of short stories written by entrant (published together in book form, including electronic books) Body Language
  • Honorable Mention Nonfiction Book for Adult Readers – General Nonficton, The Big Book of Small Presses and Independent Publishers
Sharpe, Jody, Scottsdale – Second place- Books, Short Stories, Verse – Nonfiction Book for Adult Readers Autobiography or Memoir, r Special Needs Children, The Angels On My Shoulder
Whiteside, Brenda, Tonto Basin – Third place, fiction for adult readers, Secrets of The Ravine (The Mackenzie Chronicles Book One)

President’s Page – February & March 2021

March is Women’s History Month. This month I published an article in the Payson Roundup on three interesting women who each have non-traditional jobs: a tree trimmer, an airplane and power-plant inspector and a Septic Pumping company owner. It was fun interviewing each of them. There are so many stories out there. You can find stories about other unique people as well. (See article.)

Speaking of the unusual, this month APW Central had speaker Patty Mahoney tell us about her life growing up in a mortuary where she had to keep secrets that she heard as a child. Only now as a mature adult is she able to tell those stories as a writer. Fascinating!

Marylee MacDonald spoke with the APW Rim chapter in February and March. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of marketing and getting reviews for your publications. If you missed it you really missed an opportunity. We are thinking of having a workshop later in the year with this same topic to learn more from her expertise. Don’t you think that’s a good idea?

If you haven’t been attending the virtual meetings you are missing out on exceptional opportunities for learning how to improve your writing. This is just one benefit of your membership.

We will have an annual APW virtual conference again this year on April 17. We have two excellent speakers – Jan Cleere and Linda Pressman. It will be a half -day program from 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon with a membership meeting 9-10, Jan Cleere speaking from 10-11 and Linda Pressman from 11-12. Short but informative. Come join us. The Zoom invite will be out soon.

The APW Book Club is rolling along. We have become a cohesive group hearing how each member developed their story, sharing their ideas about their book. All members are welcome to join us the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:00 AM.

Several members of APW have won awards in the NFPW Communications Contest. What a group we have! Winners are being posted on the APW website and our FB page and will be recognized at our annual meeting.

At the annual meeting on April 17, 2021, we will be voting for officers for 2021-22.

The Slate includes:
President -Connie Cockrell
Past President- Marie Fasano
Vice President- Bobbie Bennett
Secretary Brenda -Whiteside
Treasurer – open. We need a volunteer-Interested? Email me at mfasano.apw@gmail.com

Keep Writing,

Marie A.Fasano
APW President

 

March 17 – Get more book reviews!

APW Rim Country invites you to their March 10 virtual meeting with Marylee MacDonald, “Get More Reviews for Your Books.”

Topic: Get More Reviews For Your Books with Marylee MacDonald
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Time: 01:00 PM Arizona
Zoom: The Zoom link has been sent to all members. All are welcome. If you did not receive the link, contact conniecockrell@gmail.com

Get More Reviews for Your Books

How can new authors get more reviews? In this presentation, Marylee MacDonald will share data from five recent book launches. She’ll talk about BookishFirst, BookShout, BookFunnel, Goodreads giveaways, Choosy Bookworm, Story Origin, newsletter swaps, and other marketing methods.

Marylee MacDonald is the author of Surrender, Body Language, Bonds of Love & Blood, The Rug Bazaar, The Big Book of Small Presses and Independent Publishers, and MontpelierTomorrow. She has 90,000 Twitter followers and 21,000 newsletter subscribers, and her website, MaryleeMacDonaldAuthor.com, helps authors write, edit, and market their books.

Websites: maryleemacdonaldauthor.com and www.maryleemacdonald.com

Rim Country February 10 meeting with Marylee MacDonald

Rim Country Chapter February 10 Virtual Meeting with Marylee MacDonald

Marketing expert and coach, Marylee MacDonald, will be the speaker at our next Rim Country Virtual Meeting.

APW member Marylee MacDonald has lots of knowledge about sales and how to go about selling your books. She will give you facts about how to enhance your book’s Amazon page through “money quotes.”

A “money quote” is a pithy sentence written by a professional reviewer, and it belongs in the Editorial Reviews’ section of the Amazon book page. Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly are the two biggest sources for editorial reviews. However, there are many less expensive options. Learn about them, and a tool that will help you format your “money quotes” correctly.

Topic: APW Rim Country Chapter Guest: Marylee MacDonald- Amazon Ads-Money Quotes
Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Time: 10:00 A.M. AZ (MST)
Zoom: The link has been sent to members. Guests are welcome. If you need the link, contact Marie Fasano for the link.

Marylee MacDonald is the author of Surrender, Body Language, Bonds of Love & Blood, The Rug Bazaar, The Big Book of Small Presses and Independent Publishers, and MontpelierTomorrow. She has 90,000 Twitter followers and 21,000 newsletter subscribers, and her website, MaryleeMacDonaldAuthor.com, helps authors write, edit, and market their books. Marylee MacDonald is the winner of the Jeanne M. Leiby Chapbook Award, the Barry Hannah Prize, the Ron Rash Award, the American Literary Fiction Prize, and many others.

Websites: maryleemacdonaldauthor.com and maryleemacdonald.com

 

November 2020 meeting of the APW Book Club

Join the NEW APW Book Club for our second meeting November 28, 10:00 am on Zoom (url to be emailed a few days before the meeting), showcasing Marylee MacDonald’s new publication, Surrender.

APW members and nonmembers are welcome to download a 15-chapter sample of the book. If you’d like to join our group and discuss it, then Marylee will be happy to provide the FULL COPY of the book for free. Email Marylee for a copy. Maybe this will be an incentive for you to join! It’s so interesting to see the diverse perspectives everyone brings to a book discussion. We really enjoyed discussing Karen’s memoir, Timeless Dance.

Below is the Amazon book blurb for Surrender:

Her young life changed in an instant. Now she shares her story with the child she gave away.

Adopted at birth, Marylee’s parents told her she was a “chosen child.” She tried her hardest to make them proud, but her parents’ divorce sent her into the comforting arms of a handsome Catholic boy. Convinced that he was her Romeo and she a modern-day Juliet, she surrendered to passion. Unfortunately, it was 1961. Pregnant girls were sent away, and their babies given up for adoption.

Nature vs. nurture: Which plays a greater role in who we become? The family we were raised in, or the parents we never knew? In telling her adult son the story of his birth, can the narrator find compassion for her own wounded inner child?

If you like truthful accounts laced with the passion of youth and the wisdom of age, read Marylee MacDonald’s funny and poignant memoir about how we grow up, grow old, and learn to accept ourselves.

The ebook version of SURRENDER is available for preorder now on Amazon with a delivery date of November 19.

Important links: